When I was seven years old, I decided to become a vegetarian.  Until the age of eleven, four years later, I completely was.  Despite my young age, it was a topic that was important to me and I had no trouble sticking to my decision.  At the age of eleven though, I was told that my iron levels were incredibly low and my doctor suggested to me that I start eating chicken again and be a Semi Vegetarian which means I would only not eat any pork or beef products.  This is what I have been doing from age eleven until today.  Thinking back to my personal experience in my food choices, it has me interested on vegetarianism and the pros and cons on a larger scale of people.

According to Live Strong, many people who give up meat products begin to lack the essential vitamins the body requires.  For example, the body needs Vitamin B12 because it helps produce red blood cells.  Vitamin B12 occurs naturally in animal products, so a vegetarian may began to lack this essential vitamin and damage their body from the inside.   Secondly, like I did, a vegetarian may suffer from iron deficiency or another important essential vitamin or mineral.  The lack of these items may cause the body to become weak or have problems internally with blood cells or digestion.

Of course, there are many wonderful sides to becoming a vegetarian.  It is a highly recommended diet for someone who needs to lose weight because red meat and fatty pork are not good for a healthy diet.  A vegetarian diet is much lower in calorie intake and removes a lot of the fatty meats an individual may have been consuming before.  It also has been proven that this diet can help reduce the risk of kidney stones and gallstones.  According to Health Magazine, a multitude of diseases get lowered risks when meat is cut out of the diet.  It was reported that, “Non meat eaters are 40% less likely to develop Cancer than meat eaters.”

Lastly, having a vegetarian diet helps because overgrazing livestock hurts the environment.  It hurts it through soil depletion, erosion, and harm to native plants and animals.  This is a huge factor and positive of why more people should consider the vegetarian diet.

Often times, eating chicken still bothers my conscious.  I feel bad for the animals and it has always been a personal choice I felt strongly about.  Perhaps sometime in the near future I will become a complete vegetarian again.  I would have to take the proper precautions to make sure I do not become deficient in any of my vitamins or minerals.  I would have to find those resources through other foods, tofu, fruits, and possibly pill supplements that were healthy and natural.  This has always been a topic that has been very personal and meaningful to me.  People often tell me I am crazy for not eating bacon by the pound, but it is unhealthy for me and the cruelty towards the pigs can often be pretty extreme.  While the vegetarian/semi vegetarian may not be for everyone, it certainly has some positive contributions.

Work Cited:

http://www.health.com/health/

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/iron-vegetarian-diet.php

http://www.livestrong.com/article/441302-the-negative-effects-of-vegetarianism/