Reasons why I am not a vegetarian: 

Yes, I know It’s true…

Vegetables are one of the best foods you can eat if you’re trying to lose weight, or simply improve your health. That’s a fact.

They are great sources of  of fiber, minerals, vitamins and nutrients that can help prevent disease.  

Eating at least three full servings of vegetables a day would help you lose weight easier and faster, have more energy, and improve your digestive function.

But Only At The Short Term…

…Here’s where my meat-eater logic steps in

My body needs more than complex carbs (plant based foods) and plant based proteins to remain strong and healthy LONG term. 

Indeed. At the short term eating mostly or only a vegetarian diet does  promote healing and organ detox.

Long term, though it could lead to serious nutritional deficiencies.

Why do I think that?

For starters, I must first mention that I agree with the proponents of vegetarianism regarding the horrors going on within the cattle industry; It’s destructive, cruel and wasteful.

Bad for the animals, the environment  and bad for us, (Yes I watched ‘Forks over Knives’ and other similar documentaries)- But that’s another post entirely. 

With that said, I think the benefits of  vegetarianism, especially the strict vegetarian diet are greatly over-rated.

Let me explain…

My body needs three basic types of nutrients (called macronutrients). They are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and the three are vital to health. 

As a vegetarian, I would get enough carbs from vegetables but NOT enough good quality fats and protein to sustain my health long term.

Here’s why 

Fats- We all know that not all fats are created equal and while a plant based diet would provide many good sources of ’good fats’ (Unsaturated) from nuts and certain oils, I would be missing the great benefits of the essential fatty acids- Omega-3- and other good fats from various animal sources.  

Proteins- Here’s my main concern: I am a big protein lover…A vegetarian diet wouldn’t provide me with enough of it to keep me healthy long term because I wouldn’t have enough time during the day to eat enough nuts, soy, or spirulina when I could get enough protein from a piece of chicken!

Mostly because unlike animal proteins, plant proteins are not completely digestible.

Here again, all proteins are NOT created equal

Proteins are the tissue builders (building blocks of cells), and my body can not store them; I must get them daily from my diet and in adequate amounts just to maintain my body functioning at normal levels.

For optimal health and faster metabolism, I try to eat a portion of a complete protein with every meal, (meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, fish)…and I gotta tell you, I haven’t been to a doctor for being sick in over 20 years!

This would not be possible on a vegetarian diet (low calorie, med-high carbs, low fat).  

Unless, of course I m extremely careful and disciplined to eat enough quantities of the non-complete protein sources…

Even so, I would have to worry about my B-vitamin, Iron and Calcium deficiencies, which are common among many long-term vegetarians.(That too, it’s topic for another post.)

When I do eat my vegetables I have to get creative, less I’d get bored, heh

Here’s some things I do to make eating vegetables more enticing, try them out yourself for variety!

  – Pile them on a sandwich.

 If you like to eat whole wheat pita sandwiches for lunch, you can add a serving or two of vegetables to them easily. 

I like tomatoes and lettuce. 

  - Stir-fry them.

 - Sneak them into other foods.

  I  get into the habit of including vegetables in as many meals as I can, that way I  get used to them and not mind them so much.

So, yeah…While I am not a vegetarian I enjoy and recommend a daily serving of vegetables. Especially the dark colored ones because of their higher vitamin content.

To Your Health!

LL

**Sources for this article: Beyondveggie.com, Protein Power by Michael R. Eades, M.D, Guide to Body Chemistry & Nutrition, Human Physiology-Mechanisms of disease, Guyton-3rd edition.

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