Interested In Changing A Vegetarian Diet? Here Are The Tips For Beginners

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JAKARTA - A handful of people are now becoming interested in the vegetarian lifestyle. The reasons vary, ranging from health and environmental factors. So vegetarianism is considered beneficial for health because it can reduce the risk of diabetes and even cancer.

In addition, it can reduce emissions that damage the environment. It should be noted that it takes a lot of energy for livestock, the contribution of these livestock has a big impact on greenhouse gas emissions that have the potential to damage the planet.

Adopting a vegetarian lifestyle by eating plant-based foods can prolong life. According to research in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, if humans switch to a vegetarian diet, the world could reduce mortality by 7.3 million people by 2050. Also, carbon emissions could be cut by up to 63 percent .

Are you also interested in becoming a vegetarian? If so, here are some beginner-friendly tips you can do.

Recognize the types of vegetarians

You need to know that there are several types of vegetarianism. The difference can be seen from the choice of food consumed. So there are still several types of vegetarians whose diet is mostly plant-based, but allow consuming animal products such as eggs, milk, cheese, and other dairy products.

Ovo vegetarians: do not eat any animal products except eggs.

Lacto vegetarian: do not eat any animal products, except milk and its derivatives such as cheese, butter, cream, and yogurt.

Lacto-ovo vegetarian: eat no animal products except eggs, milk, and their derivatives.

Pescatarian: The only animal product that is consumed is fish.

Vegan: Absolutely not consume and use animal products, including meat, fish, milk, eggs, even shoes or bags made of animal skin.

Look for food substitutions

You might imagine that vegetarians only eat vegetables, fruit, tofu and tempeh every day. There are actually many vegetarian-friendly alternatives. In fact, meatballs, Padang food, soup, burgers, satay, and home-made foods that usually contain meat or eggs always have a vegetarian version.

Usually for dishes made from meat, it can be replaced with mushrooms, jackfruit, tofu, tempeh, or fake meat made from gluten. Do you miss eating meatballs? There are non-meat meatballs and you can use mushroom broth to replace bone broth. For milk, you can choose almond milk or soy milk.

If you are committed and focused, actually being a vegetarian is not torturous after you run it. Especially now that there are many restaurants and restaurants that provide vegetarian menus that taste good, as good as non-vegetarian food.

Do it gradually

Being a vegetarian means you have to change your eating habits and patterns. For some people, of course this is not easy. Therefore, try to do it gradually while continuing to learn and adapt.

For example, from the first month you stop eating red meat, then stop eating poultry and various seafood. Make these changes until you feel settled. Continue this good habit little by little starting from milk, cheese, eggs, and until finally you get used to a new lifestyle.