who are reducing the amount of animal foods they eat
or have eliminated animal foods completely from their diet
And those surveys were done from 1994 to 2001, so the number of people now is likely much higher.
More speculative sources estimate that 248 million people worldwide are choosing not to eat any meat at all. So the number of people who are reducing the amount of animal foods they eat, would be much higher than 248 million.
That said, welcome... and now, the information...
This page will provide a detailed summary of some of the major benefits of eating less animal foods (meats, eggs, dairy), and replacing them with plant foods (grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts).
The summary will present some of the largest, most clear benefits for human health, our environment (air, water, soil, trees), and the animals.
You might want to read thru the information first, and then come back to the links afterwards. The links do provide a much deeper understanding, and establish the credibility of the information.
The last page ends with a few helpful links to forums and other links to info and support.
-----
According the the American Dietetic Association, the available research on diet suggests that:
"A vegetarian, including vegan, diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, use of fortified foods or supplements can be helpful in meeting recommendations for individual nutrients. Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence."
American Dietetic Association statement on vegetarian (and vegan) diets
To support this, consider Scott Jurek. He is a runner, who eats a 100% plant food diet (vegan). He's been on this all-plant diet since 1999, and has won a 100-mile race 7 times in a row during these years. He is the only runner who has won the race 7 times.
And he runs a lot more than 1 race a year... His race schedule for 2006 lists: April 22 Leona Divide - 50Miles , May 6 Miwok - 100Km , July 24 Badwater - 135Miles , Sept 30 Spartathlon - 246Km.
That is nearly 500 miles in a little more than 5 months.
His Bio page states that he switched to an all-plant diet in 1999. Since he's been on an all-plant diet, he's won first place in 20 races of 50 miles or more, totalling more than 1,500 miles. And his Career page shows many other races he has won, set records for, or finished before all but a few other runners...
Running those distances, and also finishing races faster than all other runners (or most others) requires more than adequate nutrition. The muscles, brain, lungs, heart, circulatory system all need to be in excellent functioning.
One race Scott Jurek ran in 2005 was the Badwater Ultramarathon. It's a 135 mile run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, in termperatures up to 130*F. This was the first time he ran the race: he won first place, and he also set a new record for the fastest time... on an all-plant food diet. ...And he won this race only 16 days after he had won 1st first place in a 100-mile race.
He ran the Badwater the next year also in 2006, and finished in first place again.
The health of an all-plant diet is also shown by Carl Lewis, who won 9 Gold Medals in the Olympics, competing against other top Olympic athletes.
(..leaping from the ground during a Long Jump)
He says:
"I've found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet. Moreover, by continuing to eat a vegan diet, my weight is under control, I like the way I look, (I know that sounds vain, but all of us want to like the way we look) I enjoy eating more, and I feel great."
You can verify this quote from his Introduction in the book Very Vegetarian. amazon.com image (click the right arrow to go to the next page and see Lewis' quote)
And there are many other people who have used a 100% plant diet to achieve physical acts that won first place, or involved tremendous strength and endurance, in swimming, weight lifting, running, etc.
For muscle-building, an all-plant diet can support this:
Alexander Dargatz
WorldChampionships 2005 - first place winner
There are a lot more people on vegetarian or vegan diets that have incredible strength, health and endurance. But it should be clear from these few that an all-plant diet can support MUCH more health and energy and endurance and muscle-building than we use in our ordinary activities!
Are you planning to run 135 miles in 24 hours, thru Death Valley, and set a record? Planning to compete in the Olympics against other Olympic athletes from around the world? Planning to build muscle bulk like Alexander? If not, then an all-plant diet can give you enough health and energy and strength for what you need. ...And if so, then apparently an all plant diet can still give you enough. So reducing the amount of animal foods in one's diet is possible to do and still remain healthy (or even more healthy as following data shows).
(It should be noted that the people above are eating *healthy* all-plant diets. Those bodies aren't powered by all-plant potato chips, all-plant cookies, cake, brownies, or soda. But for anyone with an occasional sweet tooth, there are plenty of non-animal-based snacks and deserts.)
A vegetarian diet can also support exceptional functioning of the mind. The easiest examples are Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, George Bernard Shaw, Henry David Thoreau, and Nikola Tesla. All of them have clear quotes regarding their views of eating animals for food.
Quotes (quotes have been verified).
One boy, Gregory Smith, described here at CNN, made a conscious decision at age 2 to stop eating meat. The article describes:
"He breezed through 10 grades of school in three years, graduated with honors from high school at [the age of] 9...", and he graduated college at 13. Since his brain is the same type that we all have, it shows that meat wasn't needed to develop exceptional intelligence and mental ability.
So vegetarian and all-plant diets can be extremely healthy for body and mind, but can they be health*ier* than the default Standard American Diet? There's a lot of information that suggests that it is healthier, for most people:
According to the American Dietetic Association:
"Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.
Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer."
"Dietetics professionals have a responsibility to support and encourage those who express an interest in consuming a vegetarian diet."
Here are a few quotes from the American Dietetic Association's research paper (at the above link):
Heart Disease
...An analysis of five prospective studies involving more than 76,000 subjects showed that death from ischemic heart disease was 31% lower among vegetarian men compared with nonvegetarian men and 20% lower among vegetarian women compared with nonvegetarian women...
Cancers
...nonvegetarians had a 54% increased risk for prostate cancer and an 88% increased risk for colorectal cancer...
...Observational studies have found an association between high intake of dairy foods and calcium with increased risk for prostate cancer...
...Both red and white meat have been independently linked to increased risk for colon cancer...
Obesity
...Among Seventh-day Adventists (SDA), 40% of whom follow a meatless diet, vegetarian eating patterns have been associated with lower body mass index (BMI). In the Adventist Health Study, which compared vegetarians and nonvegetarians within the Adventist population, BMI increased as the frequency of meat consumption increased in both men and women...
Gallstones
...In a study of 800 women aged 40 to 69 years, nonvegetarians were more than twice as likely as vegetarians to suffer from gallstones...
Diabetes
...among men in the Adventist Health Study, risk for diabetes was still 80% higher in nonvegetarian men after adjustment for weight. In men, meat consumption was directly associated with increased risk of diabetes...
High Blood Pressure
...In one study, 42% of nonvegetarians had hypertension (defined as 140/90 mm Hg) compared with only 13% of vegetarians. Even semivegetarians are 50% more likely to have hypertension than vegetarians (4). Even when body weights were similar between subjects, vegetarians had lower blood pressures...
And here are excepts from 2 other sources...
Unified Dietary Guidelines
Top Health Organizations Issue Unified Dietary Guidelines
Eat right and you will live longer. It's a message the nation's top health organizations have each promoted over the years. Until now, however, there have been separate dietary recommendations for the prevention of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
"It's what the ACS [American Cancer Society] has been saying all along. The emphasis is on eating a variety of foods, mostly fruits and vegetables, as well as a lot of cereal fibers, with very little simple sugar or high-fat foods, especially animal foods," said Dr. Bloch, who helped lead the effort to publish unified guidelines.
The unified guidelines will likely reduce the risk of many chronic diseases related to diet and physical activity, including heart disease and cancer—the first and second causes of death in the US , Dr. Bloch said. The guidelines have been approved by the nation's top health organizations: the ACS, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Institutes of Health.
- eat a variety of foods;
- choose most of what you eat from plant sources;
- eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day;
- eat six or more servings of bread, pasta, and cereal grains each day;
- eat high-fat foods sparingly, especially those from animal sources;
- keep your intake of simple sugars to a minimum.
Nearly five decades of research have proven the wisdom of those guidelines, Dr. Bloch added. However, not all Americans are following them. An estimated one-third of the annual 500,000 cancer deaths in the US is related to an unhealthy diet...
..The entire article and more information is at the Unified Dietary Guidelines link above
and...
The following is the "Advice to Individuals" presented in the report, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. Based on an analysis of more than 4,500 research studies, these guidelines present some of the best advice currently available on actions to take for lower cancer risk.
Seven Things To Do Now For Lower Cancer Risk . . .
- . . .Choose a diet rich in a variety of plant- based foods.
- . . . Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
- . . . Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active.
- . . . Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all.
- . . . Select foods low in fat and salt.
- . . . Prepare and store foods safely.
And, always remember...
- . . . Do not smoke or use tobacco in any form.
Their 13 recommendations are:
Recommendation 1
Choose predominantly plant-based diets rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits, beans and peas, and minimally processed starchy staple foods.
Recommendation 2
Avoid being underweight or overweight and limit weight gain during adulthood to less than 5kg (11 pounds).
Recommendation 3
If occupational activity is low or moderate, take an hour's brisk walk or similar exercise daily, and also exercise vigorously for a total of at least one hour in a week.
Recommendation 4
Eat 400-800 grams (15-30 ounces) or five or more portions (servings) a day of a variety of vegetables and fruits, all year round.
Recommendation 5
Eat 600-800 grams (20-30 ounces) or more than seven portions (servings) a day of a variety of cereals (grains), beans and peas, roots, tubers and plantains. Minimally processed foods are preferable. Limit consumption of refined sugar.
Recommendation 6
Alcohol consumption is not recommended. If consumed, limit alcoholic drinks to less than two drinks a day for men and one for women.
Recommendation 7
If eaten at all, limit intake of red meat to less than 80 grams (3 ounces) daily. It is preferable to choose fish, poultry and meat from non-domesticated animals in place of red meat.
Recommendation 8
Limit consumption of fatty foods, particularly those of animal origin. Choose modest amounts of appropriate vegetable oils.
Recommendation 9
Limit consumption of salted foods and use of cooking and table salt. Use herbs and spices to season foods.
Recommendation 10
Use refrigeration and other appropriate methods to preserve perishable foods as purchased and at home.
Recommendation 11
Do not eat charred food. For meat and fish eaters, avoid burning of meat juices. Consume the following only occasionally: Meat and fish grilled (broiled) in direct flame; cured and smoked meats.
Recommendation 12
For those who follow the recommendations presented here, dietary supplements are probably unnecessary, and possibly unhelpful, for reducing cancer risk.
Recommendation 13
Do not smoke or chew tobacco.
The studies and recommendations mostly express the same basic things:
Reduce or limit animal foods, especially fatty animal foods...
and
Base your diet around plant foods, and eat more of them especially fruits and vegetables.
It appears that the majority of people will be able to sustain their health, if they reduce or eliminate animal foods from their diet... and it also appears that doing so would likely increase their health in many ways.
Now to explore the benefits for the air we all breath, the water we all drink and bath with, and the soil that all our food originates from...
...Continue to Environmental Benefits
Link to this webpage, by copying the banner code text to a forum/webpage/blog/email (or just right click and 'copy' the image and paste it into any format that accepts HTML)
| <a href="http://www.helpusall.com/foodsummary.html"> <img src="http://www.helpusall.com/banners/foodsummary.gif"></a> |