The Healing Power of Vegetarian Diets

 The Healing Power of Vegetarian Diets

 

Fitness,Health In the 1960's chefs started to experiment with cooking without meat. But the meals were often tasteless. But now-a-days after experiencing for more than a quarter of a century, cooks are combining fruits, vegetables grains, and legumes in exciting new ways. The tastes are so good that even large restaurants are now offering meatless meals. As a result, more than 30 million Americans, including one in three teens, have tried vegetarian meals, according to the American Dietetic Association. They like the health benefits and how good the food tastes. Vegetarian diets have changed, but one thing stayed the same: a plant based diet , which is low in saturated fat, high in fiber,vitamins, antioxidants, and a powerful array of protective chemicals. This is the ultimate prescription for a longer and healthier life, according to Virginia Messina, MPH, R.D. a dietitian in Port Townsend, Washington, and coauthor of The Vegetarian Way. Research results have showed that vegetarians have lower rate

s of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, type two diabetes and obesity than people who eat meat. According to British researchers, vegetarians have a 20% lower risk of fatal heart disease and a 40% lower risk of cancer. Other studies found more positive facts. Fifty years ago a large study of 27,530 Seventh-Day Adventists, whose religion advocates a vegetarian diet, provided the first scientific link between vegetarian diets and better health. Researchers were amazed to discover that among the vegetarian Adventists, death rate from cancer were 50 to 70% lower than among other Americans. Since then, study after study has confirmed the benefits of vegetarian eating. In China, where people eat little or no meat, diseases such as heart disease, breast cancer and diabetes, are far less common than in the United States. Naturally lean Something that makes vegetarian meals so healthy is that they don't have all the saturated fat and cholesterol that comes from meat. In fact, while most Americans get about 36% of their total calories from fat, vegetarians get less, usually between 30% and 34%. And most of the fat they get is the healthier polyunsaturated and monounsaturated type - and not the dangerous saturated fat that comes from animal foods. In one study, researchers put 500 people on a vegetarian diet. After

 twelve days, cholesterol levels had dropped an average of 11%. Besides the fact that vegetarian meals don't contain saturated fat that makes vegetarian meals so healthy, they also contain the "good" fats. According to studies, both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are found in olive oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds, and many other plant foods, can lower the level of cholesterol when they're used to replace saturated fat in the diet. And the omega-3 fatty acids found in some plant foods, such as walnuts and flaxeed, can further protect against heart disease by helping to keep artery walls flexible and supporting the electrical "system" within the heart that regulates a healthy heartbeat. The Power of Plants Doctors in the US have been pleading with Americans for years to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, the same foods that vegetarians eat in abundance. Most plant foods are loaded with antioxidants, like beta-carotene and vitamin C and E. They are essential to protect you against diseases. Also, plant foods contain an abundance of phytonutrients, which are natural plant compounds that have been shown to lower the risk of cataracts, heart disease, and many other serious problems. In a