Vegetarianism is the custom of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs.

But why would someone want to become a vegetarian? Simply you can he healthier happier lose wieght and avoid disease.

The health benefits of being a vegetarian

The reasons may be religious or ethical, economic, or nutritional, and its followers differ as to strictness of observance.

Most Hindu and Buddhist sects are strict vegetarians, as are Seventh-day Adventists. In todays United States, vegetarianism has gained wide acceptance as a practice that lowers one's risk for the diseases of the wealthy, e.g., high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.

So there may be many reasons to become a vegetarian, but most people agree, you lead a healthier life. How to become a vegetarian

Just as there are many reasons for becoming a vegetarian, there are many ways to become one.

One may eat only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk.

A strict vegetarian, or vegan diet (i.e., one that excludes all animal products), the nine essential amino acids we need must be obtained by eating foods that include both grains and legumes (e.g., beans or tofu) at several times during the day.

Vitamins B12 and D (usually obtained by a meat diet) can be obtained through supplements or the addition of a cup of nonfat milk or yogurt to ones daily diet. Ovo-lacto-vegetarians obtain complete proteins by including milk, cheese, and eggs in their diets.

Being a vegetarian is not new

Historically, being a vegetarian goes back to the beginning of time, and indeed, most of our ancestors did not eat meat very often, if at all.

Interestingly, vegetarians in used to be called "Pythagoreans" after the philosopher Pythagoras (6th Century BC) and his followers.

They were strict vegans that ate no meat of any kind. These people followed a vegetarian diet for both nutritional and ethical reasons. Using the Roman poet Ovid as the source, Pythagoras said: "As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

Vegetarians live longer

As to the benefit of being a vegetarian, you can consider the Hunzas, a tribe of people that reside near the Himalayas. These people are known to live to be over 100 years old and have an exclusively vegetarian diet. They are known to be healthy and without illness all of their lives. There are many other examples.

Vegetarians avoid disease

Most nutritionists claim that a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables but low in (or no) animal fat and red meat offers numerous health benefits, including a significantly lower risk of heart disease, cancer, renal failure and stroke.

The American Dietetic Association, the worlds largest organization of nutrition professionals, states on its website:

"Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.

Vegetarians are slimmer

Also, and of great interest to people who are interested in a healthy life-style, vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than non-vegetarians (i.e. they are thinner), as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease;

vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.

The American Heart Association's website states "Many studies have shown that vegetarians seem to have a lower risk of obesity, coronary heart disease (which causes heart attack), high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and some forms of cancer. Various studies have shown that a vegetarian mother's breast milk has significantly lower levels of pesticide residue than a non-vegetarian's.

Do vegetarians miss out on essential nutrients?

Some criticism of becoming (or being) a vegetarian is that you miss some important nutrients, which one needs to be healthy. It is true that some vegetable protein sources lack in one or more "essential" amino acid.

For example, Grains and nuts are low in lysine and legumes are low in methionine. While everyone should eat a variety of foods (from 10 to 50 varieties per day) to ensure a balanced nutrition, the bodys requirement for essential amino acids now appears to be much less important than researchers once believed.

Vegetarians get all the protein and amino acids they need from eating a normal variety of whole grains ( such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, and especially brown rice), and different beans, nuts, and soy along with its byproducts tofu, veggie burgers/hotdogs, and edamame etc.

Be healthy be happy be vegetarian!

The reasons can go and and on, but it takes some effort to change over from a meat to a vegetarian diet. In part 2 of this article, we tell you how and safely eat your way to a healthier and happier life.