5 Real Benefits Of Vegetarian Eating

If you have been thinking about cutting meat out of your diet and going vegetarian, to prevent obesity or to use in diabetes treatment, then you are going to want to keep reading. It turns out, there are serious benefits to eating vegetarian. A proper vegetarian diet is high in the necessary vitamins, minerals, and unsaturated fats that your body needs to truly thrive. Which means that vegetarians have a lot to smile about.

1. Lower Risk of Chronic Illnesses

There could be many reasons for this – researchers believe that the biggest reasons for this reduced risk of illness are due to lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and obesity. Overall, vegetarians seem to experience a lower risk of chronic illnesses – think about the most common lifestyle diseases and then consider how diet causes them.

2. Prevents The Development of Diabetes

According to research from Loma Linda University School of Public Health, a vegetarian diet has been associated with a reduction in the development of diabetes and diabetes treatment. (Tonstad, et al   Vegetarian diets and incidence of diabetes in the Adventist Health Study-2 )

Additionally, a vegetarian diet may be helpful for people who have already been diagnosed with diabetes as it’s an effective management program for diabetes treatment.

3. Reduce Cholesterol Levels

While meat may have some health benefits, the truth is there are no benefits to consuming animal fats. So, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that by cutting these fats out of your diet it will improve your overall health and wellness and also for diabetes treatment.

Researchers from Korea concluded that vegetarians experience lower levels of cholesterol than meat eaters, as well as lower body fat.

(Kim, et al Long-term vegetarians have low oxidative stress, body fat, and cholesterol levels)

4. Relieves The Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Studies are ongoing into what relief a vegetarian diet may provide to those patients who are living with rheumatoid arthritis. A study from KIIT University found that living a vegetarian (or vegan) life can relieve the painful symptoms of arthritis and help reduce inflammation.

(Khanna, Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis with Dietary Interventions).

This has just supported earlier research which suggested that eliminating gluten may prevent the inflammation that is often the trigger for rheumatoid arthritis.

5. Extended Lifespan

We all have a limited amount of time to walk this earth, however, that doesn’t mean you should neglect your health and wellness as a result. Not only do you want to live a long and happy life, but you also want a healthy life so that when you reach your elder years you are fit enough to still enjoy it.

Well, Loma Linda University researchers found that by eating a vegetarian diet you can improve your chances of living a longer, disease-free life.

(Orlich, et al  Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2).

The study involved almost 100,000 Seventh Day Adventists (a Christian denomination who practice vegetarianism as part of their faith) over the space of five years. They concluded that living a vegetarian life reduced the risk of early death. You may want to bear all of this in mind as you decide what type of diet to adopt in your lifestyle. Based on what we know about the benefits of a diet packed with plant-based foods it shouldn’t be a surprise that going vegetarian may improve your overall health. Of course, the only way to truly benefit from the diet is to ensure you are filling your body’s nutritional needs.

That means eating a rainbow and ensuring that you know what nutrients you’re missing by not eating meat and then replacing them with adequate plant-based options. You may have fallen into the trap of believing that vegetarians are underweight, always hungry, and hiding vitamin deficiencies, but that just isn’t the case.

A vegetarian diet can be just as nutritionally sound like any other diet, and that goes for all ages. It’s all about choosing the right foods to provide your body with the nutrients and minerals that it needs to perform.

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