A no-meat menu is a powerful way to achieve good health. Vegetarian and vegan diets significantly reduce the risk of the four largest killers in the US: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke.
Here are the facts on heart disease.
The most common cause of death in the US : heart attack
How frequently a heart attack kills in the US: every 45 seconds
Average US male risk of death from heart attack: 50 percent
Average US vegetarian male risk of death from heart attack: 15 percent
Average US vegan male risk of death from heart attack: 4 percent
Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent: 9 percent
Amount you reduce risk your risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 50 percent: 45 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: 90 percent
Average cholesterol level of meat-eaters: 210 mg/dl
Chance of dying from heart disease if your blood cholesterol level is 210 mg/dl: greater than 50 percent
Average cholesterol level of vegetarians: 161 mg/dl
Averate cholesterol level of vegans: 133 mg/dl
Chance of dying from heart disease if your blood cholesterol level is lower than 150 mg/dl: virtually zero
Meats, eggs, and dairy products contain large amounts of choleterol and saturated fats. Plant foods contain no choleterol (that’s right, NONE. You CAN NOT get (bad) cholesterol from plant foods!), and contain no saturated fats (NONE! ok, except for coconut oil and palm oil, but who uses those anyways?). Plus, the high fiber of a vegetarian diet helps eliminate excess cholesterol from your digestive tract. Meat, eggs, and dairy products have no fiber at all.
