Go Meatless: November 2nd is World Vegan Day
November 2nd is World Vegan Day, which makes it a Meatless Monday for anybody attempting to do without meat and perhaps dairy or egg products. All of which brings about a debate on whether a vegetarian diet or a traditional Western diet is healthier.
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Admittedly, there are a lot of steps on the way to “religiously” adhering to vegetarianism for philosophical, ecological, or ethical reasons:
Flexitarians mostly follow a plant-based diet, limiting meat, poultry, and fish consumption. A lot of health-conscious adults, including myself, fall into this category.
Lacto-ovarians may consume eggs as well as milk and dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese.
Lacto-tarians may consume dairy products, but they don’t eat eggs.
Vegetarians or “vegans” eat only plant-based foods.
Strict vegetarians argue that a plant-based diet is healthier because
—A vegetarian diet is a fiber-based diet, relatively high in carbohydrates. Such diets decrease the risk of colon and breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes while animal-based diets increase LDL (or”bad”) cholesterol. Switching to a vegetarian diet, however, does not necessarily raise HDL (or “good”) cholesterol levels.
—Vegans cite a correlation between a diet high in meat and dairy consumption with osteoporosis.
—Vegetarians, such as Seventh-Day Adventists, also often make other healthy lifestyle choices: exercising regularly (30 minutes of weight-bearing or heart-pounding exercise–walking, running, bicycling, aerobics, or swimming–three to five days per week), not smoking, not consuming alcohol, or consuming it in moderation.
Even so, plan very carefully when attempting to follow a vegetarian diet:
—Vegetarians who shun eggs and dairy products completely have a harder time including enough Vitamin B-12, calcium, zinc, and iron in their food choices. Older adults, particularly postmenopausal women, have higher calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B-12 needs than younger adults. Accordingly, this age group as well as pregnant and lactating women and children below the age of 12 should consider maintaining a diet plan that includes eggs and dairy products; moreover, vegetarians of all age groups should take vitamin supplements.
—Sometimes, vegans consume too much soy, processed meat substitutes, and unhealthy sugars and carbohydrates. Remember a donut is a vegetarian breakfast, but no one would argue that it’s a healthy choice for breakfast on a daily basis.
—Growing children need a diet high in calories, so if their families follow a vegetarian diet, the children’s food should have more calories than the choices their parents would necessarily be eating. Occasionally, add peanut butter sandwiches in children’s lunches, for example.
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