Vegetarian and vegan have one thing in common; both groups do not eat meat. While vegetarians appear to be more lenient in their diets, vegans seem to be stricter.
Vegetarianism is a form of diet that excludes meat consumption but utilizes animal by-products. On the other hand, veganism is more of a lifestyle than diet because it is characterized by not consuming meat, dairy products, eggs and discourages the use of animal by-product. Meanwhile, some vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products. One major difference between the vegans and the vegetarians is their perspectives to life. Vegans believe that animals should not be exploited by man and that they should enjoy their rights to live.
The Benefits of these diets are so enormous, but we will consider a few of them. Some of the health benefits of eating plant-based foods are as follows.
Most of the foods produced by plants are very rich in antioxidants and have some anti-inflammatory properties. These nutrients enable the body system to stop disease progression and fight oxidative stress. Vegetarian diets which comprise of vegetables, fruits, legumes and other forms of plant-based foods are rich in essential nutrients. Some of these nutrients are flavonoids, quercetin, beta-carotene, resveratrol, vitamin C, E and A, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and potassium. These nutrients help improve immune systems and protect against diseases.
Since this diet system also has an anti-inflammatory benefits, it helps fight against heart problems. This is because high inflammation is the root cause of many heart diseases. It also helps to protect against high cholesterol level and diabetes due to its high fiber content.
Research has shown that the consumption of plants, vegetables and fruits have the tendency to prevent weight gain. This is because they have low calories and eating a large volume will get you satisfied without the risk of being overweight.
Some of the plant-based foods are eaten raw and most of them are cooked at low temperature. This enables the enzymes to function effectively. These enzymes help the body to break down food items for easier digestion. It is important to know that some nutrients such as vitamins, amino acids, and minerals are destroyed when food is cooked beyond certain temperature. It also serves as a complement to the enzymes produced by the pancreas and other cells and thereby not overworking them.
It also helps to protect against the risk of cancer which is associated with the consumption of highly processed meat. Also, the cooking of meat at a very high temperature which can leads to carcinogenic effect is avoided since vegetarians and vegans do not eat meat.
Despite all these advantages of consuming plant-based foods, there are still some challenges with being a vegetarian or a vegan. As it stands, being a vegan has more health and nutritional challenges than a vegetarian. This is because a vegetarian still has the option of taking animal dairy products and eggs which can complement for the absence of meat. The non-consumption of meat puts you at the risk of not having enough protein and amino acid which are necessary for body building and muscle building. You need to study in details foods that can make up for the absence of meat protein to have a balanced diet.
