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Why Should I Become a Vegetarian?
Welcome to the Vegetarian World! Vegans are frequently misunderstood as unconventional eaters with an unnatural passion for Earth’s natural resources and are ethically opposed to eating them. While many vegans do feel passionately about animals, it’s time for others to see how a vegetarian or vegan diet and lifestyle, go way beyond animal rights. Following a healthy, balanced vegan diet ensures a host of health benefits as well as prevention of some of the major diseases striking people in the modern era. So if you’ve been toying with the idea of going vegetarian, then let the following lists inform and inspire!
Nutritionists’ Favorite!
Majority of nutritional benefits come from a vegetarian diet full of foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, milk and milk products, and soy products. A balanced vegetarian meal consisting of healthy fats (unsaturated fats), carbohydrates, high fiber, essential vitamins, and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus and calcium can add immense nutritive value to your diet. The quality and quantity of all essential nutrients is much better as compared to processed meat and chemically treated.
Healthy Heart – Happy Heart!
Vegetarian diets are naturally lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in plant nutrients than most meat-based diets. Vegetarians have been shown to have a 24% lower risk of dying of heart disease than non-vegetarians. There are numerous researches available that shown high consumption of red meat may increase the risk of heart disease by 50% amongst diabetics. A low-fat vegetarian diet is the single most effective way to stop the progression of coronary artery disease or prevent it entirely. Cardiac patients moving on to a vegetarian diet have also found to reverse the critical coronary heart conditions in various researches.
Cancer Alert!
Vegetarians are about 40% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters are. In every bite, a typical beef-pork hotdog contains seven cancer-causing pesticides, and a quarter pound burger contains three cancer-causing substances. The primary source of nuclear radiation contamination in humans is from beef and dairy products. Various researches have linked meat consumption to breast, colon, prostate, pancreatic, and gastric cancers as well. Studies done at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg suggest that a vegetarian’s immune system is more effective in killing tumor cells than meat eaters.
Live Strong! Live Long!
Switch on to a healthy and rich vegetarian diet today to add another 6-13 years to your life span! People who consume meat and meat products have a shorter life span as they are more prone to illnesses and toxins. They also tend to have more disability at the end of their lives. Meat foods rich in saturated fats clog your arteries, lower your energy and slow down your immune system. Meat eaters also experience accelerated cognitive and sexual dysfunction at a younger age.
Perfect Abs and a Glowing You – Inside Out!
The meat and weight relationship goes beyond the calorie math. A study from Imperial College, London found that those who ate about 250 grams of red meat, poultry, or processed meat in a day gained more weight over five years than those who ate less meat, even if they consumed the same amount of calories overall. It is also a known fact that the BMI of non-vegetarians is higher than that of vegetarians because of the high fiber and less saturated fat content of vegetarian foods.
As a vegetarian, you tend to eat a lot more fruits, vegetables and whole grains that are packed with antioxidants. This helps neutralize the free radicals that cause spots and wrinkles. This can literally create a healthy glow, since antioxidants improve circulation and alter skin pigmentation.
Go Green! Spare the Fauna!
Ten billion animals are slaughtered for human consumption each year. Unlike the old times, today most animals are factory farmed, crammed into cages where they can barely move and fed a diet tainted with pesticides and antibiotics. Eating a plant-based meal for lunch instead of meat saves 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, 133 gallons of water, and 24 sq. ft. of land, according to research reports. Therefore, in three meals, you will have saved more water than you will save by switching to a low-flow shower-head. A vegetarian lifestyle awakens our spirit of compassion and guides us towards a kinder, gentler society in which we exercise a moral choice to protect animals—not exploit them.
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