VEGETARIANISM: HEALTHY
EATING HEALTHY LIVING
Do you believe that health is more
precious than the most prized diamond throughout the world? Of course, that
question has to get a “yes” answer since it has no point having much wealth
without having good health. People do number of ways to stay healthy. It can be
in the form of doing regular exercises, quitting smoking, or keeping the
healthy eating habit. Keeping healthy eating habit, balance all nutrients like
carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, and mineral, of course gives significant
number in attempting stay healthy. In fact, there are a lot of people who
cannot balance them well that they get a lot of disease such as, cholesterol,
obesity, high blood pressure, etc. Those kinds of diseases may caused by consuming
too much fat which contains a lot in meat and any animal products. Furthermore,
considering this problem, a lot of research is done in order to solve this
problem. It has found that all the diseases can be
avoided by doing vegetarian diet; eat only vegetable, grains, and fruit. Therefore, vegetarianism in eating habit has
to be considered as one of the ways to get a better life.
Before we talk more why
being vegan contributes in our life, it is better for us to know what
vegetarianism is. The term of “vegetarian” etymologically comes from Latin word
“vegetus” which meaning “lively”. Then, based on linguistics
point of view, the word “vegetarian” is formed from the term "vegetable”
and the suffix "-arian". Regarding both etymology and linguistics aspects,
clearly we can define that a vegetarian is someone who does not consume any
types of animal products including dairy products, eggs, fur, leather, etc, and
consider much on grains, nuts, cereals, seeds, beans, vegetables and also
fruits. In addition, there are a number of vegetarian in society, a lacto-vegetarian
includes dairy products but excludes eggs, an ovo-vegetarian
includes eggs but not dairy products, a lacto-ovo vegetarian includes both eggs
and dairy products, and a vegan excludes all animal
products, including dairy
products, eggs, and honey.
Vegetarianism
is considered as one of healthy eating habit. Necessary nutrients, proteins, fiber,
vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, amino acids, and antioxidants can be found
in vegetables, grains, nuts, and soy milk which are able to prevent some
chronic disease. The American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada have found that
vegetarian diet has potential to satisfy the nutritional needs for all stages
of life, and large studies have shown that heart disease was 24% lower in
vegetarians than in non-vegetarians. Furthermore, being a vegan means that we
will have lower blood pressure and lower blood cholesterol, keeping body weight
under control or less obesity, and fewer incidences of stroke, diabetes,
osteoporosis, diverticulitis, gallstones, rheumatoid arthritis, renal disease,
cancer and dementia. In contrast, red meat has been found to be directly
associated with dramatically risk of cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon,
and the lungs
Besides from health point of view, the other reason
which makes you have to consider about being a vegan is that it contributes lots
on generating better ecology. Based on that
statement, of course we will have a question in our mind, “Can vegans make a
better ecology?” and “How do vegans contribute to the environment?” As we know,
animals fed on grain, and those that rely on grazing need more water than grain
crops. The fact said that growing the crops to feed farmed animals requires
nearly half of the United States’ water supply and 80 percent of its
agricultural land. Additionally, in the U.S., livestock needs 80 percent of the
corn crop, and 70 percent of grain. It is very inefficient since the feed needs
to be grown first before it is eaten by the cattle. Ecology professor David
Pimentel has claimed, "If all the grain which currently fed to livestock
in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who
could be fed would be nearly 800 million." This has led many proponents of
vegetarianism to believe that it is ecologically irresponsible to consume eat. Moreover,
in a 2006 report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that
worldwide livestock farming produces 18% of the planet’s greenhouse gas
emissions. Whereas, the world’s cars, trains, planes and boats produces only
13% of greenhouse gas emissions (BBC News). Animal farming produces 65 % of nitrous
oxide and 37 % of methane which are potent causing global warming. Methane is 23
times more powerful than carbon dioxide as the cause of global warming.
Moreover, Nitrous oxide is 296 times more powerful than global warming gas, CO2. So, I want to highlight the fact
that among options for mitigating climate change, changing into vegetarian is
something that should be considered.
Additionally, when we want to be a vegan don’t worry
to have a low IQ by the reason that vegans will have protein deficiency since
never consume neither meat nor fish. A study published in the British Medical
Journal in 2007 noted that there was no difference in IQ among vegetarians who
ate only plants, and people who ate chicken and fish. The BBC summarized the
results of the study, stating "Men who were vegetarian had an IQ score of
106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged
104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians."
Although
vegetarian diet provides all the essential nutrients, my opponent would argues
that there are certain factors that we can get more from the animals, meat or
fish rather than from either vegetables or fruits. Some vegans are found to be
low in proteins, calcium,
vitamin B12, iron and zinc. Meat is a rich source of proteins and all the
essential amino acids required by the body. It is also considered as the major
source of vitamin B12 which is essential for our body development. Meat,
chicken, and seafood contain more quantities of iron and zinc. Furthermore,
soymilk, milk and other dairy products are the rich sources of vitamin D and
calcium, all of which are not found in the vegetarian diet. However, I would
declare more that vegans should not be worried about nutrients deficiency.
Vegans are still able to get high-quality proteins from beans and legumes. To
obtain required nutrients, the expert suggests vegans to consume 3-5 servings
of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruit, 3-5 servings of whole grain, 2-3 servings
of beans and legumes, nuts and seeds. Moreover, certain vegans, like a
lacto-vegetarian,
an ovo-vegetarian,
a lacto-ovo vegetarian are allowed to consume eggs or dairy
products. Thus, there is no reason for vegans to have nutrients deficiency.
In conclusion,
vegetarianism definitely offers a number of health benefits. Vegetarianism
leads us to have a better life balanced by doing regular exercises, keeping
environment stays healthy, doing healthy living habit, giving up smoking, and
consuming neither alcohol nor drugs. Overall, healthy eating is a key to
healthy living.
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IKA
FITRIANI
