Vegetarianism: Is It the Best Choice? Essay -- Healthy Lifestyle Essay

The National Institutes of Health have proven that over five hundred thousand Americans die each year from coronary heart disease. They also have found that over seven million Americans are suffering from this disease at this present time (â€Å"Facts about Coronary Disease†). This same article explains that coronary disease is the most prominent form of heart disease. There are many risk factors that have been linked to coronary heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity just to name a few. These are all risk factors that can be controlled by people on their own, without the use of drugs or any medical help. There are a few exceptions, however, gender, heredity and age can also lead to this disease and these are factors that cannot be controlled by a person. The diet one chooses can serve as a preventative measure. Coronary disease is caused by thickening in the heart’s coronary arteries, which prevents nutrients and oxygen from flowing to the heart. The thickening of the arteries comes from the excessive amounts of saturated fat consumed by a person from years of careless dieting (Internet). A vegetarian diet eliminates one of the major elements in a person’s diet that contains fat. Meat is high in saturated fat. Whether it is, pork, beef, chicken, or turkey, meat contains fat from the animal that does not need to be consumed. When people cook these meats, they add different types of oils and seasonings that increase the fat intake and abuse of these foods could lead to obesity. This is another major cause of coronary heart disease. If one’s diet is based on vegetables and other non-animal foods, the chance of acquiring heart disease dramatically drops because they can eliminate two of the major causes, high cholesterol and obesity. The reason for this is obvious, non-anim al based foods do not contain high amounts of saturated fat that clog the arteries, therefore, helping one maintain a very healthy and strong heart. So far, how one’s diet affects their health by increasing the chances of heart disease has been explained. Robert Schneider, a practicing medical doctor, revealed in his book, Cancer Prevention Made Easy, that one’s diet also increases the chance of cancer. Because diet is the focus, colon, stomach and breast cancer are the most common forms that are influenced by diet. Schneider in his research has ... ...s, grains, and nuts, generally for ethical, ascetic, or nutritional reasons† (â€Å"Vegetarianism†). This definition explains why people choose to be vegetarians. Whether ethical or ascetic, the main reason for this choice is nutritional benefit. Vegetarianism improves a person’s health and gives their body a better chance of resisting diseases. These benefits together help a person live a healthier and more productive lifestyle which is what the majority of the world wants today. Adopting this diet could be one of the best choices one can make especially if they want to be successful and make a better contribution to society. For others who believe in God, making a choice to be vegetarian will help protect His temple which is the body. With all the disease in the animal kingdom today, vegetarianism will soon be the only choice for a healthy diet. All the information stated above proves that vegetarianism is worth adopting and it puts to rest any negative myth s people may have heard about it. Many say people were put here for some other purpose than to take up space and then die. If this is to be true, they must not treat their bodies like dirt so they can be the best that they can be.