What a confusing question! With information available on almost any subject and from almost every point of view I have found it to be quite overwhelming trying to decide what diet to follow. I myself lately have been seriously considering following the Vegan diet, or a completely plant based diet. However, my food post tonight is chicken. That's my problem, I feel I can give up cheese, yogurt, dairy, since I've already done that. I can give up red meat, pork, and even turkey, but I think the hardest one will be chicken. I really do enjoy the taste of chicken every once in awhile. I don't eat meat every day, I only eat it about twice a week so it doesn't seem like it should be such a big deal, but it still is a challenge. So I decided to research some pros and cons of different diets. I know that I haven't researched all of them, and I don't know a lot about different ones, also there may be many pros and cons to different diets, I just can't name them all. I would invite people to leave a comment and open this up for discussion. I'm interested in how you eat, what's worked for you, or if you have any questions I would love to talk about it with you!
Vegetarian/Vegan Diet
Pros: Thinner bodies, lower blood pressure, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, lower levels of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke, excellent source of antioxidants from plants and healthy fats from nuts and seeds, higher vitamin K volumes (protects against osteoporosis), good source of Folate and omega-3 fatty acids through seeds, nuts and dark leafy greens.
Cons: insufficient vitamin B12. You need to take a supplement in order to prevent an insufficiency. Vitamin B12 is found mostly in dairy and other animal products. It helps prevent early onset dementia and cognition deficiencies, so it's a biggy!
Paleo/Caveman Diet:
Pros: stable energy, greater weight loss, helps build lean muscle and with exercise can decrease body fat, includes lots of fruits and vegetables, doesn't allow dairy cheeses, no fake foods or refined foods.
Cons: can be expensive to purchase grass fed, organic meats, a lot of debate on what is true paleo, you can't eat whole grains or legumes (I think with a certain degree of moderation these are very healthy)
Atkins Diet
Pros: weight loss, eliminates bad carbs
Cons: can cause burdens to the kidneys, miss out on nutrients through fruits and vegetables, those who return to eating carbs usually gain all their weight back.
The Standard American Diet:
Pros: uh........
Cons: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, the list goes on and on!
Okay that last one was just for fun, yes the fast food diet is obviously a killer, but for some reason many people seem to continue to do it.
So now for my personal opinions, I feel that our diets need to contain tons of plant based, natural foods...hence the name of my blog. I do feel it is okay to include healthy whole grains, such as whole wheat, quinoa, and buckwheat. I do think beans and lentils are a great way to get protein and nutrients. I think if anything meat should be eaten sparingly, (I'm still deciding if I'm going to take it out completely) I do not feel that cheese is a health food, yes it has protein and calcium, but it is full of saturated fats which cause heart disease and raise LDL cholesterol levels. I feel you can find your calcium and protein elsewhere, dark leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds have both in them! I don't think cow's milk is suitable for our bodies. My kids and I personally live on almond milk as a favorite, my husband branched out a little while ago because he just "missed" his 2% milk. He told me today that he would no longer be buying cow's milk. He said that since he's been drinking his gallon his skin has broken out and he has congestion...I found this very interesting. I feel it is so important for our disease prevention to avoid refined, artificial and processed foods, which is why I like the Paleo and Natural Vegan diets. I have found learning about other diets interesting. My husband and I, together are writing and eBook (more on that later on) and we are really excited to gain as much info as we can so we can better pass along to others what we feel works and what we feel doesn't. I'd be interested to know your opinions, let me know on facebook/naturallyhealthyandhappy, email me@ emilymchilds@gmail, or leave a comment!!!
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