in

A Vegetarian Diet Is The Best Diet For Health And The Environment

The vegetarian diet is the best diet for health and the environment, according to nutritionists at the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In their statement, the experts emphasized the advantages of the vegetarian diet and explained that, compared to non-vegetarian diets, vegetarian and vegan diets include: Reducing obesity and helping prevent heart disease, diabetes, and several forms of cancer and should therefore be implemented as early as childhood.

Vegetarian diet – preferably in childhood

The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, one of the largest organizations for nutrition and nutrition professionals, published an update of its statement on vegetarian diets in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Among other things, it states that a well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life and that if these diets were practiced in childhood, this measure alone could reduce the risk of chronic diseases later in life.

Vegetarian diet – better for health and the environment

In addition, according to Vandana Sheth, spokeswoman for the Academy, which has nearly 70,000 dietitian, nutritionist, dietitian and nutritionist members, a plant-based diet is far more environmentally friendly and sustainable than diets high in animal products because vegetarian diets are more common Diets, for example, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50 percent.

Vegetarian diets

In Switzerland, the proportion of vegetarians in 2021 was 4 percent. A vegan diet is 0.6 percent, which corresponds to a doubling compared to 2020. In the entire German-speaking area, in 2021, 12 percent will eat vegetarian and 5 percent will eat vegan.

There are very different vegetarian and vegan diets, e.g. B. these:

  • Lacto-vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or eggs, but do eat dairy products.
  • Honey and other bee products are eaten by most vegetarians but not by vegans.
  • Ovo-Lacto vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products, but no meat or fish.
  • Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs, but no dairy products, and of course no meat or fish.
  • Vegans eat no animal products at all.

For each of the four forms mentioned, there is a raw food variant. Here you eat the selected food only in raw form, i.e. not heated above 42 degrees. An ovo-Lacto vegetarian eats only dairy products made from raw milk. The eggs are also eaten raw.
Many studies have already highlighted the health benefits of a vegan diet. These primarily include a lower risk of obesity and diabetes. But certain cancer risks and cardiovascular risks can also be reduced if more plant-based food is used.

Vegetarian diet – the best when well planned

Of course, a vegetarian or vegan diet is not automatically healthy in every case. You can eat very unhealthily with almost any diet and thus also with a vegan or vegetarian diet. Because if you eat sugar, white flour, and chips, for example, you eat vegan, but not particularly healthy.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, therefore, emphasizes that a well-planned plant-based diet – rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains – can provide a whole cornucopia of health benefits.

Nutrient and vital substance deficiencies are not to be feared. Because if you recommend a vegan or vegetarian diet, then, of course, you recommend the healthy, wholesome, and balanced version and not the junk food version.

A plant-based diet reduces the risk of diabetes by 62 percent

For the Academy’s new statement – ​​authored i.a. by nutritionist Susan Levin of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C. – the Academy reviewed many studies on the potential health and environmental impact of a plant-based or plant-based diet.

For example, the Academy authors write that a plant-based diet can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 35 percent, and the risk of developing any form of cancer at all decreases by 18 percent when eating a plant-based diet.

According to the Academy, a plant-based diet reduces the risk of heart attack by 32 percent, the risk of heart disease by 10 to 29 percent, and the risk of diabetes by an incredible 62 percent.

People who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet,” Sheth said, “generally have a lower BMI (so they’re less likely to be overweight), healthier blood pressure and blood sugar levels, less chronic inflammation, and lower cholesterol levels compared to non-vegetarians.”

Eating Vegetarian – Diet Plans

If you want to change your diet to a vegetarian or vegan diet, but don’t know exactly how to do it, you can easily contact a holistic nutritionist and have an individual nutrition plan drawn up that includes all the nutrients. and vital substances and can lead to the stated health goals.

Vegetarians are also a good solution for children

Vegetarian diets are also very suitable for children and young people, they help young people to establish a healthy basis for later life since a vegetarian diet in youth leads – according to the authors of the Academy – to less frequent eating later on suffering from chronic diseases.

In this context, the Academy authors refer to studies that show that children and adolescents who eat a vegetarian diet are much less likely to be overweight than their meat-eating peers.

The benefits of a vegetarian diet during childhood include eating more fruits and vegetables, fewer sweets, fewer unhealthy fats, and fewer salty snacks. These factors alone lead to healthier teeth, a healthy weight, and an excellent supply of secondary plant substances.”

Plant-based nutrition – the best of all forms of nutrition for the environment
Environmental benefits are not forgotten either. The Academy reports that a vegetarian diet reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent, and a vegan diet by 50 percent.

That’s because vegetarian diets (especially vegan diets) use less water, fewer fossil fuels, fewer pesticides, and fewer artificial fertilizers than diets based on meat and other animal-based foods.

Take the kidney bean, for example. It takes 18 times less land, 10 times less water, 9 times less fuel, 12 times less fertilizer, and 10 times fewer pesticides to produce 1 kg of kidney beans than it takes to produce 1 kg of beef. At the same time, the kidney bean is a high-quality source of protein that can also make meat superfluous from a nutritional point of view.

Vegetarian Diet: Better Than Drugs

The conclusion of the American Academy of Dietetics is therefore as follows: Vegetarian diets can protect both health and the environment. And this is how the Academy paper reads as the final sentence:

If you could get plant-based nutrition and its effects as a pill packaged on prescription, this remedy would become an overnight blockbuster because plant-based nutrition gives so much energy to the human body and at the same time takes so little energy away from our planet.”

What other drug improves the metabolism so well, lowers blood pressure so sustainably, stabilizes blood sugar so permanently, and lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes so convincingly (and without any side effects) as vegetarian and vegan nutrition?”

Avatar photo

Written by Micah Stanley

Hi, I'm Micah. I am a creative Expert Freelance Dietitian Nutritionist with years of experience in counseling, recipe creation, nutrition, and content writing, product development.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Soy In Breast Cancer – When Harmful, When Useful

Your Diet Affects Your Genes