What are the pros of becoming a vegetarian?

IT really is a matter of personal choice and despite the myriad of information about being a vegetarian, some of it from responsible sources, if you follow it all the way back you will find that many comments on the health benefits are qualified or limited to certain specific health areas and, on occasion, health benefits in one area are offset by issues in another.

There is nothing wrong with the vegetarian diet and, in fact, although I would never be a vegan I could become a vegetarian. I personally feel that the vegetarian diet, as long as you take advantage of all the food available, is a healthy option as long as you balance it with a healthy lifestyle.

There are many studies quoted as to how being a vegetarian or "better yet" a vegan will help the environment however many of these studies have now been refuted or the actual effects of animals on the environment found not to be as significant as originally stated. The problem is that these original studies were jumped on and quoted and re-quoted to the point where people fail to review further research in the field that has been done in the past few years.

There are no across the board benefits to being a vegetarian. Meat is a natural, nutritious part of the human diet. While you can get the nutrients it contains from veggirs, grains, eggs and dairy, it's not a simple thing to do. In fact, in the US 4 out of 5 vegetarians add meat back into their diet....most within a year of becoming vegetarian.

But don't think for a second that eating a vegetarian diet doesn't kill animals because it does. Every time big farm equipment goes through the fields planting and harvesting the grains and veggies that make up the vegetarian diet, small field animals are killed. And even more are deliberately poisoned to keep them out of big grain storsge bins so you can have your morning cereal.

If you eat, some animal is going to die.....vegetarian or not.

Check out Earthlings, Forks Over Knives, and Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, and you will see exactly why going vegan is beneficial. If you are vegetarian, you are still paying for the slaughter of cows, calves, chickens, and day-old chicks, and contributing to one of the leading causes of global warming and deforestation: animal agriculture. There are too many pros to list, but the only con I can think of is dealing with carnist trolls on a regular basis! Oh, and having to deal with the reality of just how cruel humans can be and how much suffering the animals have to endure every second of every day...

It is more of a decision of morality, really. Health is isn't really all that different. Dairy and eggs still have fat. I would say that you possibly will eat more vegetables as a vegetarian however (At least it would be a good idea) Every diet has it's perks and downfalls and right and wrong ways to eat.

The only pro is that you will not use a product you don't agree with. That's it.

It won't make you healthier, there won't be less animals killed because of you.

Obviously you meat grocery bill would go down. If like me the meat would make up 25%-30% of the bill, That would be a huge impact

Chetak

The food is tasty, nutritious, healthy, satisfying, varied. You may start to appreciate and delight in food in a whole new way, as other vegetarians and vegans have found before. You'll have a reason to learn about and research food, its origins, different ingredients, recipes etc... which can be extremely interesting and open a whole new paradigm.

It makes sense to me to be a vegan on many levels. I try to make choices for my own life which minimise the suffering I, personally, must take responsibility for. A vegan can't eliminate causing other beings to suffer, but everyone can choose either to at least do their best, or not to bother.

There may be some health benefits to being vegetarian, e.g. see this position statement of the American Dietetic Association:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864

Quote from it... "The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. "

But you'll only get such health benefits if you make healthy food choices: it's possible to be a junk-food vegetarian and that's not going to do your body any good!

You're also doing something positive environmentally. E.g. see the United Nation's (Food and Agriculture Organisation's) report...

http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM

Basic summary of that report is that animal farming is one of the major contributors to most of the worst environmental problems facing the world today: pollution of water, land and air, land degradation and erosion, depletion of water resources, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, depletion of the oceans, etc. Most plant foods have a far lesser impact.

As Daisy has pointed out even in plant production animals die. But plant production causes less death than meat production, especially taking into account the huge amounts of plants farmed and harvested to feed to meat/dairy/egg animals. Animals on intensive farms have to be fed. Truckloads of feed go into those farms every few days. That feed needs to be grown in fields, harvested, milled, and transported - all involving land, water, fossil fuels, creatures being caught in the harvest equipment, etc. The amount of meat produced is far less than the amount of plant foods the animal consumed over its lifetime.

Forested land in some poor countries is being taken from poor communities, either to graze cattle for beef for richer countries' markets, or to produce soya etc to feed to farmed animals in richer countries. You can't stop this, but you can decide as a vegetarian to stop contributing to it.

If you are considering being vegetarian because you don't want animals to be slaughtered for our food, consider veganism also - perhaps being vegetarian could be a transition stage. All animals raised for eggs and milk are also eventually slaughtered at a relatively young age (as their production is highest in their youth then declines when they are a bit older, but when that happens they are no longer profitable). The unwanted male calves and chicks from those industries are slaughtered when very young.

Any claims (including mine) to benefit the world at large as a vegetarian, means you're doing it collectively, together with all the other vegetarians, vegans, and meat-reducers, in the world. It's a bit like voting: we all vote for what we believe in, whether that's in an election, or in our other decisions in life. One vote probably won't decide who wins, but collectively, everyone's votes come together to make a huge difference, either deciding who wins the election, or by repressing the quantity of certain products (including meat etc) that are produced. Food types will only be produced if there is a demand and the farmers feel they can make a profit: no one is setting up new farms to meet demand for meat "just in case" all the vegetarians suddenly decide to start eating meat again. That's the difference vegetarians/vegans/etc make, reducing demand so fewer animals are bred and born into the farm/slaughter system.

You'll save some animal lives, and you'll have lower cholesterol.

there arent any. health wise at least.

Hmmm.........Let me think..........hmm......

Can't really think of any.