Obulasetti 1

Shashank Obulasetti

Professor Hellmers

ENG 1201

July 16, 2021

Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet

Say goodbye to chicken, steak, and pork! Say hello to rice, tofu, and

broccoli! Many would ignore the suggestion to stop eating meat, but what does

one have the other doesn’t? There are millions of people in the world that love to

eat meat. Eating meat dates back to years ago when our ancestors hunted and

cooked the wildlife around them. It helped our ancestors survive by giving them

the energy to grow and protect themselves from predators. Over the years, it

became an important food source because of its heavy amount of calories and

proteins. For these reasons, everyone believes that eating meat has more benefits

than avoiding it. However, the harsh truth is that there are more benefits to a

vegetarian diet. Unlike a meat-based diet, a vegetarian diet enriches a person's

health by reducing the chances of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other

health problems. Additionally, the plant-based diet is more suitable for the planet

because it significantly reduces the number of animals slain.

Vegetarianism, the concept of avoiding the consumption of meat,

originated in India among the Hindus. It was a part of their religion to show

non-violence towards animals. The people of India believed that it is immoral to

kill innocent animals and the slaughter would cause more desire to kill

(“Vegetarianism” par. 1). It later spread to other parts of the world and influenced

many famous people we know today. As the years passed, meat became readily

available to everyone. The introduction of fast-food restaurants increased the

number of people eating meat. More people started to include meat in their diets

and the number of vegetarians decreased over time.

First of all, there are more problems associated with a meat-based diet

than a plant-based diet. Eating meat causes health problems such as heart

disease and type 2 diabetes. Several observational studies that researched the

relationship between meat intake and “heart disease have found an increased risk

with processed products” (Spritzler par. 12). Most red meats contain high

amounts of saturated fat that affect the human body negatively. High amounts of

saturated fat increase cholesterol levels. The rise in cholesterol levels causes

damages to the arteries which creates blood clots. Large amounts of cholesterol

increase the risk of heart disease and other problems in the body. The long-term

consumption of meat increases the chances of developing health problems in the

future.

On the other hand, avoiding meat and having a plant-based diet improves a

person’s life significantly. Health relies on the nutrition from the food that a

person consumes. A poor diet can lead to major health problems because the diet

does not have the nutrients the body needs to thrive. In the “Vegetarian Diets:
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Healthier Than We Thought”, Matt Berger provides results from a study in 2013

by the American Institute of Cancer Research. He explains that vegetarians have

a 10 percent lower risk of developing cancer than non-vegetarians (par. 8).

Plant-based foods contain phytochemicals that nourish the human body.

Phytochemicals are compounds heavily found in vegetables and fruits. According

to Winston Craig’s essay on the “Health Benefits of Vegetarian Diets”, he states

that vegetables have nutrients such as carotenoids, flavonoids, curcurmins, and

limonoids that improve a person’s health (par. 9). These nutrients aid the

immune system by fighting the diseases in the body. Also, plant-based foods give

more fiber to the human body than a meat-based diet. Fiber helps a person’s

health by lowering LDL cholesterol. The decrease in cholesterol decreases the risk

of deadly diseases. Unlike the problems associated with meat, a vegetarian diet

reduces the risks of health problems. By reducing the risk of developing cancer,

the person can live longer and healthier in the future.

Also, there are more problems associated with a meat-based diet than a

plant-based diet. Eating meat can cause health problems such as heart disease

and type 2 diabetes. In his writing on the “Meat Good or Bad?”, Spritzler talks

about a review of 3 studies that explain that daily consumption of meat increased

the risk of developing diabetes by 30% ( par. 15). Most meats contain high levels

of saturated fat and calories that hurt a person’s health. The high amount of

calories causes people to become fat and obese. Being overweight increases the
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chances of developing type 2 diabetes because the body cannot make enough

insulin to reduce the sugar levels in the body. If the body cannot control the sugar

levels, then the chances of developing type 2 diabetes increase. The excess sugar

levels increase inflammation and display resistance to insulin causing problems

in the body. The consumption of meat increases the chances of developing health

problems in the future.

Additionally, a plant-based diet reduces the risk of heart disease. Heart

Disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and around 800,000 s

die from heart disease each year. This can be reduced if more people change their

diets to a plant-based diet. In the “Plant-Based Diets Provide Many Health

Benefits”, Winston Craig utilizes the results of an experiment to explain the

benefits of a plant-based diet. The experiment involved volunteers who consumed

a vegetarian diet instead of a meat-based diet. Researchers tested the volunteer’s

health conditions before the experiment and after two weeks of the plant-based

diet. The results displayed that the volunteers had “decreases of 25, 33, 20, and

21 percent in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and total/HDL

cholesterol ratio, respectively” (par. 11). The plant-based diet contains many

flavonoids that have properties that reduce the risk of heart disease. These

nutrients help prevent excess cholesterol from forming blood clots in the body. A

25% decrease in total cholesterol could be the difference for a heart attack or

stroke from not occurring. By avoiding meat, the volunteers can significantly
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improve their health. These benefits provide long-term effects in the future and

help the person live without any worries.

Fig. 1. This chart shows the percentage of decrease in levels of cholesterol for

volunteers who changed their diets to a vegetarian diet for two weeks (Craig)

In fact, a vegetarian diet improves a person’s mental attitude more than a

meat-based diet. The food that a person eats dictates the person’s mood and

behavior. Worsley Lea, the author of “The factors associated with the belief that

vegetarian diets provide health benefits”, conducted an experiment to find the

relationship between a plant-based diet and a person’s mood. In her study, she

randomly selected 1000 individuals to answer a questionnaire about their diet

and their moods. Her data revealed that 85 percent of the participants described
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being content with themselves after eating a vegetarian diet (4). The plant-based

diet is rich in antioxidants and nutrients that reduce stress. The decrease in stress

causes a human to feel happier and content with their life. A vegetarian diet helps

improve a person's mental attitude and strengthens their emotions.

Furthermore, a meat-based diet is more harmful to the environment. As

people consume more meat, more animals need to be slaughtered. More land is

used to raise livestock to meet the needs of the people. Instead of using the land

for agriculture, the land is utilized for factories and sheds to kill the harmless

animals. According to PETA in their article on “How does Eating Meat Harm the

Environment”, of all the agricultural land “87 percent is used to raise animals for

food… About 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared” (par. 5). The

majority of the agricultural land is used for livestock, while only a small portion is

used for crops. The 13 percent of the agricultural land in the U.S. is producing

food for the population. It is harmful to the environment because forests are

being cut down to meet the meat demand of the people Deforestation needs to

happen in order to make space to raise livestock for the growing population.

Deforestation is not good for the environment because trees replace carbon

dioxide in the air with oxygen for humans to breathe. By reducing the number of

trees, more carbon dioxide is left in the atmosphere causing damage to our

planet. Global warming is affecting the planet because of the excess carbon

dioxide in our atmosphere. Global warming is the heating of the atmosphere and
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ocean. As the planet warms, more ice caps are melting which causes the ocean

levels to rise. Also, the livestock produces large amounts of waste which damage

the environment. PETA writes that an average pig “generates the same amount of

raw waste as a city of 12,000 people” (par. 4). Large amounts of animal waste are

left untreated. It pollutes nearby rivers which contaminate the water sources. It

could also pollute the groundwater affecting the life that relies on it. As small

animals and fish drink the polluted water, the animals contract diseases and

infections. The animals higher in the food chain eat these infected animals

causing the food chain to be affected. Soon, the food that humans eat can be

contaminated causing human lives to be affected. The waste hurts the

environment and the life around it.

Alternately, a plant-based meal is better suitable for the environment. A

vegetarian diet does not include fish or meat, which means that fewer fish and

fewer cattle are being killed. According to the research from “A Vegetarian Diet Is

Better for the Environment: The Vegetarian Society”, a vegetarian diet “requires

two-and-a-half times less amount of land needed to grow food, compared to a

meat-based diet” (par. 2). A plant-based diet doesn’t hurt the environment

because it utilizes less land and requires a fewer amount of trees to be cut. The

land utilized for livestock can be used to grow crops for the human population.

World hunger is an important issue that humans across the world are facing and

changing the land from using livestock to growing crops can help make sure more
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people are fed. Also, since fewer trees are being cut, more ecosystems are being

saved. Our atmospheres are safer and cleaner because of the trees replacing the

carbon dioxide with oxygen which would help decrease the effects of climate

change.

A plant-based diet helps protect animals in the oceans. A meat-based diet

increases the slaughter of animal life; while, a plant-based diet doesn’t kill a

single animal. Since fish aren’t killed for a plant-based diet, the food web is not

affected. The ecosystem underwater would be safe from harm and the nearly

early extinct species of marine life would survive and live on for future

generations. Life underwater existed before humans were born. The oceans used

to thrive from life until humans made an impact by hunting and fishing life.

According to “The Conservation”, authors Rebecca Thurber and Deron Burkepile

emphasize that fish help the environment underwater by consuming seaweed

that tries to overpopulate or is dangerous for other marine life (par. 7). Marine

life regulates the ocean’s pollution which helps protect the environment. A

plant-based diet increases the amount of fish in the ocean causing more fish to

help the ecosystem. The coral reefs are protected from overpopulating seaweed

by marine life. Too much seaweed blocks sunlight from entering the depths of the

ocean where other plants need photosynthesis to survive and grow. These plants

provide food and nutrients to the wild ecosystems in the ocean. Thus, a

plant-based diet is more suitable for the environment than a meat-based diet
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because it protects the environment and the ecosystems both above and below

the ground.

On the contrary, there are some benefits that vegetarian diets cannot

achieve. Meat-based diets involve the consumption of different kinds of animal

products. According to Justin Robinson, he writes in “The Health Benefits of

Meat” that “Vitamin B12 is only available from animal sources and plays an

important role in digestion” (par. 6). Vegetarian diets are unable to obtain

Vitamin B12, while meat-eaters receive it from meat. Vitamin B-12 is an essential

vitamin that the human body cannot produce. It can only be obtained from eating

an animal product. Vitamin B-12 is essential because it helps in the formation of

red blood cells and helps strengthen nerve cells. Even though there is one benefit

to a meat-based diet, the benefits of the vegetarian diet far outweigh the benefit

provided by a meat-based diet. Likewise, Carnosine is a nutrient that is not

obtainable from plants. In the article “7 nutrients That You Can’t Get from

Plants”, Atli Arnarson BSc, Ph.D., writes that “Carnosine is a nutrient found only

in animal-derived foods” (par. 7). Carnosine is a nutrient that aids muscle and

brain function in humans. Since it helps improve brain function, it is used to treat

Alzheimer’s, Autism, and other mental issues. Although this might be a benefit

that a meat-based diet has, Carnosine is a nutrient that the body can naturally

produce which makes it nonessential.

In conclusion, it is hard to change a diet, especially if it tastes amazing. There are

more benefits to a vegetarian diet than one that doesn’t have it. A vegetarian diet

reduces the chances of cancer and lowers health factors such as

cholesterol. This helps people live longer and healthier. Also, a vegetarian diet is

suitable for the environment because it utilizes less space and keeps the

ecosystem stable. For these reasons, a vegetarian diet is better than a meat-based

diet.
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Works Cited

“A Vegetarian Diet Is Better for the Environment: The Vegetarian Society.”

Vegetarian Society, vegsoc.org/info-hub/why-go-veggie/environment/.

Berger, Matt. “Vegetarian Diets: Healthier Than We Thought.” Healthline,

Healthline Media, 16 May 2018,

www.healthline.com/health-news/vegetarian-diets-may-be-better-than-we

-thought. Accessed 11 July 2021.

“Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet” - Plant-Based Diets Provide many Health

Benefits. Accessed 11 July 2021.

Craig, Winston. "Plant-Based Diets Provide Many Health Benefits."

Vegetarianism, edited by Debra A. Miller, Greenhaven Press, 2010.

Current Controversies. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010705206/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookma

rk-OVIC&xid=8313d2db. Accessed 13 July 2021. Originally published as

"Health Benefits of Vegetarian Diets," Vegetarianism and Vegetarian

Nutrition, 2008.

“How Does Eating Meat Harm the Environment?” PETA, 1 Mar. 2021,

www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/how-does-eating-meat-harm-the-environm

ent/#:~:text=How%20does%20eating%20meat%20harm%20the%20envir
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onment%3F%20When,and%20untreated%20animal%20waste%20pollute

s%20rivers%20and%20streams.

Lea E, Worsley A. The factors associated with the belief that vegetarian diets

provide health benefits. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

2003;12(3):296-303. Accessed July 14, 2021.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=12412

476&site=ehost-live

Rauf, Don. “Why Does a Plant-Based Diet Help Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?:

Everyday Health.” EverydayHealth.com, 14 Aug. 2019,

www.everydayhealth.com/type-2-diabetes/study-suggests-why-plant-base

d-diet-may-help-prevent-type-2-diabetes/#:~:text=Study%20Suggests%2

0Why%20a%20Plant-Based%20Diet%20May%20Help,which%20produce

%20insulin%20and%20keep%20blood%20sugar%20stable.

Robinson, Justin. “The Health Benefits of (the Right Kinds of) Meat.” ACE, 12

Oct. 2017,

www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6602/the-heal

th-benefits-of-the-right-kinds-of-meat/.

Spritzler, Franziska. “Meat Good or Bad?” Healthline, Healthline Media, 25 Sept.

2019, www.healthline.com/nutrition/meat-good-or-bad.
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Thurber, Rebecca Vega, and Deron Burkepile. “How Fish and Clean Water Can

Protect Coral Reefs from Warming Oceans.” The Conversation, 28 Apr.

2021,

theconversation.com/how-fish-and-clean-water-can-protect-coral-reefs-fr

om-warming-oceans-60434.

“Vegetarianism in Hinduism.” Alimentarium, Alimentarium, 6 Jan. 2017,

www.alimentarium.org/en/knowledge/vegetarianism-hinduism.