Vegetarian diet is one of the most prescribed types of diet plan for almost all age groups, especially for children. This is why most mothers insist on serving their household dinner filled with vegetarian plan, be it a ham sandwich or a steak served on the table. Mothers are just always persistent. According to them, vegetables are always good for their children’s health, as well as to adults. As such, no one can contend the validity of this claim; thus, making a vegetable diet as always highly recommended (Nemours Foundation, 2009).
Although they do not look like human food and they do not taste as good as a slice of steak or porterhouse, vegetables are very good for the human body (Edwards, 2007). In this generation where life is as quick as any another detail in life, a diet which includes food that is beneficial to one’s health is advisable. Vegetarianism is the best option not only for the children but for the entire family. There are a number of reasons why turning one’s self or the entire family into vegetarians is a better choice than the typical human diet.
First and foremost, being a vegetarian can amount to countless benefits for one’s health. Vegetables are naturally healthy food. It does not contain any amount of cholesterol, which gets stuck in the body and causes heart attacks and strokes. It also has lower total fat and saturated content as compared to animal products. With lower fat content, it tends to keep the body in proportional shape even with minimal exercise. This results to a healthy and well-toned body with less effort (Marcus, 2008).
Another reason why it is better to be a vegan is because it decreases cruelty to animals. Although few people realize this due to the fact that the cruelty occurs in the background, eating meat and poultry is actually harmful to animals. Since eating meat and poultry require a lot of cows, pigs, chickens and other animals to be slaughtered, the industries involved in this business resort to all possible solutions in order to increase production. There are instances when the acts may already be considered as animal abuse.
However, this is often overlooked because of the unceasing need for animal products (Think Quest Team, 2000). There are instances when in order to have more space, the animals are kept very tight cages where movement is almost impossible. If they are not put in separate cages, they are kept in sties which are as overcrowded as the subway station during rush hour. However, the worst part is not only the place where the animals are housed; it is the process or the way they are being raised. There are farmers who feed their animals with remains of other dead animals just to be able to cut costs.
This may be considered not only as harsh treatment to animals but also to the people who are going to eat the animals that were fed from the remains of other dead animals (Think Quest Team, 2000). This is the third reason why being a vegetarian is better than following a typical diet. Vegetables do not eat anything to grow. It is all natural. Therefore there are no risks of eating meat from animals that ate dead and rotting remains from other animals. Vegan food is innately safe and healthy.
The fourth reason why vegetarianism is better than the typical diet is that it helps save the planet. A vegetarian diet helps the environment restore itself. It has been discovered that what people believed as the reason for clear-cutting forests is actually a wrong notion. Huge industries do not clear-cut forests just to get the lumber. It is to be able to accommodate huge industrial buildings that may process meat. It is also done to provide grazing land for the cattle and cows which most people eat. Through the vegetarian diet, the need for more cows to raise is decreased.
This decrease in the demand for meat may be entailed by the decrease in the need for more grazing fields and building areas. The continuation of this cycle can help save the diminishing rainforests of the planet (SYL. com, 2006) With these reasons, it may therefore be concluded that although vegetarianism may be a difficult option, especially to the people who are used to the typical human diet, it carries numerous benefits that are worth the effort and risk. It is a way of life that is very unselfish. It benefits not only the person who is living in it but also that person’s surroundings.
References
Edwards, N. (2007). Vegetables. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.Marcus, E. (2008). Vegan.com FAQ. Vegan.com. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.vegan.com/articles/faq/
Nemours Forundation. (2009). Vegetarianism. KidsHealth.org. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/vegetarianism.html
SYL.com. (2006). Veganism for ecological reasons. Syl.com. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.syl.com/articles/veganismforecologicalreasons.html
Think Quest Team. (2000). Treatment of Animals. Thinkquest.org. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://library.thinkquest.org/C004833/animals_en.shtml