Vegetarianism

Would you be willing to remove all the meat from your life? It can sound a little drastic or even impossible for some people, but it is the reality for millions of others. Vegetarianism is not necessarily a bad thing; you simply eat substitutes of meat. Should Vegetarianism be more encouraged by dieticians and doctors? I think it could solve many problems in the society like environmental issues and bring us many health benefits even if some do not think so.

First, eating less meat has a huge impact on our environmental footprint. As you might know, all the meat that we buy from the supermarkets comes from intensive farming. These do not only produce huge quantities of methane, but also causes soil depletion. The methane is very harmful because it is considerate as a greenhouse gas, which has negative effects on climate change. This gas is 25 times more powerful than dioxide of carbon. The soil degradation can be really harmful for long term use of the land. It can cause the change of the nature of the soil, for example, the pH can be modified, which can lead to other problems such as soil infertility, erosion, use of toxic fertilizers. Once those problems start to occur, the only solution is to leave the ground rest and let Nature do what she knows best, fixing what we have done. To resume, by eating less meat, you help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Secondly, be a vegetarian can improve your health. According to a study from Harvard University, being on a vegetarian diet lowers your risks of having cardiac problems. Your chances of having high cholesterol are also lower since meat is known for containing a high level of it. Often, to replace the animal protein, they tend to eat more nuts which are rich in antioxidants and healthy fatty acid.  Antioxidants help preventing cancer and can be found in a lot of fruits and vegetables like berries, kale or even artichokes. There are less risks of becoming obese or having diabetes because of the low quantity of fats ingested. It can also improve your mental health, for example, eating less meat can reduce depression. In summary, eating less meat can really help improving your living conditions by providing a healthy body.

Thirdly, some people might say that a vegetarian diet can lead to a deficiency in certain nutriments, but it is not a hundred percent true. Sure, pizza, fries and soda can be part of this diet, but it is far from being all of it. B12 vitamin is often the first argument because it can not be found elsewhere that in animal products. The thing is that vegetarians can eat eggs and dairy products, that way they can have their daily intake or B12 vitamin. It is that way of all the other incertitude about deficiency in a vegetarian diet. Before stressing out about having a deficiency in a diet, you should inform yourself properly.

To conclude, I think vegetarianism should be more encouraged by doctors not only for the health benefits related to it, but also for the environmental footprint of the gesture. Like in any other circumstance, it is important to have a balanced and diversified alimentation. It is understandable that changing your alimentation can require a lot of willing from you, but if you start slowly, it is an achievable goal. Would you be willing to try and consider this option?