Vegetarian Diets: what are the Advantages?

Introduction

Background: Nowadays there are no longer abnormal to hear or find someone is a vegetarian. And more and more vegetarian hold together to call out that being a vegetarian is of great benefit. Therefore, many people adopt to a vegetarian diet. In this essay, I want to figure out why they choose to be a vegetarian, and what benefit can being a vegetarian bring. The essay is consist of three parts: what is vegetarian, why people choose to be a vegetarian, and the advantages of Vegetarian Diets.

When it goes to vegetarian, most of us may think: oh, strange people that only eat vegetable. However, that is not the case. There are many types of vegetarian. Beardsworth and Keil (1991b, 1992) have proposed that vegetarianism is better measured as a continuum of categories, measuring the progressive degree to which animal foods are avoided. At one end of the spectrum are Type I vegetarians, those who consider themselves vegetarian, yet occasionally eat red meat or poultry. Type II vegetarians avoid consuming meat and poultry, Type III vegetarians also avoid fish, Type IV also exclude eggs, and Type V exclude dairy products produced with rennet. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Type VI vegetarians, or vegans, who consume only vegetable-derived foods, avoiding all animal-derived food products [1].

Generally speaking, vegetarian diets provide relatively large amounts of cereals, pulses, nuts, fruits and vegetables. In terms of nutrients, vegetarian diets are usually rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and low in protein, saturated fat, vitamin B12; vegans may have particularly low intakes of vitamin B12 and low intakes of Ca [2].

The reason why people choose to be a vegetarian vary a lot, for example, for healthy consideration, because of religion belief, or performance ethics, economical causes, animal rights and so on [3]. There is often more than one reason why people switch to vegetarians.

Being a vegetarian brings several advantages that being a meat eater can't have. The first advantage is that vegetarians can be healthier. Studies of vegetarians and vegans have shown that on average they have a relatively low BMI and a low plasma cholesterol concentration; recent studies have also shown higher plasma homocysteine concentrations than in non-vegetarians. Overall, the data suggest that the health of Western vegetarians is good and similar to that of comparable non-vegetarians [2].

The second is that vegetarians can be more beautiful. The use of vegetarian methods to lose weight is quite effective. Vegetarian food can make the blood slightly alkaline and promote metabolic activities, thus burning off the fat and sugar accumulated in the body to achieve the purpose of natural weight loss. Keeping vegetarianism help organs work actively, and the skin can be tender and smoother. It is said that vegetarian is a kind of beauty method from inside to outside.

The third is that vegetarians can be more focused and clever. It is not a joke, it has been proved by scientific evidence. Because gluten is the mainly nutrients that make the brain cells active, followed by vitamin B, while vegetables such as cereals and beans are rich of gluten and vitamin B as are mentioned above. Taking energy from these things three meals a day can enhance people's wisdom and judgment, making it easy to relax and increase concentration.

Finally, it's ecological. The land needed to produce a pound of beef can produce ten pounds of vegetative protein. Although an individual switching to a vegetarian diet is of little help, everything starts with ourselves, and every little drop counts.

However, vegetarian is just a life style that we are not so familiar to. Before we adopt to vegetarianism, we should think it over, seriously and carefully, reminding ourselves that not everyone suits for vegetarianism.

References list

[1] Matthew B., Vegetarianism. A blossoming field of study (2012) Appetite 58,141“150

[2] Timothy J. Key*, Paul N. Appleby and Magdalena S. Rosell, Health effects of vegetarian and vegan diets (2006). Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 65, 35“41

[3] Claus Leitzmann, Vegetarian Diets: What Are the Advantages? (2005) Elmadfa I (ed): Diet Diversification and Health Promotion. Forum Nutr. Basel, Karger, vol 57, p 147“156

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