What Are Vegetarians Missing Out On?

A lot of people say they could never become a vegetarian, because they'd miss eating meat or fish. They'd miss crab or lobster, or shrimp scampi, or foie gras. So what exactly are vegetarians missing out on? You might be surprised to know.

Convenience

Vegetarians miss out on some of the opportunities to get food quickly, cheaply and easily. Although things are much easier nowadays than say, 20 years ago, if you're a vegetarian, you might have trouble getting something to eat at a ballpark or stadium.

You probably won't be able to find a meatless hot dog at the local movie theater, and I doubt you can buy a veggie burger at the high school carnival. You might get lucky. Meatless meals, and by that I mean something more than a side salad or baked potato, are easier to find than ever before.

But it's still the exception to the rule to be able to pull into a roadside eating establishment, or a fast food place, and get something vegetarian. If you're a vegetarian, you are missing out on that kind of convenience.

But more importantly, vegetarians miss out on a lot of the diseases and health problems that are afflicting many of the people in the Western world. Concerns about health are a popular reason people become vegetarians in the first place.

Cancer

A 2009 study of vegetarians in the UK looked at 20 different cancers in a group of 60,000 men and women. On average, they studied those people for 12 years. They were classified as meat eaters, fish eaters (who did not eat meat), and vegetarians.

Vegetarians had lower rates of bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, stomach cancer, and multiple myeloma. Nobody knows for sure why this is the case.

High Blood Pressure

A 2002 study of 11,000 people found that vegetarians had lower blood pressure than meat eaters. Meat eaters were more likely to have been diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure). 12-15% of meat eaters had hypertension, compared to only 6-8% of vegans. People with high blood pressure are at increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Type II Diabetes

Adult onset, or type 2 diabetes, affects at least 10% of the population in the United States. Side effects include blindness, loss of feeling, slow wound healing, which can lead to amputation, and death.

A study in 2009 found that diabetes was only found in 2-3% of vegetarians, compared to 7.6% of meat eaters. Some researchers believe obesity is a cause of diabetes, yet even the obese vegans had lower rates of type 2 diabetes than obese meat eaters.

These are just a handful of the many studies which look at diet and the effects it has on health. Vegetarians are missing out on many things, surely. But missing the meats and other animal products because of flavor and convenience may not be worth it in terms of the price tag you pay in your health and quality of life.

Want to know more about the health benefits of vegetarianism? Go to http://almostveganinparadise.wordpress.com/