People often believe that vegetarians are those who do not eat meat and fish. However, there are different types of vegetarian diet that vary in kinds of the consumed products that can meet people’s different nutrition needs. Those who follow a lacto-vegetarian type of diet do not eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, as well as meals that contain these products whereas they consume dairy foods. In contrast, lacto-ovo vegetarians can eat eggs. Ovo-vegetarians do not consume dairy products while vegans do not eat all the above-mentioned products.

Pros: Vegetarian diet can decrease a risk of some illnesses, especially diseases associated with nutrition. Thus, its adherents have lower body mass indexes and are less subjected to heart diseases and illnesses resulting from obesity than people who eat a lot of meat. Additionally, vegans have a lower risk of hypertension than vegetarians who follow other types of diets. Apart from health benefits, vegetarian style of life helps saving animals and nature.

Cons: Following the vegetarian diet can be hard, as one would have to make conscious efforts to exclude certain foods and eat specific products in order to substitute for the missing nutrients. For instance, lack of dairy products results in a decrease of calcium in the organism, so vegans have to eat a lot more vegetables, such as kale and broccoli. Similarly, the lack of iodine usually taken from seafood has to be replenished with adding more salt with iodine to their meals.

Personal View: I believe that the vegetarian diet would not suit for me. I enjoy different kinds of meat, fish, and dairy products and I am not willing to exclude them from my ration. As the cons of the vegetarian diet suggest, there are many health benefits from such types of diet. However, I also believe that it is possible to eat healthy food without going vegan. For instance, I avoid eating too much fat food or fried meat or consume it in moderate amounts. Additionally, being non-vegetarian does not mean that I have to eat fewer vegetables and other products common to the vegan diet. Therefore, meat-eaters can also enjoy their favorite rations and have healthy nutrition at the same time.

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Tags: Food Health Vegetarian

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