Statistical reasons to go vegetarian

Image courtesy of Apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Being a vegetarian is one of the best things that you can do for your health and the health of the world in which you live. In this article, we’ll give you a better idea of what the benefits of becoming a vegetarian can be by relaying some statistics that may surprise you.

One of the principle reasons that many people choose to become vegetarians is the fact that it is a great way of keeping yourself healthy. It has been shown that meat-centered diets can be a great contributor to the occurrence of heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the United States. By going vegetarian, you can drastically reduce your risk of falling victim to the deadly disease. Studies have shown that individuals who decrease their meat, egg, and dairy consumption by a mere ten percent can cut their risk of heart attack by nine percent. Cutting back your consumption of eggs, meat and dairy products by fifty percent will reduce your risk of heart attack by forty five percent, and completely eliminating meat from your diet will reduce your risk by a full ninety percent. The average man living in the United States has a fifty percent chance of dying by heart attack, but the average vegetarian man in the United States has only a four percent risk. Clearly, being a vegetarian can be a useful way of ensuring that you will live a long and healthy life.
Another thing to consider when deciding what type of diet you wish to follow is the amount of pesticides that are present in foods. Approximately ninety four percent of all of the chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides such as DDT that are consumed by humans can be attributed to a diet containing eggs, meat, and dairy products. These same pesticides have been shown to increase sterility in males, and the male sperm count in the United States has decreased over thirty percent in the past thirty years.
Some people think that vegetarians will lose out on proper nutrition by having such a selective diet. Many view vegetarians stereotypically as weak, pale individuals. However, there have been many great achievements of athleticism performed by people who adhered to strict vegetarian diets. As an example, the only person to ever win the Ironman Triathlon more than two times, Dave Scott, was a strict vegetarian. Additionally, several body-building champions including Roy Hilligan and Andreas Cahling are known to be vegetarians. Clearly, being a vegetarian does not mean that you are going to be in poorer spirits and energy by not eating meat– on the contrary, you might be exactly the opposite.
Clearly, there are plenty of reasons that you should become a vegetarian if you are concerned about your health. Vegetarianism has a clear advantage over meat-based diets in that it helps to safeguard you against heart disease and problems caused by harmful pesticides. Additionally, the stereotypical view of the vegetarian as a weak individual is dismissible as a farce. Becoming a vegetarian can be one of the healthiest decisions that you ever make.