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Veg Mondays Good for your Health
Veg Mondays Good for your Health
Going Meatless just
once a week can reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions
like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
Disease Prevention
A veg diet is healthy for you whether you follow it one day a week or every day. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians on average have lower body weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure than meat eaters, and they have lower rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. What's more, if you eat veg you can avoid potentially deadly food-related diseases such as E.coli and salmonella, and the risk of cross-species illnesses such as bird flu and mad cow disease.
It is easy to plan a veg diet, for one day or for every day, that will give you glowing health. Grains, beans, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and fruits are rich in all the nutrients your body needs: protein,complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and the antioxidants and phytochemicals that strengthen your immune system and prevent disease. Here are some examples of healthy substitutes.
Replace a hamburger with a veggie burger and you will be consuming no saturated fat, more fiber and fewer calories; you will be using less of the earth's resources.
Replace chicken with tofu in an Asian stir-fry and you will be consuming no saturated fat, no antibiotics fed to farm animals, plenty of protein for strong health, and phytochemicals found only in plant foods.
Problem nutrients? Not really. People often ask how vegetarians get their protein, but in reality, almost all plant foods contain a high percentage of protein. No need for any special efforts to get enough of it, as long as you are eating a variety of whole foods (e.g. fresh or cooked vegetables, whole-grain foods) and are not living on junk foods. People, especially women, worry about getting enough calcium to prevent osteoporosis. But the countries with the highest rates of dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Recently published studies show that a low-acid diet, along with moderate intake of calcium from plant sources, will keep bones strong. A low-acid diet is a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, and low in animal protein, which tends to leach calcium from the bones. See below for a list of good sources of calcium from plant foods. People, especially women, also worry about getting enough iron. The same whole plant foods that are calcium superstars are rich in iron: whole grains, greens, and beans. And vitamin C, which veg diets are full of, increases your absorption of iron.
There are a couple of nutrients you should pay special attention to. Scientists now think that we need more vitamin B12 and Vitamin D than was previously thought necessary. Vitamin B12 is made by microorganisms and is found in animal foods but not made by them. You can get B12 from fortified foods like breakfast cereal, soy milk, veggie burgers and veggie hotdogs, and multivitamins. Vitamin D is made by our own bodies when they are exposed to sunlight. Like vitamin B12, vitamin D can be obtained from fortified foods and vitamins. Just read the labels. (BTW, cow's milk is not a natural source of vitamin D--it's there because it's added.)
Is this a naturally healthy diet if I have to take vitamin pills or read labels? Yes! In their natural state, our ancestor humans ate loads of leafy greens (full of calcium, iron, protein, vitamins, and minerals) with lots of B12-containing soil attached, and got lots of sunshine on their exposed skin to make vitamin D. They also ate the occasional fallen mastodon, but you don't have to do that. Just eat a variety of plant foods and take a multivitamin a few days a week.
A veg diet is healthy for you whether you follow it one day a week or every day. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians on average have lower body weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure than meat eaters, and they have lower rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. What's more, if you eat veg you can avoid potentially deadly food-related diseases such as E.coli and salmonella, and the risk of cross-species illnesses such as bird flu and mad cow disease.
It is easy to plan a veg diet, for one day or for every day, that will give you glowing health. Grains, beans, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and fruits are rich in all the nutrients your body needs: protein,complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and the antioxidants and phytochemicals that strengthen your immune system and prevent disease. Here are some examples of healthy substitutes.Replace a hamburger with a veggie burger and you will be consuming no saturated fat, more fiber and fewer calories; you will be using less of the earth's resources.
Replace chicken with tofu in an Asian stir-fry and you will be consuming no saturated fat, no antibiotics fed to farm animals, plenty of protein for strong health, and phytochemicals found only in plant foods.
Problem nutrients? Not really. People often ask how vegetarians get their protein, but in reality, almost all plant foods contain a high percentage of protein. No need for any special efforts to get enough of it, as long as you are eating a variety of whole foods (e.g. fresh or cooked vegetables, whole-grain foods) and are not living on junk foods. People, especially women, worry about getting enough calcium to prevent osteoporosis. But the countries with the highest rates of dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Recently published studies show that a low-acid diet, along with moderate intake of calcium from plant sources, will keep bones strong. A low-acid diet is a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, and low in animal protein, which tends to leach calcium from the bones. See below for a list of good sources of calcium from plant foods. People, especially women, also worry about getting enough iron. The same whole plant foods that are calcium superstars are rich in iron: whole grains, greens, and beans. And vitamin C, which veg diets are full of, increases your absorption of iron.
There are a couple of nutrients you should pay special attention to. Scientists now think that we need more vitamin B12 and Vitamin D than was previously thought necessary. Vitamin B12 is made by microorganisms and is found in animal foods but not made by them. You can get B12 from fortified foods like breakfast cereal, soy milk, veggie burgers and veggie hotdogs, and multivitamins. Vitamin D is made by our own bodies when they are exposed to sunlight. Like vitamin B12, vitamin D can be obtained from fortified foods and vitamins. Just read the labels. (BTW, cow's milk is not a natural source of vitamin D--it's there because it's added.)
Is this a naturally healthy diet if I have to take vitamin pills or read labels? Yes! In their natural state, our ancestor humans ate loads of leafy greens (full of calcium, iron, protein, vitamins, and minerals) with lots of B12-containing soil attached, and got lots of sunshine on their exposed skin to make vitamin D. They also ate the occasional fallen mastodon, but you don't have to do that. Just eat a variety of plant foods and take a multivitamin a few days a week.
Words from the Wise
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." Albert Einstein
"Vegetarians have the best diet. They have the lowest rates of
coronary disease of any group in the country . . .they have a fraction
of our heart attack rate and they have only 40 percent of our cancer
rate. On the average, they outlive other people by about six years
now." William Castelli, M.D., director, Framingham Heart Study, the
longest-running epidemiological study in medical history.
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." Albert Einstein
PLANT SOURCES OF CALCIUM
Garbanzo beans
Kidney beans
Black Beans
White beans (navy, Great Northern, cannellini)
Soybeans
Tofu
Soy milk (look for calcium- and vitamin-enriched)
Almonds
Sesame seeds and tahini (sesame seed butter)
Corn bread
Kale, collards, and other dark greens
Broccoli
Bok choy
Dried figs and apricots
Raisins
Oranges and orange juice
