Home
>
Nutrition
>
Understanding Vegetarianism

Understanding Vegetarianism

Like the Sun, Moon, and Earth, there are three kinds of vegetarians in existence: ovo-lacto, a vegetarian that eats vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts, as well as eggs and dairy products. Lacto, a vegetarian that eats everything the "ovo-lacto" does, except eggs. Finally, we have vegans, a vegetarian that eats what the rest of the others eat, except for any kind of animal products, period. Each group of vegetarian is unique, but branches from the same tree of life.

Why would anyone want to be a vegetarian? Well there are many reasons as there are stars in the heavens. Some reasons are for health purposes, religious/spiritual, environmental, and the love and protection of animals. Other reasons may be for very personal ones. No matter the reason, we all meet at the same intersection on the road of health.

What Can Vegetarianism Do For Me?

Science has proven time and again that vegetarians are among the healthiest people on the planet. They live longer and are less prone to chronic diseases. Eating a low fat vegetarian diet can also help in losing excess weight. Obesity can lead to adult onset diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. Eating a vegetarian type diet can reverse heart disease and other health complaints such as arthritis. In addition, the vegetarian diet can lower blood pressure. Because potassium is plentiful in fruits and vegetables, the vegetarian diet lowers blood pressure by helping the kidneys abolish sodium and modify blood pressure-regulating enzymes.

A vegetarian diet decreases the thickness of blood. As a result, it flows more easily through blood vessels. This in turn means the heart works less to push the blood. Further more, a vegetarian diet benefits you by using millions of kidney cells to filter and purify your blood. A meat diet over works the kidneys and slowly kills off the kidney cells called nephrons. Animal protein, when broken down in the body, produces waste products that strain the filtering power of the kidneys. If you've lost any kind of kidney function, due to infection, diabetes or even high blood pressure, your increased chances of nephrons damaging your kidneys are high. Plant based proteins on the other hand, do not damage or harm your kidneys in anyway.

Nutritional Vegetarians

As a new vegetarian, no doubt you'll be wondering if you'll be getting the right nutrition and certainly enough of it. Yes and yes, there's no reason why you would be under nourished being a vegetarian. Fruits and vegetables provide crucial nutrients such as vitamins C and E, beta carotene and lycopene. Such nutrients are referred to as antioxidants and their function is to help fight diseases by neutralizing substances called free radicals. Antioxidants contain disease fighting properties that protect cells from damage.

Religious & Spiritual Paths

Many religions practice some form of vegetarianism. In the East, you have the Hindus and Buddhists. In the West, you have Christians like the Seventh Day Adventist. Many Eastern and Western Mystics also follow the vegetarian path. Through meditation and other spiritual practices, they have gained a greater awareness of how they should be eating and treating their bodies. Even Jewish Mystics follow the vegetarian lifestyle.

For The Love of Planet & Animals

Among other reasons for becoming a vegetarian are environmental and animal rights issues. Raising animals for food causes topsoil loss, erosion and isn't a light matter. This sort of farming (livestock agriculture) is rapidly deteriorating the world's crop lands. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat, compared to 390 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef. Livestock produce massive amounts of excrement, which has been shown to pollute soil, water, and air. Animals such as chickens, pigs and cows are forced to live in In-Humane conditions which cultivate disease and emotional, physical, and mental pain, as well as discomfort. The methods used to kill these creatures for the sake of feeding the masses are usually pretty violent and heart breaking. Scientist has proven that animals have feelings too and they surely feel pain.

Eat Right -- Live Well

That's right, many people just want to eat healthy and feel better in there lives. It truly feels good to be a vegetarian in everyway. You can't go wrong with better health, helping the planet and its creatures. You also share a common bond with some of the world's most famous people: Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, and Charles Darwin. There are plenty of other famous people such as actors and actresses of our time, that are vegetarians and proud of it.

A New Beginning

Vegetarianism isn't just something that you do or way of eating, but also a state of being that illuminates your mind, spirit, emotion and body in a way of existing, that allows you to experience life in a very rewarding and positive way. To be a vegetarian, is to see the hidden harmony in a world of disguised chaos. I can assure you, we're unique individuals.

Gabriel Foster is the editor for http://www.gabrielfoster.com, the online magazine for both vegetarians and natural health enthusiasts.

whole house cleaning Deerfield ..

In The News:

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Archer Aviation has acquired Hawthorne Airport for $126M to launch an LA air taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympics, featuring AI-powered eVTOL operations and next-gen aviation tech.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Fake AI apps disguised as "ChatGPT" and "DALL·E" are flooding app stores with dangerous malware that steals data and monitors users without detection.

Fake buyers demand specific vehicle reports from unknown sites to steal credit card information from car sellers, but warning signs can help identify these scams before paying.

Android users can now manage apps across multiple devices more easily with Google Play Store's updated remote uninstall button in the latest update.

NASA's Perseverance rover discovers shiny metallic rock on Mars that could be a meteorite from an ancient asteroid, containing high levels of iron and nickel.

Holiday scams spike during Black Friday and Cyber Monday as criminals exploit your leaked personal data. Learn how to protect yourself from fake stores and phishing.

Commerce Department proposes TP-Link router ban over Chinese security risks. Learn how this potential prohibition could affect your home network and devices.