Vegetarian diets have been credited with decreasing the incidence or severity of heart disease, hypertension, diverticular disease, cancer of the breast, colon, prostate and lung, and osteoporosis and gallstones.
Vegetarianism has been part of the lifestyle of many religious and cultural groups for centuries. But vegetarianism is a more recent phenomena in North America.
Despite the interest in vegetarianism, only about 4 percent of Canadians define themselves as vegetarians. But the desire to adopt a more vegetarian eating pattern is truly here. Thirty percent of Canadian grocery shoppers now serve meatless meals on a regular basis.
The term "vegetarian" is used quite broadly to describe individuals ranging from true or pure vegetarians, to lacto-ovo vegetarians and semi-vegetarians.
True vegetarians or vegans avoid all foods of animal origin, including eggs, dairy foods, gelatin and honey. Lacto-ovo vegetarians avoid all animal products except eggs (ovo) and milk products (lacto). Most vegetarians fall into this category.
People who are moving towards a vegetarian food-style are called semi-vegetarians. These individuals are eating less animal foods but are not ready to give them up for good. Eggs, milk products and limited amounts of fish, chicken and sometimes meat are still eaten.
A vegetarian diet, based primarily on plant foods, is higher in carbohydrates and lower in fat than meals containing animal foods. When this diet includes plenty of whole grains, fruit and vegetables it also provides fibre, antioxidant nutrients and plant phytochemicals which play a role in chronic disease prevention.
Vegetarians Have Lower Cancer Risk Than Meat Eaters:
ReplyDeleteVegetarians are significantly less likely to develop cancer than non-vegetarians, according to a study conducted by researchers from universities in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and published in the British Journal of Cancer.
"These interesting results add to the evidence that what we eat affects our chances of developing cancer," said a spokesperson for Cancer Research U.K. "We know that eating a lot of red and processed meat increases the risk of stomach cancer."
Researchers followed 61,566 British adults and compared cancer rates among vegetarians, those who ate fish but not other kinds of meat, and those with no dietary restrictions. They found that the lifetime risk of developing cancer was 14 percent lower in vegetarians than in the general population. The protective effect was greatest for stomach cancer, bladder cancer, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and blood cancers. Vegetarians were less than 50 percent as likely to develop lymph and blood cancers as nonrestricted eaters, while their risk of a rare bone marrow cancer known as multiple myeloma was 75 percent lower. Fish-eaters had a lower risk of blood and lymph cancers than nonrestricted eaters, but their risk was still higher than that of vegetarians.
It is the first study specifically showing a link between a vegetarian diet and a lower risk of bone marrow cancer.
"Dietary advice to myeloma patients remains aligned with national guidance -- that they should eat a healthy, balanced diet high in fiber, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat, salt and red and processed meat," Myeloma U.K. said.
Red and processed meats have previously been linked to elevated rates of stomach cancer. Processed meat is believed to be particularly dangerous, due to the N-nitroso compound used to preserve them and the high temperatures they are cooked at.
The researchers found that vegetarians and fish eaters had roughly the same risk of stomach cancer, about one-third less than the risk experienced by unrestricted eaters. This adds evidence to the theory that red and processed meats are particular risk factors for this kind of cancer.
Cayenne Pepper and a Vegetarian Recipe Bring Heart Health:
ReplyDeleteCayenne pepper's been called a cure-all herb, and while it may not cure all, cayenne pepper works miracles on at least one organ in the body: the heart. Cayenne pepper has been known to stop a heart attack instantly, and if you have heart problems you might be better off taking cayenne daily instead of drugs.
Cayenne is chock full of potassium, which is a key nutrient for the heart. Cayenne feeds the heart its desired nutrition and has a profoundly stimulating effect on the blood. It's known to thin blood clots, improve circulation, and even reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Cultures that use cayenne pepper regularly typically have greatly reduced heart attack levels, and would have even further reduced levels if they also followed a vegetarian diet.
The ultimate recipe for regaining heart health is:
1) A clean colon which is achieved through repeated colonics or enemas
2) Ample probiotics to replace the healthy bacteria in your gut
3) An eighth teaspoon of cayenne pepper daily, which can be added to your foods
4) And a vegetarian, largely vegan diet that avoids processed foods
After a few months of following these protocols, check in with your doctor to monitor your improvement; you both might be very surprised.
A vegetarian diet can be hard for some to grasp, but if the alternative is losing active years off your life, or spending years practically paralyzed after a stroke, don't you think it's worth it?
Besides, research is showing that vegetarian diets help our environment by cutting greenhouse gases considerably. A vegetarian, largely vegan diet also keeps rainforests intact; you won't be purchasing their destruction for pasture land to feed what are called first world nations. If you're green in other areas and still eating animals frequently, you might be missing a huge part of the picture.
Still not convinced? Did you know that every food you eat, fruits and vegetables included, also has protein? Oil is the only exception. It's true, and even if you do eat meat, one serving each week is enough to meet the protein requirements of the average person. This means most people are dramatically over consuming protein, and this causes problems in the body.
Many animals used for human consumption these days are too sick to even walk and many have cancers and tumors; they just cut around them. This means that most people are eating diseased animals, and it's hard to argue that this is good for people. If you're concerned about your vitamin B-12, you should know that your body only needs a tiny amount of B-12 and B-12 can be stored in your liver for later use. A clean colon with ample healthy bacteria can also produce its own B-12.
Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. and in nations around the world. Considering the magnitude of the problem, it's odd that the solution is so simple and so unknown.
The active ingredient in cayenne pepper is capsaicin, which gives the herb its characteristic heat. Cayenne pepper is also known to increase the action of any other herb you're taking with it.
Nutrition hotline:
ReplyDeleteThis issue's Nutrition Hotline addresses whether someone who doesn't like vegetables can be a vegetarian and why potatoes may develop a green skin.
QUESTION: "I want to become a vegetarian, but I hate most vegetables. Can I be a vegetarian without vegetables?" L.W., MA
ANSWER: The more you read about vegetarian diets, the more you'll see statements like, "Eat a variety of foods." That's because different foods provide different nutrients. For instance, dried beans supply protein and iron, while fruits are a good source of vitamin C.
Vegetables make important contributions when it comes to nutrition. Orange vegetables, like carrots and sweet potatoes, have generous amounts of vitamin A. Green vegetables, such as kale and collards, supply iron and calcium. All vegetables provide fiber and phytonutrients (simply put, nutrients that are important and that come from plants).
That's not to say that you can't get many of these vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from other places if you don't eat vegetables. You can get some from fruits, get some from whole grains, and, if necessary, take a vitamin pill. The only problem is that vegetables are such low-calorie powerhouses that you may find that you have to eat a lot more fruit or a lot more beans to make up for what you're missing by not eating vegetables.
In addition, there may be some phytonutrients that are unique to vegetables that we don't even know about yet and that aren't in vitamin pills. If you don't eat vegetables, you will miss out on these potentially important phytonutrients.
Eating Meat Kills More People Than Previously Thought :
ReplyDeleteThere is no more denying it. Meat contains highly toxic substances that are responsible for many deaths and diseases. Heavy meat consumption increases your risk of dying from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, according to a federal study conducted by the National Cancer Institute and featured in Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday.
The study looked at the records of more than half a million men and women aged 50 to 71, following their diet and other health habits for 10 years. Between 1995 and 2005, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.
The researchers divided the volunteers into 5 groups or "quintiles." All other major factors were accounted for -- eating fresh fruits and vegetables, smoking, exercise, obesity, etc. People eating the most meat consumed about 160g of red or processed meat per day - approximately a 6oz steak.
Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less. Men had a 22 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease. That`s compared to those who ate the least red meat, just 5 ounces per week, or 25g per day -- approximately a small rasher of bacon.
The study also included data on white meat and found that a higher intake was associated with a slightly reduced risk of death over the same period. However, high white meat consumption still posed a major risk of dying.
"For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of intake in the first quintile," Sinha`s team wrote.
Sinha`s team noted that meat contains several cancer-causing chemicals, as well as the unhealthiest forms of fat.
The good news is that the U.S. government now recommends a "plant-based diet" with the emphasis on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The bad news is that it also hands out massive farm subsidies that keep meat prices very low and encourage meat-based diets. The government`s food-price policies contribute to such risk-filled eating habits as meat consumption.
Another drawback is that the National Cancer Institute study only looked at the increased mortality risk resulting from meat consumption. It should be noted, that if eating meat can kill a large number of people, it can make an even larger number of people seriously ill.
Food that kills or makes people sick should not be considered food at all. However, the meat industry thinks otherwise. It believes that the study is flawed. American Meat Institute executive president, James Hodges, said: "Meat products are part of a healthy, balanced diet and studies show they actually provide a sense of satisfaction and fullness that can help with weight control. Proper body weight contributes to good health overall."
The question is whether it is worth risking one`s life over having a little sense of satisfaction and fullness, which could easily be experienced by eating a healthful diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
The new findings support a previous study published earlier this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which showed that eating meat boosts risk of prostate cancer by 40 Percent. And just last month, parents learned that their children had a 60% increased risk of developing leukemia if they consumed meat products, such as ham, sausages and hamburgers.
Vegetarians Live Longer and Healthier Lives
ReplyDeleteMore recently, medical research has found that a properly balanced vegetarian diet may, in fact, be the healthiest diet. This was demonstrated by the over 11,000 volunteers who participated in the Oxford Vegetarian Study. For a period of 15 years, researchers analyzed the effects a vegetarian diet had on longevity, heart disease, cancer and various other diseases.
The results of the study stunned the vegetarian community as much as it did the meat-producing industry: "Meat eaters are twice as likely to die from heart disease, have a 60 percent greater risk of dying from cancer and a 30 percent higher risk of death from other causes."
In addition, the incidence of obesity, which is a major risk factor for many diseases, including gallbladder disease, hypertension and adult onset diabetes, is much lower in those following a vegetarian diet. According to a Johns Hopkins University research report on 20 different published studies and national surveys about weight and eating behavior, Americans across all age groups, genders and races are getting fatter. If the trend continues, 75 percent of U.S. adults will be overweight by the year 2015.
It is now almost considered the norm to be overweight or obese. Already more than 80 percent of African-American women over the age of 40 are overweight, with 50 percent falling into the obese category. This puts them at great risk for heart disease, diabetes and various cancers. A balanced vegetarian diet may be the answer to the current obesity pandemic in the United States and many other countries.
Those who include less meat in their diet also have fewer problems with cholesterol. The American National Institute of Health, in a study of 50,000 vegetarians, found that the vegetarians live longer and also have an impressively lower incidence of heart disease and a significantly lower rate of cancer than meat-eating Americans. And in 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that a vegetarian diet could prevent 90-97% of heart diseases.
What we eat is very important for our health. According to the American Cancer Society, up to 35 percent of the 900,000 new cases of cancer each year in the United States could be prevented by following proper dietary recommendation. Researcher Rollo Russell writes in his Notes on the Causation of Cancer: "I have found of twenty-five nations eating flesh largely, nineteen had a high cancer rate and only one had a low rate, and that of thirty-five nations eating little or no flesh, none of these had a high rate."
Could cancer lose its grip on modern societies if they turned to a balanced vegetarian diet? The answer is "yes," according to two major reports, one by the World Cancer Research Fund and the other by the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy in the United Kingdom. The reports conclude that a diet rich in plant foods and the maintenance of a healthy body weight could annually prevent four million cases of cancer worldwide. Both reports stress the need for increasing the daily intake of plant fiber, fruits and vegetables and reducing red and processed meat consumption to less than 80-90g.
If you are currently eating meat on a regular basis and wish to change over to a vegetarian diet, unless you suffer from a major cardiovascular illness, do not give up all flesh foods at once! The digestive system cannot adjust to a substantially different diet from one day to the next. Start by reducing the number of meals that include meats such as beef, pork, veal and lamb and substituting poultry and fish during these meals. In time, you will find that you are able to consume less poultry and fish also, without creating strain on the physiology due to too rapid an adjustment.
Healthy Heart
ReplyDeleteThe greatest of the vegetarian health benefits is reduced risk of heart attacks. This is because vegetarians usually have lower cholesterol levels. Cholesterol levels are greatly increased by meat, especially red meat. Vegetarian diets are also low in saturated fats that are common in meat. Vegetables contain plant proteins, which are lower in cholesterol compared to animal proteins. Cholesterol and saturated fats are the major causes of heart disease, especially in those in their sunset years. This is because they clog the inside of the blood vessels over time. This leads to heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases. Fruit and vegetable specifically have vegetarian health benefits by reducing the risk of getting ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction and angina which are common in older people. This is because fruits and vegetables contain folic acid, carotenoids, dietary fiber, potassium, flavonoids, magnesium, phytosterols, and other polyphenolic antioxidants that have vegetarian health benefits.
Vegetarian diets rich in soluble fiber such as the ones found in oats, squash, carrots, dry beans and apples lowering serum cholesterol levels that might have been accumulated over the years, therefore adding people more years among other vegetarian health benefits. Fruits, nuts, whole grain and vegetables have flavonoids that have some biological properties and other vegetarian health benefits that are responsible for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in that they are antioxidants and so they protect LDL cholesterol from undergoing oxidation, effectively inhibiting formation of blood clots in the arteries and other blood vessels. The flavonoids also have a hypolipidemic effects and an anti-inflammatory effect – these are good for the health of the heart.
Lower Blood Pressure
ReplyDeleteAnother of the vegetarian health benefits is that vegetarians have lower blood pressure compared to those who eat meat, especially red meant. This is because vegetarian diets are low in salt – salt has been identified as the main cause of high blood pressure and hypertension. High blood pressure also occurs when blood tries to flow faster because of obstructed blood vessels. The obstruction is usually caused by cholesterol ingested from eating meat. Lower blood pressure is also maintained by the potassium which is found in fruits and vegetables such as apricots, papaya, bananas, cantaloupe, strawberries, eggplant, avocado, oranges, tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, bell pepper, squash, turmeric, broccoli, parsley, spinach and lima beans among others.
Control of Diabetes
ReplyDeleteAlthough diabetes does not have a cure yet, eating a vegetarian diet that is high in fiber and complex carbohydrates found in plant foods controls diabetes and has other vegetarian health benefits. Most doctors agree with this fact and advise their patients to consume legumes, vegetables, fruits and whole grains for controlling diabetes. These also have lower blood sugar and they completely eliminate the need for meds in some cases.
Prevention of Cancer
ReplyDeleteAnother of the vegetarian health benefits is that it vegetarian diets help in the prevention of cancer which is very important because cancer has no cure. Almost all cancers, especially epithelial cancers, can be prevented with regular consumption of fruits and vegetables. Foods such as cruciferous vegetables, herbs and fruits have cancer-protective phytochemicals such as flavonoids, carotenoids, ellagic acid, sulfide compounds, isoflavones, isothiocyanates glucarates, phenolic acids, phthalides, phytosterols, saponins and terpenoids among others.
Elimination of Toxins from the Body
Meat usually has a lot of toxins. Fruits and vegetables do not have preservatives as is the case with most packaged and/or processed foods. Vegetarians usually ingest organic foods that are grown without the chemicals responsible for toxin build-up in our bodies such as pesticides. Toxins cause skin problems, allergies, influenza, and a host of other ailments. In severe cases, they have been known to cause cancer and other serious medical conditions such as infertility.
Easier Digestion of Food
It is a fact that human beings have a challenging time digesting meat and fish. These are ‘heavy’ foods that take a lot of time and energy to digest. People who eat such foods eventually experience weakening of their digestive systems which brings such problems as inability to eliminate waste rapidly. This means their bodies have a hard time doing ‘self-cleaning’ and this leads to problems such as stomach and intestinal cancer. On the other hand, foods such as fruits and vegetables are easily and rapidly digested and other vegetarian foods that are rich in fiber have vegetarian health benefits in that they actually aid in digestion.
Improvement of Overall Health
ReplyDeleteVegetarians enjoy many health benefits and they are less likely to be obese, their skins and other excretion systems work better and they have fewer toxins in their body. Although these vegetarian health benefits might not prevent diseases directly, it is easier for vegetarians to live longer and to have less sick days.