IS IT REASONABLE TO BE VEGETARIAN? 2
Is it Reasonable to be Vegetarian?
Vegetarians consume plant-based foods while avoiding meat, animal products, and
seafood. Whereas some vegetarians strictly consume only plants, others use some animal
products. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians are people who eat dairy products and eggs but do not take any
form of meat, chicken, and fish. On the other hand lacto-vegetarians accept dairy products but
reject eggs meat, poultry, and seafood. Ovo-vegetarians do not consume meat, poultry, fish, and
eggs while they take dairy products. As for vegans, all meat products and honey are sidelined in
their diets (Jyot & Davidson, 2017). The many reasons vegetarians choose not to eat beef
products include the reduction of the risks of various diseases, prevention of cancer, weight loss,
wellness, and the avoidance of toxic food contaminants.
Various diseases like high blood pressure, obesity, and coronary heart disease get caused
by high amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol found in meat products. As explained by
Scrinis (2013), withdrawing from the consumption of beef and replacing the same with
vegetarian diets lowers the risk of dying of any of the listed diseases significantly. Furthermore,
a research by Saxena (2011) indicated that there is a connection between vegetarianism and
different types of cancer. Specifically, eating red and processed meat gets associated with cases
of colorectal cancer. The withdrawal from these meat products and consistent intake of
vegetarian diets reduces this risk by at least thirty percent.
Because of the organic composition of beef, the presence of many fats and other nutrients
partly contributes to common cases of obesity. As explained by Saxena (2011), the body mass
index (BMI) of many non-vegetarians far exceeds that of vegetarians. This is because most
vegetables lack the fats that lead to obesity. If one were to change from meat consumption to
total vegetarianism, their overall weight would decrease significantly over time. Vegetarianism
