Benefits and drawbacks of being a vegetarian

More and more people are deciding to turn to a vegetarian diet; this means that they consume no meat at all, and they substitute protein and vitamins with the appropriate amount of greens. Recent estimates provide that this alternative nutrition is particularly popular among the younger generations. Although there are some benefits in being a vegetarian, none would deny that there are also some serious drawbacks.

First of all, it is fiendishly healthy to consume greens in a daily diet, since blood pressure is maintained in normal levels because of the low quantity of cholesterol that is produced. That is why the majority of vegetarians do not suffer form heart diseases; more specifically, it is observed that those who avoid meat are 40% less likely to develop heart attacks and cancer as well. From an environmental viewpoint, animal rights are protected by this alternative nutrition, since the animals slaughtered are being reduced. Therefore, other living beings are respected if more people opt to consume more vegetables.

On the other hand, it is very inconvenient to be a vegetarian, owing to the fact that these kind of food , like lentils, salads and so on is extremely difficult to be cooked or found outside. Most of the times vegetarians can give the impression that they are unnecessarily fussy in social events where they refuse to eat the same dishes as everyone else. However, because there are very few vegetarian convenience foods, vegetarians spend more time cooking for themselves, and with a busy schedule that is not always possible. Another drawback of this alternative nutrition is that children cannot be brought up with a vegan diet, which is an extreme form of vegetarianism. At the very least, they need dairy produce and eggs, otherwise they will be malnourished and in the long run they might suffer from iron deficiency. 

The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that every coin has two sides, so insisting on vegetables would be as harmful as consuming exclusively meat. For this reason, I am inclined to believe that we should eat everything in moderation in order to have a healthy nutrition and achieve well-being.