By Nathan Runkle, Mercy for Animals

New York Times best-selling author Kathy Freston has written a powerful opinion piece highlighting the hazards of meat consumption and the many health benefits of vegetarian diets. Titled Meat is the New Tobacco, Freston’s commentary on the Huffington Post draws intriguing parallels between the tobacco and meat industries.

Why does Ms. Freston think that eating a chicken wing should be considered “the health equivalent” of smoking a cigarette? Consuming meat, eggs, and dairy products leads to the three biggest killers in this country: heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Researchers like Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of Forks Over Knives fame have even found that heart disease can be reversed through a healthy, plant-based diet.

Freston also compares the tobacco industry’s failed attempts to downplay the dangers of smoking to the efforts of today’s pro-factory farming interests to keep consumers in the dark about the egregious cruelty, environmental destruction, and health risks of meat production and consumption. “[T]he evidence is in and it continues to grow: animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco does,” says Freston.

Thankfully, it’s never been easier to safeguard our health and prevent the suffering of billions of animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses. Please visit ChooseVeg.com for recipes and tips on adopting a healthy and humane vegan diet.