If you are a vegetarian purely for respect for life principles or for religious purposes, we will not knock you for that. However, if you are a vegetarian that is so because you think it is better for your body and for the environment, keep reading to find out why this is probably not the best lifestyle choice for you!

I can hear the outcry now…

Oh, no… they went and did it!

            Yes, we did!

            We are standing proud against the idea of vegetarianism.  While there are people that are doing it as a protest for “respect for life” ideals and for the purposes of activism versus cruel treatment of animals, or there are those that are electing to be vegetarian for religious reasons (and if that is the case, we will leave your faith alone), many people think that vegetarianism is one of three things:

A.    Better for your body

B.    Better for the environment

C.    Better for your wallet

            All of these points are worth examining to see if they do make sense.  We will take a look at these, and we will further explain why these points are either valid or invalid, and we will defend ourselves with sound logic.

What is Vegetarianism?

            This is important, because what constitutes vegetarianism depends on who you ask.  There are what are a number of different types of vegetarianism, and many of these are worth discussing because there are wide varieties of what types of nutrients that you are getting for your food.

            Pescetarianism.  I started with this one because, I am not going to lie, this drives me absolutely nuts.  The whole concept of pescetarianism is that you do not eat anything that is meat from any animal that walks on land, though any type of vegetable is typically consumed. 

            The reason that this drives me crazy?

            If you ever look up the actual definition of vegetarianism, this is patently false.  The strictest definition is to have consumed nothing that includes meat of fish.  This being said, if you are eating a fish and vegetables diet, then you are not a vegetarian.

            Lacto-Ovo Vegetarianism.  This is your “traditional” vegetarian.  The vegetarian that is lacto-ovo does, as the name implies, do consumer milk and eggs.  However, the traditional vegetarian does not consume any kind of meat or fish.  This category can also be broken into two other categories: the lacto-vegetarian for those that do consumer milk, but not eggs; and the ovo-vegetarian that consumes eggs, and not milk or dairy products.

            Vegan.  The vegan, or strict vegetarian, is someone that consumes absolutely no animals, no animal products, and in some cases, they will refuse to eat anything that cannot be verified to be raised without animal labor.  The vegan does not eat eggs, dairy, meat, seafood, or any other animal byproducts, which include things like honey and figs.

            Yes, I said figs.  I you want to know why figs are not vegetarian, click here, but be prepared to not sleep again!

            Pollotarian.  This is another one that drives me nuts, as this is the chicken, turkey, and fowl version of pescatarianism… those who eat this diet do not eat any meat products with the exception of fowl.  This is, at best, a semi-vegetarian diet – so no, if you are a pollotarian, then you are in no way a vegetarian! 

            Combination options.  Most of the vegetarians you will come across will be either a lacto-ovo vegetarian, or they will be (not vegetarian) a lacto-ovo pescatarian or a lacto-ovo pollotarian.  In general, eating eggs and dairy are staples in most vegetarians’ diets to help them get enough fat and protein to keep their bodies running effectively.

Now… on to our Points

            Hopefully what was mentioned gave you an idea of what you can expect from vegetarianism, veganism, or… “vegetarianism”, if you follow.

            However, knowing what these diets entail is important to getting into the points that we are talking about… is being a vegetarian actually good for your body, the environment, or your wallet?

            Your health.  If you choose to eat a vegetarian diet, you do reduce eating somethings that have been shown to be unhealthy for you.

            Saturated fat and cholesterol are ever-present in most meats, and therefore eating too much meat, or eating it too often without the proper exercise, water, and vegetable consumption, increases you risk for a number of conditions.  Heart disease, diabetes, and conditions such as NASH are more common with those that consume meat.  However, this is hard to prove one way or the other, as less than 3% of the western world are full-time vegetarians, and this will skew the studies.

            Now… the other side of the argument.

            Without meat, we often struggle to get enough B-vitamins, trace minerals, zinc, iron, and a complete branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) protein.  When the body has lack of these particular nutrients, the results can be hair loss, muscle loss, and the inability of the body to fight off illnesses.  Other studies are showing a sharp decrease in fertility amongst women who are on some type of a vegetarian diet.

            And there is one more key point… the evolution in the human body to develop certain types of cancers can be linked to vegetarian diets of our ancestors, which is a concern in and of itself.

            The biggest issue, as many of the other points listed have to be considered more in-depth with ongoing research, is the lack of proper protein in the diet.  If the body does not get enough protein, then it cannot build muscle and it cannot easily recover from injuries.  If you need more proof on this point, there is a hormone in red meat called creatinine.  If you have every met a bodybuilder, they often consume creatine, which is a synthetic version of creatinine.  This being said, it sounds like it is natural for the body to want to get the hormones and bio-compounds that are in meat into our bodies!

            These points being considered, it should be obvious that vegetarianism is not actually good for your body, and in fact, it appears that it may cause more harm than good!

More to Come…

            Between the explanation of the various types of vegetarianism, my high-horse about a couple of these points, and the information about the health, we have gone further than we need to on this post!

            That being said, tune in next week!  What we will do is dive deeper into our key points regarding the expenses of meat vs. that of vegetarianism, and the environmental concerns that related either to meat or vegetarian diets. 

            That being said – definitely tune in next time!  Please leave all comments, as we would love to hear from you.!

            Until next time… eat will, live well, and be well!