The Physical Advantages of Being Vegetarian
Before I begin to discuss the physical advantages of being vegetarian, I would like to describe the different types of vegetarians.
LACTO-OVO
VEGETARIAN:
Eats no meat, poultry, or fish, but includes dairy products and eggs in the
diet along with plant-based foods.
LACTO
VEGETARIAN:
Excludes all animal products except dairy products. Includes all plant-based
foods in the diet.
OVO
VEGETARIAN:
Excludes all animal products except eggs. Includes all plant-based foods in the
diet.
VEGAN
OR PURE VEGETARIAN: Vegan is pronounced "vee gun." Some people distinguish
between vegan and pure vegetarian, considering the pure vegetarian one who eats
no animal flesh, no dairy products, or no eggs, and follows a strict
plant-based diet for dietary reasons only. While vegans follow a diet
consisting of plant-based foods only, some are further committed to a
philosophy that respects animal life and the ecology of the planet. As a
result, vegans also do not eat honey because many bees are killed in the
process of forced procreation to maintain the beehive and the continued
production of honey. Vegans do not eat sugar, because sugar is clarified over
animal bones in the final steps of refining the sugar. Vegans also avoid
gelatin, which is made from the bones, skin, and connective tissue of animals.
Because
vegans consider the ecology of the planet a priority along with concern for
animal rights, they shun the use of leather, wool, silk, goose down, and any
foods or goods that have been processed using animal products. Their concern is
that the planet's future resources have been harmed and animals have suffered
in order for these products to come to market.
FRUITARIAN: The fruitarian has a
simpler diet consisting only of fresh fruits and some vining foods that are
technically considered fruits, but have been used as vegetables. These
vegetable/fruits include cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados.
RAW
FOODIST:
Those who follow the raw food diet include all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds,
and soaked and sprouted grains and legumes. Further, the raw foodist does not
cook or heat the foods, but eats them only in their natural, raw state in order
to preserve their valuable enzymes.
LIVING
FOODS DIET:
Those who follow the living foods diet include a broad variety of fresh fruits,
vegetables, nuts, and seeds, soaked and sprouted grains and legumes. In
addition, they will warm some of their foods in a dehydrator with a temperature
regulator. In order to preserve the valuable enzymes that raw foods contain,
some foods can be warmed to temperatures no higher than 105 degrees, while
others will tolerate a little higher heat at 115 degrees.
I
am a vegan, however, I wear leather and will eat things with honey in
them. Ironically, I rarely advocate
people to become vegan. Regardless if one is a vegan or vegetarian avoiding the consumption of meat provides excellent physical benefits. Vegetarian diets low in fat or saturated
fat have been used successfully as part of comprehensive health programs to
reverse severe coronary artery disease. Vegetarian diets offers protections from disease because of their lower saturated fat, cholesterol, and
animal protein content and often higher concentration of foliate (which reduces
serum homocysteine levels, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotenoids,
and phytochemicals.) Not only is mortality from coronary artery disease lower in
vegetarians than in nonvegetarians , but vegetarian diets have also been
successful in curing coronary artery disease. Total serum cholesterol and
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are usually lower in vegetarians,
but high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels vary depending
on the type of vegetarian diet followed.
Vegetarians
tend to have a lower incidence of hypertension than nonvegetarians. This effect
appears to be independent of both body weight and sodium intake. Type 2
diabetes mellitus is much less likely to be a cause of death in vegetarians
than nonvegetarians, perhaps because of their higher intake of complex
carbohydrates and lower body mass index.
Incidence
of lung and colorectal cancer is lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians
Reduced colorectal cancer risk is associated with increased consumption of
fiber, vegetables, and fruit. The environment of the colon differs notably in
vegetarians compared with nonvegetarians in ways that could favorably affect
colon cancer risk. Lower breast cancer rates have not been observed in Western
vegetarians, but cross-cultural data indicate that breast cancer rates are
lower in populations that consume plant-based diets. The lower estrogen levels
in vegetarian women provides higher benefits.
A
well-planned vegetarian diet may be useful in the prevention and treatment of
renal disease. Studies using human being and animal models suggest that some
plant proteins may increase survival rates and decrease proteinuria, glomerular
filtration rate, renal blood flow and histologic renal damage compared with a
non-vegetarian diet.
Plant
sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of essential amino acids
if a variety of plant foods are consumed and energy needs are met. Research
suggests that complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the same
time and that consumption of various sources of amino acids over the course of
the day should ensure adequate nitrogen retention in healthy persons.
Although vegetarian diets are lower in total protein and a vegetarian's protein
needs may be somewhat elevated because of the lower quality of some plant
proteins, protein intake in both lacto-ovo-vegetarians and vegans appears to be
adequate.
One
of my favorite benefits of having a vegetarian diet is that there is no
cholesterol in any vegetable source of food. Even peanuts are rich in fat but
have zero cholesterol. Coconuts are very rich in fat but no cholesterol. Any
animal product has tremendous amounts of cholesterol. But our body does not
really need the intake of cholesterol (LDL). Our liver produces healthy
cholesterol (HDL). High cholesterol deposits in the body cause gallstones, gall
bladder problems, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle, tendon and joint problems (not
to mention heart-related diseases). When children are given cholesterol they become hyperactive or lazy; they
get cancer, obesity, nervous and irritable at a younger age. It has been
researched that you don't need anything more than fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates to
provide all the nutrients in a perfect diet. If you eat three different types
or varieties of complex carbohydrates per day you can get all the amino acids.
There
are many physical disadvantages to eating meat. Some of these disadvantages
are:
1.
A meat-eater not only takes in the animal cells and fats, etc. but also the
waste products, e.g. chemically treated food fed to the animals, drugs injected
into the animal in the slaughter house, intoxicants, coloring and
tenderizers sprayed on the dead animal by the market suppliers. By the way,
hamburgers are made from Cow with the four D’s (Dead, Dying, Disabled, or
Diseased) This is why so many children and young adults have died from eating
hamburgers.
2.
It is also suspected that meat-eaters are prime candidates for degenerative
diseases such as high blood pressure, arthritis, gout, etc. Meat is one of the major sources of
internal pollution. When an animal is slaughtered, un-eliminated waste products
remain in the tissue of the animal which often give the meat its stimulating
flavor. Uric acid and adrenaline are secreted into the bloodstream, muscles of animals and stored. The fear and struggle to escape death
stimulates the secretion of hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine. Most animals (especially cows) are injected with
steroids before they are slaughtered. No edible plant product has similar toxicity. The human body has to
work 15 times more to get rid of these toxin.
3.A
parasite known for inducing miscarriage, blindness, jaundice and
nervous disorders in newborn babies was found in samples of animal meat from
abattoirs and markets (particularly in third world countries). An article in the
German Bunte magazine, entitled 'Karnka von Tiere' (Diseases from Animal)
pointed out the diseases that arise from consumption of meat, apart from the
reckless wastage of precious land and natural resources for livestock breeding.
The article also emphasized on the benefits
of meatless diet and the current trend towards vegetarianism by an increasing
number of Germans and other Europeans, especially amongst the younger
generation. As a result of overall concern for health, meat consumption
in the west is declining. According to the Vegetarian society in UK, 9% of the
population in UK and US are complete vegetarians with the number constantly
increasing.
4.To
preserve fish and prawns and other crustaceans, boric acid is widely used by
food manufacturers. It attacks the liver and the brain, causing fits and coma
before the victim dies of liver damage. Fruits and vegetables, however heavily
sprayed, don't grow hormones, antibiotics and other drugs common in meat
products.
5.Pigs
carry trichinosis bacteria that cling to the walls of the stomach and
intestines, which can be fatal. Beef and pork are highly acid forming and
release into the blood-stream toxic poisons and microbes. But the WBC in blood
may not be sufficient to destroy these microbes and so the toxic reactions set
in.
Dr.
Gary Fraser a Professor of Epidemiology at Loma Linda University affirms that
fruit, vegetables and fiber protect one against heart diseases. It has been
clinically tested that because of less fat and zero cholesterol, vegetarian
diets are much better. So, when you try a vegetarian diet, you will find
yourself light, relaxed and spiritualized. Remember that you are what you eat. The food taken into your body is what gradually but
surely forms your thought-patterns. Your thoughts, both conscious and
subconscious are in total control of your body's health or lack of it. So keep this motto in mind................Choose health by choosing vegetarianism!
Part Two
The correlation between meats, diseases and obesity