Good Question. I was prompted with this reply so I thought I would expound with some thoughts on the matter. Here are some quick thoughts which I will expound more on later.
I am by no means trying to convert people. I just thought to put up a post of why I believe in not eating meat and dairy. Many links to cancer and more.
You know I felt the same way in some respects for years. Then I started doing research. One fact that sticks with me often is that there is actually more protein in 100 calories of spinach then in 100 calories of meat.
But here is where I really land. The way our food is raised I believe is not how God intended. Chicken altered so that is can have bigger breast. Pigs raised in factory situations.
For example, farmers crowd egg–laying hens in cages so small they can’t spread their wings. Some birds are immobilized when their feet get caught in the wire mesh; unable to reach food, they starve to death. Millions of chicks are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service each year. Although mortality rates are high, chicks are deemed cheap and not worth the cost of humane transport. It seems that contemporary farmers embrace any practice that increases productivity, regardless of how much animal pain and suffering it inflicts.
I also believe that eating a plant based diet is not unbiblical. There are many scriptures that point to this fact.
As Far as health goes.
I have gone from heart burn every day regardless of what I was eating to no heart burn. Normal Blood Pressure (And we were eating Turkey Burgers for over a year). No more sleep apnea. So I don’t by the unhealthy bit.
I will post some thoughts from scripture next.