Red wine beneficial for red meat eaters

I'm a vegetarian in that I like my vegetables to be processed through a cow first, and then delivered as a nice juicy steak.

We're omnivores. If you can't understand that, then you have been brainwashed. You have every right to be a vegetarian, for whatever reason you choose, be it political, personal taste, animal rights or whatever, but you shoulod not stand on your soapbox and preach that everyone who doesn't think like you is wrong and the root of the worlds ills. Man evolved from apes (another touchy subject) and it is said we suddenly got bigger and better brains when we started eating meat. Nuff said really.

And a nice Otago Pinot Noir with a good eye fillet is perfection! Nice to know it's also the healthy option too!

Hi Hannes,

The comment you made (below) is not accurate, but it is an interesting opinion.

"Many more animals would by now have been extinct, due to their habitats being destroyed to grow the extra food required to replace animal products. This would also include replacing the energy derived from fish and birds, as one wouldn't want to be unfair to these animals."

If you follow a primarily vegetarian diet, the land requirement has been shown to reduce from over 2 acres per person per annum, to around 1/2 an acre pp pa. It takes something like 3 kilos of vegetable protein to create one kilo of meat protein - so why not get your protein straight from the source?

See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071008130203.htm for more info on the best diet for optimal land use.

Gentlemen, You have been unfair to response #1 He has said that meat is unnecessary. The fact that many of the thought leaders of humanity have been vegetarian, for example: Socrates Plato Einstein Nichola Tesla Leonardo da Vinci and Mahatma Gandi Were vegetarians. The fact that many world class athletes, for example: Chris Campbell (World Wrestling Champion) Robert de Castella (Olympic marathon champion) Anton Innauer (Olympic ski champion) Killer Kowalski (famous wrestler) Are vegetarians and many other normal people are also vegetarians does mean that meat is unnecessary. I mean, people can live without it, and even be effective athletes even. No? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wladek_Kowalski We kill for it, yet we don't need it. We don't need it and animals die for it. No? That's "ghastly":Oxford compact dictionary definition for word 'ghastly': "very unpleasant" Honestly. You have to give it to Paul. His points are not all false and they do relate to the article. Article first sentence: "drink cancels out some of the harmful substances produced by the meat". Who can deny that meat does not have harmful substances? That's what this article is about. Paragraph two: Chemicals released during the digestion of fat have been linked to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's. Who can say that meat is not good for you? It causes cancer diabetes and Parkinson's. This article is clear on that. Why would it not be intelligent for kiwis to eliminate such a product from their diets altogether? Why are you guys so hard on him? He has brought up some interesting and valid points.

Albert Schweizer said: "Nothing on earth will benefit human health and increase the chance for survival on earth as much as the adoption of a vegetarian diet."

Leo Tolstoi : "As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be battlefields".

George Bernard Shaw, who was a vegetarian for more than 60 years: "Animals are my friends and I don"t eat my friends."

The tests were carried out on rats. Rats are omnivores. Destruction of our environment

More than 6 billion inhabitants are living on our earth and every second 5 more children are born. How can they all be fed?

A meat based diet requires 20 times more land and 14 times more water than a plant based diet. The production of 1kg of meat requires 10-16kg of cereals and other plant food. 70% of the world"s water production is needed for the production of fodder. About 70% of meat produced is waste! The mad cows have shown us what happens if the waste is used as "concentrated food" for herbivores. Animal excrement (110t per second in Europe and America), pesticides and fertilisers are responsible for the pollution of lakes, rivers and groundwater (fish become hermaphrodites and infertile).

Two-thirds of the excrement is liquid manure. The evaporation of the ammonia from this liquid is partly the cause of acid rain, after having changed to nitric acid. Eighty-five percent of the ammonia, considered to be mainly responsible for the dying forests, is being caused by emissions from livestock.

In response to #2. I'm astounded by the amount of ignorance NZers have on this subject. Are you aware that 80% of the grain grown in the world is used to feed animals for slaughter? It requires 16 ponds (7.2kg) of grain to produce 1kg of meat. http://www.goveg.com/worldhunger.asp It is the over grazing of animals which is destroying the environment today. The meat & dairy industry produce half of all the worlds CO2 emissions, a fact illustrated in the UNs report entitled "livestocks long shadow". http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.pdf And humans are NOT designed to eat meat. Why? Because if they were, they wouldn't get cancer from consuming it. Did you ever hear of a Tiger with bowel cancer? Is there anyone out there with bowel cancer whos' doctor has recommended eating more red meat? And yes #5 Celina, it is our choice. But can a person make an informed choice without facts? Facts which are being withheld. So, you make the choice and accept the inevitable consequences. Much like smoking. #3 Tim, that is simply not true. The consumption of meat has never in the past reached the scale of these so-called, modern times. Rain forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate, and millions and millions of animals are murdered annually just so humans can go to the supermarket and buy dead flesh. #4 Tinkerbell, compare your teeth with a cat. See any similarities? The so-called human "canines" (the cuspids) in no way resemble the true canines of carnivores. Human cuspids are short, stout, and slightly triangular. Our teeth are not curved or sharp like those of the wolf or tiger, nor are they wide and flat like the grass and grain-eating species. Our teeth are actually like the fruit-eating primates. Our mouth is best suited for eating succulent fruits and vegetables. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for us to eat raw flesh without the aid of knife and fork. However, true omnivores and carnivores can. I strongly suggest that if any of the readers out there wish to get the truth of this matter, they consult the following report: World Cancer Research Fund, Diet & Cancer report. http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/?p=ER

ohhhh kiwis will be moe intellegent if we don't eat red meat?! do me a favour hippie and eff off back to the country u dipstick

do you honestly think that Sarah Ulmer would have won gold if she was a vegetarians?

Thanks for trying to ram your opinion down our throats, and trying to hi-jack an article that has absolutely zero to do with Vegetarians. A sad life you must lead where you troll the web looking for places to try and 'spread the word' against us evil meatlovers... it may not be the life you choose to lead, and that's fine, but don't try and tell me how to live my life.

I can't wait to get home and have some aged scotch fillet, washed down by a Shiraz.. enjoy your wheat grass and mung beans...

To the person talking about the world turning into a giant cornfield, dont be ridiculous. It takes a lot more farm land, water and energy to grow livestock than it does to grow crops. You forget that the rest of the world doesnt have the fertile soils and amazing grass that NZ does. If you're going to argue against vegetarianism, at least make it a sensible argument.

Before you start complaining about another greenie grumbling, i eat plenty of meat, probably more than your average person. Im just not ok with your absurd statements about it.

i love meat but try to limit my consumption because i recognise it has a harmful effect on the environment. the amount of space and resources required to produce a kilogram of beef could instead be used to produce over 12 kilogrammes of grain. Comment no.2 does not seem to understand the distribution of resources in the western world which at present is placing huge pressure on our economy.

in saying that, i am not going to become a vegetarian anytime soon so will not suggest anyone else should