Marta Hilgier Vegetarianism Takes the World by Storm

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Do you know that there are more and more people who decide to give up meat? This trend has been growing in popularity as the myth of vegetarians living solelysolelysolely on grass has finally been debunkeddebunked [debunk]debunked. Supermarkets and convenience shopsconvenience shopconvenience shops offer a wide range of products which perfectly substitutesubstitute (verb)substitute animal fleshfleshflesh and animal‑based foods so that consumers don’t miss out onmiss out onmiss out on a meaty flavour. Instead, they can indulge inindulge inindulge in dishes made from such ingredients as tofu, seitanseitanseitan, yeast flakesyeast flakes [yeast flake]yeast flakes, tempehtempehtempeh, etc., which may sound exotic but can be very tasty and, most importantly, none of them comes from animals.

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Vegetarianism was practised as early as the 9Indeks górny th^th century B.C. It is a practice of not eating meat – red meat, poultrypoultrypoultry, fish or seafood. In other words, vegetarians do not consume any flesh. However, there are varietiesvarieties [variety]varieties of this diet, for example a lacto‑ovo vegetarian diet includes eggs and dairy productsdairy products [dairy product]dairy products, an ovo‑vegetarian one includes eggs but no dairy, while veganism is about not eating any animal products at all and not using any by‑productsby‑products [by‑product]by‑products from animal slaughterslaughterslaughter. However, there are even more extreme kinds of vegetarian diets – fruitarians only go for fruit, and raw vegans base their meals on fruit and vegetables that aren’t heated to the temperature above 48 degrees Celsius.

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There are many different reasons why people object toobject toobject to relying on meat as food. Some think that it’s absolutely wrong to consume living things which experience feelings and sensationssensations [sensation]sensations, others consider it unethical, not aestheticaestheticaesthetic or are concerned about the environment. There are those who aren’t allowed to eat flesh due todue todue to religious beliefs. There is also a group that chooses to follow a vegetarian lifestyle because they want to lead a healthy life free from chronic diseases.

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The American Dietetic Association claims that a properly planned vegetarian diet can be healthy, nutritiousnutritiousnutritious, and what’s more, it can prevent and help treat certain diseases. Since it is mainly based on fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts, this way of eating reduces the cholesterol level because a person doesn’t consume so much animal fat, or products which are high in sodiumsodiumsodium, or sweetenerssweeteners [sweetener]sweeteners. It also prevents heart disease. A plant‑based diet is rich in carbohydratescarbohydrates [carbohydrate]carbohydrates, fibrefibrefibre and antioxidants, which improves digestiondigestiondigestion, decreases blood pressure and fights type 2 diabetesdiabetesdiabetes.

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But is a vegetarian diet really healthy? NumerousnumerousNumerous studies have proved that people who choose to avoid meat and animal products in general run the riskrun the riskrun the risk of not having enough vitamin B12, which may cause anaemia. However, there’s always a possibility to supplement it by taking pills. Some people worry about developing osteoporosisosteoporosisosteoporosis due to insufficientinsufficientinsufficient calciumcalciumcalcium consumption. This may be easily avoided if you substitute milk products with plant milk or green vegetables. Contrary tocontrary toContrary to popular belief, a vegetarian diet doesn’t guarantee weight loss – you may eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and still exceedexceedexceed your daily calorie intakeintakeintake.

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Whether you decide to go green or not is your personal decision. Analyse all the pros and cons and if you decide to stick tostick tostick to meat, perhaps it’s worth reducing its consumption a little bit? After all, we want to live a healthy life and this extra servingservingserving of veggies for dinner or a snack in the form of some fruit instead of a chocolate bar won’t harm anyone. So, a slice of vegan pizza?

1 Źródło: Marta Hilgier, dostępny w internecie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism [dostęp 12.04.2021], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0. Tekst skrócony i zmodyfikowany.