Why Meat Is The Best Worst Thing In The World!

Voice of Biotecnika – Episode No: 54

Hey Biotecnikans! Hope you had a great Diwali Celebration. Today at Voice of Biotecnika – We are going to talk about a very controversial topic.

To begin with, “Are you a meat lover who is someone in intense love with chicken wings or chicken sandwiches, steak burger or hamburgers, sausages, pork rice or fish fries?”

Well, I am not going to share recipes for this mouthwatering food dishes, rather I have chosen to give a perception of whether consuming meat is a good idea or not?

Where this excessive consumption of meat is taking this world?

Fundamentally the question is “Why meat is the best worst thing in the world?”

Let’s begin with the definition of meat. Undoubtedly meat is the name given to the flesh of animals which human intentionally prepare to consume as food in various forms as chops, ribs, liver, steak or in ground form. Data report that global meat production has been increased to 330 million tons in 2017 from 84 million tons in 1965 that means it has quadrupled and this trend is still predicted to be

on elevated side.

According to a current survey, on average every individual eats 43.5 kilograms of meat per year. Certainly, we can’t rule out the fact that meat is an enormous source of vital nutrients including proteins and essential amino acids. We are aware of the fact that proteins being the building blocks of life are required in plenty on our food plates. Besides, nine essential amino acids which are our body can’t make can be obtained from meat. Based on the daily recommended daily intake (RDI) of protein, an average adult man needs about 56 grams proteins per day and an adult woman needs about 46 grams proteins per day. Now since meat is a pronounced source of proteins, you have all the valid reasons to incorporate it as an important part of your diet. Ingestion of Vitamins like niacin, thiamine, vitamin B-6, and B-12 and riboflavin gives another reason to have a smile after enjoying your chicken or beef burger.

Meat fulfills the requirement of minerals like zinc and iron as well. One roasted chicken breast without skin approximately contains 53 grams with just 284 calories gives a solid reason to accept it with full contentment. One can’t miss mentioning taste. All great chefs have their expertise in preparing succulent dishes from meat or seafood. But people do you have any idea that the tasty mouth licking meat before coming to your plate can actually create a catastrophe in terms of pollution and public health. We talk about environmental issues and discuss various reasons contributing to global warming, air pollution, and water pollution. Seldom could it click to a meat-eater that by adding meat to her feast he actually gives his share in increasing this pollution menace?

Figures may surprise you but nearly 27% of fresh water is being used in meat and dairy products and to support the animals being raised for producing meat. Not only that rearing of cattle, chickens, but pigs for meat production also requires more and more fodder crops resulting in transforming a considerable part of fertile land into feeding grounds. And with the increasing demand for meat globally, this percentage could increase further. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has revealed that in the US alone 56 million acres of land is being utilized to produce animal fodder in comparison to 4 million acres required to produce plant diet for humans. Amazon rainforest which is being cut significantly at a high rate just to support livestock is surely a major concern. So it’s worth questioning whether we are eating up the meat or our earth and its resources. Now I am sure you all have studied the concept of a food chain. It is a linear sequence of organisms placing the producer organism on the topmost trophic level through which energy and nutrients pass down to the next trophic level consisting of animals that eat them and so on. Remember friends what ten percent law states in terms of energy flow in food chains now you recall, it says that as we move down the trophic levels in an ecosystem as little as 10 percent of energy is transferred to the next trophic level, yes you understood it right that means 90 percent of the energy is wasted through metabolic processes.

In a nutshell whatever nutrients we are providing to rear animals in the form of soya or corn, don’t expect all those nutrients, protein and energy to be served in your meal. Now that is disappointing! Isn’t it? You are spending too much on buying meat from the market and then fetching only little in terms of nutrients and proteins in your meal. Data reports that an additional 3.5 billion people could be sustained by the stuff being utilized to serve and feed animals for meat production.

Now I think that is a huge number Let me make you aware of another exciting but horrifying fact greenhouse gas emissions, is a scorching topic among the environmentalists all across the world. Around 15greenhouse gas emissions percent of this emission is shared by the meat industry alone that equals caused by buses, trucks, cars and even ships together yes that means all the world transportation systems combined. Don’t bite your nails! Even the United Nations has raised the alarm to shift to a vegan diet to save up the earth from confronting the drastic climate changes. PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals), an organization supporting the protection of animals has urged people to take a pledge to embrace a vegan diet.

You might find even more distressing to accept this, in the US; animals raised for meat produce far more excreta than does the entire US human population. Now, who can save the rivers and freshwater lakes which get runoff from rearing farms making them polluted and unsuitable for human use? Toxic emissions from animal waste add up to air pollution and inhalation of the same reasons for inflammatory and immune complications. Meat development is the prime cause of killing a huge number of animals every day. Although as I have stated earlier this is a never-ending debate whether to kill an animal for eating is ethically right or not but still we can’t shut our eyes on the fact that millions of animals are killed globally for filling up the craving of meat-eaters.

Moreover, they are raised in the worst conditions and accept it or not, forcing them to live in offensive conditions is inhumane. It is difficult to imagine what these animals go through when they are deprived of all-natural things including even a single glimpse of sunlight or a breath of fresh air. Don’t you believe? Sorry, but You have to. They are stuffed in the cages or sheds in such a torturous way that they can’t turn their necks sideways, forced to breathe in the piles of their own excreta and lie down in the pool of blood due to broken body parts. Nevertheless, no one in the animal farms bothers about the illness these poor animals may be suffering from. Now rethink.

Does a meat-eater pay for this cruelty? Yes definitely packing of a large number of animals in the small places may fill up the pockets of farmhouse owners but doesn’t it question humanity? if someday imagine these animals could speak up and write history by telling their heinous stories will be able to walk down with our head raised? Maybe that sounds exaggerating but believe me, little chickens, pigs, cattle or any animal being raised for meat look on and consider their killers as beasts.

Artificially impregnating the animals to increase the milk flow or egg production is not a hidden fact anymore. Not only are they suffering but stuffing them with food full of antibiotics and other steroids are given to increase the meat production is causing a toll on the human health demanding digestive system and the increasing threat of life-threatening diseases. Every day we hear about a new virus raising the head in the world. More often this begins with the contamination of meat by animal viruses when they are raised or slaughtered in unhygienic conditions not complying with the manufacturing standards. The disease can be easily transmitted to humans through food because viruses remain unaltered in the food.

In addition to that, there are several other foodborne diseases that are related to domestic meat species whether pork, poultry, lambs, seafood or beef. Salmonella infection from poultry food or trichinosis caused by ingesting infected pork, BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalitis) transmitted through contaminated beef is a few examples of foodborne or should I say meat borne diseases. Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease a variant of BSE in humans is known for killing 177 people in the United Kingdom and 52 other places. Outbreaks of BSE in Canada affected Canadian beef export to that extent that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has come up with new strategies to get it controlled as for instance slaughter of all beef animals over the age of 30 months is strictly kept an eye on.

Well, the story has not ended folks, cancers, heart disease, obesity, antibiotic resistance, oh my god, a single podcast will not be enough to discuss all these cons of eating meat. Let me make you aware of an eye-opening fact the risk of death from heart diseases is 32 percent lower in the people who prefer plant diet over animal diet. The reason being meat is bloated with cholesterol and unhealthy trans-fat which goes beyond the recommended values for keeping a healthy body. The average cholesterol level in a meat eater is 210 and in a vegetarian, it is 161.yes you heard it right! Further sausages, ham, bacon and other processed and canned meat products being rich in sodium content can lead to many kidney problems as well.

Now certainly you have all the freedom to choose what you really want to incorporate in your meals and nobody has the right to refrain you from eating or cooking your favorite cuisines but even then being a human being, being the most intelligent and dominant creation of superpower, will it be worthless to think that meat delicacies enriching our food are coming right from those innocent animals which were once part of this beautiful world. Those who were killed and slaughtered most of the time in unacceptable conditions and intentionally or unintentionally become one of the reasons for causing deadly infections to us. So, folks, we end up here! Leaving you to decide and conclude whether or not meat is the best worst thing in this world!

Eat healthy, stay healthy!

Today's Voice of Biotecnika Is:
Dr. Nidhi Hukku, who is a senior and experienced faculty at BioTecNika. She has a keen interest in keeping herself motivated to learn new and more. The above podcast is one such example of her deep knowledge of trending innovations in life science & medical field. She has expertise in Biotechnology and Microbiology and completed her Ph.D. in Biotechnology. Dr. Nidhi has also been awarded at several workshops and conferences and has publications in reputed international journals.
Preety
Perfection is her hobby, Reliability is a synonym, Editing is her passion, Excellence is her Goal, Tactfulness is in her genes, Yellow is her Fav color. Preety is the name of the Professional on whom entire BioTecNika relies when it comes to its website. A Gold Medalist in Biotech from SRM University, Chennai with a 9.9 CGPA ( was awarded the Gold Medal by Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi , as seen in the pic ), She decided to join forces with BioTecNika to ensure India's largest BioSciences Portal expands its reach to every city in India. She has redesigned the new avatar of BioTecNika from scratch and heads the most dynamic, vibrant and well informed Online Team at Biotecnika Info Labs Pvt Ltd