by Gangga Muniandy
Whether you chose this lifestyle for the sake of your health, your wallet, time, ethics, religion, or the environment, adopting a vegetarian diet can be the perfect way to stay healthy and happy. Here are 8 amazing benefits that you will get from adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
1. Lower Levels of Cholesterol, Higher Levels of Energy
Cholesterol is derived only from animal products. The plant-based fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains which are big components of a vegetarian diet are “both full of complex carbohydrates that promote energy and naturally free of artery-clogging, cholesterol-loaded animal products that physically slow us down”. Dr Michael Roizen explains, “Too much fat in your bloodstream means that arteries won’t open properly and that your muscles won’t get enough oxygen”.
It is true that cholesterol is a vital structural component of our cells’ membranes, but vegans and vegetarians do not have to worry because the human body can manufacture all the cholesterol it needs.
2. Reduces Risk of Diabetes
Diabetes occurs when the body has trouble regulating its blood sugar level. Usually, non-vegetarians experience a drastic spike in levels of blood sugar just after meals. This can be avoided by swapping out a non-vegetarian diet for a vegetarian one and selecting foods with a lower glycaemic index.
3. Stronger Bones
When there is not enough calcium in the bloodstream, our bodies sometimes leach it from our bones, causing those bones to become porous and lose strength over time. Fortunately for vegetarians, their diet is full of foods that are rich in calcium. Apart from dairy, they get a healthy dose of calcium from dry beans, tofu, fortified plant milks, and dark green vegetables like broccoli, kale, collars, turnip greens, and bok choy.
4. Lowers the Risk of Obesity and Arthritis
Vegetarians tend to be much more conscious in their food choices and hardly 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. Further, Mayo Clinic has identified obesity as a risk factor of arthritis as having excess body weight puts stress on joints, especially the knees, hips, spine.
5. Improves Digestion and Metabolism
Fruits and vegetables are water-based and often have high fibre content, which makes food easy to digest and normalises bowel movement by absorbing water thus adding bulk to stool. This improves the metabolism of the body and helps the body to quickly eliminate toxins and other unwanted chemicals, giving you a better chance of having a longer and healthier life.
6. Reduces your Risk of Cancer
Many foods in the vegetarian diet are rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals (eg. carotenoids and flavonoids), which are known for its cancer-fighting properties. Research has found that cutting out all foods based on animals (a.k.a. the vegan diet) reduced one’s risk of cancer by 15%, while a vegetarian diet reduced the incidence of cancer by 8%.
7. Healthy Skin, Healthy Mind
Those same nutrients which fight cancer are also known for giving you healthier skin. What’s more, the element of freshness from most vegetarian food feels cleaner on the palate. And when people hear the word “organic”, phrases like “healthy”, “natural”, and “classy” often come to mind. So when they eat such food, they feel that way too. It makes them think more positively about themselves and their lifestyle, fending off the possibility of developing a negative thought pattern.
8. It is Economical
Following a vegetarian diet saves your money and time – most vegetarian foods cost less than their non-vegetarian counterparts and take a shorter time to prepare.
Vegetarian foods have much more advantages than we discussed in this article – we only covered the advantages for people, we didn’t even get to its benefits for the environment. Our intention is not to discourage non-vegetarians or disrespect them – we believe only in eating healthy and living healthy!!! The choice is now yours.
Source: The Vegetarian Times
