Vegetarian Diet Essay

Why a Vegetarian or Low-meat-intake Diet is the Healthiest Diet

Most people in America live on an omnivorous diet, but with the new vegetarian diet trend, there has become much controversy over if a vegetarian diet is truly as healthy as vegetarians believe. Because both sides make strong arguments, neither side wants to back down and claim defeat, but do they have to? There is a large amount of people who claim there is nothing wrong with the standard western diet, even though there is evidence showing it is quite unealthy, however, many studies show that a low-meat-intake diet can ,along with a vegetarian diet, reduce risk of premature death, as well as show positive impacts on common chronic diseases, reduces risk of certain cancers, and even provides essential amino acids. A low-meat-intake is diet is described as a single 3 oz serving of meat per day or less, people on this diet usually eat meat infrequently, or in small amounts at a time, whereas a the common western diet consumes about 8 oz of red and white meat per day, however white meat is not an issue of health (Gunnars, “is red meat good or bad for you? An objective look”). Vegetarians of course do not consume meat, there is however, 3 different types of vegetarians: Vegan, Lacto-ovovegetarian, and Lacto-vegetarians. Lacto-ovovegetarians eat eggs as well as dairy

In 2006, it was reported that in a clinical trial comparing two diets the vegan diet proved more successful. While on a low fat vegan diet, 43% of diabetes patients were able to reduce their medication opposed to the 26% who were on the American Diabetes Association diet. (Tuso, "Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets." ). Healthier diets may be a better treatment option to many common preventable