Vegetarian Diet - Term Paper Example

Vegetarian Diet Introduction Most people ensure that they eat a “vegetarian” diet, although there is no one particular eating pattern of vegetarian diet. Vegetarian diet mostly includes food substances from plants such as grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Vegetarian diet includes food substances from plants as well as from dairy products vegetarian diet can also include food substances such as eggs (lacto-ovo vegetarian). A good balanced vegetarian diet meets the needs of people at any age including teenagers, small kids, expectant mothers, and mothers who are breast-feeding. The key to ensure that your vegetarian diet is well balanced is to understand your nutritional requirements to be able to plan a diet that meets all your body requirements. The aim of this paper is to outline the vegetarian diets and possible protein deficiencies. There are several types of vegetarian diets. A large group of people when they ear of a vegetarian diet, they think that this is a diet whereby meat cannot be included or other foods such as eggs or fish. However, the type of vegetarian diet varies according to the types of foods one includes or excludes in the diet (Grosvenor & Smolin 56). The major types of vegetarian proteins include lacto-vegetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian, and vegan. However, it is recommendable that one should rely on a specific type of vegetarian diet. Lacto-vegetarian is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes fish, eggs, meat, and foods that might contain these substances. However, lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products like cheese, milk, butter, and yogurt. Lacto-ovo vegetarian, on the other hand, is a diet that excludes poultry, meat, and fish, but includes eggs and all dairy products such as milk, butter, yogurt, and cheese. Thirdly, there is ovo-vegetarian diet, which excludes poultry, meat, fish, and dairy products, and allows poultry products such as eggs. The last type of vegetarian diet is vegan. Vegan diets exclude foods such as eggs, meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy substances as well as all other foods that contain the above substances (70). Most people use flexitarian type of vegetarian diet, which is also referred to as semi-vegetarian diet. This type of vegetarian diet primarily composes of plant products, although it can contain dairy products, meat, poultry products such as eggs, and seafood such as fish occasionally or sometimes in limited quantities. A healthy vegetarian diet involves serious planning, and of helpful tools to ensure, healthy diet is food pyramid. A pyramid of vegetarian diet highlights the choices of foods and groups of foods to determine whether certain foods if eaten in the right quantities can be effective. Many vegetarian diets have low quantities of animal products. Most of them are low than the non-vegetarian in terms of fats, cholesterol, and saturated fats. According to most scientific researches vegetarian diets seems to contain lower effects of obesity, heart diseases, cancer diseases, and other killer diseases, which are caused by the foods we take (89). This is evidence that, vegetarian diets are more healthful than other types of diets. However, for one to ensure that the type of vegetarian diet he or she takes are healthful as well as being nutritionally sound, it is good to plan carefully in order to include all the necessary food nutrients in the diet. Without having a good plan, the vegetarian diet will not add any positive side effects towards one health (90). There are several nutrients that people should consider to ensure that they include in their vegetarian diet to make them more effective. Such types of nutrients include proteins, soy proteins, vitamin D calcium, Zinc, vitamin B-12, iron, and non-essential and essential amino acids. It is good to ensure that the vegetarian diet contains a balance of all these proteins to make it more healthful and nutritionally effective (67). There are several ways in which vegetarian diets work. This depends on the type of vegetarian diet one relies upon. Most people choose the lacto-ovo type of vegetarian diet leaving out fish, meat, and poultry, but they still take eggs and all dairy products. Most researches show that some vegetarian diets can aid in losing weight. Most studies indicate that some vegetarians who prefer eating few calories, lose their weight and weight loss compared to those who do not (65). This group of vegetarians also has less body mass compared to those who eat diets with more calories. For those vegetarians who plan the vegetarian diet well, eating many fruits a day, grains, as well as veggies, are likely to feel that their bodies have few calories compared to those who take much meat and proteins than it is recommended in a day. With the least amount of calories in the body (calorie deficit), combined with some physical activities, one is assured to lose some body weight (56). In addition, most people wonder whether vegetarian diets have cardiovascular benefits. The answer is definitely a yes. However, vegetarian diets only have cardiovascular benefits if one creates an effective and a healthy diet plan. Most researches have concluded that vegetarian diets reduce cholesterol in the body, high blood pressure, and some other severe diseases such as heart attack and failure. For those vegetarians whose, regulate their fat intake, this helps them to minimize chances of suffering from heart diseases as well as other severe diseases such as high blood pleasure. Several meal plans are recommended to ensure a healthy diet. All types of vegetarian diets should comprise a variety of food nutrients and calories to ensure that your body gets the necessary energy needs. To make sure that your vegetarian diet is effective and healthy, you should keep the intake of fats and sweets at a minimum amount. This is because these types of food lower the level of nutrients in the body and increase the amount of calories. It is also healthful to choose unrefined as well as whole grain food products if possible (78). It is also recommendable to use enriched or fortified cereal food products in your vegetarian diet. Lastly, if one uses dairy products such as milk, he or she should choose the products that free from fats or have low fat quantities. Vegetarian diets are not less healthy, but present some nutritional risks if one is too strict with their diets. The risks often emerge if the diet is not wide, that is, one can knowingly or unknowingly keep eating the same vegetable diet over and over. This occurrence would arise depending on the availability of a certain type of food, or because they tend to very appealing. The nutritional risk most likely with vegetarians is protein deficiency, which many people might argue is impossible simply because plants contain proteins as well. This myth is overly misplaced because unlike the claim, there are proteins found in plants only, and others found in animals only, a balance of which is important for good health. As such, vegetarians, and mostly vegans are likely to suffer from disorders arising from lack of proteins which only occur in animal products. Vegans are strict vegetarians who not only refrain from consuming meat but also all other products associated with animals such as eggs, dairy products, and just any product which is got from an animal. Assuming that someone is a strict vegetarian (vegan), that is does not consume any animal products; they are likely to be deficit of the types of protein found in animal products, and which the body needs (121). Proteins on their part have important roles in the human body and these include catalyzing reactions, transporting molecules like oxygen, transmitting messages between cells, and contributing to immunity amongst others. This translates to the fact that their deficiency will have negative impacts on one’s body, and this is likely to affect vegetarians who are not keen on balancing their diets. The following section will highlight the most likely health disorders which may result from lack of, or insufficient intake of proteins. The first condition that one may suffer due to protein deficiency is muscle wasting. The reason why lack of proteins causes muscle wasting is based on the fact that in their nature, proteins are rather short-lived, so when they synthesized, they get used up or degraded quite fast, thus requiring of the body to have constant supplies of protein to supplement the used up protein. Better put, this nature of proteins requires of the diet to have nutrients which contribute to the production of proteins, and these are amino acids which are the “building blocks” for proteins. When there are no sufficient protein building blocks, the proteins get used up quite fast, leaving the body with no proteins to cater for the processes which rely on the proteins. This relates to the muscles in that they need large amounts of protein for their functions and when they lack them, the result is shrinking, brought about by a condition referred to as chronic protein malnutrition. Someone with this condition has less fat and muscle mass and from this, they obtain a “starved” look with the skin and bones depicting it (45). The second potential condition is a weakened immune system. This is based on the fact that most of the components associated with the immune system are protein-rich, and as such, lack of proteins means danger to the entire immune system. In short, the effectiveness of the immune system is dependent on the availability of protein-rich molecules. The leukocytes are protein-rich and contain types of other components such as B and T cells. B cells produce antibodies which fight off pathogens, whereas T cells control the release of chemokines and cytokines, all of which play crucial roles in immunity (98). Antibodies for instance, have a complex protein in them, which gives them the ability to recognize pathogens and upon recognizing it as foreign, they reproduce quite fast, approximately two thousand per second. In their large numbers, they ward off pathogen infections, keeping the boy safe. Cytokines and Chemokines on their part stimulate cells associated with immunity and these activate or deactivate chemical reactions in countering harmful reactions which may harm the body. This information is therefore meant that when proteins are unavailable, these cells cannot be produced and that results in a weakened immunity manifesting itself as slow recovery from illnesses or injuries and inability to fight off infections. Thirdly, lack of protein C and protein S can lead to the emergence of abnormal blood clotting conditions which can be passed on down generations. This emerges when the body has insufficient proteins to aid in the process of coagulation which is important when a blood vessel is broken or injured. Coagulation is crucial in preventing excess blood loss, but it requires anticoagulants to prevent the formation of clots, which can cause vessel blockage and obstructed blood flow (34). In short, there is the need to have a balance between the blood-loss prevention and also the rate of clotting, and this is where the C and S proteins come in; they act as the balancers. As such, a strict vegan who does not find means of balancing their diets to include supplements may find themselves developing conditions such as Ischemic stroke. The hair is made up of several components including a protein called keratin. With one of these components missing, hair growth is very slow, and that which grows is usually weak and will easily fall off. Malnutrition and particularly lack of protein will disrupt hair growth due to the absence of keratin. In addition, the hair that develops is rather brittle and will easily break upon pulling, or in natural cases, will fall off prematurely. This condition manifests itself when there is thinning in the growth. However, it is quick to regenerate upon restoration of proper protein intake. Finally, lack of sufficient proteins has been proven to affect sex performance and cause reproductive problems. One of the disorders which is lack of sexual interest results from low energy levels which arise from protein deficiency. Proteins are sources of energy and when one lacks energy, they lack sexual interest as well. The other affected group is women in childbearing stages who, upon lacking proteins endanger both themselves and their unborn babies since the immunity levels drop, and their children may be underdeveloped (WHO, UNPF & KCWHS 91). In normal females, protein deficiency obstructs the menstrual cycle and may also cause temporary loss of fertility. Work Cited Grosvenor, M. B., & Smolin, L. A. (2009). Visualizing nutrition. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Read More