Even more reasons to eat veggies

As if we needed another reason to eat our veggies, here's one: According to a new Harvard School of Public Health study, eating red meat increases your risk of early death.

OK, here's one more: Dr. Margaret Chan, the director general of the World Health Organization, recently warned that antibiotic resistance could bring about "the end of modern medicine as we know it." In other words, if the hamburgers don't kill you, the superbugs spawned on factory farms will.

Analyzing nearly 30 years of data collected from 121,000 participants, the Harvard researchers found that people who eat red meat regularly are significantly more likely to die prematurely from various causes, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The saturated fat in beef, pork and lamb; the nitrites in processed meats; and the carcinogens that form when meat is cooked at high temperatures all make it a health hazard.

How bad is it? According to the study, just one serving of unprocessed red meat (such as hamburger or roast beef) per day increases your risk of early death by 13 percent. One serving is about the size of a deck of cards. Hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats are more dangerous: One daily serving increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent.

Replacing red meat with other animal foods isn't the answer, either. Even at its leanest - white meat, no skin - chicken gets nearly a quarter of its calories from fat, much of it the bad kind (saturated). Many types of fish are surprisingly high in saturated fat as well. Fifty-five percent of the calories in salmon come from fat; about 25 percent is saturated.

In an editorial accompanying the Harvard study, Dr. Dean Ornish (who persuaded Bill Clinton to go vegan) reminds us that what's bad for our health is also bad for the planet. Raising animals for food is a leading contributor to climate change, and it wastes precious resources. Almost half the world's population is malnourished, yet 40 percent of the world's grain is fed to livestock, not people.

Moreover, farmed animals are fed a steady diet of drugs, including 80 percent of the antibiotics used in America, to fatten them up and keep them alive in unsanitary, stressful conditions. As a result, factory farms are breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

So how can we keep from slowly killing ourselves and Mother Earth every time we eat? According to the researchers, eating plant-based foods such as nuts, beans, and whole grains instead of red meat can significantly lower our risk of dying young. Replace one serving of red meat with one serving of whole grains, for example, and the risk drops 14 percent.

"Plant-based foods are rich in phytochemicals, bioflavonoids, and other substances that are protective," explains Ornish. "In other words, what we include in our diet is as important as what we exclude, so substituting healthier foods for red meat provides a double benefit to our health."

Eating vegan foods also reduces your carbon footprint. To feel better, live longer, and help protect the planet, trading in your burgers for black beans would be a good place to start.

Paula Moore is a senior writer for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation.