When you think of vegetarians you think the crazy people; the one who gives up the juicy burgers and the thick steaks. About 5% of the US population is vegetarian, and I myself am one. As I am another form of a vegetarian, also known as a pescetarian, I get the required (maybe even more) limit of fruits and veggies but I also get protein. A true vegetarian would sustain from poultry and seafood but a pescetarian still can eat seafood. For the past five months, I’ve been trying this no meat thing. For me, it has helped me cut out the amount of nasty foods I could eat, even if they did not contain meat. It just lead me to wanting a cup of fruit rather than a bag of chips. For wanting a healthier and longer life, becoming a vegetarian could be the way to go.
     

 As meat is a main source of protein and is required for a balanced diet, vegetarians still can achieve the right amount of protein and all the required nutrients to being healthy. There is things like quinoa, soy and chia that are high in protein. Also according to the USDA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, meat is not exactly needed for your diet. According to Brown University’s Health Program, they state that all you need is varied diet of vegetarian foods and you will get the amount of nutrients needed for a balanced diet.
   

   When you think about the vegetarian diet, you actually get a healthier amount of nutrients and the diet is healthy in general. The only downfall is that some vegetarians could start lacking calcium, zinc, vitamin D and riboflavin, and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition claimed that vegetarians are lacking vitamin B12 compared to meat eaters that get a good amount of it but it’s not enough to be unhealthy and there are ways to higher those nutrients. Studies have also shown that a heme iron that can cause colon or rectal cancer was not found in greens but it was found in red meat. The vegetarian diet can also help with building healthy bones better than a meat diet. The vegetarian diet comes out to have less fat and more antioxidants. The ADA states, if a vegetarian eats low-fat and fat-free dairy products, they get the right amount of calcium but they also get that from other plants like leafy greens and much others.
       

One of the main reasons people go vegetarian is the unethical idea of killing animals for food when the option of being vegetarian is open. Over 160 million of animals like cows, pigs, and birds are killed every year just in the United States for eating purposes. Eating red meat can increase the risk of sickness where the vegetarian diet can increase life expectancy. So why eat meat when you can increase your life and animal life as well? Also, the job of grazing livestock hurts and ruins the environment and 70% of the western states is covered with grazing livestock. The vegetarian diet also reduces the overuse of antibiotics that are sent for livestock. The no-meat diet can help the environment and your life.
   

  In the end, the vegetarian diet is overall better for a healthy life. Even if you don’t get some of the essential nutrients from meat products, you still get even more amounts of good nutrition from leafy greens and vegetarian products without killing animals and risking your health for a piece of steak.







WORK CITED
Wolfgang Hermann, et al., "Vitamin B-12 Status, Particularly Holotranscobalamin II and Methylmalonic Acid Concentrations, and Hyperhomocysteinemia in Vegetarians," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2003
Vernon R. Young and Peter L. Pellett, "Plant Proteins in Relation to Human Protein and Amino Acid Nutrition," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1994
Frank Newport, "In US, 5% Consider Themselves Vegetarians," www.gallup.com, July 26, 2012
Elizabeth Kolbert, "Should You Eat Meat?," The New Yorker, Nov. 9, 2009
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), "Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans" (234 KB) , www.cnpp.usda.gov, 1995
Aloys L.A. Sesink, Denise S.M.L. Termont, et al., "Red Meat and Colon Cancer: The Cytotoxic and Hyperproliferative Effects of Dietary Heme," Cancer Research, Nov. 15, 1999
Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Instututes of Health, "Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Iron" (224 KB) , ods.od.nih.gov (accessed Dec. 13, 2010)
An Pan, PhD, and Qui Sun, MD, ScD, et al., "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality," Archives of Internal Medicine, Mar. 12, 2012
Thomas L. Fleischner, "Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing in Western North America," Conservation Biology, Sep. 1994
Wolfgang Hermann, et al., "Vitamin B-12 Status, Particularly Holotranscobalamin II and Methylmalonic Acid Concentrations, and Hyperhomocysteinemia in Vegetarians," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2003
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition_&_eating_concerns/being_a_vegetarian.php