REASON'S TO GO
VEGETARIAN...........................

  Vegetarian food is easy to digest
Consider making this healthy choice as one of your new year's
resolutions. ..Stacks of studies confirm that a diet full of fresh
fruits and vegetables and grains is your best bet for living a longer,
healthier and more enjoyable life.
 There are literally hundreds of great reasons to switch to a
plant-based diet; here are 22 of the best:

1 You'll live a lot longer. Vegetarians live about seven years longer,
and vegans (who eat no animal products) about 15 years longer than
meat eaters, according to a study from Loma Linda University. These
findings are backed up by the China Health Project (the largest
population study on diet and health to date), which found that Chinese
people who eat the least amount of fat and animal products have the
lowest risks of cancer, heart attack and other chronic degenerative
diseases.

2 You'll save your heart. Cardiovascular disease is still the Number
one killer in the United States, and the standard American diet (SAD)
that's laden with saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and dairy is
largely to blame. Plus, produce contains no saturated fat or
cholesterol. Incidentally, cholesterol levels for vegetarians are 14
percent lower than meat eaters.

3 You can put more money in your mutual fund. Replacing meat, chicken
and fish with vegetables and fruits is estimated to cut food bills.

 4 You'll reduce your risk of cancer. Studies done at the German Cancer
Research Center in Heidelberg suggest that this is because
vegetarians' immune systems are more effective in killing off tumor
cells than meat eaters'. Studies have also found a plant based diet
helps protect against prostate, colon and skin cancers.

 5 You'll add color to your plate. Meat, chicken and fish tend to come
in boring shades of brown and beige, but fruits and vegetables come in
all colors of the rainbow. Disease fighting photochemical are
responsible for giving produce their rich, varied hues. So cooking by
color is a good way to ensure you re eating a variety of naturally
occurring substances that boost immunity and prevent a range of
illnesses.

 6 You'll fit into your old jeans. On average, vegetarians are slimmer
than meat eaters, and when we diet, we keep the weight off up to seven
years longer. That's because diets that are higher in vegetable
proteins are much lower in fat and calories than the SAD. Vegetarians
are also less likely to fall victim to weight-related disorders like
heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

 7 You'll give your body a spring cleaning. Giving up meat helps purge
the body of toxins (pesticides, environmental pollutants,
preservatives) that overload our systems and cause illness. When
people begin formal detoxification programs, their first step is to
replace meats and dairy products with fruits and vegetables and
juices.

8 You'll make a strong political statement. It's a wonderful thing to
be able to finish a delicious meal, knowing that no beings have
suffered to make it..

9 Your meals will taste delicious. Vegetables are endlessly interesting
to cook and a joy to eat. It's an ever-changing parade of flavors and
colors and textures and tastes.

10 You'll help reduce waste and air pollution. Livestock farms creates
phenomenal amounts of waste. The tons of manure, a substance that's
rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a top
pollutants. And that's not even counting the methane gas released by
goats, pigs and poultry (which contributes to the greenhouse effect);
the ammonia gases from urine; poison gases that emanate from manure
lagoons; toxic chemicals from pesticides; and exhaust from farm
equipment used to raise feed for animals.

 11 Your bones will last longer. The average bone loss for a vegetarian
woman at age 65 is 18 percent; for non-vegetarian women, it's double
that. Researchers attribute this to the consumption of excess protein.
Excess protein interferes with the absorption and retention of calcium
and actually prompts the body to excrete calcium, laying the ground
for the brittle bone disease osteoporosis. Animal proteins, including
milk, make the blood acidic, and to balance that condition, the body
pulls calcium from bones. So rather than rely on milk for calcium,
vegetarians turn to dark green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and
legumes, which, calorie for calorie, are superior sources.

12.. You'll help reduce famine. It takes 15 pounds of feed to get one
pound of meat. But if the grain were given directly to people, there'd
be enough food to feed the entire planet. In addition, using land for
animal agriculture is inefficient in terms of maximizing food
production. According to the journal Soil and Water, one acre of land
could produce 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 40,000 pounds of potatoes,
30,000 pounds of carrots or just 250 pounds of beef.

13 You'll avoid toxic chemicals. The EPA estimates that nearly 95 per
cent of pesticide residue in our diet comes from meat, fish and dairy
products. Fish, in particular, contain carcinogens (PCBs, DDT) and
heavy metals (mercury, arsenic; lead, cadmium) that cannot be removed
through cooking or freezing. Meat and dairy products are also laced
with steroids and hormones.

 14 You'll protect yourself from food borne illness. According to the
Center for Science in the Public Interest in the US, which has
stringent food standards, 25 per cent of all chicken sold in the
United States carries salmonella
bacteria and, the CDC estimates, 70 percent to 90 percent of chickens
contain the bacteria campy-locater (some strains of which are
antibiotic-resistant), approximately 5 percent of cows carry the
lethal strain of E. coli O157:H7 (which causes virulent diseases and
death), and 30 percent of pigs slaughtered each year for food are
infected with toxoplasmosis (caused by parasites).

15 You may get rid of your back problems. Back pain appears to begin,
not in the back, but in the arteries. The degeneration of discs, for
instance, which leads to nerves being pinched, starts with the
arteries leading to the back. Eating a plant-based diet keeps these
arteries clear of cholesterol- causing blockages to help maintain a
healthy back.

16 You'll be more 'regular.' Eating a lot of vegetables necessarily
means consuming fiber, which pushes waste out of the body. Meat
contains no fiber. Studies done at Harvard and Brigham Women's
Hospital found that people who ate a high-fiber diet had a 42 percent
lower risk of diverticulitis. People who eat lower on the food chain
also tend to have fewer incidences of constipation, hemorrhoids and
spastic colon.

17 You'll cool those hot flashes. Plants, grains and legumes contain
photo estrogens that are believed to balance fluctuating hormones, so
vegetarian women tend to go through menopause with fewer complaints of
sleep problems, hot flashes, fatigue, mood swings, weight gain,
depression and a diminished sex drive.

 18 You'll help to bring down the national debt .We spend large amounts
annually to treat the heart disease, cancer, obesity, and food
poisoning that are byproducts of a diet heavy on animal products.

19 You'll preserve our fish population. Because of our voracious
appetite for fish, 39 per cent of the oceans' fish species are
overharvested, and the Food & Agriculture Organization reports that 11
of 15 of the world's major fishing grounds have become depleted.

20 You'll help protect the purity of water. It takes 2,500 gallons of
water to produce one pound of mutton, but just 25 gallons of water to
produce a pound of wheat. Not only is this wasteful, but it
contributes to rampant water pollution.

 21 You'll provide a great role model for your kids. If you set a good
example and feed your children good food, chances are they'll live a
longer and healthier life. You're also providing a market for
vegetarian products and making it more likely that they'll be
available for the children.

22 Going vegetarian is easy! Vegetarian cooking has never been so
simple. We live in a country that has been vegetarian by default. Our
traditional dishes are loaded with the goodness of vegetarian food.
Switching over it very simple indeed.

Dr. Amanpreet Kaur
D.H.M.S.(MRSH)
aman.kaur11@gmail.com