Why Go Vegetarian?

For many people, being vegetarian is something temporary than a permanent life-style change, after experiencing side effects like extreme fatigue, lack of strength, catching colds easily, feeling hungry all the time and anemia. So why go vegetarian?

 

• Most vegetarians are young women that quit eating meat because they don’t like the taste or are disgusted by it or because of what is done to poor animals- they think it is not ethical to slaughter animals.

• Environmental reasons– forests are being destroyed to open up areas to raise cattle. Cattle poo smells really bad and the hormones and antibiotics used to make the cattle more meaty and healthy and fat is a source of pollution for even fish and other animals. Meat factories are actually causing devastating effects on the environment because of the animal waste and chemicals coming out of these factories.

• Meat being usually the most expensive item in your shopping list, it is probably not a bad idea to replace some of the meat with healthy plant based products- whole grains, legumes, fruits and veggies.

• Vegetarian based or a diet that emphasizes vegetables more than meat seems to decrease the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and certain cancers as you are more likely to find dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and antioxidants than cholesterol in plant based foods than animal fat.

• Red meat consumption is linked to many chronic and fatal diseases, the less you consume meat the better your health will be. Roughly 65% of diseases were linked to what goes into your body- your diet.

• Weight loss is another thing to consider in choosing a plant based diet over a meat based diet. There is no doubt protein keeps you full but meat-based diet comes with a lot of saturated fats too. So you need to try and see for yourself what works for you best.. eating lots of meat or a variety of foods from different food groups to reap the benefits of vitamins, minerals and nutrition

To boost the taste of vegetarian meals, many chefs tend to cook them in plenty of oil or fat and cream. So you need to be careful in your meal choices.

• Lack of calcium may be something to worry about if you are a full vegan as you won’t be consuming any dairy products. The good news is you can get enough calcium from tofu, broccoli and other dark green vegetables, beans and soy milk.

• As a vegetarian, you may be less likely to suffer from food poisoning as fish, seafood, chicken, turkey and red meat are more likely to cause food related illnesses.

• It is not 100% certain if you will have more energy by not eating meat.. the complex carbohydrates in plant based diets will surely give you plenty of energy to carry on throughout the day but not quite sure if you can do without meat to avoid fatigue.

• Vegetarian diet tends to make your digestive system work better, you’ll be more regular to the toilet as you will be eating plenty of dietary fiber that is also good for your heart health. You won’t be suffering from constipation or hemorrhoids.

 

Last but not least.. think about the starvation in African and some Asian countries and the amount of grain given to cattle every year so that the well-off world population can eat more meat. If the same grain was consumed directly by humans, there would be a lot less starvation in the world.

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