Introduction
This profielwerkstuk (PWS) is about vegetarianism. It is not a subject I came up with really quickly. That I wanted to do my PWS for Biology I knew from the start, but what the actual topic had to be remained a mystery to me for a long time. After a lot of online research I still hadn't a clue. At first I wanted to do something with children because I really like working with children and it would be good for me to write a PWS that might help me in my future studies. But since I really did want to make a PWS for Biology, which means that it has to include an investigation, and it is very difficult to investigate children seriously that was not going to be a very realizable option. Then I wanted to write my PWS about In Vitro Fertilization, but again the problem was that I had to do an investigation. Then one day my whole family was at my grandmother's house and a discussion arose whether or not vegetarians could be health because they could never ingest all the right nutrients. That was the moment I realised this could be a very interesting topic for my PWS, and after some more online research I finally chose it to be my subject. Also because nowadays, you hear it more and more. People eat less meat or stop eating it completely and become vegetarians. Are these people playing with their health, and aren't animals supposed to be eaten? Animals were once our main source of food, so why did people ever stop eating them?
I started reading more and more on the topic and finally I came up with my main question: "What is healthier? A vegetarian diet or a diet with meat in it?" and my sub questions:
1: Why did people ever decide to stop eating meat?
2: Does a vegetarian diet influence one's ability to concentrate?
3: Does a vegetarian diet influence one's stamina?
4: Which (lack of) nutrients could cause this?
Health is a very broad topic but for my PWS I decided to focus on stamina and ability to concentrate because these two are not so difficult to test as say lung content, blood pressure, and BMI (given the fact that most people would not want me to know their actual height and weight and would probably lie about it).
To find an answer to all my other questions I am going to have to do a lot of research. I am going to interview various dieticians, and vegetarians but also non-vegetarians to find out more about their reasons for eating or not eating meat. And I will do the best I can to research what nutrients are in meat and which nutrients are in meat-substitutions and to find out what can substitute meat.
The goal of my report is to find out what is healthier, a vegetarian diet or a diet with meat in it. To research this, I would like to go to the extremes and test what kind of effect it has on people not to eat any meat and no meat-substitutions at all for a relatively long period of time like a month or so. But I would also want to test what the effect is if people eat a lot of meat for a longer period of time. On top of that I would like to do this test with people who are already vegetarians as well as on people who are not vegetarians. But because this test is very unethical I will, of course, not do this. Then I wanted to ask three groups of people to write down how much meat they regularly eat per week. One group would be a group of vegetarians who clearly do not eat meat, and the two other groups would consist of non-vegetarians, people who do eat meat. After this week I wanted to test the ability to concentrate and the stamina of all the people and I would compare results. After the tests I would ask one of the groups of non-vegetarians not to eat any meat for at least a week and I would ask them if they have noticed any differences in their energy level, stamina, their ability to concentrate and their overall health over that week. After that week I wanted to test the ability to concentrate and the stamina of both these non-vegetarian groups again to get a good average for the group that has not stopped eating meat and to see if anything had changed in the results from the group that has eaten no meat for a week and to see if this is very different from the other groups. Then I realised I could never get all these people to do that for me and I decided upon another way of investigating. You can read my report on this on p. 12.
The definition of vegetarianism
The definition of vegetarianism according to Wikipedia is:
Vegetarianism is the practice of following a plant-based diet including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, mushrooms, with or without dairy products and eggs."
There are a also a number of varieties of vegetarianism, which exclude or include various foods.
Ovo vegetarianism includes eggs but not dairy products.
Lacto vegetarianism includes dairy products but not eggs.
Ovo-lacto vegetarianism (or lacto-ovo vegetarianism) includes animal/dairy products such as eggs, milk, and honey.
Veganism excludes all animal flesh and animal products, including milk, honey, and eggs, and may also exclude any products tested on animals, or any clothing from animals.
[6] ïƒ
Raw veganism includes only fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. Vegetables can only be cooked up to a certain temperature.
Fruitarianism permits only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.
Buddhist vegetarianism (also known as su vegetarianism) excludes all animal products as well as vegetables in the allium family (which have the characteristic aroma of onion and garlic): onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, or shallots.
Macrobiotic diets consist mostly of whole grains and beans. [1]
Why did people ever decide to stop eating meat?
Our ancestors were also meat eaters, was the result from a study of skeletons. During the analysis of a number of vertebrates from the Australopithecus africanus (approx. 1.5 to 2.8 million years old) traces of bacteria and infections that are typical for meat- and unpasteurised dairy-eaters were found. "This is the earliest evidence of infectious diseases in hominids" says paleo-anthropologist Ruggero D'Anastasio. Research of the teeth supports this conclusion. The problem with this study is that the analysis cannot to determine how important the role of meat in the diet was the Austrolopithecus. Was it rare, little or regularly on their menu? According to anthropologists it took another 500,000 years, with the appearance of the Homo erectus, for meat to appear on the menu on a regular basis.
Vegetarians will probably not agree, but scientists have found out, that the facts that man, in the course of history, has evolved into a creature with a very well developed brain that is capable of tool use, we owe to meat. Approximately 2.3 million years ago our ancestors switched from eating plants and nuts to munching on carcasses. According to anthropologists that is when our brains finally received enough energy to grow to their present size, because we no longer needed this energy to main our gigantic intestinal system to digest (raw) plants and leaves. [5]
Principles
Animal rights: In laboratories and in the bio industry all over the world most animals are still treated badly. In 1975 the Australian philosopher Peter Singer published his book Animal Liberation this book shocked many people world wide and evoked many emotional reactions. Singer was one of the first to give people a look 'behind the scenes' of the bio industry. The objections made by Singer are so well defended by him that there is hardly any flaw. By this time people became more and more interested in animal rights organisations and vegetarianism reached a peak.
According to Singer discrimination is of all times. Black have been discriminated by white and women by men. Nowadays, says Singer, we know that, although discrimination still exists, similarities are more important than differences. The slave trade was abolished and women are now allowed to work and vote. The similarity between man and animal is that both have the ability to feel pain and suffer. Or, extending this idea, the ability to experience pleasure and happiness. According to Singer, this is the most important feature to be reckoned with. A stone doesn't feel it when it is kicked, it does not suffer and is therefore cannot be harmed. When a cat is kicked, it does suffer. If a being can suffer, it is our duty to take this into account, argues Singer. If we restrict from doing this, or only doing it within our own species, mankind, then we are guilty of discrimination, a form of discrimination identified by 'speciesism' .
Vegetarianism could be seen as a form of a boycott. A boycott against meat, but also against other products of intensive livestock such as battery eggs, which contribute to the survival of the current practices of animal abuse. As long as products from the bio-industry are sold, the circumstances will not change for the animals. Not only because we choose to pay for it, but because farmers may use the excuse that they just deliver what consumers want. As a vegetarian you can show that you are serious about your commitment to the welfare of animals. It is easy to protest against animal cruelty that is farther away for example against bullfighting in Spain, eating dogs in Korea or the clubbing of seals in Canada. However, it is a lot harder draw out the consequences of your love and respect for animals closer to home. The estimated 700,000 Dutch people who do not eat meat, annually and save the lives of approximately 8 million animals!
The environment: Scientists agree that humans contribute significantly to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock for example also contributes to global warming. No less than 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock. That's more than transportation, which produces 'only' 13% of it. Livestock contributes to global warming in multiple ways. The most important greenhouse gas that is emitted worldwide is carbon dioxide CO2. There are also other harmful gases: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Although the emission of these gases is lower, their effect on global warming is greater than that of CO2. Methane is 21 times stronger than CO2, and nitrous oxide is 310 times(!) Methane from manure is not only methane in the atmosphere but it also comes from farts and belches of cows and other ruminants. Nitrous oxide is caused by the release of nitrogen from manure and the use of fertilizers.
A large part of the Dutch food for our cattle comes from abroad. In Brazil, the number of acres for the cultivation of soy between 1970 and 2005 has doubled 14 times! Enormous areas of forest are being cut or burned down for pasture and arable land for fodder. By removing much forest, less CO2 can be absorbed, thus more CO2 remains in the atmosphere. And also because of deforestation many plant species might disappear. It is estimated that in Latin America alone 3 million acres (30,000 sq. km) of forest and savanna, disappear every year, this is an area the size of Belgium.
One half of our energy sources, we consume directly, for example oil and gas. The other half is hidden in the products we buy and is used to produce products and transport them. Food production, through livestock farming, is a highly energy-intensive sector with high CO2-emissions. In this situation one should think of the energy required for fertilizers and machinery, but also of the energy companies that grow the raw materials for animal feed. The processing of raw materials to feed and that from animals to meat also costs a lot of energy. And do not forget the energy needed for transportation. In total the energy needed to produce a kilo of veal is 100 times more then the energy needed to produce the same amount of potatoes.
World Food Distribution: Worldwide, an enormous amount of food wasted on livestock. In The Netherlands for example, approximately 60% of the cereal consumption is meant for livestock. And also the cereal produced in third world countries is mostly destined for the rich West, where it is processed into cattle feed. Although for countries in Africa, Asia and South America it is financially very attractive to grow crops such as corn for export, these crops could be better used as food for the country's own population. Nowadays almost half of all the cereal that is grown world wide, is fed to animals while every day 40.000 children die from malnutrition and a large proportion of the world's population is starving world wide!
Also livestock is often an inefficient way to feed people. In the conversion of plant food to animal food a lot of energy is lost. This is because a farm animal uses protein from the food it ingests for growth, movement, temperature regulation and possibly offspring. This means that the stock needs more energy and protein than it can deliver. It is usually less wasteful to consume grain directly than to use it as cattle feed. Suppose a pig eats five loaves of bread per day, he uses the energy of the four loaves to, for example, keep his heart pumping, and to move and to digest other foods. What remains is only one loaf and that is converted into meat. If we did not choose the pig's 'diversion' these five loaves of bread could have been used to feed many more people. [8]
Upbringing
The pamphlet Eetgeenvlees by H. Brand Corstius is a very ridicule pamphlet in it Corstius uses many short and funny stories to get his audience to think about vegetarianism. He talks about the fact that if you read his pamphlet you must love animals, but you must also love a nice chicken leg and a nice piece of pork. Corstius uses his own story to show the scepsis of non-vegetarians. For example he says: 'Eetgeenvlees valt de dierendoders en dierenvreters niet aan. Eetgeenvlees weet dat hij de vleeseter niet moet proberen te bekeren. Maar de vleeseter wil argumenteren met Eetgeenvlees. Hij wil bewijzen dat Eetgeenvlees een misleidende idealist is en een domkop die bovendien met zijn gedrag hem, de vleeseter, op sluwe wijze als minderwaardig en ongevoelig wil neerzetten.' (Eetgeenvlees does not attack the animal killers nor the animal eaters. Eetgeenvlees knows he should not try to convert the meat eater. But the meat eaters wants to argue with Eetgeenvlees. He wants to prove Eetgeenvlees is a misleading idealist and a blockhead who also, with his behaviour, wants to portray him, the meat eater, in a cunning and insensitive manner, as inferior and insensitive.)
The most important thing I learned from Corstius is that my cousin really doesn't like meat. Like Eetgeenvlees my cousin has never ever eaten meat. And he always says he doesn't like meat, but I never believed him because I knew he had never even tried it. But to someone who has never eaten meat before, eating meat is similar to the fact that I, a non-vegetarians, think it is disgusting to eat a braised afterbirth, as is the example Corstius gives. [7]
Health
One of the unhealthy Dutch eating habits is the excessive consumption of saturated fats. Here in Holland meat is a very important component of the hot evening meal. It has been scientifically proven that a diet with too much meat is very unhealthy. Meat is an important source of iron, vitamins B6 and B12 and proteins but it contains more proteins then is healthy, it does not contain much fibre and it is also a source of these saturated fats. On top of which it has also been proven that vegetarians suffer less form cardiovascular disease and overweight. Here fore many people nowadays reduce their meat consumption to lower their consumption of saturates.
Philosophical aspect
In Plutarch's (± 46 - ± 126) Moralia there is an essay called "On eating meat" ("The Esu Carnium). This essay does not seem to influenced his contemporaries a lot, but later advocates of vegetarianism took it back. Tolstoy, Rousseau and Shelley quoted Plutarch to show that eating meat is unnatural. Shelley: "Let the advocate of animal food force himself to a decisive experiment on its fitness, and as Plutarch recommends, tear a living lamb with his teeth and, plunging his head into its vitals, slake his thirst with the steaming blood; when fresh form the deed of horror let him revert tot the irresistible instincts of nature that rise in judgment against it, and say, Nature formed me for such work as this. Then, and then only, would he be consistent."
Plutarch is one of the first to the reason that eating meat is unnatural. He concluded this after looking at human anatomy. Man has "no hooked beak or sharp talons or pointed teeth, no stout stomach or hot breath able to convert and dispose of such heavy an fleshy fare" If one might want to eat animal food anyways, then, says Plutarch, "do you yourself then kill first what you want to eat. Do it yourself without the help of a chopping knife, club, or axe, but as wolves, bears, and lions, do who kill for themselves all they devour. Bite an ox to pieces with your teeth, or a pig with your jaws. Tear a lamb or a hare to shreds and eat it quickly, still alive as they do. If you wait until the dying animal is quite dead and are ashamed to enjoy the flesh while the spirit is still in it, why against Nature see food at all in a living thing?" Aversion to meat is a natural reaction. Hence the roasting or cooking the meat first. "Actually, no one wants to eat even a dead and lifeless thing as it is, but they boil it and roast it and transform it with heat and sauces, changing and altering and smothering the taste of gore with thousands of sweet spices, so that the palate being thus deceived, may accept this uncongenial fare."
But if eating meat is unnatural, why did man ever start? "It all began the same way that tyrants began to slaughter men. At Athens the first man they put to death was the worst of their informers, who everyone said deserved it. The second was the same sort of man, and so was the third. But after that, the Athenians were accustomed to bloodshed and looked on passively when Niceratus, son of Nicias, and the general Thramenes, and Polemarchus the philosopher were executed. In the same way the fist animal was killed and eaten was a wild and mischievous beast, and then a bird and a fish were caught. And murder, being thus tried and practiced upon creatures like these, arrived at the labouring ox, and the sheep that clothes us, and the cock that guards our house. And little by little, our desires hardening, we proceeded to the slaughter of men, wars and massacres." [9]
Positive effects of eating vegetarian.
For an American analysis of the dietary habits of 84,136 women, between the ages of 30 and 55, between 1980 and 2006. The respondents had to fill in how often they ate 116 different foods. During the study, 2,210 women had a non-fatal heart attack, while another 952 women died of cardiovascular disease. The result of the study was that women who substituted their portion of red meat by nuts, saw their risk at cardiovascular diseases decrease by thirty percent in comparison with women who eat fresh or prepared red meat twice a day. The chance at cardiovascular diseases for women who replaced their portion of meat with fish, decreased 24 percent, replacing red meat for poultry resulted in a 19 percent decreased chance. "Our study shows that replacing red meat in your diet can have enormous health benefits" said author Adam Bernstein.
According to recent research people who eat meat gain more weight than vegetarians, even though they eat an equal amount of calories. A study of 370,000 Europeans showed that only 250 grams of meat (equivalent to a small steak) a day causes people to gain nearly 2.3 pounds a person more after five years then vegetarians who ingest the same amount of calories. In Denmark, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands people eat the largest amount of meat, while the Greeks eat it the least, discovered researcher Anne-Claire Vergnaud. The results of this study surprised experts because it took into account both the amount of calories the subjects ingested and their exercise habits. The study also suggests that trends like Atkins'-diet which recommend to avoid carbohydrates and foods high in proteins, do not help people on the long-term. The researchers suggest that people should be encouraged to eat less meat to live a healthier life. Other experts say that there must errors in the investigation, as some of the subjects could have lied about their weight. Yet nutritionists say it's worth deleting processed meat. Sian Porter: "This is an interesting study and we need more research on this issue. It is important that you limit your consumption of processed meats, decrease the size of your portions and, eat fat fish, vegetables and whole grains instead sometimes."[5]
Negative effects of eating meat.
In Holland meat is a very important part of the hot meal. Eating excessive amounts of saturated fats is an unhealthy habit. Meat is a very important source of B-vitamins (mostly vitamins B2 and B12), iron and proteins, but it is also contains a large amount of saturated fats. Therefore eating too much meat can cause overweight and eventually heart diseases. Very high iron levels in the blood can cause chronic tiredness and may do damage to the organs like the liver, the intestines and the hart. There are no known negative effects of very high levels of B-vitamins. This is mostly because the body can regulate the uptake of it and it can also store vitamin B12.
Also, recently, researchers studied the relationship between eating habits and healthy sperm in 61 men. The research showed that those who eat lots of fruits and vegetables, have more and faster moving sperm cells. The scientists now want to investigate whether vitamins can improve sperm quality. The scientists found that antioxidants supplied by fresh fruit and vegetables give a boost to one's sperm because they reduce the harmful effects of free radicals, which are oxygen molecules that damage cells. You can find these substances amongst others in oranges, peppers and spinach. To the scientists it is still a mystery why these vegetables are more effective than natural vitamin supplements. Further research will tell whether men get more beneficial substances from food than from pills. Recent figures show that sperm quality has plummeted in recent decades. Especially in Spanish men, they are the least fertile in Europe. In northern Europe, 40 percent of men have a lower sperm quality than is recommended. The study showed that men's semen may move more quickly because of eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and deleting foods like cream and meat. Therefore, for men who whish to have children, it is better to become a vegetarian.[5]
Negative effects of eating vegetarian.
On the other hand not eating any meat at all can cause a lack of these nutrients. A lack of iron can cause tiredness, a feeling of weakness, or fatigue, shortness of breath, angina (chest pain) and lack of appetite general malaise and sometimes poor concentration. A large lack of iron might eventually lead to anaemia. A lack of vitamin B2 can cause inflammations in the mouth, but it also contributes to the lowering of haemoglobin levels in the blood, here fore a lack of vitamin B2 increases the risk of getting anaemia. The results of a shortage of vitamin B12 usually only show after a few years of shortage because our bodies can store it in times of availability and use that up when it is short. But when the body has run out of it, this can cause a lack of foliate, one of the essential fatty acids, because these two vitamins work together and a lack of vitamin B12 can also contribute to causing anaemia. Apart from that B12 plays a major role in the memory and thinking functions of the brain. Older people can get severe problems with their memory due to a lack of vitamin B12. [10]
A study by neurologist Praveen Gupta shows that vegetarians also have a greater risk in getting a mental disorder at a younger age, such as dementia and Alzheimer's, due to a lack of vitamin B12. "A shortage of vitamin B 12 may limit the working capacity of the brains and lead to progressive memory loss and thus have an impact on daily activities." says Gupta. Forgetting daily tasks, the names of famous people, irritability, panic attacks and depression are the most common symptoms of this mental disorder. The disease can be determined by a simple blood test. WHO (World Health Organisation) estimates that 18 million people worldwide currently suffer from Alzheimer's and that figure could double by 2025. [5]
Meat substitutes.
So eating meat can go in both directions. Eating a vegetarian diet can result in a lack of vital vitamins, but eating too much meat can result in overweight and cardiovascular diseases. When you are a vegetarian it is very important to be aware of what you eat, and what you do not eat. It is said that a vegetarian diet can be just as healthy as a non-vegetarian diet as long as you make sure you ingest all the right nutrients. But where can one find those?
To make up for the lack of vitamins B2 and B12 one must ingest other foods that do contain these. It is not so hard to get your daily doses of vitamin B2 because it can be found in almonds, bananas, brussel sprouts, soy beans, spinach, asparagus, broccoli mushrooms and many other types of grain, fruit and vegetable. Vitamin B12 is a bit harder to find but it can be found in fortified cereals, nutritional yeast flakes, fortified soy, rice and hemp milks. Even though many foods are fortified with B12, vegetarians can still be deficient. This deficiency isn't due to the amount they consume, instead it's due to the fact that their body isn't absorbing the B12 from the intestines well. In this case, a probiotic, to improve the health and ability of the digestive system to absorb nutrients properly, and a B-complex vitamin would be useful. You also may try other measures to ensure that the intestines are healthy and are working properly. A daily probiotic can help ensure that the good bacteria are present to help digest and absorb nutrients in the gut. A high-fibre diet, which isn't difficult to achieve as a vegetarian helps keep the digestive system clean, clear and properly active.[6]
Another way to get all the right nutrients is to eat so-called meat substitutes. But what defines such a substitute and do they really fill up the gaps? Products that are usually used as meat substitutes are: eggs, GoodBite, ready-made meat substitutes, nuts and seeds, legume, soy, seitan, tahoe and tempé, Valess, Quorn and cheese. GoodBite, ready-made meat substitutes, Valess are very useful as meat substitutes. GoodBite is made out of wheat and pea protein, therefore it contains a lot of protein and iron. Valess is made from a mixture of skimmed milk and seaweed and also contains a lot of proteins and iron. Most ready-made meat substitutes consist of a mixture of a vegetable protein material (e.g. soy) and flavourings. Most of the fat in them is unsaturated, and they also contain the right nutrients. Ready-made meat substitutes are available in many different forms like balls, burgers, cordon bleus hamburgers, kebabs etc. and ,like GoodBite and Valess most of them are made in portions therefore you always eat what you need to. [8]
Investigations
Does a vegetarian diet influence a persons stamina and ability to concentrate?
Name: Wendena Doekhi
Partner: -
Main question: Does a vegetarian diet influence a persons stamina and ability to concentrate?
Hypothesis: People who do not eat meat have a higher stamina then people who do eat meat, but people who do eat meat can concentrate themselves better.
Explanation: I think people who do not eat meat have a higher stamina because meat contains a lot of fatty acid which may cause a person to become overweight more quickly then people who do not eat meat, which causes them to have a lower stamina. I think people who do eat meat can concentrate better because meat contains B-vitamins, and a lack of those might sometimes lead to poor concentration.
Used materials
Stopwatch
List with three time 100 colours (see appendix no. 2)
Two groups of subjects that are as similar as possible.
Method of operation
During my investigation I will test my subjects' stamina and ability to concentrate with two very simple tests. I take them apart, to a quiet environment and test them. For the stamina-test I chose for Ruffier's index. This means that I will count the number of heartbeats of a person in one minute, when this person is at rest (Pr). Then let this person touch the ground 45 times as quickly as possible and then as quickly as possible afterwards I count the number of heartbeats in 15 seconds and multiply this value by 4 (Pe). Then we wait for one minute and I count the number of heartbeats in one minute again (P1). I put these values in the computer and then calculate their stamina, the calculation the computer does for me is as follows: Pe-70+2(P1-Pr)/ 10.
The concentration test is only for the children and people that can read. I chose for a test where I let the subjects see 100 'colours' three times, first the names of the colours in a black font, then the names of the colours printed in the same colour as the word says it is (e.g. BLUE) and then the names of the colour but never in the same colour as the word says it is (e.g. BLUE). I let the subjects read all the words out loud and I measure how long it takes them to read the words. The average of the three times gives an indication of the subjects ability to concentrate.
I will try to test as many vegetarians as possible and I will test the same number of non-vegetarians. I will try to get a very diverse group of subjects, I test people with as many different ages as possible. I will ask people from all grades in my school and I will spend one day at my little sister's primary school to test the children there as well. (See appendix no. 3 for letter to parents.)
Results
Age
Vegetarians
Non-Vegetarians
Average Stamina
Average ability to concentrate
Average
Stamina
Average ability to concentrate
6/7 y.o.
4,8
-
5,6
-
8/9 y.o
4,4
48,89 s.
6,9
45,74 s.
10/11 y.o.
5,0
41,17 s.
7,0
58,50 s.
12/13 y.o.
8,3
35,45 s.
7,3
51,27 s.
14/15 y.o.
5,5
41,55 s.
5,8
42,98 s.
16/17 y.o.
3,0
39,26 s.
4,9
44,51 s.
18/19 y.o.
6,2
44,54 s.
7,4
39,99 s.
OVERALL AVERAGE
5,3
41,81 s.
6,4
47,17 s.
Conclusion:
As you can see from my results my hypothesis is partially right and partially wrong. Because of the information I found on the subject, I thought that the extra B-vitamins gave non-vegetarians an advantage in their ability to concentrate and the non-vegetarians overall do have a better concentration then vegetarians therefore I think I might have been right about that. It was wrong of me to think that, because of the higher amount of fat that non-vegetarians might ingest because the eat meat, they would have a lower stamina because the result of my investigation says otherwise; the vegetarians are the ones who have a lower stamina. I promised the parents of the children that I tested that their children would remain anonymous, therefore I did not include the individual scores in my report, but you can find my original notes (in which I erased their names and ages) in appendix no. 4.
Discussion:
Counting the number of heartbeats of a person is relatively difficult because I do not have a stethoscope and I have to feel it with my hands which asks a lot of concentration from my side, not to loose count. When I went to the Parcivalschool to test the children there, I borrowed my mother's stethoscope which she did not need that day, that made it a lot easier for me to count these children's heartbeats but because most young children cannot keep quiet for a long time it was still relatively difficult for me to count their heartbeats. Also not everyone really did the best they could in touching the ground as fast as possible, I did my best to encourage every one but some definitely put more effort and energy in it and were more tired afterwards then others. Therefore my stamina tests might not be very reliable. If anyone were ever to do these tests again they should explain very well to their subjects that they should really do the best they can and maybe use a device that can securely count the number of heartbeats per minute. The fact that my test is not very reliable might be the reason why my hypothesis is not right but the reason might also be that there is another, more important, factor that determines one's stamina.
I do think my test for the ability to concentrate is reliable because all my subjects did the best they could on that test because they did not want to score low for it and my test confirmed the theory that I read on the subject.
No meat for a whole week!
These past eight days me and my sister have been testing my findings; we ate no meat at all for a whole week. Through my research I found that people who do not eat meat might have a higher stamina because meat contains a lot of fatty acid which may cause a person to become overweight more quickly then people who do not eat meat, which causes them to have a lower stamina. And that people who do eat meat can concentrate better because meat contains B-vitamins, and a lack of those might sometimes lead to poor concentration. And then in my research I found that non-vegetarian do not have a lower stamina, there fore I decided I wanted to experience what it would feel like not to eat meat.
I come from a relatively large family, 5 members, and me and one of my sisters were the only two who did not eat meat. For both of us it was very difficult to resist the temptation from the meat that was still around, and keep away from it. It also was very inconvenient for my mother because she had to cook extra food especially for us and because she almost had to force us to eat extra cheese, eggs, nuts and bread she bought us special vegetarian sausages and burgers and even vegetarian bapao-sandwiches and snacks.
So we tried quite some meat substitutes. We thought some of them were horrible but others were delicious! Our ultimate favourites were Albert Hein's vegetarian pate and the Greek burgers. The worst were Albert Hein's fried minced and the vegetarian croquette from our local cafeteria. Eating substitutes instead of the usual meats is doable because some are tasty but never eating meat at all takes a lot of will, perseverance and determination.
It was not the first time to not eat meat for a week. A few months ago I also stopped eating meat for a week, which I try to do every year because of religious reasons. Last November I tested my blood-iron levels before and after not eating meat for a week the result was that the first I had a blood-iron level of 8,0 which is just below the standard for anaemia (8,1), but I already knew that my blood-iron level could never be very high because it runs in the family, but after not having eaten any meat for only a week my blood-iron level dropped 1,1 mmol/L! That was probably the reason why I felt so week and tired all the time.
This week the me and my sister focussed on what it feels like not eating meat without really having a reason. We found that it takes an even stronger will and even more perseverance. Also usually I am very much a sweet tooth while this week I craved for salty snacks and again I was tired all the time. My sister also felt very tired and she felt that she couldn't concentrate as well a usual. We also measured our stamina and our ability to concentrate in the same way as described in the first experiment before and after not eating meat, both times Sunday evening just before dinner. The result of this was that my ability to concentrate went from 33,80 seconds to 40,21 and my sister's ability to concentrate went down from 31,77 seconds to 37,53. Also my stamina decreased it went from 5 to 12,6 (0 being excellent and >8 being bad, but I think something might have gone wrong the second time because I know my stamina is not that good but it could never be that bad.) My sisters stamina on the other hand improved a lot and went from a 15,2 to a 7, but I think something must have gone wrong there the first time.
Comparing the 'regular' food pyramid and the vegetarian food pyramid.
Fats & Oils
Dairy - Meat
Vegetables - Fruits
Breads & Cereals
As you can see there is not a lot of difference in the vegetarian and the 'regular' food pyramid, only the 'meat substitutes and other proteins' section in the vegetarian pyramid is a lot bigger then the 'meat' section in the 'regular' food pyramid. Also there are more 'Breads, Grains and Other Starches' then 'Breads and Cereals' because that is what is recommended for vegetarians.
Comparing 'regular' fried minced and vegetarian (chives).
nutritive value per 100 grams.
'Regular'
Vegetarian
Enery
285 kcal
1100 kcal
Protein
13 g
18 g
Carbohydrates
6,0 g
5,5 g
of which sugars
0,7 g
0,5 g
Fat
23 g
19 g
of which saturated
10 g
2,4 g
unsaturated
13 g
16 g
Dietary fibre
0,2 g
1,5 g
Sodium
1,10 g
0,79 g
Added salts
2,5 g
-
As you can see in the above chart regular fried minced contains less energy and less protein then the vegetarian version, which could be healthier for someone who wants to eat as little calories as possible or for someone who, for any possible reason, is on a protein-free diet. But most people who want to ingest as little calories as possible do that because they want to loose weight. If so then the vegetarian fried minced is healthier because it contains les carbohydrates and less (saturated) fats which is better if you want to loose weight. Also it contains more dietary fibre which is good for one's digestive system because it is stimulated by dietary fibre. Therefore the vegetarian version of fried minced is a healthier option. But a very large disadvantage (in my experience) of it is that it tasted like cardboard.
