Do you know that apart from the ethical and environmental benefits of cutting meat from your diet, a well-planned vegetarian diet may also reduce your risk of chronic disease, support weight loss and improve the quality of your diet.
This article provides the impact of a vegetarian diet, including a sample meal plan for one week.
What Is A Vegetarian Diet?.
The vegetarian diet involves abstaining from eating meat, fish and poultry.
People often adopt a vegetarian diet for religious or personal reasons, as well as ethical issues, such as animal rights.
Others decide to become vegetarian for environmental reasons, as livestock production increases greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to climate change and requires large amounts of water, energy and natural resources.
There are several forms of vegetarianism, each of which differs in their restrictions.
The most common types include:
- Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet: Eliminates meat, fish and poultry but allows eggs and dairy products.
- Lacto-vegetarian diet: Eliminates meat, fish, poultry and eggs but allows diary products.
- Ovo-vegetarian diet: Eliminates meat, fish, poultry and dairy products but allows eggs.
- Pescetarian diet: Eliminates meat and poultry but allows fish and sometimes eggs and dairy products.
- Vegan diet: Eliminates meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products, as well as other animal-derived products, such as honey.
- Flexitarian diet:A mostly vegetarian diet that incorporates occasional meat, fish or poultry.
What are the health benefits?.
Vegetarian diets are associated with a number of health benefits. In fact, studies show that vegetarians tend to have better diet quality than meat-eaters and a higher intake of important nutrients like fiber, vitamin C, vitamin E and magnesium.
A vegetarian diet provides several other health boosts as well, among which are;
1. May Enhance Weight Loss.
Switching to a vegetarian diet can be an effective strategy if you’re looking to lose weight.
In fact, one review of 12 studies noted that vegetarians, on average, experienced 4.5 more pounds (2 kg) of weight loss over 18 weeks than non-vegetarians
Similarly, a six-month study in 74 people with type 2 diabetes demonstrated that vegetarian diets were nearly twice as effective at reducing body weight than low-calorie diets.
Plus, a study in nearly 61,000 adults showed that vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than omnivores — BMI being a measurement of body fat based on height and weight.
2. May Reduce Cancer Risk.
Some research suggests that a vegetarian diet may be linked to a lower risk of cancer— including those of the breast, colon, rectum and stomach.
however, current research is limited to observational studies, which cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Keep in mind that some studies have turned up inconsistent findings.
Therefore, more research is needed to understand how vegetarianism may impact cancer risk. some research suggests that a vegetarian diet may be linked to a lower risk of cancer— including those of the breast, colon, rectum and stomach
3. May Stabilize Blood Sugar.
Several studies indicate that vegetarian diets may help maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
For instance, one review of six studies linked vegetarianism to improved blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes.
Vegetarian diets may also prevent diabetes by stabilizing blood sugar levels in the long term.
According to one study in 2,918 people, switching from a non-vegetarian to a vegetarian diet was associated with a 53% reduced risk of diabetes over an average of five years.
4. Promotes Heart Health.
Vegetarian diets reduce several heart disease risk factors to help keep your heart healthy and strong.
One study in 76 people tied vegetarian diets to lower levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol — all of which are risk factors for heart disease when elevated.
Similarly, another recent study in 118 people found that a low calorie vegetarian diet was more effective at reducing “bad” LDL cholesterol than a Mediterranean diet. Other research indicates that vegetarianism may be associated with lower blood pressure levels. High blood pressure is another key risk factor for heart disease.
5. Weight.
Switching to a vegetarian diet may help a person lose weight, at least in the short-term, according to a 2016 meta-analysis Scientists need to carry out longer term controlled studies to understand how a vegetarian diet might affect weight.
6. Cholesterol.
A systematic review published in 2015 concluded that people who follow a vegetarian diet are likely to have lower overall cholesterol levels.
7. Reduces risk of stroke and obesity
The vegetarians tend to be much more conscious in their food choices and usually never overeat or pick foods based on emotions; two practices that greatly contribute to obesity. The University Hospital Ghent Department of Pediatrics in Belgium says adopting a vegan diet is a good way to minimize your chances of having a stroke or being obese.
8. Reduces risk of diabetes
Non-vegetarians usually experience extreme levels of blood sugar, sometimes very high, just after consumption. This can be avoided and a constant flow of blood sugar can be maintained if the nonvegetarians swap over to a vegetarian diet. A healthy vegetarian diet is easy to absorb, is nutritious and contains less fatty acids.
9. Gives healthy skin.
If you wish to have healthy skin then you need to eat the right amount of vitamins and minerals with plenty of water. Fruits and vegetables that we eat are very rich in vitamins, minerals and also have sufficient antioxidants. Moreover, as they are water based, if you eat them raw it can further improve the intake of healthy nutrients. Many vegetarian foods also are rich sources of antioxidants that help you stay disease free, with healthier skin.
10. High fiber content.
Fruits and Vegetables also contain high fiber content, which is necessary for proper digestion. It helps improve body metabolism and helps in fast elimination of toxins and other chemicals from the body. Vegetarian foods are usually water-based, which helps in maintaining the required liquids in the body.
11. Increases lifespan.
Though there are many factors that would attribute to an increased lifetime and adopting a vegetarian diet is one factor you can follow. The more you eat fruits or vegetables, the lesser is the toxin and chemical build up in your body, thus facilitating more healthy years and a longer lifespan.
To Conclude.
vegetarian foods have a lot more benefits than we have actually discussed in this article. Also, our intention is not to discourage or disrespect the non vegetarians. Vegetarian foods has its own benefits and non vegetarians have its own.
In addition to the health benefits, experts say a plant-based diet is more sustainable, as it causes less harm to the environment than a meat-based diet.
Adopting a vegetarian dietcan be the perfect way to stay healthyand happy. A vegetarian diet is a complete diet, which is associated with high consumption of fiber, vitamins C and E, folic acid, magnesium, unsaturated fat, and numerous phytochemicals. And this is why vegetarians have lower cholesterol, low blood pressure and reduced risk of heart diseases.
In addition, vegetarian food is easy for the body to digest, takes lesser time to cook, is healthy and most importantly saves your money. Vegetables are vital not just for our healthy living but for the environment too.
