Is being a vegetarian healthy?

Question

By not eating meat, will you remain healthy? Also, will it make you gain more weight?

Answer 1

Being a vegetarian can be very healthy. Just make sure to eat a well balanced diet. Make sure to get enough protein. Being vegetarian will not make you gain more weight than any other way of eating.

Answer 2

It is healthy and will help you lose or maintain your weight only if you eat nutritious vegetarian foods. If you eat no meat but eat a lot of french fries and milk shakes, for example, it won't help and you will gain weight. You should make sure you are getting the right number of calories and the right daily values of all the important vitamins and minerals. Just cutting meat won't do you any good at all unless you pay attention to the other things you are putting into your body.

Answer 3

You will miss protein. There are some proteins in plants and nuts, but you need lot of different types of protein, most of which can only be found in meat. A lack of these proteins can result in losing some of your ability to grow and repair yourself. Just because not all vegetarians look ill is not to say that it is a healthier diet than an omnivorous one.

Think of all the healthiest people you know: sportsmen, athletes, etc, I bet you they all eat meat, because it is needed to maintain muscle and keep you at your best health.

Your body is naturally adapted to eat meat, and that isn't without a reason, it is a very nutritious food. If you do become a veggie, you'll need to be very careful; you could end up with a vitamin B12 deficiency or lack of other vital minerals and nutrients.

The proposed health benefits of not eating meat, for instance that it gives you higher cholesterol, are mostly false. Your body needs cholesterol, and couldn't survive without it, when you don't eat it in meat your body creates it's own, which of course takes more energy. There is also evidence that it isn't cholesterol that causes atheroma, which is what causes heart disease.
They also claim we aren't built to eat meat...we are...people like PETA etc are propagating lies. Meat is a natural food of human beings, what logic is there in suggesting that you will be healthier if you give up your natural diet, as dictated by evolution, and eat one that isn't nearly so nutritious.

Answer 4

Oh yes it is! It's very healthy to be a vegetarian and helps you to gain the right weight. I have a cousin that is a vegetarian since 2 years ago and she gained on weight and she is active and had no health problems since then.

Answer 5

I've been vegan for eleven years now. I believe it's perfectly healthy!

The trick is that you have to be pro-active about getting protein in your diet. You really should include soy protein from sources like tofu, veggie burgers, and the like. You should also eat a well-balanced diet with a lot of beans and other legumes.

You also might have a bit of a problem with iron and or calcium. Leafy, green veggies have a lot of both of these. (After all, cows eat grass, and that's why their milk is so high in calcium!)

Being a successful vegetarian or vegan is about learning what your body needs - and meeting those needs. If you sit around eating Easy Mac and eating Cheetos, you're obviously going to make yourself quite sick.

Education is key! :)

Answer 6

My family and I went totally Vegetarien for 2 years, we all got sick more frequently and everyone gained at least 10 pounds. After 2 years we all sat down and talked about it and by mutual agreement went back to a normal diet that included meat. The weight came off everyone in 3 months time and no more constant illness, just a cold once in a while and not every year.

Answer 7

Yes, it's healthy. I've been veg for almost 20 years and I'm as healthy as anyone I know.

Vegetarianism alone will not make you lose OR gain weight. That's determined by how many calories you eat versus how many you burn.

Answer 8

Yes it is healthy, it dose not make you gain weight. You can get protein by eating eggs, peanut butter, and more. You also don't get all that Greece and fat from chicken.But if your A vegetarian you don't know what your missin.

Answer 9

yes. you lose out on some things like protein by eating meat but there are other foods you can get that from. no it doesn't make you gain more weight

Answer 10

As long as you get enough protein which is easy to do. Plus you eat less animal fat that doesn't benefit you anyway, it's even unhealthy. You naturally get more veggies and fruits.
Therefore, the general tendency is a weight loss, not gain.