Posted on October 31, 2013
Written by Diana Cullum-Dugan, RDN, LDN
If there was an eating style that made you happy, would you do it?
What if that same eating style helped keep your weight in the healthy range? And reduced your risk of breast, bladder, and other cancers? Would you then?
I’m even charged thinking that my risk of other diseases, like heart disease and diabetes that runs in my family, is lower with this eating style.
What if this eating style was really quite simple to follow, with no deprivation aspect, and fills you to satisfaction every single meal? And is environmentally friendly? Would you then?
So what is it?
Vegetarians have been studied extensively and recently, studies reveal that a vegetarian lifestyle is healthier overall. In Nutrition Journal, vegetarians had less depression, anxiety and stress and overall, better moods than meat-eaters in the U.S. The reason? Vegetarians eat less animal-based essential fatty acids and more omega-3 from plants. Sign me up!
People with diabetes have a higher incidence of colon, liver, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers. The American Diabetes Association and American Cancer Society suggest more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and less red and processed meats which reduces the risk.
In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers say postmenopausal women can lower their risk of breast cancer with a diet of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and flax and sesame seeds (great sources for lignans).
And, red meat and processed meat, because of their processing with nitrates and nitrites, and grilled meats because of the high temperature required in grilling, increase bladder cancer between nearly 20-30% (Cancer).
And another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, meat consumption contributed ONE POUND per year weight gain. That doesn’t sound like a lot but multiply that times 10 years and you’ve got the beginnings of a chunky monkey.
Want to go vegan and have an iPhone? The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine just launched a free iPhone app to their 21-Day Vegan Kickstart online program.