What are the health benefits of being a vegan/vegetarian?

Question

Also, what are some good menus? I am very curious. I have lost ALOT of weight, and am now trying to take steps to cleanse my body to help tone myself more!! Thanks!

JARED please read my question.. I do not want to lose weight, I HAVE lost a ton, and am now looking for a heathier way of life to keep my new look.

Answer 1

"In recent years, vegan diets have been shown to exert protective effects against a number of chronic diseases and medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers, as well as some kidney disorders, immune-inflammatory diseases, toxin exposure, gastrointestinal diseases and eye disorders."
~http://www.veganhealthstudy.org/ClinicalSummary.html

I started a vegan diet to help with my type II diabetes. I'm glad to report that I have it under control, and like you, have lost lots of weight in combination with exercise. My fiance is not a vegan so I try to make "regular" dishes with vegan ingredient alternatives.

Some of our favorites around here are:

Chili with TVP (textured vegetable protein), salad with mixed greens and either crackers or bread

Vegetable stir fry with mushrooms and beans, tempeh or tofu. We usually have it with brown rice, but sometimes with Kashi 7 grain pilaf

Vegan Boca burgers on whole wheat rolls with lots of vegetable garnishes (lettuce, kale, green peppers, red onions, black olives, shredded carrots or broccoli slaw, tomatoes, pickles or cucumbers, sprouts, raw mushrooms), corn on the cob

Hummus on toasted flat pitas with lots of veggies

Fruit/Vegetable smoothies (just add more fruit than vegetables and you won't be able to taste them) with fruit juice and/or soy milk and wheat germ

Black bean and rice "tacos" with lots of veggies, chips and salsa

Spaghetti with tomato-TVP sauce, whole grain pasta, mixed greens salad


A vegan diet is free of cholesterol and can be very low in fat if properly planned. If you're anything like me, you'll feel great, too! Before you make any decisions, research it well. There's tons of good info out there. I've included some links.

Congrats on your weight loss and continued good luck!

Answer 2

There are varying levels of vegetarian. Some are healthier than meat eaters some are not.

So your question is not an easy one to answer.

Humans are herbivores. We do not have sharp teeth for tearing flesh. We have large flat teeth for grinding grain. However, over the course of centuries we have learned to love meat. And the meat is killing us. Colon cancer is an epidemic.

So humans react in a human way. Just cut out the meat. Which isn't the solution. Highly processed meat substitutes are often just as toxic to us as the meat itself.

We've been brainwashed to believe we need a ridiculous amount of protein. Very little is needed.

Milk does not do a body good. Ingesting milk products has been shown to CAUSE osteoporosis. Not fix it or retard it. New studies have shown our bodies can pull far more calcium from fruit.

So if you want a healthier system then eat fresh fruits and veggies. As much and as often as you like. Buy organic as often as possible. The less pollutants you ingest the better. Be sure to thoroughly wash your fruits and veggies. Even the organic ones.

I like FIT by proctor and gamble. You can buy it with a little soaking bucket. It's great.

Nuts, as someone mentions above, are not all created equal. You'll want to buy raw nuts. Not roasted. Roasted nuts may have been chemically treated and the roasting process itself reduces their nutrient content.

Answer 3

I was a vegetarian, lack of energy was my main difficulty. I changed my lifestyle, eat red meat once a week, in a small portion. My health and general state of living improved within days. I mostly eat seafood and salads, veggies etc. Healthy, and it doesn't make me gain any weight. :) The main thing is balance.

Edit: The 8 glasses of water thing is also a must, also combining a healthy diet with exercise gives the best results. I work and study, so I don't have much time, but I find that visiting the gym 4 times a week for an hour session every time isn't too difficult. (20 minutes toning, 40 minutes cardio) But anyways that's a side note.

Answer 4

I never had an energy problem. Actually, i have a great amount of energy since i became a vegetarian. My weight and body temperature stays stable as well.

I suggest that you at least have the following in your daily diet though.
16 oz. Soy milk
16 oz organic V8 juice
1/4 lb of fresh broccoli.. In a salad or whatever
a handful of nuts

Answer 5

if you want to lose weight consider that there is no bread in the world.
Being a vegetarian has no health benefits what so ever. In fact Vegetarians do not live as long as people who eat what they are made of.
Also, They have to use supplement to replace the loss of red meat.

Eat smaller amounts and stay away from carbohydrates.
One of the advantages is Jennie Craig's Weight loss program is the diet.

Good luck and don't be taken in be ignorant emotional people. Let them do what they want and you do what is good for you.

Answer 6

I wasn't going to post here about why I think meat's healthier, but there was such a terrible answer earlier from desjardin that can't help myself.

Dejardin obviously knows very little about the subject, and has picked up whatever she does know from propaganda sites with a very skewered view.
She said:

"Humans are herbivores. We do not have sharp teeth for tearing flesh. We have large flat teeth for grinding grain. However, over the course of centuries we have learned to love meat. And the meat is killing us. Colon cancer is an epidemic."

Humans are not herbivores. That we do not have teeth like cats proves nothing, our teeth are perfectly able to eat meat. Our teeth do not tear flesh, that does not mean we aren't designed to eat it.
Obvious proof here would be that our teeth are so adept at eating meat; obviously they aren't designed solely for eating meat, but there are many adaptations that have allowed them to do so, why would this be so if it wasn't intended? Also out digestive system; if we were herbivores we wouldn't be able to digest meat, or if we did it'd make us very ill. As it is our body creates hydrochloric acids and meat splitting enzymes not found in herbivores, and can break down meat completely and efficiently without any adverse effects. We also have a longer intestine than herbivores, another adaption.
If we weren't omnivores our body wouldn't be able to handle meat at all, and as we know that is completely untrue.

If fact, we aren't suited to a herbivorous diet at all. Yes, nowadays veggies can get all the vitamins can need from plants (except for B12, which has to be taken as a supplement of in a fortified food), but a hundred years ago that wouldn't have been possible. For a start now we can fly in plants all year round from places all round the world. In bygone days our choice of veggies would have been very limited due to only being able to eat food that could be grown locally, and only when it was in season. No single place in the world can provide all the nutrients, even ignoring B12, that a human needs without meat; not by a long shot, and even then there would these plants and nutrients wouldn't be available all year round. As I said, B12 cannot ever be got naturally without meat, and without it humans get anaemia and die.
If we were designed to be herbivores we would be able to get everything we need i a diet without meat, but we can't. Until very recently a vegan diet would have been impossible without dying from severe malnourishment. If we were meat to be vegan that would not be so.

Even the studies which say red meat increases the risk of colon cancer (not increase does not imply that veggies don't get it), say that fish lowers the risk and pountry has no effect. That doesn't quite fit with your herbivore theory does it?

"We've been brainwashed to believe we need a ridiculous amount of protein. Very little is needed."

Depends, if you're going to sit around all day doing very little, then not that much is needed, assuming you're willing to get unfit and weak. Those with an active lifestyle or who want to stay fit and strong need a reasonable amount. An Army nutritionist told me that while trying to get fitter and stronger one should eat 40g every 2 hours, which is a lot of protein.
The human body is almost completely made of protein, if you don't eat enough you won't die, but you'll lose a lot of muscle and stregnth, and children won't grow well.

"Milk does not do a body good. Ingesting milk products has been shown to CAUSE osteoporosis. Not fix it or retard it. New studies have shown our bodies can pull far more calcium from fruit."

Studies have not shown that milk causes osteoporosis, they've drawn that conclusion from other evidence. This evidence is that which says protein is acidic and your body takes calcium from the bones to neutralise it. These studies were done with protein powders, which is a very unnatural form your body isn't designed to cope with. When taken in a natural form protein does not have that affect at all and recent studies have shown no link between protein and bone density loss. That calcium can be absorbed better from plants (and I've seen no evidence of this online) makes no difference, as milk contains a HUGE amount of calcium per unit compared to any plant. More calcium can be got by virtue of a very large amount of calcium rich fruits would need to be eaten to equal a much smaller portion of milk or cheese.

The 'milk is bad' argument is a very bad one, as they usually ignore that humans create milk for babies. Milk is one of the most nutritious foods possible, and is very good for children. That adults don't 'need it' per se doesn't suddenly mean it's bad for you, as adults have similar nutritional needs to children.
They often say 'ah, but you drink cow's milk, not human's'. This ignores that cows milk, while a bit more fatty, is very similar to humans milk, with more or less the same nutrients and things in, albeit with different quantities, and if human's milk isn't bad there is no reason why would cow's milk be.

Rant over.

Answer 7

It is not scientifically proven it is healthier to be a vegan or vegetarian. desjardin humans are omnivores we have canines.