We often think that on Tet holiday, we have to treat each other with delicious and luxury dishes, and often the dishes are made from animals. However, is it the best choice for the health of our loved ones and meaningful actions for our lives?
You may be missing out on important information about a better diet for your family during the reunion period – the plant-based diet.
Let’s explore the many benefits of being a vegetarian through the lens of science!
Scientists have proven that vegetarianism improves health, reduces environmental damage and creates more food for the poor in developing countries. You can read the details as follows:
1. Good for health:
- According to a study by the University of Oxford, people who eat a plant-based diet are 22% less likely to have a heart attack than those who eat meat.
- Many studies have shown that people who eat a lot of red meat face higher mortality rates and eat a lot of processed meat more prone to rectal cancer.
- Research by the British Medical Association shows that vegetarians often have a more moderate body weight than those who eat a lot of meat and fish.
- Research results of A.G. Marsh published in 1988 reported that calcium loss in vegetarians was less frequent than in non-vegetarians. According to Marsh, animal protein is high in sulfur, which increases the acidity of the blood, leading to an increase in the amount of calcium excreted in the urine, thereby reducing calcium in the bones.
- Researchers found that a plant-based diet can reduce the risk of severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 virus by 73% (A survey of more than 2,800 health facilities in 6 countries published the results) recently in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health)
2. Environmental protection:
- Through minimizing the scale and harmful effects of livestock production, becoming a vegetarian to protect the environment is really a meaningful action.
- It is estimated that every minute in the world, up to 8000m2 of tropical forest land is destroyed for poultry and cattle raising activities. In the period 2000-2005 alone, the area of the Amazon rainforest that was cleared has reached 65 – 70%. When the forest area is shrinking, it leads to many other serious problems such as ecological destruction, floods, droughts, erosion, extinction of many animals. Being a vegetarian means you have contributed to reducing it. deforestation in general, thereby helping to clean the air and make the environment more friendly.
- Livestock is the industry that wastes the most water, emits the most greenhouse gasses, is the most polluting and the least efficient. The energy to produce 1kg of meat can keep a 100kW light bulb burning for 3 weeks. Producing 1kg of meat emits 36.4kg of CO2 as much as the emissions of 1…car traveling 155km. The amount of chemical fertilizers every day seeps more into the ground, polluting water sources.
- The United Nations says that farm animals account for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. If everyone went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would be reduced by 70% by 2050. (According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – PNAS)
- The livestock industry has grown so much because of human eating habits. If there is no demand, then supply will disappear. Meanwhile, we can still survive without meat. Vegetables and tubers grown in nature provide people with necessary and complete sources of nutrients.
In addition, being a vegetarian is also a way we develop our consciousness by cultivating compassion for animals. It is estimated that every year 77 billion animals on land are slaughtered for food (According to FAO statistics in 2017), at this time the world population is 7.49 billion people.
So the equivalent of 1 vegetarian can save 11 animals.
It is the action of conscious love, cultivating peaceful, positive energy for you and your loved ones.
There are many famous vegetarians such as former US President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore; Two sisters tennis players Serena and Venus Williams, boxer Mike Tyson and singer Beyonce also “inspire” many fans about the vegetarian habit. And there are even artworks that tell the truth about misconceptions about vegetarianism, promote the plant-based movement with influential living witnesses in the world, such as “The game changers”, “Cowspiracy”, “Seapiracy”, “Forks Over Knives”…
Let’s celebrate Tet differently, with awareness of a vegetarian diet instead of the habit of eating animals!
That’s how we update the green and civilized lifestyle, helping to nurture pure and peaceful energy for ourselves and those around us!
Let’s leave a comment below what you think about being a vegetarian and if you also aim for the values from eating plants, please share now to create a positive atmosphere for this Lunar New Year!
