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Why People
Become Vegetarians
Many nonvegetarians wonder what drives vegetarians to give
up meat and adopt an entirely different lifestyle.
There is no single answer to this question. Nonvegetarians
become vegetarians for a number of different reasons - some
even for multiple reasons.
Most vegetarians claim that they became a vegetarian for
one of three reasons.
The first reason, which most vegetarians claim, is that
they have ethical problems with eating meat. Most disagree
with how chickens are debeaked, forced to live in small
cages, and are then slaughtered when they do not produce
eggs fast enough.
Most vegetarians also disagree with the crowded and
stressful environments animals are forced into; and
the hormone-laden feed used to make them grow faster
and produce more.
People who become vegetarians for this purpose often
draw ethical boundaries in different spots, depending on
their personal beliefs. For instance, some staunch vegans
wont consume yeast, wear wool, or even eat certain
vegetables, such as carrots, that require killing the
plant to harvest.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, some vegetarians--
sometimes referred to as pseudo-vegetarians--will actually
eat fish and chicken on a regular basis.
The second biggest reason vegetarians claim for not eating
meat is that it conflicts with their dietary preferences.
Some of these vegetarians simply do not like the texture
and taste of meat; others do not eat it because it is high
in cholesterol and often contains high concentrations
of hormones and preservatives.
The third and smallest group of vegetarians cite
environmental reasons for not consuming meat. They complain
that consumption of meat causes farmers to continually
deforest land to create grazing land for cattle.
In addition to these three major groups, there are a number
of other smaller groups of vegetarians who stopped eating
meat for entirely different reasons.
Three
Health Advantages Of A Vegetarian Diet
While many people lament the nutritional disadvantages
of a poorly planned vegetarian diet, few stress the
health advantages of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
In this article, I will cover the major three nutritional
advantages of becoming a vegetarian.
The first major advantage of a vegetarian diet is
increased heart health. Vegetarians, on average, consume
more nuts (often as a supplemental form of protein). Nuts
contain "good" fats, such as omega-3 and omega-6. This
promotes good heart health by reducing "bad" cholesterol
and unclogging arteries.
In addition to nuts, vegetarians also consume more soy
milk (often to replace milk), which reduces "bad"
cholesterol and has been linked to good heart health.
The second major advantage vegetarians enjoy is increased
skin health. In addition to consuming larger quantities
of nuts (which contain healthful oils), vegetarians tend
to consume more fruit and vegetables, which are rich in
essential vitamins, including A and E, which are linked
to good skin health.
Fruits and vegetables also contain high amounts of fiber,
which helps flush toxins out of the body, further
contributing to better skin health.
The last health advantage vegetarians enjoy is an increased
natural consumption of antioxidants.
Antioxidants are foods that help prevent cancer by
destroying free radicals. Vitamin C and Vitamin E, two
strong antioxidants, are commonly found in vegetarian
meals.
Vitamin C can be found in berries, tomatoes, citrus fruit,
kale, kiwis, asparagus and peppers.
Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ, seed oils, walnuts,
almonds, and brown rice--all foods that are commonly a
part of a well-balanced vegetarian diet.
So what does this all mean for you as a prospective
vegetarian?
It means the popular mythology about vegetarian diets
is false. Not only can a vegetarian diet be nutritionally
sufficient, but it can also affect better skin
health, prevent cancer, and increase your
heart health.
The Top
Five Nutrients Vegetarians Lack
Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets have advantages.
Vegetarian diets tend to be rich in antioxidants, certain
vitamins, and healthy fats. Non-vegetarian diets, by
contrast, tend to contain more protein, iron, zinc,
calcium, and vitamin B-12.
If you already decided to adopt a vegetarian diet,
it is essential you learn how to increase your intake
and absorption of these nutrients to avoid short-term
and long-term health complications.
In the next few paragraphs, I will explain how you
can regularly assimilate larger portions of these
nutrients into your regular diet:
1. Protein. Different types of protein are made up
of different permutations of amino acid chains.
In order to create a "complete protein" or a
protein that can be assimilated into the human
body as tissue, you must consume foods that contain
complementary chains of amino acids.
Wheat, nuts, and beans are three types of vegan-friendly
incomplete proteins; however, wheat is hard to
digest and up to 50% of its protein is lost
during the process.
Isolated soy protein, which you can get from a number
of sources (including soy milk), can be digested
efficiently-enough to match the animal protein yields.
2. Iron. Plant sources contain a significant amount of
iron, but in nonheme form, which is more sensitive
to inhibitors than iron that comes from animal products.
You should do two things to increase your blood-iron
levels: 1) consume more plant iron; and 2) avoid absorption
inhibitors, such as tea, coffee, and fiber.
3. Zinc. Whereas non-vegetarian diets seem to enhance
the absorption of zinc; vegetarian and vegan diets
do the exact opposite--they inhibit it.
Nutritionists suggest that you can overcome
this by consuming more foods that contain zinc,
such as soybeans, cashews, and sunflower
seeds while reducing your intake of inhibitors
by washing vegetables and grains.
4. Calcium. While vegetarians can easily consume
an adequate amount of calcium without any dietary
additions, it is important that vegetarians avoid
consuming certain foods that are high in oxalates,
which inhibit calcium absorption.
Dietitians suggest that vegetarians do not consume
spinach, beet greens, and swiss chard as the
calcium component of a meal plan. While they are
rich in calcium, they also contain high amounts of
oxalates.
Rather than consuming those foods for calcium,
vegetarians should consider other options, such as
soy yogurt, tofu, beans, almonds, and calcium-
fortified foods.
5. Vitamin B-12. Many vegetarians lack
vitamin B-12 simply because it does not exist
naturally in any non-animal forms. Vegetarians
should seek out vitamin B-12 fortified foods,
such as certain soy milks and cereals to
supplement what they lack.
As I outlined, there are a number of nutrients
vegetarians can lack of they do not research
and plan. This is not meant to discourage
people from becoming vegetarians, but instead
to encourage them to spend time planning a
health approach to their vegetarian diet
before starting it.
When planned adequately, a vegetarian diet
can not only make up for what it lacks from
animal products, but it can far exceed
the healthfulness of most non-vegetarian diets.
Important
Non-Meat Sources Of Protein For Vegetarians
Although most vegetarians consume a considerable
amount of protein, they often do not absorb as much
as they would on a nonvegetarian diet. This is because
plant proteins are considerably less digestible than
animal proteins, which contain amino acid chains that
are closer or identical to human amino acid chains.
Consuming animal proteins might yield close to a 1:1
absorption ratio, while consuming plant proteins, such
as wheat, might only yield 50% of the amino acids needed
to build a "complete protein" or a protein that can
readily be assimilated into the human body.
In order for vegetarians to absorb a healthy amount
of protein, they must consume a variety of plant proteins
to form complete amino chains. By eating vegetables,
legumes, seeds, nuts, fruits, and whole grains, vegetarians
can increase the amount of complete proteins they create
by combining a number of varieties of amino acid chains.
Vegetarians must also consume more foods that contain
proteins because plant proteins are generally
harder to digest. While a nutritional label may suggest
that pasta has 5 grams of protein per serving; you may
only be able to digest 2-3 grams of that protein, which
means you must complement the pasta with other sources
of protein.
In addition to natural sources of protein, vegetarians
should also seek foods that are "protein-fortified"--
or artificially-infused with protein.
For example, many supermarkets offer a variety
"protein-fortified" pasta and bread. I have seen pasta
that contains as much as 12 grams of protein per serving.
Soy milk is also a good source of protein for vegetarians.
Studies on isolated soy protein show that it can be
absorbed nearly as well as animal proteins, yielding close
to a 1:1 protein absorption ratio.
For non-vegan vegetarians, yogurt, milk, and
eggs (which contain complete proteins) are all
excellent sources of protein.
As a vegetarian you have a number of options to
boost your protein intake - and you should consider
taking advantage of all of them. You should diversify
your food selections, drink more soy products, and
eat "protein-fortified" breads and pasta.
Eating A
Healthful Vegetarian Diet
Many people start vegetarian and vegan diets without
devoting an adequate amount of time to nutritional
research and meal planning. As a result, a considerable
amount of people who start vegetarian diets do not last
for more than 1-2 months.
Many dieters who fail to carefully research and plan
complain that they lack energy - and often experience
a significant loss in muscle mass. Others observe a
number of other more peripheral problems that come with a
poorly-planned vegetarian diet.
The first group--the group that most failed dieters fall
into--is actually experiencing a form of protein-energy
malnutrition (PEM). PEM emerges when a person fails to
consume enough protein, leading to muscle loss - and
subsequently feelings of weakness that are often
accompanied by head and muscle aches.
This problem can be circumvented by dietary alterations.
A vegetarian who is experiencing PEM should either a) find
out what foods contain what amino chains, so they can
combine them to form proteins; or b) start consuming
larger amounts and more diversified sources of protein,
such as nuts, soy milk, and yogurt.
The first group is often iron-deficient as well. Because
vegetarians can only consume nonheme iron, which
is more sensitive to iron inhibitors, they often do
not consume enough to maintain healthy blood-iron
levels. This can cause pervasive weakness and
even anemia.
Most nutritionists suggest that vegetarian and vegan
dieters consume roughly twice the recommended amount
of iron while greatly reducing their consumption of iron
inhibitors.
People in the second group--the smaller one--who suffer
from a range of other peripheral, diet-related problems are
often not consuming enough of the nutrients that they would
normally take in unknowingly on a diet that includes meat
and dairy products. These nutrients include, for example,
zinc, calcium, vitamin b, and riboflavin.
Some recent studies have suggested that vegetarians
also process certain types of foods with less
efficiency because they consume different amounts
and varieties of absorption inhibitors and enhancers.
Recent studies also suggest, however, that
a vegetarian or vegan diet, when done right, is
not only as healthful as a non-vegetarian diet, but it
is also much more heart-healthy - and usually
contains higher amounts of antioxidants.
What does this all mean for you as a prospective
vegetarian? It means that eating a healthful vegetarian
diet is not only a good alternative to your current diet,
but it can also lower your chances of getting heart
disease and cancer.
However, in order to eat a HEALTHFUL vegetarian diet,
you must actually put in the time to research and plan;
if you don’t, you most certainly will end up in one of the
two groups discussed above. |
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