Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

"Becoming a Vegetarian." Harvard Health. N.p., 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

In the Harvard study, the writer first begins to talk about how vegetarian diets are considerably “healthier” than omnivorous diets which include red meats since red meats have been shown to have cancer causing chemicals. It also goes along and states that just because you are a vegetarian, does not necessarily mean that it is a healthier diet since technically, “ A diet of soda, cheese pizza, and candy, after all” is being vegetarian. To stay healthy, you must consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and ensure that you are still getting your daily vitamins. The paper goes along and gives many types of common vegetarians there are, and how lists how becoming a “real” vegetarian can lower heart disease and cancer.

Fox, Michael A. "Vegetarianism and Planetary Health." Indiana University Press 5.2 (2000): 163-74. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

Fox starts off by stating that even a vegan diet is healthier than a diet with meat from a nutritional standpoint. Eating meat in general is unhealthy, not only because of the health disadvantages, but also the parasites and worms that can be found in numerous meats such as pork, and beef. There is also a direct correlation between high meat consumption and increased probability of breast, colon, other cancers, heart diseases, and even atherosclerosis, all which are high leading causes of death in north america.

At the same time, if everyone became vegetarians, it would free up lands to plant more crops, freeing up nearly. Just by substituting the current grass-feeding livestock system with a grain and grass system in canada, it would free up nearly 340 million tons of grain for export each year; which could possibly help end world hunger.

Hart, Jane, M.D. "The Health Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet." Alternative & Complementary Therapies 15.2 (2009): 64-68. Web.

Many Humans, regardless of the diet they choose to have, seems as if they should have nutritionist to watch there eating to ensure that they are consuming the recommended daily allowances of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, as many humans are not. Both vegetarians and nonvegetarians need to make an effort to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods and lower their intakes of saturated fats and sugars.

It seems to be harder for vegetarians to intake all of these nutrients daily and infact, “Many of the vegetarian studies showed people’s difficulty in adhering to such a diet strictly, and other studies point to the potentially dangerous pitfalls of lacking certain nutrients when following a vegetarian diet”. Lastly, we must keep in mind that when adhering to a vegetarian diet, some health benefits such as reducing your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease take years to see (17 years in the study), so when switching, one must be certain that that is the lifestyle he wishes to live.

Marsh, Kate, PhD, and Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD. "Vegetarian Diets and Diabetes." American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (2010): 135-40. Sage Journals. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

A well-planned vegetarian diet is consistent with the current recommendations that are established for diabetes and may in fact have many benefits over a meat-based diet for those with diabetes and those at risk. For those who are not willing to make a complete change over to a vegetarian diet, that is fine, but still try to reduce your intake of red and processed meats and increase your intake of the amount of plant foods. Just the simple increase of plant intake can still have significant benefits for the prevention and management of diabetes than one without.

As quoted in the text, “Higher intakes of cereal fiber and whole grains typical of a vegetarian diet have been associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in several studies” which is a direct statement that the more vegetables you eat, the less of a risk you have of getting type 2 diabetes. The text also has multiple, long term studies between the correlation of both men and women who eat red and processed meats, those who only eat fish, and those who only eat plants and percentages of those who ended up receiving diabetes.

Palaniswamy, Usha R. "Vegetarianism and Human Health." Hort Technology 13.2 (2003): 243-51. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

In “Vegetarianism and Human Health”, Usha talks about the history of human vegetarianism dates back to a time before recorded history and how many early humans consumed most/ if not all plant and vegetable diets. He goes on to talk about how Vegetarianism came back to life in the present times due to the incredibly well health benefits that come with and even prolonged health; hence causing a new revolutionary vegetarian food movement.

The Harvard study includes information and numbers about how much vegetarianism reduces one's chances for cancer and heart disease while also showing you which foods to consume to give you your daily nutrients. The “Vegetarianism and Human Health” studies show how fruits and vegetables that no only give you daily nutrients, but how they give you other things such as antioxidants, how they are anti-inflammatories, and how they stimulate the immune system to keep you in good health.