Vegetarian diets are not always healthy

Vegetarian or vegan diets are often touted as being healthier than conventional diets, but unless you make a concerted effort to get all your necessary proteins, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, you could be hurting yourself more than you are helping yourself.

A recently published article in the Los Angeles Times about families that are trying to be mostly vegan,(There are a few exceptions when a member of the family, who eats fish as an attempy to eat healthy and avoid animal products) Health experts claim that these families are not getting enough vital nutrients to keep them healthy.

In my opinion, I completely disagree with this article, which is that “vegans don’t get enough protein.” Since it is old-school thinking. The truth is that vegetarians get plenty of protein, despite the fact that raw unprocessed foods contain many proteins that are destroyed through cooking.

It is the opinion of conventional dieticians that people need more protein through cheese, dairy and meats. This is just a myth. Advocated by the dairy and meat industries, and it just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Vegans do not lack protein.

The nutrients vegetarians mostly lack are omega-3s and vitamin B12, but this can be corrected through conscious food choice. The vitamin B12 issue is more difficult, but that can be handled through supplementation or by choosing certain foods types. Our clients are educated about these deficiencies and are advised with necessary choices. The fact of the truth is that vegetarians can be far healthier than most conventional eaters, and they have far lower risks of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and virtually every other chronic disease known to modern medicine as long as they eliminate processed foods.
Bewell,
Vivek