What are the pros and cons to a vegetarian diet?

I have been on a vegetarian diet for the last year and 8 months, and I am starting to feel concerned about the negatives about not eating meat. Can you help me out?What are the pros and cons to a vegetarian diet?
I'm a veggie too. Been one for almost 3 years.



Pros: increase in health (I have not had the common cold or anything the past 3 years), feel more energetic, aware, good for the planet, good for some animals. In some cases can clear your skin up and aid digestion.



Cons: not as much protein or iron as you should be getting



But there are a BILLION ways to get protein/iron: beans, nuts, spinach/leafy greens, dairy (if you choose to eat; I am lactose intolerant so I cannot eat any), soy products, whole grains...just about every food has some protein in it (just read the food labels)



For iron, take an iron pill or a multi-vitamin along with your diet.
I think that eating meat helps you to get more iron, vitamin B12, and zinc. These are the nutrients that you may become deficient in by adopting a vegetarian diet.



You may want to have a blood test done to check on any nutrient you may be low in especially vitamin B12 as this vitamin comes from animal foods not plant foods.



If your starting to feel anemic and want a great source of iron or vitamin B12, eat some Bison Buffalo Meat.



It is a great source of both nutrients and usually a very humanely raised animal.What are the pros and cons to a vegetarian diet?
A lot of people will tell you the vegetarian diet is inadequate however that is really a myth.

Scientific Studies show that vegetarians have a lower incidence of heart disease, stroke, infertility, obesity, colon cancer, other types of cancer and ofcourse meat related illnesses like mad cow disease, camphyllobacter, and listeriosis. Additionally vegetarians have longer lifespans (around 7 years)



Vegetarianism is also very good for the environment. The livestock industry is responsible for massive deforestation for grazing of livestock. Additionally meat production is water intensive (it requires many times the amount of water to produce a pound of meat than it does a pound of vegetables) Also some farms directly funnel raw sewage into freshwater sources causing significant pollution



Vegetarianism is compassionate to other living beings. As long as your diet is well balanced everything should be totally great, I have been a vegetarian for over 25 years
As long as you are good at looking after yourself with proper nutritional requirements I think the only cons are the social aspect. I know its pretty hard to find a wide variety of things to eat when you go out with friends, other than the usual mushroom veggie burger. Oh, and people tend to roll their eyes a lot or get anxious about having you over for dinner...



Just make sure you get 2000mcg of vitamin b12 a week because that is virtually the one thing missing in a properly followed vegetarian diet! It comes from the bacteria in meat. Vegetarians would normally get it if we didn't need to wash all our veggies a ton from the dangerous pesticides.



Pros - lack of heart disease, and it is a MAJOR way of eliminating your footprint on the planet. Meat takes a lot of energy to produce.

I went vegetarian a few weeks ago due to my health problems and it has helped. Plus I find I never feel weighed down in my gut anymore, as meat protein takes a lot of energy for the body to digest.



However if you are just subsisting on cheese and potatoes, then it would be better to include some meat in your diet as both do nothing beneficial to your system.



But as a vegetarian make sure you get your protein. I make a shake every morning with almond milk and interActive Vegetarian protein (pea protein isolate, soy protein, and rice protein) in chocolate which has 25grams in a scoop. If you have an allergy to soy there is always whey (from cow's milk in case you don't consume milk either) and rice protein. However the rice protein is an incomplete protein unless combined with another source of protein. Eat chickpea and spinach curries (combined with rice), steamed kale with garlic, carrots with hummus, egg whites with almond butter on toast.





Remember if you don't make the effort to eat healthy as a vegetarian, eating meat won't make you much healthier! There are no cons to vegetarianism as long as you plan it out and be knowledgeable. good luck!What are the pros and cons to a vegetarian diet?
eating vegetarian is very healthy if done correctly. the only problem is there is a high lack of protein in not eating meet. this can be replaced by nuts, and protein supplements easily though. just make sure to do that. also you have to watch what you are eating, make sure you are really eating vegetables, fruits, wheat, some fat(this is necessary sense meat contains a high content of fat, and you are missing out on that), and drinking plenty of milk, or eating cheese or what not to get some dairy in. but beside that you should be just fine staying a vegetarian. good luck.
As long as your closely monitor your non meat protein intake you can lead a very healthy vegetarian lifestyle. Stick to it if thats how you want to eat, but understand a diet with meat is not unhealthy or unnatural as some vegetarians want to make it out. Its really just personal choice, but both ways of eating can be healthy.
The only cons are if you're not eating well. If, for example, you're eating too many simple carbs (white bread, pasta, etc) and processed food, that's not good. Other then that all cons are society related (explaining your diet to people, ordering at restaurants, etc.)



There is nothing in meat that we as humans can't get other places. Protein, despite what most people think, is not an issue. The average American gets about 2 to 3 times as much protein as they need. If you multiply your weight by 0.35 you'll get how many grams of protein you need. Someone who weights 100 pounds need 35 grams. 150 means just over 50 grams. Protein is in every food except oil and sugar. For example, lets say you need 45 grams, or 15 grams for each of 3 meals. An egg is 6 grams. A slice of toast is 3. So two eggs and a slice of toast is 15 grams. A quarter cup of chickpeas in your salad adds 10 grams to a salad that already has 5 to 10 grams of protein if you have veggies on it. A slice of lasagna for dinner, easily more then 15 grams. A handful of nuts is 5 to 10 grams, at least.



If you're eating fruits and vegetables, whole grains, brown rices, beans, nuts, seeds, etc then you don't need to worry. I'd suggest that you go to nutritiondata.com and register so you can track your food for a few days and see what you're really eating. You might be surprised.



As for the pros, the American Dietetic Association says:



"The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. "



http://www.eatright.org/About/Content.as鈥?/a>



It's also better for the environment. And the animals.
Well, I sure hope you didn't become one to "lose weight" cause being a vegetarian does NOT mean you will lose. I don't wanna seem rude, I'm just being honest.



The pros are that you don't eat red meat which can be really bad for you and it's good for animals as well....cons would probably be that it is very hard to get enough protein in your diet every day. I don't get enough and I eat alot of yogurt, nuts and peanut butter which all contains protein.
Cons: not getting enough b12. unless you eat dairy.

inadequate protein unless you chose your food carefully.

Pros: Low saturated fat.
This will help you:

http://www.easyvegetarianmeals.info/beco鈥?/a>