Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat based diet?

For (Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat based diet?) research question the “Open Web” would be most useful because it provides a variety of opinion as this a very popular topic. I’m very interested in this topic, and first skimmed the web to Wikipedia. After that I went to wise geek as there are articles from experts on the topic. The answer is a vegetarian diet is far healthier than a meat based diet. A statistic from Wikipedia stated a person with a vegetarian diet is up to 40% healthier than one eating a meat based diet. The stats on Wise Geek were the same.

 After reading about it I was really turned off to eating meat, as there are many unappetizing and unhealthy aspects of consuming meat. I try to stay with poultry and seafood as part of my fitness program. I learned that poultry is not safe due to the way it’s processed. The perfect diet for me would be veggies and seafood. I would still have to give in to the occasional steak on the barbecue though. Surf and turf is a favorite of mine when barbecuing. :o)