By Sasha S.
When becoming a vegetarian this means you can't eat any poultry, fish, meat, and seafood. Instead, you live solely on vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, and nuts. Pretty much anyone could become a vegetarian if they put in the work, and switching to this diet can help you in many ways.
Becoming a vegetarian doesn’t mean you have to give up tasty foods, and switch to bland boring foods. You can buy meat substitutes, which are normally plant based imitation meat. You can also make a variety of healthy meals.
Some common reasons people want to become vegetarians is because of religious convictions, concerns about animal welfare, and health purposes. Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism use vegetarianism as a part of spiritual fulfillment. They also use this lifestyle to advocate nonviolence, and they do this because they believe that nonviolence is something essential for their religion. Moving forward, animal welfare is the concern for non-human creatures like animals. Unfortunately, more than 7.7 billion land animals per year are killed for food. You can help lessen this number with a vegetarian diet, because each vegetarian saves about 25 land animals per year. Another reason for becoming a vegetarian is the health benefits. Vegetarians have lower cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower cancer rates, and lower risk of chronic disease.
Switching to a vegetarian diet can be overwhelming, but you can make your transition much easier by having a plan and setting goals. Some steps you can take to switching to a vegetarian diet is research, substitution, first cutting out red meats, and then other meats. Doing this will help ease your way without it becoming unbearably stressful.
Vegetarianism is not for everyone, but it could be very beneficial for your health and help you down the road.
Works Cited
“4 World Cultures and Religions That Embrace Plant-Based Eating.” Greenpeace UK, 18 Nov. 2020, www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/world-cultures-and-religions-plant-based-vegetarian-vegan-diet/.
“Animal Welfare: What Is It?” American Veterinary Medical Association, www.avma.org/resources/animal-health-welfare/animal-welfare-what-it.
Sawe, Benjamin Elisha. “Countries With The Highest Rates Of Vegetarianism.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 20 Sept. 2019, www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highest-rates-of-vegetarianism.html#:~:text=India is ranked top in,the total population being vegetarians.
“Vegetarianism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/vegetarianism.