Why is vegetarianism so alluring to people? The answer is simple; some people want a longer, healthier life. Others are passionate about preserving the earth’s natural resources and love animals, so seek to protect them by opposing eating them.
There is a wealth of scientific research that demonstrates the health and environmental benefits of a plant-based diet. Even the federal government recommends the consumption of calories from grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Vegetarian diets lower the risk of so many diseases, such as obesity, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer like colon, stomach, prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Let’s see many more benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet.
Warding off diseases
Compared to the average American diet, vegetarian diets are healthier, especially for preventing and treating heart diseases and reducing the risk of cancer. An effective way of combating coronary artery disease progression or preventing it is to incorporate it with a low-fat vegetarian diet. More than 1 million Americans die every year from cardiovascular disease.
But the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease is lower in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians. A vegetarian diet provides more health since there are less animal fat and cholesterol, but more fiber and antioxidant products.
Keeps the weight down
The average American diet is high in saturated fats and processed foods but does not contain many plant-based foods. The CDC announced that 64 percent of adults and 15 % of kids from the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight and risk suffering weight-related ailments in the future. A study conducted at the Medical Research Institute in Sausalito, California, revealed people who followed a low-fat and were overweight who committed to a vegetarian diet lost 24 pounds on average within the first year, without feeling hungry, measuring portions, or counting calories or carbs.
Possibly living longer
Substituting a standard American diet to a vegetarian diet can prolong your life by up to 15 years! People who mostly consume saturated, animal-based foods have a shorter life span and experience more disabilities towards the end of their lives. Animal meats are heavy on your system; they clog your arteries, drain you of energy, slow down immune function. Meat eaters also witness experience accelerated cognitive and sexual dysfunction much younger.
Want more proof of longevity?
A study of 300 residents in Okinawa, Japan, showed they lived to a ripe old age and have the longest life expectancy in Japan and the longest of anyone in the world. Their secret? They choose a lifestyle of a low-calorie diet that contains unrefined complex carbohydrates, fiber-rich fruits, and vegetables, as well as soy.
You’ll build strong bones.
When you lack calcium, the body will begin to find ways to replenish it. If it cannot find it in food, your body takes it from the bones. The result is that your skeleton becomes porous and loses strength with time. Health organizations recommend that we eat foods high in calcium and those containing nutrients like magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin D, and are vital for helping the body absorb and use calcium.
People who have lactose-intolerance can often enjoy small amounts of dairy products like cheese, yogurt, and lactose-free milk. But if you want to avoid dairy products all together, then turn to dry beans, soymilk, tofu, and green vegetables like collard, broccoli, kale, and turnip greens for calcium needs.
Reduce your risk of foodborne illnesses
According to the CDC, there is an estimate that 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 dies of foodborne diseases. Also, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says protein-rich foods like meat, fish, poultry, and seafood are commonly responsible for outbreaks of foodborne illness.
More energy
When you eat well, you get more usable energy to tackle that home improvement project or live a fuller life. Too much fat in your bloodstream means arteries open slowly, and muscles don’t receive enough oxygen. You’ll feel more energetic. Balanced vegetarian diets don’t contain plenty of cholesterol animal products that slow us down and make us keep hitting the snooze button every morning. Many fruits, whole grains, and vegetables contain high amounts of complex carbohydrates that supply energy to the body.
More “regular.”
Eating plenty of vegetables means you’ll be consuming more fiber, which can push waste out of the body. There is no fiber in meat. Those who eat rich in fiber foods don’t suffer too much constipation and hemorrhoids.
Avoid toxic chemicals
The governing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) described the typical American diet of meats, fishes, and dairy products contain nearly 95 percent of pesticide residues. Fish has many carcinogens (PCBs, DTT) and heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium, which cannot be eliminated through cooking or freezing.
Spare animals
Many vegetarians turned to the diet because they were concerned about animals. Every year, billions of animals are slaughtered for human consumption. Unlike farms years go where animals freely roamed, today, most animals are farmed, packed in cages where they struggle to move, and are fed a diet filled with antibiotics and pesticides.
Fill your dinner plate with color
Fruits and vegetables get their beautiful colors from disease-fighting phytochemicals: carotenoids and anthocyanins. Fruits and vegetables like oranges, carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and more owe their colors to carotenoids. While there are carotenoids in leafy green vegetables, their green color is mostly due to chlorophyll. Anthocyanins give red, blue, purple fruits and vegetables like cherries, plums, and bell peppers. Having a rich and colorful dinner with these naturally occurring substances has the potential to boost your immune system and prevent many diseases.
Conclusion
You can find great-tasting, healthy vegetarian foods everywhere these days. Whether in your local supermarket or just walking along a street at lunchtime. The internet has a lot of resources if you want inspiration in the kitchen. You can find culinary tips and great recipes at your local bookstore. If you are eating out, you’ll find that most fast food and fast-casual restaurants include healthful and inventive vegetable-based diets on their menus.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_13_14/obesity_child_13_14.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca