Why Be a Vegetarian When Eating Meat is Simpler?

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.

Why Stick To Vegetables Only When It Is So Expensive? Meat Is Tasty And Cheap

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.

It is a common misconception that vegetarian food is more expensive than meats. Bulk amount of vegetarian food can be bought quite inexpensively, whereas the pre-made packaged meat substitutes are typically quite costly. The common vegetarian staples such as rice, oats, beans, and pasta are very affordable.

It is an accepted fact that we all could benefit from more fruit and vegetables in our diets. However, when fresh fruits and vegetables are taken into account, the cost of the vegetarian diet does go up a small amount. However, vegetarians generally do not consume significantly more fresh vegetables and fruit than the rest of the general 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.

While the human body is capable of digesting meat, eating meat long-term is known to cause many health problems. High cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis are all directly linked to eating meat. Although eating meat infrequently does not seem to significantly raise our risk for these maladies, the typical American diet contains so much meat that it effectively poisons our bodies. Were we designed to be meat eaters? The evidence suggests that we were not.

Why become a Vegetarian? Why Can't You Be One?

There are even more reasons to be vegetarian, but the most compelling reason is the one that resonates with you personally. Being a vegetarian means that you are removing your support from an industry that produces more waste than all other American industries combined. You are standing up in favor of a healthy life and healthy planet, and you are doing a good turn for animal rights. Being a vegetarian comes with many, many benefits for your physical, emotional, and financial well-being - and no detrimental effects to any of these.

About the Author

For information about vegetarian diet visit Paula Benson's website on vegetarian lifestyle  

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