Health Benefits Of Vegetarian Diet – Ayurvedic Opinion

Health benefits of vegetarian diet are immense. Having said that non vegetarian diet is not a banned entity in Ayurveda. But if you are susceptible to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high BP, then adopting a vegetarian diet will be helpful. 

Vegetarian diet benefits

Lower risk of heart diseases: A new study done in University of Oxford, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has revealed that the risk of hospitalization or death from heart disease is 32% lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish. This can be attributed to

• With vegetables comes the benefit of more fibers in diet
• Lesser intake of cholesterol. Hence lesser chance for cholesterol deposition in blood vessels
• Lower cholesterol intake leads to lesser chances of hypertension (high BP).

Feel light on the feet – This is the first health change and the first benefit of veg diet that you might observe. When compared to all the non vegetarian food items, most of the vegetarian food items are light in nature. Lightness refers to easiness to undergo digestion, lesser time taken for digestion at the level of stomach and intestines, lightness of mind and lightness of whole body.
Read related: Vegetarian Vs Non Vegetarian Food Habit – A Comparison

Lesser risk of high cholesterol food intake – Non veg food articles are comparatively rich in protein and cholesterol compared to veg items. This is especially so, because, most of non veg food are processed with oil. So shifting to a vegetarian diet helps in diabetes, obesity, high BP etc.

Helps to lose weight – Leaving non veg food is an act of mind control over diet. Hence the decision itself brings in positiveness to your attitude towards your health. It makes you more health conscious.

Mental benefits – Vegetarianism helps to keep the mind more active, positive and more focused. It is an auspicious step towards a better physical and mental health.

Spiritual angle –  Most of the vegetarian food items are considered as Satvik in nature, meaning that they imbibe positive qualities to mind. Non veg food source, manufacturing has a hidden violence, hence it is considered as Tamasic (having negativity). Spiritual organization, Divine park is of the opinion that – when one climbs the ladder of spirituality, in due course of progress, one will be naturally inclined towards vegetarian diet.

Strengthens liver, pancreas, stomach, intestines – Vegetarian diet decreases the load of work on the organs related to digestion, making them stronger.

Improves skin health, lessens occurrence of acne, bad breath problem. Also improves the quality of hairs.

Longevity – The secret of health lies in eating nutritious food. But another secret lies in conditioning the body organs, stimulating them, fine tuning them. Shifting to a vegetarian diet goes a long way in achieving this. Having said that, non vegetarian diet has its own benefits. Shifting to vegetarian diet should not be a forceful exercise.

The person should be fully self-motivated for the shift. If you are suffering from obesity, or have been advised by the physician to consider vegetarian diet, there are umpteen reasons to make the shift.

Protein Myth of Non veg Foods:
Many meat eaters think that if they stop it, they will not get any proteins at all.
Many gym goers, health seekers think that more the protein, healthier is the diet. Both these sentences are totally wrong.

Dr Milton Mills MD, Critical Care Physician
All proteins are made by plants
Only plants have the ability to take nitrogen from the air and incorporate nitrogen ions into amino acids. These are transferred into the animals to form animal proteins.
Plant proteins have more beneficial effect on our physiology.
Body builders say all the time, that they need so much amount of chicken etc. This is utter non sense.
The largest and strongest of animals are herbivores – Elephant, Rhinoceros, Gorilla (Predominantly herbivore.

Dr Garth Davis MD – Author  – Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It
I have never seen in my entire career a case of protein deficiency
Diet with very high protein causes diabetes, causes cancer.