Vegetarian And Omnivore : Vegetarianism Is The Health Benefits

According to Donald D. Hensrud of the Mayo Clinic on Healthy Weight, “Eating well – choosing a plant-based diet, which emphasizes vegetables, fruits and whole grains – also will reduce your risks of some of our nation’s biggest killers and related conditions. Many cancers, heart disease and high blood pressure, among other conditions, are linked to diet, most notably to diets high in fat and saturated fat. Even without weight loss, adopting a healthier eating style can be beneficial. (Hensrud 49)”

Eating a healthy diet is instrumental in the reduction of the risk factors for several major diseases. Obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are a few of the risk factors that serve as precursors to major diseases, and can be controlled with healthy eating.

There are two main lifestyles that we as human beings practice that impact our eating habits. One being a Vegetarian, a person who chooses not to eat meat. The other being a Meat Eater (also known as an Omnivore), a person who chooses to eat both meat and vegetables. A controversial debate continues to go on, evaluating the pros and cons of each group, along with the reasons behind their choice. In the end it all depends on the individual’s outlook on life that makes the decision.

Healthy eating can decrease the risk of many problems that are on the rise such as obesity, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes.

When I was growing up, my mother was a fantastic chef. When she didn't cook, I starved, bought take-out or simply microwaved some pizza. I was vaguely aware of a process called 'cooking' that required the assembling of ingredients in a specific way but I never gave it much thought. However, over the past year, I have given more and more consideration to the quality of what I eat and how I eat. It seems every time I pick up the newspaper there is another article about the damage that has been done to our food system and questions about the safety of various food products. It was then I began to contemplate becoming more vegetarian in my eating habits as a way of becoming healthier.

A healthy diet will include a combination of every kind of food, proteins, carbohydrates, oils, fruits, vegetables, water, etc ; In opposite, a dangerous diet will include avoiding some kind of food because we think of it as pure fat, without thinking it has its function in our body, also a very common but really bad habit is fasting; people stop eating and they don’t think in how dangerous it can be.

More recently animal based diets have been slowly decreasing in number over the past five years. Some peoples’ diet excludes some or all animal products from their meal plan due to spiritual beliefs. People who practice Hinduism chose not to eat beef and Buddhist culture results in vegetarianism. Most of the time, the act of limiting animals from their daily diet based on purely preference and or personal beliefs. Why limitations and exclusions of animal byproducts should increase in popularity and how does it affect one’s health?

The number of people who are vegetarians in Australia has raised from 1.7 million people to 2.1 million people from 2012 to 2016 (Roy Morgan Research,2016). The question will investigate the causes of why Australians have shifted to a vegetarian diet and why vegetarian diet is becoming popular in Australia. The answer of this question can be obtained from the health, environmental and ethical reasons that affect the reasons behind why some Australians have shifted to a vegetarian diet.

Others might say having a healthier eating habit would help you live a longer life. Some people are confused to what are “healthier eating habits”. Healthier eating habits is eating a certain type of foods (vegetables,fruits,fish) and it can help prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure. In an Article written by Janet Lee, she said “Eating more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and fish resulted in the largest improvements in diet scores”. These foods can help you prevent health problems. This is why people should have healthier eating habits so they can live longer lives. Foods like vegetables and fruits will help you live longer than eating something like a cheeseburger and fries. It’s been statistically proven that “Around 2.7 million people all over the world die every year due to the deficiency of nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits in their diet.”(Mukherjee). The less fruit and vegetables you eat the more you are going to have health problems and will be more likely to have a sooner death then someone who eats their fruits and vegetables.

Is the vegetarian diet beneficial to the body? The argument of whether humans are herbivores or carnivores has been around for as long as there were vegetarians. A vegetarian is defined as not eating animal flesh including poultry and fish. A vegetarian diet consists of whole grains, meatless proteins, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats. People are on the diet because they are against eating meat, but there are others who do the diet because it is good for their health. The vegetarian diet is beneficial to the body because it reduces the risk of heart disease, it reduces the risk of cancer and reduces the risk of diabetes.

On an average, vegetarians consume a lower proportion of calories from fat (particularly saturated fatty acids), fewer overall calories, more fiber, potassium, and vitamin C, than do non-vegetarians. Vegetarians generally have a lower body mass index. These characteristics and other lifestyle factors associated with a vegetarian

While copious amounts of vegans live full lives without eating any substance derived from animals, the human easily digests and absorbs meat, therefore their health may improve if they eat meat. The physical and social evolution of the human species shows a need for meat in the diet as the overall intelligence of the species has increased as a whole. There is a plethora positive effect of eating meat that masses of vegans ignore, to their eventual downfall. The amount of negative effects of avoiding meat is higher in number, including deficiencies and disorders. The human digestive system is built to be able to ingest meat and vegetables. There is an abundant amount of arguments proving that the human body is built to digest meat, the physical evolution is major.

Food isn’t something I would think about before I arrived to the University of California Santa Cruz. I did not have a problem with it since I would only eat home cooked meals the majority of the time. My mother would cook meals that would satisfy my sister and me; even though we are very picky eaters. I now miss the simplest things from back home; quesadillas, beans, cheese, enchiladas, etc… . As the day passes I realized how ungrateful I was to have parents who cooked for me every single day no matter if they were tired or not. My mother is now worried, I have not been eating well since I got here. The reason being, I do not like meat; however I am not a vegetarian yet. I say yet, because I still eat chicken since most of the meals my mother cooks have chicken in it. My mother says I need animal protein and well I think otherwise. However, It is not just me thinking meat taste bad, but rather that meat is bad for our own health. Funny enough, meat is something that is served on a regular bases here at Santa Cruz.

For example, fruits and vegetables are a great source of folic acid, fiber, potassium, vitamins E, A, C, and plenty of water. Eating foods which are high in sugar is not consider healthy eating and can cause diseases such as diabetes and obesity, “[Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding waistlines]” (Clark, 2010). There are healthy recipes for people who would like to prepare healthy meals for their families. Here is a sample of a recipe to help jumpstart one’s healthy eating habit.

Healthier food will make us a more productive country. One in three children are physically active every day. I feel that if food was healthier then that would not happen. Eating well balanced, healthy food can help you reduce or maintain your weight. The food we eat affects us more than we realize. Obese people are less productive in the workplace and more prone to injury, a study claims. One problem with junk foods is that they're low in satiation value. Studies claim that people who eat unhealthy food and are overweight need a longer work break. Also if they are more prone to injury than they might have to