These days, health and fitness seems to be at the top of everyone’s priorities. And with everyone concerned about doing what is best for their bodies, doing an overhaul on eating habits frequently tops the list of health-living agendas. While some start by cutting out excess salt and fat, there are those who prefer to go for a totally different dietary orientation. Some cut out red or fatty meat; some cut out meat and poultry altogether; and others go one step further and go vegetarian.
After all, a vegetarian diet “can be very healthy,” according to the Center for Young Women’s Health of the Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The US Department of Agriculture also states that a vegetarian diet can meet all your nutritional needs, provided that you consume a “variety of foods and the right amount of foods to meet your calorie needs.” Aside from the health perks, a vegetarian diet can also lead to possible weight loss, according to this MayoClinic.com article.
Adopting a vegetarian diet is also an eco-friendly initiative; if more people went vegetarian, it would help mitigate global warming, according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA shares that turkeys, cows, chickens, and pigs in factories release “enormous amounts” of methane, which “is more than 20 times as effective as carbon dioxide is at trapping heat in our atmosphere.”
The articles also adds that the meat, dairy, and egg industries are responsible for 65 percent of nitrous oxide emissions worldwide. Nitrous oxide is said to be 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Despite its perks, though, converting from omnivore to herbivore can be difficult. If you’ve been a meat eater all your life, you might have to deal with the cravings that come from such a drastic lifestyle change. But if you’re determined to go green when it comes to your diet, read on for five tips on overcoming these challenges.
Read these SPOT.ph articles for places where you can try vegetarian food:
(Photo by LUNARIX-PIX via Flickr Creative Commons)
