Is a Vegan Diet Healthy?
The vegetarian diet helps to lower the risk of many diseases. One of the major benefits of a vegetarian diet is that those who follow a good vegetarian diet can lower their risk for heart disease, cancer (ovarian and breast cancer, among other forms), diabetes and high blood pressure. These health benefits stem from the diet’s typically low-fat and high fiber content.
Vegetarians have to be more conscious about what they consume to make sure they intake the right amount of vitamins and nutrients. Vegans are said to be healthier eaters because they do more research about the kinds of foods going into their bodies. Research claims, vegetarians are often a healthier weight than those that follow normal diet plans. They tend to have lower cholesterol levels because they are not consuming as much fat in their diet. They also have more fiber if they follow a healthy vegetarian diet plan. Studies claim vegetarians are often more active and have longer life spans because of this healthy weight. Additionally, the vegetarian diet helps protect against obesity not only for the individual, but for his or her family, because they will have healthier food options in their household.
If you want to want a better complexion, the food in the vegetarians diet is rich in water and antioxidants (plants are rich in antioxidants and vitamins). These combined can create a clearer and brighter complexion.
Though there are many health benefits to being a vegetarian, it’s still important to note that any diet can be unhealthy if it includes too many carbs, fatty snacks or fried goods. Even vegetarians need to make healthy food choices. See the Vegan food pyramid which will help you create the balance in fiber, nutritients and vitamins.
Research claims vegans can easily develop a protein deficiency because plant based proteins are incomplete proteins. Since the human body cannot manufacture all of the necessary amino acids to build proteins, we rely on food to supply our bodies with complete proteins. Animal protein sources are complete proteins as they contain all of the amino acids needed to build a protein strand. However, using a concept called complimentary proteins different plant foods can be combined to form complete proteins . Some of these are grains plus beans or grains plus legumes. Rice and beans or a peanut butter sandwich are also complete proteins. A dietary supplement is also recommended to avoid deficiency.
A vegan diet varies depending on the type. Lacto vegetarians are vegetarians that eat dairy products however, they do not eat eggs. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are like lacto vegetarians, except they include eggs in their diet. Pesca vegetarians eat everything that lacto-ovo vegetarians do but they also consume fish. Strict Vegans do not use or consume any animal product of any kind include, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, honey, leather or fur or silk.
I’ve decided to try it, well slowly transition myself into it this new way of eating. Being a vegan is more than just a moral choice for me albeit I do take that into consideration. I’m trying it because of the health benefits associated with it. The benefits of being a vegetarian are numerous and can help a person live a long and full life.
If you’re a vegan we would like to hear from you. Please let us know your personal experiences in being a Vegan. How do you find variety? Do you notice any changes in your mood? Overall health? Where do you shop? Share your recipes with us and will post them!
-Bernadette McLoughlin
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Ideas from Bootcamper Kate, for protein, I eat a lot of lentils, legumes, nuts and nut butters, hummus, quinoa, yogurt, and soy products (tofu and tempeh are my favorites). There are lots of great veggie cookbooks you can get from the Montclair library or another BCCLS library if Montclair doesn’t have what you want — some of my favorite authors are Deborah Madison, Nava Atlas, and Mollie Katzen/Moosewood. Lots of great blogs, too — two of my favorites are 101cookbooks.com and veganyumyum.com.
If you need any inspiration/motivation to stay strong when faced with meat, there are a couple of books I would recommend: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan; Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer; Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman; and This Crazy Vegan Life, by Christina Pirello.
Kate