Losing weight and staying healthy can be very challenging. Often we resort to some unhealthy fad diets that are not sustainable, or just do not work, only to be disappointed. How about trying something that works and has lots of benefits for you…a vegetarian diet?
There are many great benefits to a Vegetarian diet. It has been proven to help with weight loss, while helping to prevent and manage certain diseases. I know that this may be considered too great a sacrifice for many in our western culture where we are avid meat-eaters, but the benefits derived can be well worth it. You may not want to make this a lifetime change (although you may be better off for it) but what if you were to try it for a month or two? I tried it for a few months and the results were astounding.
Years ago I had to do an acne treatment, which the Dermatologist warned was going to be hard on my Liver. As a result I had to do monthly Blood tests to make sure there were no damage being done. Being the cautious person I am, I asked what I needed to do to avoid putting too much pressure on my Liver, with the scores of tablets I had to consume for this treatment. He told me to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. I decided to change my diet for the next 6 months to eating 90% fruits and vegetables. It was not easy at first, to stay away from meat and it took lots of preparation and creativity to stick to the diet, but it was well worth it.
At the end of the first month I lost 10 lbs. I was shocked, but even more shocking was the look on my Dermatologist’s face when he got the results of the Blood test after the first month. My numbers were far better than before I started the treatment. He asked what I had been doing and I told him. Of course he encouraged me to continue, but he didn’t have to, because even without the weight loss (I was not trying to lose weight), I would have done it, because I was feeling so good on the inside. Who doesn’t want to look good on the outside and also feel good on the inside? This diet has multiple benefits and is worth the try if you want to lose some weight and feel good while doing so. Let’s look more closely at what this consists of and the different types there are.
A vegetarian diet consists mainly of plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains, but can also include eggs and dairy products. Let’s take a look at the 4 different types of Vegetarian diets and the benefits they provide.
1. The Lacto-ovo-vegetarian consumes dairy products and eggs but no meat, poultry or seafood.
2. Lacto vegetarians eat Dairy but no eggs, meat, poulty or seafood.
3. Ovo-vegetarian eats eggs but no dairy, meat, poulty or seafood.
4. Vegans do not eat any animal products including meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products.
Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
Regardless of the type chosen, there is now a wealth of evidence available to support the health benefits of the vegetarian diet. Researches have shown that in comparison to their meat-eating counterparts, vegetarian have:
1) Lower incidences of the following health conditions:
• Overweight
• Obesity
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Kidney Stones
• Constipation
• Gallstones
• Diverticular disease
• Some Cancers
2) Lower Body Mass Index (BMI)
3) Increased Longevity
It is believed that these benefits have resulted from the reduced consumptions of saturated fat, cholesterol, animal protein, red meat and heme iron coupled with the increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains, which are high in fibre, antioxidants and phytochemicals.
The most significant difference in the vegetarian’s diet is the absence of red meat, which along with processed meat, has been shown by researches to be linked to an increased risk of Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular diseases and some Cancers. The vegetarian diet may also help to prevent and manage Hypertension as suggested by the evidence in the EPIC-Oxford studies. It was found that non-meat-eaters had lower prevalence of Hypertension and lower Systolic and Diastolic pressure than meat-eaters. In 2007 the World Cancer Research Fund found convincing evidence that consumption of red meat and processed meat increased the risk of colorectal cancer. With red meat and processed meat being excluded from the vegetarian diet, it is reasonable to expect that they would experience lower incidences of this Cancer. Protective compounds present in a plant-based diet have been linked to the prevention of the initiation of cancer, and the retardation of cancer cell growth.
Though it is unclear as to whether the reduced risk of diabetes in vegetarians can be attributed to the absence of red meat or the increased consumption of plant foods, there has been a positive association made between the intake of red meat, processed meat and animal protein and the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes.
Giving up meat for a while may be a very tough thing to do but when you consider these benefits it might well be worth the effort. Even if you don’t want to totally eliminate it, how about reducing your intake? Looking good, feeling good, and possibly living a long and healthy life seem like a far more enticing option to me. What do you think?
