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From: lip@gcc-milo.ARPA (Seth Lipkin)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Vegetarians
Message-ID: <416@gcc-milo.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 30-Dec-85 11:10:18 EST
Article-I.D.: gcc-milo.416
Posted: Mon Dec 30 11:10:18 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 1-Jan-86 04:06:23 EST
Reply-To: lip@gcc-milo.UUCP (Seth Lipkin)
Organization: General Computer Company, Cambridge Ma
Lines: 39

In article <328@uwai.UUCP> honavar@uwai.UUCP (Vasant Honavar) writes:
>
>    Some more sound reasons for being vegetarian:
>    
>    	1. Solving the world hunger problem
>    	Information from USDA's economic research service shows that we get
>    	1 pound of beef for 16 pounds of grain.

Only half true.  The major portion of the cow (or bull) comes NOT from the
animal's being fed grain, but from its grazing of grasses.  This grazing 
usually occurs on unfarmable land (too hilly or rocky, not enough topsoil).
A much smaller portion (the "fattening") DOES come from grain.  So the 
statistic might better read "1 *incremental* pound of beef for 16 *incremental*
pounds of grain."  The animal already weighs many hundreds of pounds before
it eats grain.  (Yes, I'm sure there are some counterexamples of beef cattle
that are fed grain from birth [veal?], but these aren't the norm).

>    	Now to the most often asked question - Where do you get your proteins
>    	if you are vegetarian ? Of the 22 amino acids required by the body,
>    	all but 8 can be synthesized within the human body. The rest can be
>    	gotten in adequate quantities from beans, nuts and dairy products.

Important to remember here is that the 8 necessary amino acids (those which
can not be synthesized by the body) must be taken in at roughly the same time
(i.e. the same meal) for them to be effective.  A protein which requires all
8 of these amino acids will not be synthesized by the body unless ALL of these 
8 amino acids are present together.  Meat and milk products provide "complete" 
protein (all 8 necessary amino acids), as do (I believe) most or all nuts.  But
some vegetarians are not careful about making sure that their protein intake
is balanced.  Intaking amino acids 1 through 5 at lunch and amino acids 2
through 8 at dinner is not a balanced meal schedule.

>    	NOW DO YOU STILL WANT TO EAT MEAT ?

Yep.  Not always every day and not always fatty red meat, but still Yep.

Seth Lipkin
General Computer Company
harvard!gcc-milo!lip