Is Vegetarianism Healthy?

About 3% of U.S. adults are considered full-fledged vegetarians because they don’t eat meat, poultry, fish or seafood.   About 1% of people are vegans because in addition to the above, they also don’t eat dairy, eggs or honey.  Vegetarianism is on the increase in many countries.

But is it healthy?

It is said that people who are vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease and cancer, especially colon cancer, and they tend to live longer.  They’re also less likely to be overweight.

But that’s if you do it correctly.  There are pitfalls associated with vegetarianism.  For example, you can’t just replace meat with fries and expect to be healthy.

Being eco-friendly means reducing your impact on the environment.  Theoretically, that would also mean giving up meat, because raising cattle is not green.  Plus from the point of view of “do no harm”, factory farming is decidedly non-animal friendly – there are examples of horrific cruelty to animals in SOME factory farming environments.

But vegetarianism does not work for everyone.

There is a movement called Meatless Mondays, which advocates just one day a week when you don’t eat meat. This can be a cool way of being green and staying healthy without going to extremes.

If you do decide to decrease or eliminate meat from your diet, follow these tips to make sure you stay healthy – because it’s not as simple as just leaving out the meat.

• If you leave out meat from a meal, you need an alternative source of protein, fibre and minerals.  Substitute beans and legumes to give you the nutrients you need while still keeping you feeling full.
• Don’t substitute bread, pasta and rice for meat.  They will add calories without major health benefits.
• Cheese is great, but not if it’s your only source of protein.  Ring the changes with beans, legumes, nuts and other protein sources.
• Convenience foods with ‘faux meat’ are convenient but not healthy.  Like convenience foods containing meat, they are useful occasionally but are not as healthy as fresh food, and contain large amounts of sodium.
• Just because it says “vegan” or “vegetarian” on the package doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  Fries, cookies, cakes etc. are still junk food, so enjoy them in moderation but don’t rely on them as meal substitutes.

Now that you know what pitfalls to avoid, enjoy feeling better by reducing your meat consumption (and your carbon footprint!).