Plant Based Diet : The Healthier Option

When I was growing up I was taught how to hunt, fish and trap animals for food as well as being fed an omnivorous diet, but today I have found that I no longer need animals in my diet. The Vegetarian Times recently found that out of the 311 million people in the US, 7.3 million eat a vegetarian based diet and 22.8 million eat a vegetarian inclined diet. Over the past century people have begun looking into the health implications of plant based diets as a way of improving their health and increase their longevity. This research paper is intended

Positing that most of our major health issues, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, can be prevented (and even in some cases reversed) by following a vegetables-and-whole-grains diet, this dense documentary would rather inform than entertain. Its hale heroes are the nutritional scientist T. Colin Campbell and the surgeon Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., whose combined decades of research into the harmful effects of animal proteins are summarized, along with an extensive history of our worldwide dietary decline.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, gives light to the question, “What should we have for dinner?” that he thinks Americans today cannot answer simply due to the fact that there are too many food options. This book serves as an eye-opener to challenge readers to be more aware and accountable of what is consumed daily. In order to understand fully where our food comes from, we must follow it back to the very beginning. Pollan goes on to discuss three different modern food chains in which we get our food: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. By tracing our food back to the beginning, we can understand that most of the nutritional and health problems America is going through today can be found on the farms that make our food and the government that can decide what happens. America deals with many food related illness such as, heart disease, obesity, and type II diabetes. Majority of a human and animals diet consists of being corn-fed leading to a high cause of obesity in the United States these are just some of the many diseases that come with over processed foods and diets we are unaware of. In this study, we will highlight the environmental and health issues and impacts related with modern agriculture and how these systems can be made more sustainable.

Replacing all the meat in the human diet with vegetables and fruit is difficult. At the expense of refraining from eating meat, we are expected to partake in excessive

In the article, “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan, he argues that, “people that eat the Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases.” Since meat is available everywhere in the United States, everyone is able to get their hands on meat and processed meat on a daily basis. We can eat more than double our weight of meat in the entire year, that just shows us that we tend to eat a heavy meat diet on a daily basis but we are too stubborn to change that. Pollan also states that, “the flood of refined carbohydrates has pushed important micronutrients out of the modern diets.” We live in a world that wants stuff to be done as fast as possible and well that includes food. Since we mass producing meats with the use of drugs and other forms of processing it causes some of the important nutrients that we need to leave the food. In Pollan’s article, it states that, “since healthcare is an industry, it stands to make profit on new drugs and procedures to treat chronic diseases than people changing their eating habits.” Not only are we harming ourselves in not making the proper eating choices but the healthcare industry will stay idly by in order for them to release a new drug to make money. In order for us to improve our health we have to take the first move into that direction

Research shows that in countries where people eat a pound or more of fruit and vegetables a day , the rate of cancer is half what it is in the United States. Pollan argues that vegetarians are less susceptible to most of the western diseases, and as a consequence live longer than the rest of us(164). Apparently, we can’t live without plants, but we don’t need to eat meat in order to obtain the nutrients we need for growth because they can be found elsewhere (Pollan 165). Since plants are less energy dense than other foods, by eating a plant-based diet one will likely consume fewer calories which is itself protective against many chronic disease (Pollan 165).I agree with Pollan that a plant-based diet can help reduce the risk of obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease.

Thesis statement: There should be meat free alternatives and more awareness of the benefits of choosing a vegetarian lifestyle as eating less meat is better for an individual’s health and the environmental.

A plant based diet is a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (like beans); and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil. Deciding to switch to the diet can provide sufficient energy also a good range of carbohydrates, fat, and protein intakes, if planned appropriately (Campbell). There are many different kinds of

Which diet works, is a question many ask in today’s world of conflicting health news. High protein diets have become a popular method to lose weight amongst those seeking a simplified version to healthy eating; however, Dean Ornish contributor of “The Myth of High-Protein Diets,” in The New York Times, March 23, 2015, sets the record straight about the “so called” benefits of a diet heavy in protein. Ornish offers information to educate the general population regarding some misconceptions with high-protein diets, and he sets the record straight that high-protein diets cause harm to the body and a plant-based diet restores health, prevents disease and nourishes the body for years to come.

“Meats, Dairies, and Eggs, Oh Why” (2014) is an argumentative essay written by Rebecca Dent that explains the benefits of eating a plant-based diet and advocates for the better treatment of the animals affected by the meat industry. Dent supports her assertions by discussing the negative health effects of an omnivorous diet, addressing reasons some might be hesitant to convert to a plant-based diet, describing the advantages of substituting meat for vegetables for both the consumers and the animals, and finally, by including expert opinions and statistical facts. Dent’s purpose for this essay is to highlight the benefits of vegetarianism in order to convince readers to convert to a plant-based diet. The intended audience for this argument is those who currently eat an omnivorous diet so that they would assess and change their eating habits.

Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. The relevance this phrase has is stronger than ever because nutrition is an underlying theme for just about every health concern one may experience today. An account of two nutritional doctors, many farm animals, and a multitude of human illnesses, Lee Fulkerson’s “Forks Over Knives” makes a convincing case for eliminating dairy and meat from the dinner table. With care and devotion, while it may be possible to obtain adequate nutrition on a vegetarian diet and decrease chronic illnesses, when it comes to a healthy diet, balance is the key to getting it right.

These components all work together to cause major issues like obesity, heart disease, and cancer leading to billions of dollars being put to the treatment of millions of patients each year. Researchers like John McDougall, John Robbins, and David Robinson Simon have put in years and years of research and experimentation to prove to society and the Western culture that we are not fueling our bodies appropriately and in fact, we are causing serious damage that may or may not be reversible. With simple dietary changes, the three big killers-cancer, heart disease, and obesity-can all be eradicated. As proven by hundreds of years of healthy, disease free cultures, we can thrive on a plant-based, starch heavy diet without added animal products high in acid, fat, and cholesterol. The meat and dairy industries survive by telling society that we must consume excessive amounts of protein and calcium to stay healthy when Asian and ancient societies have proven this to be false. Maybe it is time for us to stop treating health problems, most likely caused by poor and harmful diets, with a plant-based diet. These simple and easy changes could be the difference in not only quality of life, but the extension of it. Maybe Albert Einstein was right, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chance for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian

The documentary I decided to analyze was “Forks Over Knives”, by Lee Fulkerson. This documentary is about food choices you make every day, and how it can affect your health long-term and short-term, whether it be disease or nausea. Nutritional scientist T. Colin Campbell and surgeon Dr. Caldwell B.Esselstyn combine their decades of research and studies in hopes of simplifying the complexities and the benefits of a plant-based diet; such as preventing and even reversing heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. This film was made to promote plant-based diets, argue that animal-based diets are bad for our health, and address the issues of diets and diseases that aren’t being given attention

Most American have been raised with fairly similar philosophies- that a meal is not complete without meat, dairy, and possibly eggs (MyPlate). Especially when the government is backing up these ideas, it is natural to assume that this is the healthiest way to eat. However, evidence has shown that eating less animal products and more plant foods can actually be best for us. Despite the potential of nutrient deficiency, especially compared to the standard American diet or low carb diets, a plant based diet is the best and most nutritional diet for everyone, especially those with health issues.

Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish). The foods in this diet provide the body with many essential nutrients. This is why many health benefits have been associated with the vegetarian