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I have been a vegetarian for about 8 years, with some stretches of veganism in there. I have to say that being a vegetarian/vegan is definately healthier for many of the reasons that have already been stated in this thread. Mainly, it forces you to watch what you eat. You just can't pop some hungry man TV dinner into the oven or go to a fast food restaurant and get something to eat. By not eating meat you are missing many essential minerals (mainly Iron) and many protiens. But it's not really the protiens that are important, it's the amino acids. You can get the same amino acids that are used to build the protiens you get from meat by eating rice and beans.
Does meat taste good? Hell yes. But when you eat meat today you are also consuming all kinds of other things, like growth hormones and other drugs that they give the livestock (unless you've raised it yourself or hunted it). There was a health food store near me that sold Bison and Emu meat that was raised locally without all the drugs they typically feed livestock and people were raving about it.
I am a vegetarian for a mix of health and ethical reasons. But three years ago, I was diagnosed with Diverticulosis (due to stress) and that has forced me to stay a vegetarian. I have also become lactose intolerant recently so now I can't eat dairy products.
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