October 01, 2024 Benefits of a vegetarian diet

For more than 20 years, the Meatless Monday campaign has urged people to eat plant-based meals once a week. The goals? To get people to eat more of these meals to reduce the amount of meat we eat, which could reduce the risk of chronic conditions (such as heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes). It would also help build a healthier planet and reduce the catastrophic loss of species. Recently, the movement toward eating less meat and other animal products has really started to catch on. And, increasingly, people are enjoying vegetarian and vegan meals. Here are some reasons why you may want to eat more meatless meals, too.

Better for your health

A balanced vegetarian diet has many health benefits. On top of being lower in saturated fat, higher in fibre and high in vitamins, minerals and other plant compounds that promote well-being, a vegetarian diet is one way to help manage your diabetes says Cayla Runka, a registered dietitian and diabetes knowledge & connection manager at Diabetes Canada. It is also one of the healthy dietary patterns that the organization recommends in the Diabetes Canada 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada.

So how does a plant-based diet help? It offers a range of nutrients with blood sugar benefits, including fibre and compounds that increase insulin sensitivity, making the insulin more effective.

“[These] diets are being studied extensively and show that for those with diabetes, plant-based diets are associated with better control of blood sugar as well as blood lipids [cholesterol and triglycerides],” says researcher Dr. David Jenkins, professor in the departments of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also a staff physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre.

Dr. Jenkins is co-creator of the Glycemic Index (or GI, a scale that ranks carbohydrate-rich foods by how much they raise blood sugar levels, and is a vegan, which means he eats no meat or animal products, such as eggs and cheese. He says, “Low GI-food consumption has been shown to benefit people with diabetes [in particular, those with type 2] and with risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Foods include beans, peas and lentils, pumpernickel bread (packed with intact grains), tabouli salad, pasta and vegetables as eaten in the Mediterranean diet.” (See “What’s a Vegetarian?” for an explanation of the different types of vegetarian eating preferences.)

Whether or not you have diabetes, a vegetarian diet is good for anyone trying to lower the cholesterol in their diet. The beneficial ingredients of a vegetarian diet—including proteins found in foods such as soy and pulses (such as beans), fibre, and unsaturated fats found in foods such as nuts and seeds—are linked to lower levels of both blood cholesterol and triglycerides. In the human body, high levels of cholesterol raise the risk of heart disease and stroke, and high triglyceride levels are associated with pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).

Other possible benefits? Lower blood pressure readings have been associated with a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet. Your kidneys may also benefit from a lower acid load, resulting from the potassium and alkali components in plant foods, says Dr. Jenkins. People following a vegetarian diet have also been found to have a lower risk of developing some cancers such as colon cancer, possibly related to less heme iron consumption from red and processed meat.

Better health for our wallets

As food costs rise, the price of meat has skyrocketed. Plant-based protein is a lower cost alternative. Plant proteins such as legumes, tofu and edamame are not only rich in protein, fibre and other health-protective compounds, but also low in saturated fat. Blending plant proteins with ground meat in burger patties, chili or tacos is one way to reduce the amount of meat you consume, while bumping up the nutrition of the meal and saving some money.

Better for our planet

In 2019, the EAT-Lancet report was released outlining the benefits of eating a plant-based diet for both people and planetary health. The production of animal-based protein is less sustainable and uses more natural resources per pound of protein developed than plant-based proteins. Animal protein production uses more land and produces more greenhouse gases which are a contributor to climate change. The production of plant-based proteins has the opposite effect, replenishing soil and producing more protein on the land they are grown. “Growing and eating more plant-based proteins is good for us and the environment. “If you’re thinking about adding more plant-based proteins to your diet, start with having meatless meals one day a week, and increase the frequency as you find new recipes you like,” Runka recommends. She also says to be sure you replace the animal protein component with a plant protein, rather than simply removing the animal protein from your meal.

What’s a vegetarian?

Here’s a short guide explaining the different types of vegetarian eating styles:

• Vegetarian: someone who does not eat meat, poultry, fish, or any products containing these ingredients, but may eat other animal products such as dairy and eggs
• Lacto-vegetarian: a vegetarian who also eats dairy products
• Ovo-vegetarian: a vegetarian who also eats eggs
• Lacto-ovo vegetarian: a vegetarian who also eats dairy products and eggs
• Flexitarian: this is a new classification; it describes a person who eats mainly vegetarian but does eat some animal products occasionally
• Vegan: someone who does not eat any animal

Top 10 foods for vegetarians or vegans

1. Pulses

2. Soy foods

3. Nuts

4. Seeds

5. Whole grains

6. Extra virgin olive oil and/or canola oil

7. Leafy greens 

8. Citrus fruits 

9. Allium vegetables

10. Mushrooms

Recipes

Here are four delicious recipes where you won’t even miss the meat.

Lentil Burritos

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

Soba Noodles with Mushroom, Spinach & Tofu

Lentil Burgers

Did you know?

Diabetes Canada has created 7-day meal plans for a variety of dietary patterns, including vegetarian and vegan. For more meal plans, click on “Meal Planning” under the Nutrition & Fitness section.

This updated article originally appeared in Diabetes Dialogue.