There are many reasons to embrace a vegetarian diet which make sense to each individual. Most vegetarians have a compelling reason or unique moment in time which represents the deciding factor. Here are just a few reasons to make the switch.
- Eating a plant based diet is simply better for the environment on many levels. For example it takes almost 2500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef and only 30 gallons of water to grow 1 pound of wheat. This pound of wheat would go further feeding people directly than being added to the vast stores used to feed livestock. Raising different livestock also creates tons of excrement and strips millions of tons of non renewable valuable topsoil every year.
- Getting and staying overweight on a balanced plant based diet is almost impossible. The key here is balance and not filling up on sugary fatty processed foods. Vegetarians are usually much more conscious of their food choices anyway and often eat organic unprocessed foods.
- Many vegetarians make this lifestyle choice on compassionate grounds after either witnessing or researching the process of animal agriculture. This process is cruel in nature practicing mutilation(debeaking of chickens), overcrowding, confined living space and then slaughter.
- Being on a plant based diet is an effective method for detoxifying the body of pesticides, environmental toxins and many food additives. This also means you won’t be consuming many toxins to begin with, about 90% of the pesticides found accumulating in the body come from meat products (not to mention steroids, carcinogens and hormones)
- Plant products, seasonal produce, grains and legumes are perceptibly more inexpensive than meat. It makes smart money sense in an eonomy which almost demands double incomes to find a better way to feed families.
- Vegetarian food is delicious and fresh with wonderful complex flavors which allow the natural character of the food to shine through.
- Vegetarian diets have been found to reduce the rates of cancers in the bowel, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, kidney disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease.
- Women who eat a meat based diet have a greater risk of breast cancer and a lowered immune system when trying to fight the disease.
- Vegetarians avoid many nasty food borne illnesses such as e coli and salmonella.
- In many studies vegetarians have been found to enjoy longer life spans, up to 15 years more than their carnivorous counterparts.
I guess the question to ask yourself is not why go vegetarian but why not?
