People suffer from "modern diseases" such as obesity, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and diabetes, so the "vegetarian fever" has arisen. In fact, while a vegetarian diet has its benefits, its drawbacks cannot be ignored.
Vegetarian diet is low in calories, seriously deficient in protein and fat, and long-term vegetarianism is easy to cause malnutrition. A study by Anhui Medical University of more than 90 monks and nuns in some monasteries in a certain area found that most of them were malnourished to varying degrees. Children born to long-term vegetarian women often have growth and development problems. Protein is the main raw material for building and repairing human cells and tissues, and long-term deficiency has a great impact on the body's ability to resist diseases. Fat has a high caloric production, and unsaturated fatty acids are the "food of the human brain", which is extremely important for promoting the intellectual development of the brain, so long-term vegetarian diet is more harmful to adolescents with rapid growth and development. Girls who are often vegetarian tend to have delayed menstruation, and female athletes who are vegetarian are prone to secondary amenorrhea.
Vegetarian diets are also prone to micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies. Essential trace elements such as zinc, calcium, iron, etc., mainly come from meat. Zinc is mainly derived from animal foods, with 80% of dietary calcium coming from milk and 80% of iron coming from meat and eggs. Vegetarian food contains less zinc, calcium, and iron, and contains more phytic acid and oxalic acid, which will hinder the attraction of trace elements such as zinc, calcium, and iron. For example, the oxalic acid contained in spinach can combine with the calcium in tofu to become calcium oxalate, which is not absorbed by the human body. Therefore, long-term vegetarians are prone to some diseases caused by lack of trace elements: zinc deficiency can cause anorexia in children, pica and decreased sexual function and infertility in adults; calcium deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteoporosis and osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly people; iron deficiency can cause anemia and affect children's intellectual development.
Fat deficiency in food can affect the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Lack of vitamin A is easy to get night blindness and respiratory tract infection, and the skin becomes rough; lack of vitamin D is easy to cause rickets and osteoporosis in children; lack of vitamin E can cause hemolytic anemia, seborrheic dermatitis and amino acid metabolism disorders, and decreased immunity; and lack of vitamin K is easy to cause various spontaneous bleeding. Long-term vegetarian diets are also prone to vitamin B₂ deficiency, leading to pernicious anemia and neurodegeneration.
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The dietary structure of the mainland people is mainly carbohydrates, and the intake of protein and lipid defense is much lower than that of the developed countries in the West. A nationwide survey shows that the diet of most urban residents on the mainland is still at low levels of protein, calcium, and riboflavin. Nutritionists believe that increasing protein intake is an important part of improving the dietary structure of the continent today. Obviously, this also shows the unscientific nature of long-term vegetarianism, and according to the national conditions of the mainland, it is advisable to choose a diet that combines meat and vegetables. For people with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, you can eat more vegetarian food, and for children in the growth and development period, malnutrition, and trace element deficiency, you may wish to eat more meat.
In short, the most scientific dietary structure should be a combination of meat and vegetables, with appropriate proportions.
Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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