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Why Go Vegetarian?

by: PaulaBenson
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"Why be a vegetarian?": this is one question that new vegetarians are asked over and over again. In as much as people are not familiar with the wealth of delicious food available to vegetarians, they are simply at a loss about the reason for taking meat out of your diet.

When asked "why be a vegetarian?" many take this question as an attack on vegetarianism and try to defend their position, whereas many people ask this question merely out of curiosity to know the motivations behind becoming a vegetarian.

Meat is Very Inexpensive and Tasty, So Why be a Vegetarian When it is So Expensive?

It requires a lot of effort and thinking, is one of the arguments made against vegetarianism. It often appears that vegetarians put a lot more work into their diet than meat eaters do, but really, they just tend to be more selective about what they eat and do more to make sure they are getting balanced nutrition.

The idea that it is more expensive to eat foods to replace meat in their diet is a common misconception about vegetarianism. Although meat substitutes can be costly, inexpensive vegetarian foods can be purchased in bulk. Some examples of the most inexpensive vegetarian staples are rice, oats, beans, and pasta

The cost is a little higher when you factor in fresh fruits and vegetables, however it is commonly accepted that we could all benefit from more fruits and vegetables in our diets. Vegetarians typically do not consume much more in the way of fruits and vegetables than the recommended amounts for the general, meat eating, public.

If the amount of resources needed to produce crops and meat are taken into account, it will be seen that it is less expensive to produce plant foods. The artificially low priced meat available in the supermarket and in restaurants are the products of the subsidies provided by the government to the farmers in the form of payments to encourage meat production.

Why Become a Vegetarian When Humans Were Designed to Eat Meat?

Many meat eaters argue that humans were not made to live without meat in their diets, however biological evidence doe not support this claim. Our physiology resembles more closely that of herbivores than carnivores: our digestive system reveals that plant matter, not meat, is our optimal food.

Eating meat in the long-term may cause many health related problems, even though the human body has the capability to digest meat. Some of the side effects of eating meat are high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Although occasionally consuming meat not seem to significantly increase our risk for these serious illnesses; the typical American diet, however, contains so much meat that are bodies are basically poisoned by it. Were we designed to be meat eaters? The evidence seems to support that humans were not evolved to eat meat.

Why Be a Vegetarian? Why Wouldn't You Be One?

Even, though there are many reasons to be vegetarian, your personal beliefs are the most important. Becoming a vegetarian removes your endorsement from an industry that produces more waste than all other American industries put together. You will be doing your part to achieve a healthy lifestyle, as well as a healthier planet. You will also be doing your part in supporting animal rights. There are no known detrimental effects of being a vegetarian, in fact being one has many benefits for one's physical, emotional, and financial well-being.

About the Author

Learn more about vegetarian diet visit Paula Benson's website on vegetarian lifestyle

Why Go Vegetarian?

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