The "Not-So-Manly" Drawbacks From Eating Meat

While men associate meat with masculinity, it comes with several "not-so-manly" drawbacks as Dr. McDougall candidly points out in this four-minute video clip. Dr. McDougall passionately forewarns men, using straightforward language, that eating meat and dairy products (saturated animal fats) diminishes sexual performance, decreases male potency and masculinity. Consuming meat he says, decreases ejaculate volume, lowers sperm count, shortens sperm life, causes poor sperm motility, genetic damage, and infertility. This is largely due to the high levels of environmental chemicals that concentrate in meats, eggs and dairy products which interfere with the actions of testosterone. "Estimates are that 89% to 99% of the chemical intake into our body is from our food, and most of this is from foods high on the food chain: meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products." As a result, consuming meat and dairy products while carrying a male infant in the womb increases the risk of the baby boy having a smaller penis and testicles, as well as deformity of the penis (hypospadia) and an undescended testicle (cryptorchism).

Likewise, consumption of animal products will eventually result in a man becoming impotent because of the damage and gradual clogging of the penile blood vessels that supply increased blood flow during intimacy. As a consequence of habitual meat-eating, men in their forties and younger men with elevated cholesterol levels will begin noticing symptoms of erectile dysfunction. (Or as Forks Over Knives likes to say, an inability to "raise the flag.") Erectile dysfunction is an early warning sign of clogged arteries. As men age, those who consume a diet rich in animal products will also experience prostate enlargement and difficult urination. Prostate cancer used to be considered an "old man's disease," yet due to increasing poor diet and lifestyle habits, men in their thirties and forties are now being diagnosed. Scientific studies show that meat, dairy and eggs increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. This cancer starts in men in their twenties. In fact, autopsy studies have found prostate cancer in men in their twenties who died from other causes. The incidence steadily increases with age. Thirty percent of men in their thirties and forties have prostate cancer and by age fifty, roughly forty percent do. Approximately eighty percent of men in their seventies are found to have this cancer.  

Gaining unwanted weight, especially abdominal fat is also associated with eating a "manly" diet. Studies confirm that individuals consuming diets based on animal products have more abdominal fat and higher BMI's than their plant-based counterparts. Abdominal fat generates more estrogen, which alters male hormone levels. Thus, the estrogen levels in obese men are higher -- accompanied by lower testosterone levels. With this in mind, any type of meat such as beef, pork and poultry stimulates substantial insulin secretion, and high insulin levels encourages fat storage. Even chicken and poultry products strongly influence weight gain. Obesity triggers a myriad of conditions affecting fertility, the onset of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, arthritis, gout, fatty liver disease, inflammation, depression, and a multitude of cardiovascular diseases. These conditions, along with the medications that are used to treat them, adversely affect sexual desire and function in a significant way. 

According to Dr. John McDougall, "Beef = real food for real sexual dysfunction. If eating muscle, [from an animal] turned into body muscle, then most men living in affluent societies would resemble bodybuilders without a noticeable potbelly." Most men are unwilling to forgo eating meat due to the fear of losing their masculinity, however, a plant-based diet boosts virility, fertility, enhances athletic performance, and supports optimal health and a youthful physique.

Additional information:

(1) Is Vegan the New Viagra?

(2) ED is a Warning Sign of Clogged Arteries

(3) Could Erectile Dysfunction Save Your Life?

(4) Super Bowel Food/Stress can Trigger Heart Attacks

(5) How do the Majority of Heart Attacks Occur?

(6) Who has Heart Disease? Everyone?

(7) Sperm Counts Reduced by Eating Meat and Dairy

(8) Prostate Trouble: Steps to Improving the Flow

(9) When Friends Ask: “Why Did You Quit Meat?”

(10) Meat in the Human Diet

(11) Eat Yourself Impotent

(12) Obesity negatively affects sperm quality

(13) Saving Yourself from Prostate Cancer