World Atlas estimates that around five percent of Americans are vegetarian. Despite the vegetarian community being small, this population lives with the many benefits of vegetarianism. One of these benefits is the decreased chance of getting diagnosed with cancer or heart disease. Another benefit of eating a veggie-based diet is the positive environmental impacts like saving water. An additional benefit is how vegetarians tend to live longer than carnivores. Even though some may argue that vegetarian diets can’t be healthily maintained due to a lack of animal protein and its elements, it has been proven by numerous studies that plant protein has its own elements that allow vegetarians to flourish. Although some may argue that meat is necessary for a healthy diet, more people should be vegetarian because the benefits include the lessened risk of developing cancer and heart disease, the positive environmental impacts, and the potential for living a longer life.
People should follow a vegetarian regime because following a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of getting diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. The book Diet, Life Expectancy, and Chronic Disease: Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians by Gary E. Fraser discussed the difference in mortality rates amongst vegetarians and meat-eaters. What he found was that vegetarians had much lower mortality rates than carnivores when diagnosed with Coronary heart disease (Fraser 180). This indicates that eating only vegetables has positive effects on your health and your ability to fight off potentially deadly diseases. Another disease that causes millions of deaths is cancer. The World Health Organization states that cancer is linked to almost ten million deaths worldwide. Fraser highlighted that many studies have found that health-conscious vegetarians have much lower mortality rates from cancer than their non-vegetarian counterparts (Fraser 196). This hasn’t only been found by Fraser; many studies have found that eating primarily vegetables is the best way to prevent cancer. The book called The Food Revolution by John Robbins and Dean Ornish discussed the impacts food has on the human body. Robbins and Ornish noted research done by the American Institute for Cancer Research that found that the most powerful way to prevent cancer is to eat a primarily vegetarian diet (Robbins, Ornish, 86). Specifically, the study found that eating predominantly legumes, veggies, and fruits is the best way to prevent a cancer diagnosis (Robbins, Ornish 86). The most preventative way to maintain health and avoid these debilitating diseases is eating and sustaining a vegetarian diet. This research shows how vital a vegetarian diet is and how impactful it can be in preventing individuals from deadly diseases that kill millions.
A vegetarian diet is better for the environment than a carnivorous diet, and therefore, more people should eat veggie-based diets. The article “Eat to Beat Climate Change” by Vegetarian Society, states that vegetarian diets release 2.5 times fewer carbon emissions than a carnivorous diet. According to the EIA, carbon emissions directly increase the planet’s temperature and contribute to global warming. Since vegetarian diets directly release less carbon, they are better for balancing the planet’s temperature. The EIA also mentions how if someone follows a vegetarian diet for a year, they will save the same amount of carbon emissions as a small car not being on the road for six months. Comparing the emissions saved by eating only veggies for a year to not driving a car for six months shows just how drastically positive a veggie-based diet is for the environment. The article “Eat to Beat Climate Change” by Vegetarian Society also notes that water is saved when someone doesn’t eat meat, specifically chicken. The Vegetarian Society identifies how one chicken breast takes over seven hundred liters of water to produce. By not eating chicken, one person could save “enough water to fill up your bathtub 4.6 times.” Seven hundred liters of water per person is a significant amount of water saved by not consuming chicken. If just eating one chicken breast saves this much water, imagine how much water would be saved if most people ditched chicken and became vegetarian.
More people should follow vegetarian diets because they can help people live longer. According to Sanitarium, an Australian food company, living a vegetarian lifestyle can add an extra ten years to someone’s life. The article “Can Eating a Vegetarian Diet Really Help You Live Longer?” by Sanitarium cites a study by Loma Linda University that found that vegetarian men live a median of ten years longer than men who are meat-eaters. Women were found to live an average of six years longer. These findings show how vegetarianism adds longevity to the lives of both males and females. The book Diet, Life Expectancy, and Chronic Disease: Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists and Other Vegetarians by Gary E. Fraser includes a study done by Oxford University that researched the difference in mortality rates and health amongst non-vegetarians and vegetarians. This study found that the people who didn’t consume meat products were less likely to develop high blood cholesterol (Fraser 182). This is a significant upside to following a strict vegetarian diet. High cholesterol leads to all sorts of diseases, and according to WebMD, it is linked to around 2.6 million deaths a year in the U.S. alone. Eating a vegetarian diet prevents individuals from developing high cholesterol and being part of the staggering statistic.
Some argue that people that eat a vegetarian diet are deficient in protein, and therefore, vegetarian diets are not sustainable. The Healthy Food Guide’s article called “Why Do Vegetarians Need More Protein?” discusses why vegetarians are protein-deficient. The article elaborates by saying that plant proteins are deficient in key elements that make vegetarian diets less than adequate. While plant proteins differ from animal proteins, it has been shown that plant proteins have strong elements that animal proteins lack. According to Medical News Today, plant proteins encompass phytonutrients and certain antioxidants that meat is deficient in. These phytonutrients are beneficial to those who consume a plant-based diet. WebMD states that plant-based diets are full of more proteins that fight germs, fungi, and other things. These are proteins that are more prominent in plants than animals. It’s important to note that Medical News Today also indicates that people who are vegetarian can get meat-like protein from dairy products, eggs, grain, and nuts. There are many other ways for an individual to get protein in their diet besides eating meat. The research done by these medical sources shows that vegetarian diets do not prevent people from having an adequate protein intake, and they also provide additional benefits that animal proteins do not.
Although people argue that going vegetarian will make someone deficient in protein, more people should follow veggie-based diets because the benefits include: a lower risk of dying from cancer and heart disease, helping the climate, and more life longevity. Studies have shown that vegetarians who get diagnosed with cancer or Coronary heart disease have lower mortality rates than meat-eaters. The climate also benefits from more people committing to vegetarian diets as water is saved, lives are saved, and less carbon is released into the atmosphere. The higher life expectancy is another significant benefit to vegetarianism. Many argue that vegetarianism isn’t a healthy diet because of the lack of animal protein, but medical sources find this claim to be false. In fact, it has been found that plant proteins have vital elements that animal proteins are deficient in. More people should commit to vegetarianism because being a vegetarian helps not only the person who follows the diet, but it helps the planet as well.
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