veg

             The vegetarian diet is becoming increasingly popular all the time. Is the vegetarian or meat diet better? A decade ago and earlier, the impression was that a vegetarian diet was lacking in the nutrients found in meat products. Today though, through research and nutritional science, it has been proven that all the nutrients found in meat can also be found in the correct vegetarian diet. Some may argue that by only consuming meat that is low in fat, meat and vegetarian diets have identical benefits. This is true only if one eats only very low fat meat. The lack of meat is not necessarily the main benefit of to the vegetarian. Vegetarians tend to eat more fruits, vegetables and grains that the meat eater. They also tend not to use tobacco and excessive alcohol. In addition, vegetarians tend to get more exercise. The term vegetarian can be misleading. This diet can take on many different variations. A fruitarian eats only fruits, seeds and nuts while the vegan eats these and vegetables, grains and legumes. A lacto vegetarian consumes the same as a vegan as well as dairy products. A lacto-ovo vegetarian follows after the lacto vegetarian but also includes eggs while the ovo vegetarian excludes dairy products. Finally, the partial vegetarian eats anything except red meat, or at least strictly limits it. Because the term vegetarian is used to cover all facets and variations, it is difficult to identify health benefits resulting from the vegetarian diet including all of the above. Most meat eaters do not realize that there are so many variations to the vegetarian diet, which makes accurate studies even more difficult. As a whole though, vegetarians tend to have less body fat than nonvegetarians. This is most likely due to the low fat and high carbohydrate content of their diet. Vegetarians usually have lower blood pressure than meat eaters because of lifestyle and diet. Other factors probably include exercise and resistance to smoking and alcohol intake.