What Is Vegetarianism

What is vegetarianism?

Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat or some animal products, depending on the degree of vegetarianism. There are various types of vegetarianism, each with its own benefits, but also its own difficulties. The first of the three main types, and most common, is Ovo-lacto. Ovo-lacto vegetarians eat no meat (red meat, poultry, or seafood), but do eat eggs and dairy products. The second type is Lacto. Lacto vegetarians do not eat meat or eggs, but do eat dairy products. The last, and strictest, of the types is vegans. Vegans do not eat meat, eggs, dairy products, foods containing animal by-products, or even honey. Vegans oftentimes do not even use products such as leather, angora, wool, silk, or any product tested on animals. Besides the three main types, there are also people who choose not to eat red meat, but do eat poultry and seafood. There are also a few offshoots of vegetarianism, such as raw/living foodists and fruitatarians. Why Vegetarianism? There are several reasons why people choose to become vegetarians. A few of the more common reasons are the health benefits, the terrible treatment of livestock animals, and harm to the environment. Health benefits of vegetarianism are tremendous. A vegetarian diet will help prevent cancer, prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure, and prevent or even reverse diabetes. Eating less meat reduces your risk of a heart attack by 50%, and a vegan diet reduces the risk by 90%. A vegetarian diet also reduces the risk of E-coli. Diseases and bacteria often slip through meat inspection. Nine thousand US citizens become ill each year from contaminated meat.

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(b)Discuss the factors that affect the consumption of vegetarian food

Why Vegetarian? The Cancer Colossus

One in four Americans is killed by cancer, the out-of-control derangement and growth of cells within the body.

What might seem an illogical rebellion of bodily processes is not entirely random, however, and is often brought on by the consumption of an unhealthy diet. Although it affects different types of cancers at different rates, your chance of developing cancer is definitely increased if you eat meat.

Studies in England and Germany have shown that a vegetarian is approximately 40 percent less likely to develop cancer than a meat eater (3, 4, 5).

In part because it has no fiber, meat crawls through the digestive system and quickly starts to rot in the dark, fetid interior of the body. It's no surprise, then, that Harvard studies including tens of thousands of men and women have shown regular meat consumption increases colon cancer risk by about 300 percent (1, 2).

In countries that eat a primarily vegetarian diet, breast cancer risk is significantly reduced (7). In Japan, which historically ate a primarily-vegetarian diet, women who have switched to a heavy-meat diet are eight times more likely to develop breast cancer than those who follow the traditional Japanese plant-based diet (8).

Part of vegetarians' reduced risk may stem from the fact that they have a higher number of a specialized type of white blood cell, usually called, "natural killer cells," which hunt down and destroy cancer cells (6).

Why vegetarian? Because it keeps your body from going haywire.

Why Vegetarian?

Because It Keeps Your Blood Pressure Low

High blood pressure is dangerous, and it increases your risk of a heart attack and stroke, among other problems.

Fortunately, vegetarians tend to have much low blood pressure considered in the healthy range (12, 13, 14).

Why? No one is sure, but researchers theorize that without the added fat from meat and other animal products, the blood's viscosity (thickness) is reduced, which brings down blood pressure. Plant foods are generally lower in fat and sodium and have no cholesterol at all. Vegetables and fruits are also rich in potassium, which helps lower blood pressure.

If you cut out meat and replace those calories with fruits and vegetables, you'll live a lot longer. On the other hand, the more meat you eat the quicker you'll age. Check out the Eskimos, for instance.

Why Vegetarian?

Because You Can Get Everything Your Body Needs From Plants.

There isn't a single nutrient required for our health that can't easily be obtained from plant foods.

Protein?

Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, can be synthesized by the body or ingested from food. Of the 20 amino acids in food, the body can make use of 11.

The 9 essential amino acids, which cannot be produced by the body, must be obtained from food. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds provide all of them, and protein combining is not necessary (11).

Learn more about protein here.

Vitamins and Minerals?

Fruits and are the best source of vitamins, and vegetables are the best source of minerals.

In terms of quality and quantity, they leave animal foods in the dust.

B12?

Vitamin B12 is a complicated subject, but it's clear that a lack of animal foods does not necessarily bring about B12 deficiency.

Among the general US population (who eat a diet rich in animal foods), 39 percent had levels that were considered to be low in B12 according to one study of 3,000 (22).

It's likely that B12 deficiency is as much an issue of absorption as intake. Learn more about B12 here.

If you're still concerned, just take a B12 supplement.

Calcium?

Many people wonder if they can get enough calcium for strong bones without meat and dairy foods. The answer is unequivocally yes. In fact, those who eat the most meat are the ones with the most bone breakage.

Take the Eskimos, who,