Some useful ‘Did you know’ facts:
“Millions of people around the world live without meat or fish and they probably each have their own reasons for doing so.”
“Around two million land animals are slaughtered every day in the UK alone, just so that people can eat their flesh.”
“The livestock industry uses huge amounts of land, water and fossil fuels, while producing 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and all sorts of other pollution.”
Benefits
Some of the benefits to consider is growing grains and pulses to feed to animals is much less efficient than eating them ourselves for sustainability purposes. A balanced vegetarian diet is one of the healthiest diets around to consider as one of the options. Many religions and faiths recommend vegetarianism and some people turn away from eating animal flesh because of broader ethical issues. A vegetarian diet can also be one of the cheapest ways to eat as well, cost effective.
Downfalls
Some of the downfalls to consider is the lack of choice and selection. You have to be very careful and think about what you eat. If you have been raised with eating meat and fish, it can be quite difficult at first to adjust to the new strict vegetable diets.
You may feel there is a limited choice in what meals you can eat, however that mindset can be overturned by experimenting what meals you can make with the power of vegetables in creating simple recipes for friends and family.
Don’t be afraid to cook with what may seem new or weird; be open to try out anything, who knows the next new simple vegetable stew, casserole or burger etc may end up in the restaurant menu!
Vitamins and minerals
Limited minerals such as zinc and Iron, red meat contains a lot of Iron and zinc, vegetarians, unfortunately, are prone to having low iron levels in their blood as they don’t eat meat so they are often prone to iron and zinc deficiencies.
One way to prevent these deficiencies from occurring is again right down to choosing the right food groups and knowing what is good for you to regain those vital minerals such as eating whole grains, nuts, green spinach, leafy vegetables and brussel sprouts etc.
Again they don’t have to be eaten alone you can experiment with including these foods in your meals.
Why I chose a Vegetarian diet
As a vegetarian myself, I believe the diet has helped me to live a good simple life appreciating all living creatures.
Sticking to my vegetarian diet was not only for religious ethical reasons in being a Jain- part of the religion Hinduism. (The philosophy of the vegetarian diet stems from the faith Jainism).
But also being a vegetarian helps me to sustain longevity in taking a holistic, vital well-being approach to life, by simply eating pure natural healthy foods that can make you feel good at the end day.
