What specific health reasons are you talking about, becoming a vegan/vegetarian?
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Yosh asked:
I’ve been looking all over the board, finding answers about becoming vegan or vegetarian due to many factors including “health reasons”.
I’ve been looking all over the board, finding answers about becoming vegan or vegetarian due to many factors including “health reasons”.
What are these “health reasons” specifically?
Is it just meat allergies?
Or is it another way of saying that you chose this lifestyle to eat healthier without the dependence on meat/animal products?
Forex Trading
November 15th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Vegans are 10x less likely to be obese that meat eaters. It is only 3x less for vegetarian
Longevity
It is said that vegetarians & vegans can live for around 4 to 10 years longer than people who consume non-vegetarian foods. Vegetarian Adventists are expected to live upto 12 years longer. Adventists in general have an advantage over the others mainly because they eat more fruits and vegetables.
Less Heart Diseases
Because of low fat content, saturated fat and cholesterol content in vegetarian & vegan diet the risk of heart disease is lowered. High blood cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of heart disease. Vegetarians & vegans only have half the risk of dying with a heart attack.
Less Cancer
It is believed that around 40% of all cancers are related to the diet. Cancer death rates are also linked to obesity and high-fat/low-fiber diets. Lowfat diets protect against prostate and breast cancer. Vegetarian & vegan foods are known for their low amounts of fat.
Less Obesity
It is much easier to plan a low cal diet for vegetarians. The fiber in plant foods is converted to energy and provides a good meal without many calories. Obesity usually causes Diabetes after the age of 40.
Less Hypertension
There are many factors for causes of high blood pressure, but 30-40% of the people are sodium sensitive and should be following a lower sodium diet. Vegetarian & vegan foods are known for their low sodium content.
More Endurance
Many of us think that meat helps in forming more muscles. But now it has been proved that the best sources of food for endurance exercise are carbohydrate foods. Vegetarians & vegans thus enjoy greater strengths of endurance than meat eaters.
There is no longer any doubt about the fact that eating meat is bad for your health.
The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters, looks like the index of a medical textbook.
Anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are just some of the well known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians & vegans.
Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption.
Those who still eat beef are, in my view, foolishly exposing themselves to the risk of contracting the horrifying human version of Mad Cow Disease.
Meat contains absolutely nothing – no protein, vitamins or minerals – that your body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a vegetarian or vegan diet.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:58 am
cherry, that was a little long winded…all you had to say was look at Tobey Maguire…the guy that plays Spider-man..Vegan…and he looks delicious! it can be done and he is proof that it can be done well.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:03 am
I switched because I had gallbladder problems that were exacerbated by meat. I haven’t had any attacks since I quit eating meat and eggs. Quite frankly, I miss the taste of meat and sometimes I wish I could have a steak, but I prefer being healthy and not being in pain.
Most people who have gallbladder, liver, or any GI problem are encouraged to completely eliminate meat and stick to a lower protein low fat diet.
People with gout and kidney problems do much better when they completely eliminate proteins from meat, and stick to low protein vegetarian meals.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Meat and dairy contains a lot of cholesterol, while it can be good in moderation its better when you don’t consume it at all. Which lowers obesity, heart disease, and thus strokes and heart attack.
Plus a lot of foods with meat, plus those without meat and instead loaded with cheese contain so much fat. While a vegan diet includes less processed foods (since a lot are made with milk or eggs) and more fresh veggies and homemade meals that can cut out saturated fats and unneeded calories.
Plus EXTRA did an article on how its the healthiest choice, vegan I mean :
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
The lowest fat animal foods are still many times higher in fat than plant foods. Animal fat is saturated also, whereas plant oils have to be artificially saturated (hydrogenated). Most plant foods are extremely rich in fiber-no meat is. Plant foods are high in vitamins and minerals-meat provides one vitamin and one mineral.
November 25th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Great question, you get a star. It’s a little long, but bear with me. It’s all factual stuff, nothing about animal cruelty, which is what I think you are looking for anyway.
1. Meat typically provides you four things: cholesterol, iron, sodium, protein, and fat. You don’t NEED the cholesterol since you make it yourself. Not all meats, like steak, provide more than just iron. Steak provides a small amount of calcium in addition to iron, and chicken breast provides small amounts of B vitamins, zinc, and phosphorus. Your body needs much more than that to function. Vegetables and fruits provide all these to you, without all the saturated fat or cholesterol, and in much more abundant amounts. For example, 3oz of steak provides 9% of your daily value of iron…3oz of spinach provides 16% of your daily value. That’s almost double the amount.
2. Fruits and veggies also come with something called “antioxidants.” Living in a world where we can injest harmful things through our skin (perfumes, lotions, etc.), our lungs (smoking, pollution, etc.), our mouths (alcohol, fast food, various chemicals on and in our foods, etc.), and just as a by-product of living produces something called a “free radical,” which serves to destroy your cells. Antioxidants destroy free radicals.
3. Fiber. Having a meat-heavy diet means that not only will you have trouble pooping, but the poop will get stuck in your colon. You literally have decaying sh*t sitting in your colon and poisoning your blood stream. Fiber is no small thing!
4. Your body’s pH prefers to be alkaline. This keeps you the healthiest. While you won’t be immune to everything and anything, things like diabetes, infections, viruses, and even cancer flourish in an acidic environment. Plant foods produce “alkaline ash,” which keeps your body’s pH more alkaline. Meats produce “acid ash,” which, you guessed it, switches your body’s pH to be more acidic. Notice that most of the people who have diabetes are people who eat meat-heavy diets. It’s not a coincidence, unfortunately. If you choose to eat it in small amounts, then you should opt for free-range and wild game. The reason is that due to the stresses and chemicals given to slaughterhouse animals, they produce 16-20x more acid ash than their wild counterparts.
5. Enzymes. Raw veggies, nuts, and fruits provide helpful enzymes. Some of these can help you digest food. Some of these can help with other functions, like bromelain (found in pineapple), reduces inflammation. Based on research for an incurable disability I got in the Marine Corps that affects my nerves and muscles, I decided to give veganism a try. I’m not cured by any means, but I do feel better.
Hope this answers your question.
November 25th, 2008 at 8:09 am
People in my family rarely live healthy lives past age 65. I’ve seen relatives on both sides of my family have heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, hardening of the arteries (should I go on?) etc. due to bad diets (that contain a LOT of meat) and lack of exercise.
I decided that I wasn’t going to be like that. My mom had a heart attack a few years back. Her doctor begged her to exercise, lose weight and cut out so much animal in her diet. Did she? No. And now she’s diabetic.
True, a lot of my relatives’ health issues are due to bad decisions on their part, but some of these things can be hereditary. I’m trying to do everything in my power to be as healthy as possible so I can live a full life. That’s why I’m a vegan.
November 27th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Let me put it this way…
All of the problems of a vegetarian diet (like possible lack of protein) are avoidable by making sure you’re still eating the right things.
Example: Lack of protein can be solved by eating things like rice and beans, or egg whites if you’re not fully vegan.
On the other hand, all of the problems NOT being a vegetarian (like increased chance for obesity), are avoidable as well, by, once again, making sure you’re eating the right things.
Example: Meat eaters are more likely to be obese, but it’s probably because specific ones aren’t watching what they eat much at all (whereas vegetarians have to watch what they eat at least a little more just to be vegetarian). However, I personally have lost fat by eating lots of lean chicken breast…so eating the right meats can have the opposite effect, making you healthier.
Whether you are a vegetarian or not, watching what you eat, and eating healthy (possibly seeking out a nutritionist to assist you), will help you to be incredibly healthy.
Main point: You don’t NEED to eat meat to be healthy. You don’t NEED to refrain from eating meet to be healthy.
Final note: There may be cases where this isn’t true, but you’ll know if you’re one of these people, and you’ll probably be officially diagnosed with something by your doctor.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:58 am
- Studies done by the SDA church show that vegetarians live 10 to 11 years longer. Most their members are vegetarians.
- A vegetarian diet is very low in cholesterol.
- Farm animals are pumped full of antibiotics and groth hormones.
For more reasons read –
101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian
Vegetarian Starter Kit from –
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine