The Importance Of Choosing A Vegetarian Diet

Forget meat, eat like a Vegetarian! A Vegetarian is a lifestyle, one chooses that does not allow them to eat any meat at all. Being a vegetarian decreases the risk of heart disease. Most people choose this meat free lifestyle to lose weight and to sustain a healthier food choice.

Some people choose a vegetarian diet for ethical and environmental reasons and some choose to be vegetarian because of food safety issues.

Vegetarianism is a custom practiced in six out of the seven continents and has become more popular over the years. Vegetarianism can be defined as the exclusion of animal products such as meat and fish from one’s diet. Dairy products and eggs are often times excluded as well. Although there are many reasons one may decide to become a Vegetarian or follow such a code of ethics, the most common include: moral, religious or health reasons.

Antioxidants and thousands of phytochemicals that protect the body and support good health. Overall vegetarians have a longer life expectancy and lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and the list goes on. But don’t just take my word for it, supports for vegetarian diets comes from numerous organizations including the American cancer society, American College of Cardiology, the Mayo Clinic, Harvard School of public and, the national institutes of Health which says, “Vegetarians may be missing out on grilled hamburgers at picnics, but they tend to also miss out on the major health problems that plagued many Americans”. Just look at the difference in heart disease the number one killer of American, which is twice its size, between those who eat meat and those who are vegetarian. The progression of some of the diseases can not only be halted but reversed in as little as just two to three weeks by switching to a plant based diet. Reducing and eliminating the consumption of meat and meat products with a greener diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts seed and whole grains will lead to a healthier world.

Vegetarianism always seems to be a contentious issue. Vegetarians think that there are a lot of advantages of vegetarianism. They may have good health since they can keep their weight down, live longer and avoid toxic chemicals. Also, they push more waste out of their bodies and, thus, feel more energetic. More importantly, to some extent, they spare animals and save more lives.

The Vegetarian/Vegan diet is a very intense debate right now. There are so many people and organizations involved in the fight, and it gets very biased very quickly. On the one side, people claim that it is healthier for us to cut meat out of our diet. While the other side claims that it is healthier to keep meat in our diet. This debate gets very confusing, very fast. When looking into the science side of things, it is said that the human body needs meat and the nutrients that we receive from meat, which is why the vegetarian diet is not as healthy as it seems.

The vegan diet involves only natural products from plants such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains. This diet does not turn you to a vegetarian but it generally helps to cleanse the body from excess fat. Jennifer Lopez encourages more people to practice vegan diet due to the following major

A Vegan, by definition, is someone who does not consume or use any type of animal product. They do not ingest meat, eggs, or dairy and also refrain from buying products that harm any animal in the making, which

Some argue that a vegetarian diet isn’t actually healthy for you because you don’t get the necessary nutrients that you would get from eating meat. When in reality when a vegetarian diet is well balanced it is actually healthier than a meat-oriented diet. “Vegetarians suffer less from heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a variety of other diet-related diseases which now cost the United States alone over $1.2 trillion each year” (Fergusson). Vegetarians are less likely to develop life altering diseases. That is because vegetarian diets are typically low in fat and high in

Eating meat isn?t good for us. I know all of you are thinking that I?m wrong and that we have to eat meat. But really, we don?t. Vegetarians have proven to be healthier than people who eat meat. For example, Dr. Kim Williams avoided red meat and friend foods, thinking it was a healthy diet. However, is LDL (bad cholesterol) was too high. Inspired by the success a patient had with a vegan diet, he tried it himself. Within 6 weeks, his LDL was nearly cut in half and was in the healthy range again. (Deardorff)

Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat eating diet? Becoming vegetarian certainly has pros because of its potential health benefits. However, becoming vegetarian also has its cons because it can cause the human body to become deficient on some of the body’s needs such as iron. With that, there are many advantages and disadvantages to vegetarianism that could make or break the choice of becoming one.

A major advantage of vegetarianism is the improvement of personal health for the long run. Meat eaters showed a 300 percent risk of colon cancer in a Harvard investigation whereas a study done by England and Germany displayed a 40% less cancer risk for those committed to a vegetarian diet (“Vegetarian Foods”). Vegetarianism helps reduces the risk of cancer. Moreover, research shows that meat consumption often allows overabundance of protein in the body which leads to “kidney stones, osteoporosis, and . . . heart disease” (“Vegetarian Foods”). A vegetable diet with grains, beans, and other protein sources help maintain a balance of protein. Additionally, a rising obesity rate concerns an overwhelming amount of people who desire to lose weight (in a healthy way). Many can turn to a vegetarian lifestyle which keeps their weight and health in check. A research study showed how plant-based diet helped “people with type 2 diabetes to lose weight . . . and improve their metabolism” (“Vegetarian Diet”). Basically, a vegetarian diet even promotes healthy weight loss.

Different people follow different forms of vegetarianism. A true vegetarian eats no meat at all, including chicken and fish. A lacto-ovo vegetarian eats dairy products and eggs, but excludes meat, fish, and poultry. Also, that a lacto vegetarian eats dairy products but

A vegan diet is the best possible diet for a person because it prevents diseases. In Sarah Barns’ view, “Vegans and vegetarians typically have… a lower risk of death from heart disease, and lower overall cancer rates. Science and research confirms that you don’t need meat to be healthy at all, in fact statistics point to quite the opposite” (“Live Longer, Boost Immunity, Slim Down: 10 Reasons Why You Should Go Vegan In 2015, Daily Express” par. 3). Basically, Sarah Barns is saying that having a vegan or vegetarian diet will decrease the chances of dying from heart disease. This demonstrates that dying from heart disease is prevented by having a lack of unhealthy fat in the body. Unhealthy fat gets trapped in the arteries, which clogs them. When the arteries are clogged, it can lead to a heart attack or a stroke. Clearly, having a vegan diet will contribute to the prevention of heart disease. Hope Warshaw, Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and Certified Diabetes Educator states, “A study of nearly 100,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist church, which promotes a vegetarian diet, showed that the vegetarians had a lower rate of type 2 than nonvegetarians.” (“Should You Go Vegetarian? The Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet for People with Diabetes” par. 3). Also, Michael J. Orlich M.D., assistant professor of preventive medicine at Loma Linda University in California said, “The closer people follow a vegan diet, the more they stay at a healthy weight and prevent type 2”

According to the "Vegetarian Diet," diets for vegetarians, when well planned, can be healthful and nutritionally adequate. In planning a vegetarian diet, one should choose a variety of foods in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Vegan or vegan-like diets that exclude all animal products can be nutritionally complete, but care must be taken to ensure adequacy of energy and vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, intakes. Diets that are very restrictive are often nutritionally inadequate and may lead to deficiencies if followed for an extended period of time. The major nutrients to consider when planning a vegetarian diet are as follow (42).