Every day more and more people decide to follow the vegetarian diet. Some do it for ethic reasons, some out of their religious beliefs, and some do it to improve their health. Vegetarian diet is believed to be the healthiest possible diet, that is, of course, if the meat is not simply cut out but replaced with plant-based sources of important nutrients.
One of the main reasons for this is that fruits and vegetables provide such nutrients and compounds that help the human body to fight the disease on its own.
Importance of a strong immune system
The immune system is the best and the most efficient doctor in the world. Modern medical science is still amazed by the mechanisms that human body uses to ward off infections, diseases and abnormalities and to repair itself.
Like in a war, where the weaker party loses over the stronger one, when the immune system is weak, it does not perform well and diseases occur. Two persons can be exposed to the same agent, for example a virus and the one with a weak immune system will get ill, while the other will stay healthy.
Healthy and strong immune system is strongly connected to the vegetarian diet. It is a known fact that peoples that are traditionally vegetarian tend to live longer and suffer less from diseases like cancer and from great epidemics.
Unfortunately, cultures like China and India, that have based their cuisine on vegetarian foods, today are starting to eat more high-fat, meat-rich foods than they used to. This has resulted in an increase of heart disease in those countries. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of heart disease in China and India is today higher than in all developed countries put together. India is also the number one country in the world for the number of diabetes sufferers.
In contrast, Southern Korea still bases most of its dishes on vegetables, and their fat intake and chronic diseases are at lower rates compared to other countries of similar economic status.
Benefits of the vegetarian diet
Plants contain certain ingredients, compounds and elements that are vital for human health. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, and some, like soy, are rich in protein too. They also provide dietary fiber, which is very important not only for the good digestive health but for the immune system too.
In addition, plant-based foods contain antioxidants, phytochemicals and polysaccharides, which are all very important. Antioxidants reduce the oxidative stress and prevent the damage to the cells, thus preventing serious diseases like cancer.
Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamins. For example, just one medium stalk of broccoli provides almost the double of recommended daily intake of vitamin C and it also contains more calcium than milk.
Vegetarian food reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke and cancer. It is simply the best fuel for the human organism.
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