Vegetarianism: benefit and harm to human health

Many people do not eat meat, considering vegetarian health as beneficial. The benefits and harms of such nutrition need careful consideration. Completely forbidding myself to eat meat protein, a person risks making his food unbalanced. Supporters of the same food system believe that only people who are vegetarian can restore and preserve health. The benefits and harm to it have been studied for many years, which allows us to draw some conclusions.

Often people come to the abandonment of meat, not wanting to eat living creatures. Vegetable food makes a person more tolerant and softer, because the nature of nutrition has an impact not only on health, but also on its behavior. Moreover, vegetarians believe that meat products contain substances that excite the psyche, lead to conflict, and are addictive, as a kind of drug. On a vegetarian with an experience, a meat dish has an action similar to that of alcohol. This fact is noted by scientists studying how vegetarianism, whose benefit or harm causes so much controversy, affects the health of its adherents. At the same time, people who began to eat only plant foods, stop complaining about nervousness, note the improvement of mood.

Vegetarians are less at risk of hypertension, atherosclerosis, digestive system diseases. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates from plant foods are worse absorbed than from animals, so people quickly feel full. This allows you to avoid excess calories and problems with obesity. Vegetarianism, the benefits and harms of which are actively discussed by supporters and opponents of this food system, is one of the steps to longevity.

At the same time, it is believed that strict adherents of plant foods impoverish their diet, in which some amino acids, vitamins, calcium, zinc, iron, copper and selenium are absent or inadequate. However, a number of studies show that the body can adapt to changing diet. For example, inadequate intake of zinc with food is compensated by its absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The content of selenium and vitamin B12 in the blood of vegetarians and meat eaters is approximately equal, that is, the body synthesizes the missing vitamin itself. And yet, one can not consider that the benefits and harms of vegetarianism are sufficiently studied, since research data can only be applied to healthy adults.

Strict vegetarianism can have a negative impact on people's health during growth, pregnancy, and acute illnesses, when the body's capacity for adaptation is limited. Elderly people need to carefully change their diet, even if it is not necessary to exclude from the diet of dairy products and eggs. And most importantly, when switching to vegetarianism, the benefits and harms of such a diet should be evaluated by a doctor who takes into account the characteristics of the organism and the presence of diseases in which vegetarianism is contraindicated.