Early January of this year I decided to end my consumption of red meat. After watching the film Earthlings, by filmmaker Shaun Monson, where he exposes the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses made me think of what I am putting into my body; but most importantly the effect it can have on my health.

According to MarketWatch, Americans are consuming more meat now than they did in 2012 when the average was 184 pounds a year. You may be thinking, how is that bad?

Cancer, that's why. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies processed meat as a carcinogen, a substance that causes cancer. According to the American Cancer Society , twenty-two experts from 10 countries reviewed more than 800 studies to find that eating 50 grams of processed meat every day increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. Also, red meat increased the risk of collateral, pancreatic, and prostate cancer.

I don’t know if you’ve ever watched videos on the way cows are treated at slaughterhouses, but if you haven’t, I highly recommend it. These videos are very disturbing, but that’s the point. They are meant for us to realize how these animals live and are treated because at the end of the day as consumers, it affects us too.

As a mass producing country, many animals are injected with hormones to increase their growth. They are also kept in very unsanitary conditions and mistreated, therefore antibiotics are fed to prevent disease. Lastly, after being slaughtered, their meat is processed by adding chemicals to enhance flavor or improve preservation.

Another scary fact according to ConsumersUnion , approximately 80% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used in meat and poultry production.

For more than two decades, scientific experts have concluded that there is a connection between antibiotic use in animals and the loss of effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine. Therefore, consumers are at risk of the presence of superbugs in their meat and poultry, as well as the general migration of superbugs into the environment where they can transmit genetic immunity to other bacteria, including bacteria that can make people sick. However, the livestock industry continues to argue that although antibiotic use may have something to do with antibiotic resistance, it is not an important human health issue.

This just sounds sketchy, but it’s also quite scary. People will try to justify saying it’s all about moderation and in a sense, I agree. However, is it worth allowing these industries to mistreat animals when it has been proven that they have feelings just like we do? Most significantly, risking your health for a piece of a creatures flesh?

In my personal opinion, I have come to believe that it’s all about money and greed. The animal agriculture industry doesn't care about the animals and worse of us. We are getting sick because of what we eat. Diseases such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., do not occur out of bad luck or through magic, it’s caused by what we put into our bodies and we are eating too much-processed meats.

In no way am I telling you to stop your meat consumption. What I will tell you is that we are being lied to. Didn’t this also happen with the tobacco industry when the CEOS denied that nicotine wasn’t addictive? Anyways.. I won’t get into that.

My article may not change your mind, but maybe to others, it will cause some sort of effect. All I can tell you is to do your own research because we have been so brainwashed to believe that we need certain foods to survive when in reality we can thrive off better and natural foods. It’s really amazing the benefits of plant based foods and how much of a positive impact it has on our bodies. If you don’t believe me, I dare you to try it.

You may be thinking, “here we go, another crazy vegan.” To your surprise, I am not vegan but I decided to stop giving my money to an industry that is committing a massacre and began living more consciously. I stopped ignoring the fact that these animals do matter and that there are better and healthier options of where to get protein.

As a last note, I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary Cowspiracy, where the filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn address the effects of cattle and the environment.

Maybe you don’t care about animals or your health, but what about your home, planet Earth? Look into it, I don’t want to spoil it for you. Yet, all I can say is that these two documentaries opened my eyes in a way that two years ago I would have thought I was crazy and wouldn't have believed myself.

We are a capitalist country I get it, but what is money when at the end we will end up destroying ourselves?