The positive benefits of being a vegetarian are well known. These include:
- more energy
- less chance of being overweight
- healthier glow/clearer complexion
- higher fiber diet
- less chances of getting certain medical conditions such as colon cancer
- not participating in the inhumane way that animals are slaughtered for food
The list of positive benefits of being a vegetarian go on and on. How can anyone of us not want to reap these benefits? So the question that begs itself to be asked is, if there are so many positives to being a vegetarian, why do so many people still eat meat and what are some of the disadvantages of being a vegetarian?
Disadvantages of Being a Vegetarian
1) Decreased protein - meat provides us with adequate store of protein which our body needs to use for activities related to the repair, growth and maintenance of cells in our body. Protein gives us energy and helps our body fight against infections. There are other foods that give us protein such as eggs, milk, spinach, soybean, fish, whole grains, rice, beans, corn, oats, nuts, peas and peanut butter.
2) Lack of food choices – some restaurants and grocery stores still do not offer a wide selection of vegetarian entrees to choose from. Also, when someone who is a vegetarian goes out to eat over at a friends house, there are not always vegetarian options available.
3) Difficulty when with a crowd – it’s just easier to fix a meal for everyone then to fix two different alternatives. One meal for everyone else in your family who eats meat and then another meatless meal just for you.
4) Decreased creatinine – creatinine, which comes from meat, helps our body build muscle mass, an essential function for every movement we make.
5) Decreased vitamins and minerals – strict vegans who do not partake in the use of any animal products of any kind, have to be more conscious of getting vitamins B12 vitamin, Iron and Calcium. Fortunately, these deficits can be made up for and supplements can be taken.
Whether you are a vegetarian for religious, health or moral reasons or if you are considering becoming a vegetarian, look at the list of disadvantages of becoming a vegetarian and think of ways to combat or anticipate each one. Also, people with a need for a larger body mass such as weight lifters may need to rethink their desire for a vegetarian diet as supplements may not give you adequate protein stores needed.
-
Related Posts
What Is Vegetarianism?
Some people follow what is called the vegetarian diet. There is no specific meal plan for a vegetarian diet, however there are several different vegetarian...
Some people decide to go vegetarian based off of their moral issues with the mass slaughtering of animals for human food consumption requirements, other people decide that the...
Have you considered becoming a vegetarian? People change their eating habits for a wide range of reasons. Some are against harming animals for our consumption. Others simply want...
Everyone knows about the original food pyramid which outlines what foods should be consumed and in what quantities. Since one size doesn’t fit all, different groups have come...
If you are a vegetarian, you may think that you are in general good health because of your diet. The truth is that your health may be suffering because of your diet. Vegetarians...
Leave a Reply
November 8th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Becoming a vegan holds its perks, but it also has its drawbacks so it’s a very risky life choice. BUt beIng vegetarIan dOes nOt Mean yOU”LL be sKInny Or a heaLthy weIght that aLL dePends On yOUr MetabaLIsM and yOU MaKe It seeM LIKe eatIng anIMaLs Is bad I hate that PeOPLe fOrget that hUMans are a sPecIes Of MaMMaLs therefOre we alsO are animals too. Is it bad that animals kill other animals in order to survive? Don’t be stupid, it’s a life decision, not the order of life.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Half of you guys don’t even know the benefits or the disadvantages of being a vegetarian. You guys should search this up and then argue over a side, and please don’t bring a religious percpective into science it will always contradict.
March 5th, 2011 at 11:49 am
I question the statistics that prove that vegetarians are healthier than omnivores. I know many vegetarians who have no issues wharfing down a steak when they visit mom on Sunday – so long as their friends don’t see them.
I also know many former vegetarians who have abandoned their vegetarian diet when they got sick – those former vegetarians are not included as vegetarians in the research that presumably indicates better health for vegetarians, even though it is obvious that vegetarianism got them sick.
A living being has to take life in order to survive.
Otherwise, it will die. It is Universal Law #1, our “basic instinct”. Plants feel pain too, in their own electric and chemical way. They may not shout or bleed (blood, that is, because they do bleed juices), but that does not mean that they do not suffer in their way when torn away from earth.
If you think vegan vegetarians are some universal lords of ethics, well, I got news for you. The Jains! The Jains are a religious group that are on an even greater moral overdrive than vegans, since they refuse to eat bulbs because bulbs sprout and thus uprooting bulbs is like killing.
So, if you want to be a vegetarian, fine. Just do not think that you will be healthier or more moral than those who are not.
February 12th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
If you read the Bible, you will read in the old testament how the Israelites having to sacrifice animals until Christ died. Now, in order to sacrifice something, you have to KILL IT! Now if God meant Thou shalt not kill to include animals, why would they have to sacrifice animals. Even God was upset with Cain’s sacrifice of vegetables.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:29 am
I’ve been vegan for 2 years and haven’t had any problems. I easily eat 100g of protein every day. Simple foods like rice, beans (especially soybeans), peanuts, and even white bread, etc.. all have far more protein per dollar compared to meat. Don’t believe me? Read some nutrition facts and compare prices.
I don’t even eat a lot of vegetables, just a few, and I have some vitamin C (natural or artificial) with every meal – for better iron absorption. Very occasionally I take a B12 supplement or a calcium supplement.
So really I don’t believe the so-called “disadvantages”.
October 21st, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Then fact that the chickens are being injected with antibiotics and substances to promote unnaturally fast growth and that the cows are also being injected with hormones and other substances to make them grow faster is reason enough for me to become vegetarian. Why do you think we have a child obesity problem? Don’t you think that if the chickens and cows were injected with these substances that our children will grow bigger and fatter faster as well, since they are eating the chicken and beef in their daily meals? Think about it.
October 19th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
All these frustrating comments from vegetarians show that the lack of meat is frustrating the world.
It is a personal choice though. Everyone has their own opinions.
October 18th, 2010 at 2:16 am
For a start, there is a lot of opinionated non-scientific information here that people are stating to claim health benefits relating to vegetarianism. To clarify, the ONLY proven health benefit of eating a well-maintained vegetarian diet is its reduction in Ischaemic Heart Disease.
See Key, TJ, et al. (1999). Mortality in vegetarians and nonvegetarians: detailed findings from a collaborative analysis of 5 prospective studies
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.70(3):516-524.
Notably, save ischaemic heart disease, all benefits of vegetarianism are infact due to lifestyle. Comtemplate if you will on how often your see your vegetarian friends out jogging, or refraining from eating fast food 4x a week, or getting out into the sun and playing sports and compare that to the majority of your meat-eating friends. Experiment’s show that those meat-eaters who are just as health-conscious as vegetarians, are just as healthy (though not including the risk in ischaemic heart disease)! So osteoporosis and kidney disease are old wives’ tales sorry.
Secondly, in order to maintain a healthy body as a vegetarian you need to increase your total consumption of food or your energy intake, along with reduced iron intake, will not be high enough and lethary would inevitably result. This effect is enhanced in vegetarians because their energy output is generally higher than the majority of the population who just sit in front of their TVs and order pizza. Also, a greater extent of variation is needed in a diet without meat as plants do not contain all the essential amino acids (which form proteins) that your body needs.
I’m not a vegetarian, due to several reasons, I like the taste of meat, it’s generally easy and versatile to cook with and because I would be much more socially demanding (in terms of asking friends to cook a separate meal for me, etc) if I were a vegetarian.
In regards to the last comment, “Thou shalt not kill” You’re taking that completely out of context. The law was specifically for people killing people and reading the whole of the book of Exodus would bring that into context for you as the punishment did not result from the Israelites eating meat, nor from culling animals in sacrificial rituals.
October 16th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
also, who the hell told you God put animals on earth for us to kill?! what part of ‘THOU SHALT NOT KILL’ do you not understand?
October 16th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
americans consume twice as much protein than needed! too much protein, especially ANIMAL protein, increases the risk of osteoporosis and kidney disease.
if everyone were vegetarian, ‘disadvantages’ number 2 and 3 would be nonexistant, honey.