Why Samford Students Should Be on a Vegetarian Diet

1777 Words4 Pages

Persuasive Essay

A vegetarian diet is one of the most common diets in America. The diet specifically focuses on eating only plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, dried beans, peas, grains, seeds, and nuts. Therefore, animal derived foods like meat, dairy, and eggs are excluded from this particular diet.

The magazine Vegetarian Times by Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. found that 7.3 million people follow a vegetarian diet in America. Fifty-nine percent of vegetarians are females, forty-one percent are males, and ages thirty to fifty-four have the highest overall percentage of individuals on the diet. Most college students (18-25 years of age) are not educated on the beneficial factors of being a vegetarian, so they are less likely to be vegetarians.

Samford students should be on a vegetarian diet because 1) vegetarian diets aid in disease prevention 2) it has numerous mental health benefits and 3) the diet contributes to weight loss. These three reasons are justified by sufficient research to educate Samford students about the benefits vegetarian diets can have on their lives. Some students may propose counter arguments as to why they shouldn’t be on a vegetarian diet; however, outstanding evidence will refute all misunderstandings of the diet.

The first reason that Samford students should be on a vegetarian diet is because it aids in disease prevention. Fifty-five percent of college students (ages 18-25) are unaware of the risk of diseases they can develop during this time of their life. From the article “College Students’ Perceived Disease Risk Versus Actual Prevalence Rates,” a study was done among 703 college students. To eliminate biased results, 78 respondents who already contained a disease were remov...

... middle of paper ...

...e ranges from 0% to 6% in vegetarians and from about 5% to 45% in non-vegetarians.

Overall, because the diet is associated with reduced body weight and lower rates of obesity, vegetarians generally have a lower risk for diseases and mental illnesses. The positive effects of a plant-based diet should be enough to convince Samford students to participate in vegetarianism.

Works Cited

Barnard, Neal D., et al. "Vegetarian And Vegan Diets In Type 2 Diabetes Management." Nutrition Reviews 67.5 (2009): 255-263. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

Berkow, Susan E., and Neal Barnard. "Vegetarian Diets And Weight Status." Nutrition Reviews 64.4 (2006): 175-188. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Fessler, Daniel M. T. "Reproductive Immunosuppression And Diet." Current Anthropology 43.1 (2002): 19-61. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Open Document