In this blog post, we will compare which is healthier, a vegetarian diet or a balanced diet including meat.
In the past, humanity was in a state of severe nutritional deficiency. Humans mainly secured food by gathering or hunting in nature until agriculture developed, and many people suffered from nutritional deficiencies and diseases depending on the climate or natural disasters. In particular, early humans were periodically in a state of starvation, which greatly influenced their dietary patterns for survival. Then, as food production increased with the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, the world gradually moved away from nutritional deficiencies, but the task of balancing nutrients remained a difficult challenge. However, in recent years, we have even reached a state of nutritional imbalance, where we consume too much of certain nutrients. This overconsumption is being cited as a cause of various modern diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. As a result, recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how to eat healthily rather than simply how to eat to the full. In this atmosphere, vegetarianism is often a topic of conversation among the general public as well as in the nutrition community.
Vegetarianism means that humans avoid eating animal-based foods and only eat foods made from plants. Vegetarians usually choose this diet for environmental protection, animal rights, and health promotion. In general, eating a lot of meat is considered harmful to the body because it increases the concentration of saturated fat and cholesterol in the body. However, some people argue that eating the right amount of meat is better than getting nutrients from vegetables. Some studies have shown that you can get all the nutrients your body needs from vegetables, but others have shown that eating meat is more efficient for getting the same amount of nutrients. In this context, some nutritionists warn that a diet that completely excludes meat is unlikely to provide all the nutrients the human body needs, and they point out that sufficient protein and vitamin intake is essential, especially for certain population groups such as children and the elderly. Considering all of these results, I believe that there is nothing wrong with humans eating meat from a nutritional point of view, excluding ethical and environmental aspects.
The American Dietetic Association, an American nutrition organization, says that a vegetarian diet can provide all the nutrients the human body needs. Therefore, vegetarians claim that eating only vegetables does not result in a deficiency of nutrients. Scholars who support vegetarianism emphasize that vegetarianism offers great benefits, especially in relation to cardiovascular health. Reducing the intake of meat can help lower blood pressure and keep blood cholesterol levels stable. However, this is only theoretical, and it is not easy to get all the nutrients you need through a vegetarian diet. For example, cholesterol, which is needed for the synthesis of substances in the body’s nervous system, is synthesized to some extent in the body, but the amount is not enough, so it must be supplemented through diet. However, the amount of cholesterol in vegetables is lower than in meat, so vegetarians may suffer from mental illnesses such as depression and emotional disorders. Although vegetables contain sufficient amounts of calcium, the amount of saturated fat needed for the intestines to absorb this calcium is small, so even if you eat a lot of vegetables, the efficiency of absorption into the body is not high.
Another claim made by vegetarians is that it is easy to control weight by not eating meat, but this is also a scientifically incorrect claim. For example, if you compare low-fat meat and beans, which are needed to consume the same amount of protein, the calorie content of low-fat meat is 180 kcal (3 oz), while that of beans is 374 kcal (1.5 cups), which means that the calorie content of beans is actually higher. In addition, some vegetarians have raised concerns that excessive carbohydrate intake may actually cause weight gain.
In comparison, a diet that includes meat has several advantages. First of all, when consumed with the right vegetables, it can provide all the nutrients more efficiently than a diet consisting solely of vegetables. Considering the interaction of nutrients, it is more desirable to consume a combination of different food groups. First of all, meat can supplement the B vitamins that vegetables lack. Vegetables contain vitamins A, D, E, K and C, but they are particularly deficient in vitamin B12, which can cause deficiency. However, this deficiency can be prevented by supplementing with an appropriate amount of meat. And since meat contains enough cholesterol, which vegetables lack, it can be supplemented by eating an appropriate amount of meat, thereby preventing mental illness that can occur in vegetarians. In addition, meat, especially pork or beef, contains a lot more saturated fat than vegetables. Consuming a lot of saturated fat is harmful to the body, but if consumed in the right amount, it can help the body absorb calcium.
Finally, you might think that meat is full of fat and therefore not good for weight management, but in some cases it can be more helpful than vegetables. As shown in the example comparing the calories of meat and beans above, meat with the same amount of protein content has fewer calories than beans. This suggests that although meat consumption is often mistaken as a cause of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, in fact, appropriate consumption of meat can help control weight. Therefore, it can be seen that the food that helps you manage your weight more efficiently while consuming protein, which is a necessary nutrient, is meat rather than vegetables.
In this way, we have examined various arguments about vegetarianism from a nutritional perspective. Some of the people who argue for vegetarianism claim that vegetarianism is superior to eating meat from a nutritional perspective, which is not correct. Rather than simply eating only vegetables, eating a meal with a proper mix of meat can be more effective because it can supplement the nutrients that vegetables lack and also help the body absorb nutrients. Therefore, in order to maintain a healthy diet, it is important to pursue a balanced diet rather than an extreme diet, and this should be adjusted according to each individual’s health status and lifestyle. Of course, this is not a diet that advocates for people who do not practice vegetarianism or who oppose vegetarianism to eat only meat in large quantities. It is simply a diet that includes meat to supplement nutrients that vegetables do not have or to supplement nutrients that vegetables lack. If people eat a balanced diet like this, they will be able to enjoy a healthier life.
