Living the Veggie Life

Living the Veggie Life“One of the biggest misconceptions about vegetarians is that they can’t possibly be healthy,” said Vandana Sheth, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian and lifelong vegetarian. “But it’s entirely possible to get all the essential nutrients our bodies need from a plant-based diet.”

As long as you choose your foods wisely and eat well-balanced meals, said Sheth, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, living a vegetarian lifestyle can be a very healthy choice. Despite certain myths, you can get adequate calories, proteins and vitamins by substituting different foods. And because it’s a diet that can be packed with nutrients, even children, the elderly and pregnant women can follow it and still be healthy.

In a report published in the July 2009 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Consumer Trends, a national polling group, found that in 2006, more than 4.9 million Americans, or 2.3 percent of the adult population, identified themselves as vegetarian.

Some reports have shown the number is even higher. In 2008, a similar survey by the Vegetarian Times, a magazine devoted to healthy living, found that 7.3 million Americans, or 3.2 percent of the population, are vegetarians.

The most common vegetarian variations are: lactovegetarians, who don’t eat any meat, fish, poultry or eggs, but do consume dairy products; lacto-ovo vegetarians, who don’t eat meat, poultry, or fish, but do consume eggs and dairy; pescetarians, who abstain from all meat products, with the exception of seafood; and vegans, who do not eat any meat, fish, poultry, eggs or dairy, or foods containing animal derived ingredients, such as gelatin and honey.

Vegetarian and plant-based diets are also associated with many health benefits, Sheth said, including lower cholesterol and blood pressure, a decreased risk of heart disease, lower overall cancer rates, better diabetes control and management and a lower body mass index.

4 Comments

  1. Vegetarians compared to omnivores aren't very healthy. There isn't the right balance in just plant based foods. To live healthy you should eat both animals and plants. I know not one healthy vegetarian or vegan. Pretty pale and scrawny looking. I am an omnivore and am healthy as can be.

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  2. There sure are some pussies in the world. Why cry over food animals. Why believe in the false global warming? How is it our problem people are starving in poot countries?? That's their governments problem, not mine nor does people eating meat cause them to starve. I swear the minority cult is a bunch of whiny bitches.

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  3. I will be eating your little piggy friends in the morning!! Nothing like sausage patties and eggs to get my energy going strong!!

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    1. You must be the most insensitive person i have ever come across. I'm 15 years old and a proud vegetarian and if you don't have the mind capasity to even contemplate a meat free life then i suggest you leave this website because you have no feelings towards any other living creature's lives. And just because i'm still a teenager and i can i'm going to say that i wish you were a poor pig getting cruely slaughtered just because a mindless person like yourself doesn't care enough to help you!!

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