1. Intro
A vegan diet is said to be one that minimizes the consumption of animal products but leaves out grains and sugars. Vegetarians eat a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts.
In this article, I explore the benefits of going all out vegetarian rather than sticking to the traditional diet of meat and vegetables.
There are many reasons for choosing to go vegetarian. One is that it is a healthier way to eat for several reasons: it cuts down on the number of meat people consume as well as the number of dairy products people consume; it helps levels of cholesterol in people who are already at high risk for heart disease, and it has been shown to reduce diabetes risk by lowering sugar levels in people at high risk.
I have found that my own health is improved by choosing a healthy diet with little or no meat consumption but with plenty of fruit, greens, nuts, and beans.
2. The Switch to Vegetarian
Many people are concerned about the amount of cholesterol and saturated fats in our diets. There is a growing body of scientific knowledge that proves the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Many studies have been conducted on the subject, and they show that a vegetarian diet can reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
How much cholesterol and saturated fat? That’s just a small part of the story. There is additional confusion regarding how cancer develops in humans, which we will discuss in another article.
A study published back in 2012 titled “Meat Consumption and Risk for Lung Cancer” found that people who ate more red meat had about five times more chances to develop lung cancer than those who consumed less red meat. The reason for this phenomenon is not clear, but the study did point out that red meat was responsible for 13 percent of all lung cancer cases worldwide (less than cigarettes). However, it also pointed out that eating beef was only one cause behind lung cancer diagnosis – smoking was also responsible for 18 percent of all cases worldwide.)
Another theory is that animal products contain high levels of saturated fat (the same kind found in butter) which has been linked to a higher likelihood for coronary artery disease (CAD) as well as an increased risk for breast tumors. It has also been noted by researchers at Harvard University who studied 2,000 subjects over a period of eight years; the subjects were given information about what foods contained good or bad cholesterol along with dietary advice encouraging them to lower their intake of saturated fat from animal products such as butter and cheese.
The bottom line is simply to make your own decisions based on your own needs and preferences. If you don’t have time to go veg then give it time to read up on various studies before you make up your mind.
3. Surprising Benefits of Going Veg
From a biological perspective, vegans are much healthier than meat-eaters. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of plant foods are made out of only one carbon compound: carbon. However, despite all this, vegans have other reasons to think about food from a different perspective.
Vegetarians have lower body mass index and body fat percentages, which makes them more attractive to men than meat-eaters. According to a study published in the journal Bioscience in 2007, males who were Lacto-ovo vegetarians did not differ significantly from women who were vegans in terms of sexual attractiveness.
Women who ate a vegan diet were also more likely to be married and less likely to be divorced than their meat-eating counterparts by 18 years old.
Long-term studies have also found that vegetarians tend to live longer than meat-eaters because they don’t need to rely on animal sources of protein as much as carnivores do. Animal proteins are often higher in calories and saturated fats and can contribute to heart disease. Vegetarians do not need animal proteins either because plant proteins do not contain cholesterol or saturated fat.
Vegans also tend not to gain weight as fast as their nonvegetarian counterparts so they stay active for longer periods of time after becoming vegan and don’t face any health risks associated with poor nutrition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
To conclude, vegans are healthier than nonvegetarians because they lead an active lifestyle and don’t suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure.
4. Final Notes
As a whole, people say that vegan diets are healthier than non-vegan diets. But this is not true.
Given that there are over 600 known nutrients in the human body, it is important to examine those nutrients and their role in health, disease prevention, and quality of life. A study published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases quantified the effect of different types of diets on several clinical parameters, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The results showed that a vegetarian diet significantly lowered blood pressure. In addition to lowering blood pressure, vegetarian diets also reduced cholesterol levels; however, the reduction was not as significant as observed among vegetarians who substituted meat with fish or poultry dishes.
This study further substantiated a prior study published in 2007, which had shown similar significant benefits for blood pressure and cholesterol levels for vegans and omnivores alike.
