What Is A Vegetarian?

Here is how vegetarians are classified today.

Semi vegetarian- eats poultry, fish, eggs and dairy foods, but not red meats or pork

Flexitarian- occasionally eats meat, but diet is largely plant based - -15% of Americans consider themselves flexitarians

Pesco vegetarian- eats fish;, eggs and dairy foods, but not poultry, red meats or pork

Lacto ovo- eats eggs and dairy foods, but no animal food that "has eyes"

Ovo vegetarian- eats eggs, but no other animal foods product

Vegan- excludes all animal derived foods (some eat bee products) vegans comprise about 1.3% of the U.S. population.

Becoming a vegetarian affects both body and mind.  When people change their diet, they find their point of view about life changes, too.  Nutrition awareness and knowledge increases.  Most vegetarians support a "green" lifestyle"-consciously trying to preserve instead of thoughtlessly wasting the Earth's bounty.

Benefits Of A Vegetarian Diet:

Vegetarians live longer-an average of 6 to 10 years longer than the rest of the population.

Vegetarians are better hydrated-from the high water content of fresh foods.

Vegetarians have lower risk of food poisoning-every day in the U.S. 200,000 people suffer from food poisoning.  The vast majority of cases are traced back to meat consumption.

Vegetarians are energetic-Energy comes from carbohydrates and healthy fats from grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.  Energy also comes from vitamins, minerals and amino acids, plentiful in plant foods.

A vegetarian diet is low in fat, so it is heart smart.  Vegetarians have a well documented history of lower risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, heartburn, obesity, gallstones, kidney disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, colon disease, and several types of cancer.  Risk of dying from ischemic heart disease is 24% lower in vegetarians.

Vegetarians usually have lower concentrations of pesticide residues in their bodies.  Red meat is one of the highest food sources of pesticides.  Our meat animals don't usually eat organically grown foods.  They are often fed heavily sprayed crops.

Vegetarians report better body balance, especially protein balance.  Vegetable protein abounds in grains, legumes like beans and lentils, soy foods, potatoes, green vegetables, nuts and seeds, pasta and corn.  Animal proteins are known to raise cholesterol; soy protein helps lower cholesterol.  One of the high problems with today's high meat "Zone" weight loss diets is that they rely largely on caloric restriction for weight loss, ignoring the cardiovascular implications of a high meat diet.

Healthy Healing - Linda Page  PH.D., Traditional Naturopath  and   Sarah Abernathy