In some countries, it is becoming increasingly common for people to follow a vegetarian diet. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

In a number of places around the world, an increasing number of citizens are turning to vegetarianism. While some believe there are disadvantages of

this

in terms of people’s health, particularly low

protein

intake,

this

essay believes the positive impacts a vegetarian

diet

has on our environment far outweigh any potential drawbacks. Some people fear that a vegetarian

diet

cannot provide adequate

protein

to sustain long-term health. It is well known that meat is a rich source of

protein

, which the body needs in order to grow and repair cells.

For example

, the British National Health Service recommends that adults eat approximately 50 grams of

protein

per day for optimal health.

However

, I feel that animal products are not the only sources of

protein

as nuts, pulses, eggs and dairy products are all excellent sources of

protein

that can be used

instead

. One of the main advantages of an increase in vegetarianism is that

this

type of

diet

has a much lower environmental impact than a meat-based

diet

.

That is

to say that eating plant-based sources of

protein

instead

of animal products uses much less land and water and produces much fewer greenhouse gases.

For instance

, the Guardian newspaper recently reported that beef results in over 100 kilos of greenhouse gases per 100 grams of meat produced, while the same amount of tofu only produces 3.5 kilos of harmful gases.

Therefore

,

this

essay concurs that eating plant-based proteins is an advantage as it can be part of the solution to global warming. In conclusion,

although

protein

is a necessary part of a healthy

diet

, I believe it is much more advantageous to eat vegetarian sources of

protein

rather than meat to help reduce our environmental impact.