Mumsnet Talk

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Not sure about "the biggest thing" - after tobacco, alcohol, healthy weight, more exercise maybe....

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I believe the fruit and veg thing to be more important.

Food-wise, I think you have a point. I guess too much of anything is bad for you though, including meat. I personally think red meat should be eaten once a month, max.

As someone who has suffered with both folate (and B12) anaemia I can tell you that I will not be adopting a meat-free diet.

A once or twice a week piece of beef makes me feel a lot better. Especially during a period.

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I knew about the dairy link to cancer (especially breast cancer) too - in Japan breast cancer is more rare than in the west, and apparently this is due to low consumption of dairy products.

I'm sure all the people that proved tobacco to be the biggest health risk of the 21st century would love this thread

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Vegan even better than veggie...

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yes, half of all smokers will die of something smoking related. Scary stuff!

Some omnivores live on pizza and coke.

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"am I being unreasonable to think that that biggest thing you can do to improve your health is to cut down on meat? "

Surely it depends on what your lifestyle is like already?
The biggest thing my dad could do is to cut down on booze because he has way too much of that. Other people need to eat more vegetables. I agree that most people in this culture eat more meat than is good for them, but that's not the same as saying it's the most important thing for everyone.

He can't have been eating properly then.

Vegans who eat well glow. It can be a challenge if you miss certain foods.

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I was going to type something similar to what
kathyis6incheshigh said, but she did it sooner and better.

Everyone's different.

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I was a vegetarian for about 15 years, during which time I was always overweight, ate far too much cheese and peanut butter.....

I'd go for a moderation in all things....
red wine is good for preventing some diseases, but buckets of the stuff every day will cause others...
The Japanese may well have a very low rate of breast cancer, but they have the highest rates of stomach cancer- (due to eating lots of pickled/smoked things apparently)

I think the secret if you want to eat meat and fish, is to eat it less often, but of a better quality.

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