How Can A Vegetarian Diet Help You Feel Better?
Meat protein can be delicious and good for you, but when it comes to how you feel after eating a protein rich meat meal, you’re probably much better off having a protein rich veggie meal instead. But fear not, there are ways you can work the system to feel good after eating meat, such as proper chewing, digestive enzymes and diligent portion control. But in general, the way you look and feel after regularly consuming plant based protein can be so much better than how you look and feel after consuming meat.
Here are five ways a vegetarian diet can make you feel better:
1. Overeating Leads to Improper Digestion
While meat protein is good for you, many people tend to eat much more than the recommended 3oz portion per meal, or they don’t chew it well enough. This causes them to suffer bloating, heartburn and general malaise due to eating too much for your system to break it down easily, and a failure to digest the protein properly. Meat protein is much more difficult for your body to break down than plan protein, and because meat portions or eating styles are often tossed to the wind, vegetarians tend to feel much better in general after meals.
2. High Blood Pressure
Eating more vegetables tends to lower blood pressure, while eating more meats tends to increase your blood pressure. This is in part due to the bad, artery-clogging fats found in meats that are absent in plant proteins. If you eat less meat and more vegetables, this should help lower your blood pressure to much safer levels, and prevent issues that may occur down the road like coronary artery disease, plaque induced atherosclerosis and increased risk of stroke.
3. Constipation
Eating more meats can lead to constipation due to the high levels of fat in meat, which takes much longer to digest than plant protein, and can cause indigestion and constipation. Red meats are also high in iron, which can lead to constipation. Constipation is not only uncomfortable, but it stops toxins from exiting your body when they are ready to, and can cause them to go back into your system and re-enter your bloodstream, making you feel sick all over again. Plants are filled with fiber and antioxidants, which help keep things moving out of your body regularly, so on a plant based diet you may be able to avoid the distress caused by constipation.
4. Bad Breath and Body Odor
If your breath and body odor is bad the day after you eat meat, it most likely means that your body is not digesting the meat properly. The undigested meat can become foul, and release toxins back into your digestive system and gut, which recirculates the bad odors back through your skin and in your breath. Chewing your meat well and taking digestive enzymes can help break down meat, though eating more plant protein is an easy way to avoid foul body odor and breath caused by partially or undigested meat.
5. Sluggishness
If you feel tired after eating meat, it’s a sign your body isn’t digesting the meat properly. In this case, the meat may be stuck in your digestive system while your body is leaching all its energy to help you digest the meat. If you feel fatigued and as if you have a meal sitting in the bottom of your stomach for days, the undigested meat may be stealing your body’s energy. Plants and plant proteins are much easier to digest, and instead of robbing you of energy, they instead may give you a much appreciated energy boost.
