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Nutrition
A nutrition program should be set up after individual counseling with a qualified health professional.
Although every person has different needs, almost every body can benefit by eliminating and adding certain
foods. Generally speaking, fresh foods, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, are better than
highly processed foods, like white bread and sugar-laden instant meals. For many people, meat can be limited
to a few meals a week, while others eliminate it completely. If purchased from a reputable source or grown at
home, organic food tends to have a lot less chemicals than foods treated with pesticides and other compounds.
An important part of any nutrition program includes plenty of fresh water and an individually tailored
exercise program.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the voluntary abstinence from eating meat. Vegetarians refrain from eating meat for various reasons,
including religious, health, and ethical ones. Lacto-ovo vegetarians supplement their diet with dairy (lactose)
products and eggs (ovo). Vegans (pronounced vee-guns) do not eat any animal-derived products at all.
A vegetarian diet has many well-documented health benefits. It has been shown that vegetarians have a higher life
expectancy, as much as several years, than those who eat a meat-centered diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) has stated that data has shown vegetarians to have a strong or significant probability against contracting obesity,
heart disease, lung cancer, colon cancer, alcoholism, hypertension, diabetes, gallstones, gout, kidney stones, and ulcers.
However, the FDA also points out that vegetarians tend to have healthy lifestyle habits, so other factors may contribute
to their increased health besides diet alone.
Many statistics show significantly smaller risks for vegetarians contracting certain conditions. The risks of women
getting breast cancer and men contracting prostrate cancer are nearly four times as high for frequent meat eaters as
for those who eat meat sparingly or not at all. For heart attacks, American men have a 50% risk of having one, but
the risk drops down to 15% for lacto-ovo vegetarians and to only 4% for vegans. For cancer, studies of populations
around the world have implied that plant-based diets have lower associated risks for certain types of cancer.
At Emerging Excellence, we share our expertise in how to assure that you're getting the proper vitamins, minerals and other nutrients
that are so critical when you're on vegetarian diet.
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