What Are the Benefits and Disadvantages of Being a Healthy Vegetarian?

What is a vegetarian?

There are roughly three types of vegetarians.

Vegans or strict vegetarians exclude all animal products (e.g. meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, and other dairy products). Many vegans also do not eat honey.

Lacto Vegetarians exclude meat, poultry, fish, and eggs but include dairy products.

Lacto-ovo Vegetarians exclude meat, poultry, and fish but include dairy products and eggs. Most vegetarians in the US are lacto-ovo vegetarians.

Why do people become vegetarian?

There are several reasons for someone becoming a healthy vegetarian. The most common are

• Sympathy for animals.
• Health reasons.
• Weight problems.
• A combination of the above.

What are the benefits of becoming a vegetarian?

Depending on how strict your vegetarian diet is, there are many benefits on cutting out meat and dairy product.

You will most likely discover that your weight will drop down (or up) to your ideal weight. And this will happen without you thinking about it. It is very hard to eat too much calories when you cut out meat, milk and many types of candy (which contains dairy products and gelatin).

You will very soon begin to feel more energetic and less full after meals. My own experience was that I felt that the foods gave me energy instead of taking it away.

Are there any disadvantages of being vegetarian?

Some people tend to say that you have to watch your protein intake. But don’t worry; there is protein in lots of natural food besides meat or dairy products.

Protein in vegetarian diets.

These are the top five sources of protein;

• Chick Peas (8 grams of protein pr. 100 gram)
• Baked Beans (5 grams of protein pr. 100 gram)
• Tofu (7.5 grams of protein pr. 100 gram)
• Lentils (7.5 grams of protein pr. 100 gram)
• Soya milk (8 grams pr. ½ pint).

Protein consists of 9 different amino acids. You should be aware that not every alternative protein source contains all nine acids (sometimes only 6 out of 9). But as long as you make sure to eat a variety of different foods, you should be safe.

Round up:

Vegetarianism is a really healthy way of living. There is more advantages than disadvantages. To conclude, it is very important to get enough protein every day. A rule of thumb is 1 gram pr. 1 kilograms of bodyweight.

There are really no disadvantages of being a vegetarian, only challenges.