7 Reasons Why You Should Become Vegetarian …
Why become vegetarian, and give up yummy steaks and delicious bacon? There are lots of reasons, and most of them are related to health: your health, the Earth’s health, even the health of your food budget. I’m not a militant or “pushy” vegetarian, but I have to say, I’m always eager to tell people how much money I save by not eating meat, and how marvelous it feels to know my heart’s a little healthier, too. Here are 7 reasons why you should consider becoming a vegetarian.
1. It’s Animal-friendly
Without even glancing at the PETA website, I’m sure you already know this: following a meatless diet usually also means following a cruelty-free diet. If you’re an animal lover and advocate, then this is an excellent reason why you might become vegetarian.
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” —Albert Einstein …
In general though, I am super healthy. But this may be less from just being vegetarian and more from things like good genes and an active lifestyle. My skin/hair/body are all very healthy but I don’t have a solid reason why this is. I just try to be as kind to myself as possible. My only health problems at the moment are chronic back pain and depression, which are both doing okay due to proper medication and exercises, so I feel pretty lucky.
Thank you for joining us on All Women Stalk!
Thanks for dropping by All Women Stalk!
Additionally, the article overall misrepresents the “easiness” of being a vegetarian. While it is possible to be a vegetarian in a healthy way, many vegetarians struggle to obtain the proper amount of protein each day, must take supplements for things like omega-3′s, etc. When you eat correctly as a vegetarian, which mostly means diversely, it’s not really “cheaper” than being a non-vegetarian. Many vegetarians also supplement by eating more carbs, which actually causes more weight gain overall.
Thanks for commenting!
I didn’t eat any red meat for almost 2 years. I didn’t get any of that. In fact, I felt awesome and my skin and hair were in great condition….
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
First, congratulations on working to overcome disordered eating. It is terrible to experience disordered eating of any kind. I wish you continued success in that realm.
It isn’t ... See more TMI, that you had some BM issues. It’s actually profoundly relevant. You didn’t eat meat then you added fish and it helped you. Most folks who go vegan or lacto/ovo and then quit do so because they feel bad. Humans can survive with out animal protein that is a fact. However, it is a fact that we don’t just survive, we thrive when we introduce animal protein into our diets. I doubt anyone needs an 18oz porterhouse at a steak restaurant, or those freaky 8oz chicken breast that come from the walmart meat department in one sitting, but it is my strong belief (after reading a lot of research) that animal protein (and let’s not forget animal fat–especially from grassfed pastured animals) added to a diet will help you.
Hope this helps!
Allie
P.S. For the love of God, anyone reading this if you go vegetairan (or not)….stay away from Soy. Monsanto has the corner on the Soy in this country which is why it has such great PR in the last decade or so, but Soy is terrible for your thyroid among other things. Monsanto own the GMO soybeans. The reason they own it, is because it doesn’t die when they spray it with roundup (they also make roundup). Most (i.e. almost all) soy in America is GMO and most of that has been heavily treated with roundup.
I read that thinking you cut out all meat and then added in fish protein when you had tummy problems. Sorry I misunderstood. I still stand by my assertion that animal protein ... See more is healthy for humans. It stinks that you had to go back eating food that bothers you (when you switched back to red meat). Perhaps if you replaced industrial meat with pastured grass fed beef or free range chicken (not grain fed) in your diet you wouldn’t have stomach problems. The nutritional profile of non-industrial meat sources is so much better for you (it’s also less cruel than industrial meat sources and no antibiotics or growth hormones in the non-industrial raised foods).
Also, I was referring to avoiding soybeans overall but since you brought up oils, I would avoid most vegetable oils (stick with “cold pressed” oils). Corn Oil and Canola Oil and many other vegetable oils are extracted from the plants/grains they come from with hexane. The gov’t says the hexane is okay for humans in this use, but I’m not willing to risk it. It’s also more environmentally friendly to choose foods that don’t use hexane IMHO. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexane).
Additionally, Canola comes from Rapeseed which has fatty acids that are toxic. The food grade canola only contains 2% of these toxics, but it’s another thing I’d rather not risk when there are several better choices easily available (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed).
Cold pressed Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil and avocado oil are all excellent choices for non-hexane non-toxin containing foods.
Hope this helps!
Allie
Ha! How funny, my husband is filipino and I love your country. I was there in April at Easter time. It’s unfortunate that you don’t like fish cause that would be ... See more soooo easy! I don’t know which island you live on, but there are several choices on Luzon for grassfed products. Try google.
Good Luck!
My husband says because many folks in the Philippines do not eat beef as a staple (because of the expense) it is likely that the industrial farming practices we have are not common there. It is possible (if not probable) that most of the meat you have eaten is already pasture raised. So, that would strike my theory on pastured meat working better for you. Just keep eating the coconuts ;-)
Good luck!
It’s true, beef is pretty expensive here, especially for the lower ... See more class families (which is majority of the population). Again, your husband is right. A lot of animals are pasture raised. I sort of forgot about that. Why I did, I have no idea. Hehe. Anyway, thanks for all the tips! I really appreciate it. I’m sure other people who come across your comments will find them useful as well. I’m going to stick to more fruits and veggies, and maybe even more seafood for now.
Really appreciate it Allie! Maybe you should consider writing a guest post on a similar topic.
I don’t mean to go on and on about it, because really, I did used to think exactly like you did. But after extensive research on my part, I learned how unhealthy it is to eat that way. And there are ways to eat animal products without environmental impacts … organic meats, eggs, and milk products are all hormone free, usually local, and are not factory farmed. People that are complaining about dull skin, heartburn, weight gain etc. are likely eating too much sugar and processed foods. Meat and animal products has nothing to do with it, trust me.
For months I struggled to keep up ... See more with my husband at the grocery store, just making dinner was a chore. I thought it had to do with the fact that I have MS. I was wrong. We’re women here so I can just come out and say this…my periods have gotten so bad that I cannot leave the house for up to 5 days. Why? Cramping? No. Try having to change your pad at least every 2 hours. Every month I would literally turn grey. Little did I know I could have died. Why? Turns out that I was losing iron at an alarming rate, due to all of the large blood clots my body was passing during these 5 days. I know enough from health class that we need to replace the iron we lose every month and the best way to do so is by eating red meat.
So, when I finally went to the doctor and got a blood test, the next day I received a call from them. They asked me do nothing until I was able to come in. They didn’t want me to go grocery shopping, do laundry, cook dinner, you know, the usual stuff most of us do on a daily basis. They also said that should I at any time have chest pain to go to the ER.
The following day I had my appointment. The first thing my doctor (who is a complete vegan) says to me was, “I honestly don’t know how you’re sitting in front of me right now. You should be dead”. My blood count was so low that she was about to admit me for a transfusion. I explained to her that I knew I was losing iron, so a day or so before I’d start, I’d eat a huge steak. I wasn’t taking iron supplements (because at the time I had no idea how much to take). My doctor immediately started me on iron and advised me to keep eating steak when I know I’m going to start. It literally saved my life.
I don’t know to much about taking a bunch of suppliments to replace what you’re not getting from your food. But I do honestly believe that there are some things that we need to keep eating. I love all animals. I don’t like the fact that some of them are killed inhumanily so we can eat. But honestly, I love living to much to feel guilty about it. And lets keep it real, getting the necessary nutrition, vitamins, and the such, from meat, poulty, fish, what have you. Our bodies absorb better from those foods that vegans are against. I’ll be having another steak next week. And I look forward to it.
Good luck on your vegan thing. Just make sure you’ve got all of your basis covered.
Be Blessed,
Roz
I think that it doesn’t matter what kind of diet you have. The important thing is, as you said, to have all your bases covered. ... See more You just need to make sure that you are getting all the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.