Why do people opt to be vegetarian?
People choose a vegetarian diet for various reasons. Many people believe that avoiding animal meat which are hormone injected can prevent from various diseases and improve their health. Whereas, other group of people believe in religious values, protecting the environment and animal rights.
This blog will provide an insight for beginners into the vegetarian diet.
What do we mean by a vegetarian diet?
There are various forms of vegetarian diet with different restrictions. It can further be divided into what animal product they decide to consume.Some of the common types of vegetarian diet include
- Ovo vegetarians are a group of people who consume eggs but not diary products or meat.
- Lacto vegetarians are people who consume dairy products but not eggs or meat.
- Lacto-Ovo vegetarians consume both eggs and dairy.
- Vegan doesn’t allow a person to consume animal or animal products. So if a person is following a vegan diet, then they are not supposed to consume Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Beef, Pork and Dairy products.
- Flexitarian diet is a vegetarian diet that allows occasional consumption of meat, fish or poultry.
What are the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet?
People believe that there are a lot of potential health benefits for a person who follows a vegetarian diet. But it is important to understand that if a person follows a vegetarian diet and still consumes a lot of processed food, sugars or artificial sweeteners and Carbonated beverages then they may not reap the benefits of the diet.
Some of the health benefits are as follows
1. Improved heart health
Consuming food like Whole grains, Legumes, Fruits, Vegetables, Green Leafy Vegetables, Nuts & Seeds are less processed and rich in fibre which helps to lower the blood sugar levels and keep the heart healthy.
2. Reducing the risk of type two diabetes
Studies show that people who consume Vegetarian diet had half the risk of developing diabetes compared to people who consume meat.
3. Reduce the risk of cancer
Even though there is not enough evidence to support the claim, people believe that vegetarians have an advantage in lowering the risk of cancer as most of the fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants that would reduce the oxidative stress in the body and reduces the risk of cancer.
4. Manages blood pressure
In vegetarian diet, people consume more amount of vegetables, fruits & leafy vegetables which helps to maintain low blood pressure.
How to adapt a vegetarian diet?
Mental preparation is the key to adapt a new changes in the lifestyle. Resisting temptation is one of the greatest challenges people face when they turn vegetarian.It is important to understand that if people are to avoid a few foods they may consider other alternatives.
- Trying various new recipes would help a person discover flavours and swap ingredients.
- Some of the most popular swaps for meat are: Tofu, lentils, textured vegetables, jackfruit, and mushrooms are meat replacements.
- Dairy products can be replaced by soy milk, coconut milk, flax milk, almond milk, Dairy free cheese & Butter.
- People face while turning into a vegetarian that there is no adequate protein rich foods in the diet but there are few protein sources that provide a good amount of protein required by a person are
- Greek yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Lentils
- Milk
- Whole grains
- Nuts
- Eggs and
- Quinoa.
To sum up
Eliminating meat may reduce the chances of developing various chronic diseases but there is minimal scientific evidence to prove that these triggers are caused by meat. So consuming more fruits and vegetables can potentially improve a person's health.
Even though making this changes is safe for most people, it is important to discuss about this lifestyle changes with a Dietician so that they would customize diet based on the nutritional requirements of a person.
