According to gosstata different countries, there are already about a billion vegetarians. Every day more and more people refrain from eating animal products. Some settled on this step for ethical reasons, because animals still brothers. Others choose vegetarianism because of its health benefits.
Nutritionists claim that this power indeed has many benefits that can improve the quality of life. But vegetarianism has brought the benefit, not harm, the transition must be carefully prepared. How to do it, we found out from the dietitian, member of the Association of dietitians of Ukraine Oksana Skitalinskaia.
DIVIDE AND RUIN: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SYSTEM
Often vegetarians call people who do not eat meat, including fish and marine animals. In fact, this power system has many branches. For example, ovo-vegetarianism involves the use of eggs. When lacto-vegetarians can eat dairy. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians consume eggs and dairy products. But sand-vegetarians from animal products eat only fish. Less common subspecies is Pollo-vegetarianism: people exclude red meat, but eat chicken. The most stringent branch — vegan: a person eats exclusively fruits, vegetables, berries, grain and seeds. And the most radical form — the raw food diet: in this case consumed only raw, unprocessed termites plant foods (mainly fresh fruits and vegetables).
THE BENEFITS AND HARMS, OR CONSIDER AGE
What is the benefit of vegetarianism? First, vegetarians with plant food get different types of fiber. Cellulose is the main food for the intestinal microflora. If we eat healthy food, microorganisms in our intestines produce valuable substances, for example, so-called short-chain fatty acids (CCGC) that protect the body from cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Second, fresh fruits and vegetables contains large amount of vitamin C needed for good immune system and collagen synthesis — the element of youth. Thirdly, vegetarians get from berries, fruits and vegetables pigments of all colors. They have strong anti-inflammatory properties, improve the functioning of cells and many enzymes, protect DNA from damage and mutations. And vegetarians have significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and it has been proven scientifically!
- See also: Scientists have identified the dangerous vegan diet
But like any other system of alternative nutrition, vegetarianism has its downsides. If we talk about the classic vegetarianism (when excluded from the diet of only meat and fish), this diet in most cases will benefit. “Moreover, lacto-ovo-vegetarianism is the best diet for men after 40-50 years”, — says Oksana Skitalinskaia. And here’s to 25 years to experiment with the rejection of certain foods is not: a growing body should get all the nutrients.
THE SEVEN RULES OF TRANSITION: GRADUAL FAILURE AND COMBINATIONS
1. Study the body. To derive maximum benefit from vegetarianism, you need to approach the issue responsibly. First of all get care with specialists, submit to a blood test for b vitamins, iron and zinc (a lot of them especially the meat). If test results are normal, you can switch to vegetarianism, periodically taking tests. If the required items are scarce, better to wait with the rejection of meat and to start taking mineral and vitamin complexes, especially women of childbearing age.
2. Small steps. Often people rush to extremes, deciding to become vegan or even raw-foodists. But if yesterday you ate meat three times a day, and today decided to eat only salads, the sharp transition will be for the body severe stress and may trigger the development of gastrointestinal disease. The rejection of animal products should be gradual. For starters eliminate red meat but continue to eat poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs. So eat about two to three weeks. When you get used to this diet, you can eliminate birds, then fish, etc. be Sure to watch out for health: at the slightest indisposition contact a doctor.
3. Keep the balance. Consider the individual characteristics of the organism. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, liver, pancreas — you need to strike a balance between thermally processed and unprocessed food: in these diseases the person may not be enough enzymes for processing coarse fiber from raw vegetables, to eat better boiled.
4. Lessons combination. Be sure to learn how the combination between different foods and what nutrients they contain. This is especially necessary if you are going to give up all animal food. In order for the body to function properly, it needs to do a complete protein (20 amino acids: 12 essential and 8 essential). And if amino acid produced in the body, it is essential we get only with food. It is therefore important to combine foods to get all essential nutrients. For example, eat buckwheat with mushrooms, and let the menu will be potatoes (it has all the amino acids, but in small quantities).
5. In step with the times. Now on the market there are products that facilitate the transition to vegetarianism. For example, quinoa seeds, which contain lots of quality protein. Worth a try amaranth — amaranth seeds: it is rich in lysine amino acid, which possesses strong anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antibacterial action. A large number of useful elements located in soy products, especially in milk. A real treasure for the vegan milk of vegetable seeds: almonds, Maca, coconut. Try to make your diet as diverse as possible and make sure that the body receives all the valuable items.
6. Sweet mistake. Quite often vegetarians, except products of animal origin, not abandoning junk food. It’s not so much about fast food and processed foods, how much sugar. If a person uses it a lot, power a priori can not be called healthy. Not the best solution is to replace sugar with honey: it can be no more than 2 tsp per day, because fructose (honey) damages the proteins in our body stronger than glucose (regular sugar).
7. Another common mistake vegetarians — improper heat processing of food, namely, the use of frying as the main method of cooking. Everyone loves fried potatoes with Golden brown. But this crust is CNG (advanced glycation end products): a very harmful compound protein with carbohydrates, which damages proteins in the body. That is frying vegetable food, you’ll only hurt yourself. The healthiest food boiled and baked.
