Various Benefits of a Vegetarian Lifestyle

  

For people across the globe, becoming vegetarian is largely a matter of money: Meat costs a lot more than, say, beans or rice, so meat becomes a special-occasion dish.

In developed countries where meat is considerable cheap, though, people choose to be vegetarians for reasons other than cost. Family preferences, spiritual beliefs, and health concerns are among the top reasons for choosing to be a vegetarian. Many people opt for a vegetarian diet out of concern over animal rights or the environment too.

If we take an ethical view towards becoming vegetarian, most animals slaughtered for meat are highly developed being with rich and profound emotional lives. To kill such vastly developed beings just to consume the meat and to shape their whole existence only for that purpose conflicts with every standard of ethics. Furthermore, the simple fact that most people feel nothing but revulsion while seeing an animal being slaughtered which shows that eating meat is against human nature.
 
Ecologically it is even more shocking, but the livestock sector is one of the worst environmental hazards of our time accounting for approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, which is a lot more than emitted from transportation. Livestock Farming is the main reason for deforestation of the Amazon, as forest is cleared for pastures and the cultivation of animal feed. Acidification due to high levels of ammonia is mainly caused by the Meat Industry. Also being the major contributing factor in water pollution due to nitrogen and phosphorus. To conclude, there is also the intense problem of overfishing which may be the largest single threat to the marine ecosystems.

Health wise the various health hazards linked to meat consumption are extreme cholesterol levels, obesity and illnesses such as bone loss, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis with the major one being heart disease. Then there is the risk of food poisoning due to consumption of rotten meat along with the problem of antibiotic deposits and growth hormones found in meat products.

There are excellent vegetarian sources of protein such as legumes, nuts and pulses and high-value vegetable oils are a much better option of fat compared to meat or meat products. Consuming meat is not essential and too much of it is absolutely harmful.

Vegetarianism is ethical and moral and given the devastating results of meat consumption on an individual, social and ecological level, as thinking, caring beings we should select vegetarianism. Many great philosophers such as Socrates, Leo Tolstoy, Plato and George Bernard Shaw have imparted the ethics of vegetarianism.

Make it to the point that even your appetite will considered vegetables to even make a vegetarian appetizers for parties.