Vegetarianism has been espoused for long for the following reasons such as lower body weight consequently lowering body mass index (BMI) and reduced prevalence of obesity. Also, vegeta lower blood pressure, reduced risk of coronary heart disease due to lowered cholesterol, homocysteine, triglycerides and markers of inflammation. type 2 diabetes, certain cancers especially colon cancer. lowering body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, homocysteine, triglycerides, and inflammatory biomarkers. Webb (2020) noted that past studies with Seventh Day Adventists suggest that those who avoid meat have higher life expectancy and reduced rates of bowel cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Increases in body weight, blood cholesterol, blood pressure and prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome had been noted as the diet became less vegetarian. The health advantages depend on the total quality of diet.
There are varied vegetarian diets though. Strict vegans do not consume foods of animal origin including gelatin and maybe even honey. Others avoid animal foods but may include any of milk and milk products (lacto-vegetarianism), egg and egg products (ovo-vegetarianism), fish and fish products (pesco-vegetarianism). Any combination is possible such that there can be lacto-ovo, ovolactopesco vegetarianism. People become vegetarians for varied reasons to include religion, animal care issues, moral ideologies, health issues such as eating disorders, ecological and environmental issues or merely dislike of meat. Flexitarian or demi-vegetarian has been adopted for those who classify themselves as vegetarian despite eating some poultry or meat.
The health benefits of plant-based foods is attributed to the low calorie content of vegetables and fruits; other components such as fiber, enzymes, phytochemicals and functional properties. Advantageous definitely but Paharia (2023) concluded that since vegetarian diets may not always be synonymous with healthy diets, caution must be exercised while selecting the type of vegetarian diet. Plant-based diets are widely advocated. Advantages and risks will be tackled next issue.