Maybe eating meat actually will kill you.

[cmac]

Dualta, congrats on having the willpower to go down the vegan path and stick with it. If you feel great and are healthy, then you've made the right choice for you. As a retired vegan, I'd advise you to stop wasting your time arguing with those who are addicted to meat, convenience and the protein short cut. Remember, not all people are set up to make the switch and are better off living a life of ignorance, like eskimos.

[Guy Jinbaiquerre]

As a retired vegan, I'd advise you to stop wasting your time arguing with those who are addicted to meat, convenience and the protein short cut. Remember, not all people are set up to make the switch and are better off living a life of ignorance, like eskimos.

In general, people who eat meat are neither "addicted" to it, nor ignorant. I could stop eating meat if I so chose; there's no psychological or chemical compulsion pushing me to eat it. I just happen to like it. (By contrast, I do feel that I get addicted to sugar.)

And after enduring dozens of Dualta's posts, I don't think you can say I'm ignorant of the current research on meat. But I've made the decision that for me, the potential risks of eating meat are outweighed by the enjoyment I get from it.

What are the actual risks of eating meat? Well, the study Dualta linked to doesn't say. The article claims that "eating one hotdog or two strips of bacon per day was associated with a 20 percent increased risk of death". But that scary statistic is essentially meaningless unless we know the absolute increase in risk of death, not the relative increase.

For example, let's say the overall risk of death by nutrition-related causes for all people in a certain age group is 0.0005%. Eating meat raises that risk by 20%, which brings it all the way up to 0.0006%. Is the enjoyment of eating meat worth that amount of additional risk? For many people, it is. And the people who do these kinds of nutritional studies deliberately avoid talking about increases in absolute risk because they know the amounts are so small that nobody would care.

Somebody might show you a study proving that motorcycle riders are 10 times more likely to die in a crash than car drivers, but you would still choose to ride. Not because you're ignorant of the risks, but because for you the enjoyment you get from riding is worth it. And if that same person kept coming back again and again showing you similar studies saying the same thing, you'd probably start avoiding him in a hurry.

[JamesK]

All I can say is I wish there was a just a quick and simple pill you could take to never need to eat, or at least reduce it to once per day or something. Think of the money you'd save which can be put towards a much better use, like gas, tolls and accessories for your bike. This would also imply that you'd not need to crap every day, another huge benefit and be able to cut back on much of the time wasting stops to feed your face...

Hell, while I'm at it, how awesome would it be if you also didn't need to piss away nearly half of this very short life span on lying around comatose aka sleeping. I'd love to be able to just go into hibernation for a month or so during the crappy cold winter month while the riding sucks anyway and be able to utilize the full 24hrs a day during better times of the year.

[Twinrider]

Mmmm... Low carb [/drool] :D

[cmac]

I could stop eating meat if I so chose;

Hahaha! Classic...go on then.

[Guy Jinbaiquerre]

Hahaha! Classic...go on then.

So I should give up something I like just to prove a point to you? Sorry, but that's not enough of an incentive for me.

If you're so sure I'm hopelessly addicted to meat, why not bet some money on my ability to go vegetarian for some length of time? It would have to be on the honor system, but I promise not to cheat. I will earn your money fair and square. Let's pick a time period and an amount to wager, and you're on.

On a more positive note, I guess your decision to completely ignore the various substantive points I made in my previous comment means you agree with them.