Advantages of a vegetarian/vegan diet and practical application
Raw food – involves eating only raw foods: vegetables and fruits, as supporters of this diet believe that heat treatment or processing of food deprives it of its nutritional value.
Fruitarianism – similar to raw foodism, it involves eating raw vegetables and fruits that have to fall from a tree or bush. This diet is very imperfect.
Benefits of following a vegetarian diet
In most cases, vegetarian diets are poor in nutrients due to the many exclusions of certain foods, which is why it is so important to monitor your health with blood tests and replenish the missing nutritional elements.
By adopting a vegetarian diet, we can help reduce the demand for animal products and thus reduce the amount of water needed for animal production and breeding, as well as methane and carbon dioxide emissions.
A positive aspect of eating a vegetarian diet is a reduction in saturated fatty acids, which, among other things, are responsible for heart disease. The complete exclusion of meat from the diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Red meat, especially processed meat such as sausages, canned meat and cold cuts, is in the same group of carcinogens as asbestos and tobacco. The advantage of vegetarianism is not only lowering blood cholesterol levels, but also actually reducing the risk of diseases such as cancer.
A vegetarian diet can also protect against obesity. Many people decide to follow this diet because they want to lose weight. In many studies conducted on adults with a BMI above 25 kg/m2 , weight loss was much greater than with a traditional diet. For the most part, all plant-based diets are based on natural, low-processed foods that are usually characterised by high nutritional value. This makes us feel fuller for longer.
A vegetarian diet is also rich in dietary fibre, both soluble and insoluble in water. It has a significant impact on the body’s functioning, the scope of which is very broad, both in the context of the digestive tract and metabolism. Water is a factor necessary for fibre function. The effect of water-insoluble fibre primarily affects the human digestive system. This fraction, among other things, stimulates saliva secretion and thus chewing, binds excess hydrochloric acid in the stomach, promotes better blood supply to the intestines and the secretion of digestive juices, increases the volume of intestinal contents, increases the feeling of satiety, removes more toxins and unnecessary metabolic products, accelerates the peristalsis of the large intestine, and protects against unpleasant constipation. In turn, water-soluble fibre is a nutrient for our intestinal microbiota, increases the population of beneficial bacteria, helps to thin faeces, slows intestinal transit, creates highly viscous gels, thickens food, participates in the regulation of sugar metabolism, plays a significant role in preventing lipid metabolism disorders, traps toxic compounds in the intestines and prevents their absorption.
In a plant-based diet, we can also find a wealth of antioxidants found in colourful vegetables and fruits, which are responsible for eliminating free radicals in the body that cause faster skin aging, promote cancer formation and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and dementia. A properly balanced vegetarian diet can provide many nutrients that are beneficial to the human body.
Disadvantages of a plant-based diet
Adherents of a vegetarian diet may be at risk of deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals, and people prone to anaemia should be especially careful. A vegetarian diet can contribute to a deficiency of vitamin B12 or iron. In this case, supplementation is recommended. It is true that plants also provide iron, but it is a form that is more difficult to absorb – non-heme iron, as opposed to heme iron from animal sources. The solution is to combine foods containing iron with foods rich in vitamin C, which increases the absorption of this element.
Protein deficiency can also occur in the case of a vegetarian diet that excludes dairy products and eggs.
Vitamin D deficiency can occur regardless of your diet. This mainly concerns vitamin D3, which can be synthesised under the influence of sunlight. Everyone should supplement it, especially in our country.
There is a risk of calcium deficiency. But a well-balanced plant-based diet should not pose such a risk. Calcium is found in plant-based foods, and tofu is a good source. In addition, there are many plants that meet the need for this mineral, including poppy seeds, cocoa, chia seeds, almonds, and kale.
In addition, when eating vegetarian food, you need to take care of your gallbladder, because then the outflow of bile will not be as active (due to the lack of animal protein and fat), which can lead to stagnation, biliary dyskinesia or the formation of clots and stones, so you need to regularly consume choleretic foods or medications.
In conclusion, a plant-based diet can have a positive impact on our health and benefit both physical and mental health. They can evoke positive feelings related to taking the right moral stance, strengthening the sense of belonging to the plant-based diet community and satisfaction with having a smaller impact on environmental pollution. If we decide to make a change in our diet, it is important to understand all the implications of a vegetarian diet, in addition to its nutritional aspects.
