Veggie Benefits
The following post was originally posted by PETA Files writer, Alisa Mullins.
Guess what, people: Eating vegetarian food is good for you! If you don’t believe me, just ask the American Dietetic Association (ADA), which had the following to say in its latest position paper on vegetarian diets:
The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates.
Need more proof? Check out the following recent studies:
• According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, people with type 2 diabetes who consumed 40 grams of soy protein isolate per day for nearly two months saw significant reductions in both their LDL cholesterol and the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. This is just the latest in a long list of studies showing that soy lowers cholesterol—the FDA even permits companies to boast about the cholesterol-lowering effects of soy on their product labels.
• In more soy news, an amino acid found in higher concentrations in soy and other vegetable proteins can lower your blood pressure.
• In addition to clogging your arteries, a low-carb diet makes you stupid—at least that’s the conclusion of a recent study at Tufts University in Boston. Scientists there found that young women performed worse on mental acuity tests after just one week on the Atkins diet and other low-carb diets. D’oh—you could’ve aced that chemistry final if only you’d had a V8!
• Speaking of V8, a Mayo Clinic study has found that eating lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bad news for people who hate broccoli—taking antioxidant supplements doesn’t have the same effect.
• A study at Oxford University backed up these findings and even went a bit further, concluding that vegetarians slashed their risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and other blood cancers by 45 percent.
So, how’s about we mosey on over to VegCooking.com and get started fixing up a mess of cholesterol-lowering, artery-unclogging, cancer risk–slashing, brain-boosting veggies, shall we?
September 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
i LOVE being a vegetarian
September 17th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
OK I’m 59 years old. Feel 20 years old . People reckon I’m about 40 something. Still play tennis and win. Full of energy . Why ?- vegetarian for 30 something years and counting. says it all - and no-one suffers.With my small effort - fewer of the animals of this world suffer too. Proud to be a veggie not a brainless meat head.
September 18th, 2009 at 4:42 am
I’d like to be a vegetarian, but i don’t know how and where to start. I also want my baby to be vegan, but she is consuming formula milk right now. what do i do?
September 18th, 2009 at 6:52 am
VEGETARIANISM
According to hare Krishna Devotees
Why is a vegetarian diet recommended along with spiritualism! The Supreme Lord is the father of all species of life - the aquatics, plants, trees, reptiles, birds, animals and man. Every one of them is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. What is the difference between man or any of the other species of life. You eat, sleep, procreate and defend - does not any of the other species do the exact same things!!! Would the Supreme Father not be disturbed by you killing any of his other children. If you cannot create life, then why do you take a life? Even in the original Bible one of the commandments states, ” thou shalt not kill “, but yet we maintain huge slaughterhouses.
The Vedic scriptures establish non-violence (ahimsa), as the ethical foundation of vegetarianism. According to the Vedas, God is the Supreme Father of all creatures, not just humans. Therefore, the slaughter of innocent animals is considered equivalent to killing one’s brother or sister. Hare Krishna devotees follow a wholesome diet, which excludes meat, fish and eggs. Although it may be argued that vegetarians are guilty of killing vegetables, vegetarian foods such as fruits, nuts, milk, and grains do not require killing. But even when a plant’s life is taken, the pain it experiences is dramatically less than that of a highly sensitive animal such as a cow or lamb.
According to the law of karma, nature’s law of action and reaction, human beings must suffer for any kind of killing that is against God’s laws. For this reason, as well as to show recognition and appreciation for the Supreme Proprietor and supplier of all foodstuffs, devotees prepare vegetarian meals as devotional offerings to Lord Krishna. Such spiritualized food is then called prasadam (”the mercy of God or Krishna”), which can be fully enjoyed. Spiritual life is not a question of vegetarianism but of understanding higher knowledge. When one comes to the platform of elevated knowledge, he naturally becomes a vegetarian. Eating only food offered to Krishna (God) is the perfection of vegetarianism. In itself, being a vegetarian is not enough; after all, even pigeons and monkeys are vegetarians. But when we go beyond vegetarianism to a diet of prasadam (sanctified food), our eating becomes helpful in achieving the goal of human life—reawakening the soul’s original relationship with God.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I love being a vegetarian-almost vegan.I feel great mentally,spiritually and physically.I have a lot of compassion for animal’s,it’s so disturbing and heart breaking what they go through.I wish people would wake up and see how evil it is.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
excellent.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I don’t understand why people say they get sick after becoming a vegetarian. HELLO! You can’t live off macaroni and cheese! I’ve been a healthy vegetarian since the age of 13 and had no major problems with my health. I actually feel healthier!
September 30th, 2009 at 2:15 am
I am vegan for life– for the rest of my life, for the health of my life, and for the lives of others.