Vegetarian food: the benefits and harm of rejection of meat products, a balanced diet

Everyone knows that vegetarian food is a refusal of meat food.

In translation from English "vegetable" means "vegetable", and in translation from Latin "vegetus" - cheerful, fresh.

There are several types of vegetarianism. There are vegetarians who very strictly observe the canons of nutrition, and exclude from the diet not only meat and fish, but also the products they produce, that is, eggs, honey, milk. There is not such a strict vegetarian diet - lacto-ovo-vegetarianism, they add to the food and eggs, and dairy products. And there is a golden mean - either lactovegetarians, which include milk, but there are no eggs, and vice versa, they are only eaten eggs and vegetarian food.

To make a balanced vegetarian diet, you need to understand that any restrictions have their pros and cons. Of course, the right vegetarian diet provides a lot of positive: a good cleansing effect for the body, but at the same time there are elements that are necessary for the human body, which are not found in plant foods, or they are poorly digested.

Let's figure out what are the pros and cons of a vegetarian diet.

The Benefits of Vegetarian Food

1. Have you ever seen a vegan with excess weight? Certainly not. So, vegetarian food helps to reduce excess weight, because in plant foods there are no fats that are retained in the human body.

2. Due to the fact that the plants contain a lot of fiber, it helps to cleanse the body of toxins, vegetarians never have problems with constipation.

3. By using fresh vegetables and fruits, vegetarians practically do not suffer from atherosclerosis, they have a balanced metabolism, they rarely suffer from such diseases as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases.

4. Plants contain a large amount of magnesium, potassium and sodium, which help the work of the cardiovascular system. Therefore, among the adherents of this kind of food, you will hardly find cores.

5. Vegetable food is rich in carbohydrates, and it is a source of energy for the body. Therefore among vegetarians there are many long-livers.

6. In addition, vegetarians practically do not consume alcohol, which also only positively affects the state of human health.

7. The basis of vegetarian food is mainly fresh vegetables and fruits cooked for steaming or baked, and there are almost no canned and pickled vegetables, and therefore, the use of salt and vinegar for vegetarians is also small.

Disadvantages of abandoning meat

1. One of the biggest drawbacks to vegetarian nutrition is the lack of protein, and protein, as is known, is a building material for body cells. Vegetable protein, in turn, is poorly absorbed by humans, so the vegetarian-lacto-vegetarian diet is considered the most healthy and balanced.

2. The next problem is the lack of iron in plant foods. Many vegetarians have anemia. Therefore, in order to somehow keep the level of iron in the body, you need to eat more cereals - buckwheat, millet, beans - beans, peas. You can also fill the gap with chocolate and blueberries.

By the way, it is because of a deficiency of iron in plant foods do not recommend switching to a vegetarian diet during pregnancy and lactation.

3. Vegetarians often have a vitamin B12 deficiency. This vitamin is found in large amounts in meat, seafood, cheese. In general, the lack of vitamin B12 has a bad effect on the process of cell division and can even contribute to the destruction of nerve cells, as well as to impaired vision.

4. Vegetarians have a deficiency of vitamin D, and it affects the bone system of the body. In children, its deficiency is caused by rickets, so small children are also advised not to switch to such food.

Despite the great benefits of vegetarian food, it still has its own significant shortcomings. Before deciding on cardinal changes in their diet, it is better to analyze all the nuances and make weighty decisions.

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