Bukti telah di temukan bahwa makanan yang paling sehat adalah terkandung di dalam tumbuh-tumbuhan (sayuran, buah-buahan dan biji-bijian). Diet yang hanya mengkomsumsi buah-buahan dan sayuran memegang peranan utama di dalam menurunkan resiko dari penyakit dan kematian, ” kata Walter Willet, Kepala departemen Nutrisi dari Universitas Harvard.
Berikut ini Alasan memilih hidup Vegetarian:
Kanker (cancer)
Para ahli menyatakan bahwa buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran adalah elemen utama untuk melindungi tubuh dari penyakit Kanker, “kata Tim Byers” seorang Profesor dari Universitas Colorado, secara ilmiah buah & sayuran sangat di yakini mempunyai unsur yang bisa menghindarkan kita dari penyakit kanker dan sejenisnya. Termasuk segala jenis kanker seperti kanker usus, kanker perut dll. Dan study terakhir menemukan bahwa 'lycopene' - merupakan unsur carotenoid pada tomat bisa mencegah kanker prostat.
Tidak jelas bagaimana carana buah dan sayuran bisa mengurangi resiko penyakit kanker. Peranan sangat besar dilakukan oleh 'phytochemicals' yaitu suatu zat yang menyerupai carotenoids, vitamins C and E, selenium, indoles, flavonoids, phenols and limonene.
Ada juga bukti - bukti dari kacang - kacangan dengan serta tinggi seperti gandum yang dapat mengurangi resiko kanker. “Serat sangat berguna untuk memerangi kanker perut,” menurut David Jenkins, seorang ahli yang meneliti makanan yang mengandung serat di University of Toronto. Pasta, nasi dan biji - bijian yang lain dapat menggantikan makanan dari hewan seperti daging merah yang sudah jelas berperan sangat besar dalam meningkatkan resiko penyakit kanker.
“Orang yang mankan daging sebagai makanan utama dalam lima kali atau lebih dalam seminggu mempunyai resiko 4x lebih besar terkena kanker perut dibandingkan orang yang hanya sesekali makan daging dalam sebulan,” menurut Edward Giovannucci dari Harvard Medical School. Orang yang suka makan daging juga mempunyai kecenderuingan 2x lebih besar terkena kanker prostat terbukti dari study yang sudah ia lakukan pada lebih dari 50,000 pria sehat.
Penyakit Jantung
Diet makan vegetarian terutama lebih banyak menkonsumsi buah dan sayuran bisa mengurangi resiko serangan jantung. Selama 20 tahun terakhir, para ahli penyakit jantung menekankan untuk mengurangi konsumsi lemak dan kolesterol, di lain pihak zat yang terkandung pada tumbuhan bisa melindungi jantung anda. Diantaranya:
Soluble Fibre : “Untuk mengurangi resiko sakit jantung, anda membutuhkan makanan dari biji - bijian seperti peas, oat dan barley karena kandungan soluble fibernya membantu menurunkan kolestrol darah.
Folic Acid: “Bukti dari folic acid dalam mengurangi resiko penyakit jantung sudah terbukti,” seperti yang di katakan Willet. Folic acid, adalah Vitamin B, menurunkan tekanan darah sebagai akibat pengaruh dari asam amino yang berbaya yang di sebut homocysteine. Dan sumber dari folic acid adalah Buah dan sayuran.
Antiosidan: Seiring dengan pertumbuhan, kolestrol LDL (”jahat”) merusak pembuluh arteri darah jika sudah mengalami oksidasi (bereksi dengan oksigen) oxygen). Oleh sebab itu reset membuktikan bahwa antioxidan seperti vitamin E bisa melindungi jantung. Dan banyak zat phytochemicals dari tumbuhan yang merupakan antioxidants.
Stroke
There’s a lot of evidence showing that fruits and vegetables are beneficial for reducing the risk of stroke,” says Willet. For example, in a 20-year study of 832 middle-aged men, the risk of stroke was 22 per cent lower for every three servings of fruits and vegetables the men ate each day. Again, no one’s sure if it’s the potassium, magnesium, fibre or other components of fruits and vegetables that prevent arteries from clogging in the brain.
4. Diverticulosis & Constipation
High-fibre grains - especially wheat bran - can help prevent constipation. That’s not trivial in a country like the US that spends millions a year on laxatives.
Diverticulosis is also common. About 30 to 40 per cent of people over 50 have it, though most have no symptoms. Others experience bleeding, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, pain, or diverticulitis (that’s when the pouches - or diverticula - that form in the walls of the colon get inflamed).
“In our studies, it’s clear that fibre both from bran and from fruits and vegetables is protective,” says Willet. Men who ate the least fibre (13 grams or less a day) were almost twice as likely to get diverticulosis as men who ate the most fibre (at least 32 grams of fibre a day).
5. Other diseases
Plant-rich diets may prevent other illnesses:
* Macular Degeneration: a carotenoid called lutein - which is found mostly in leafy greens - may help prevent the deterioration of the retina that causes blindness in older people. “In our study, people who ate spinach or collard greens two to four times a week had half the estimated risk of macular degeneration compared with those who ate them less than once a month,” says Johanna Seddon of Harvard Medical School.
* Neural Tube Defects: folic acid supplements can reduce the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube birth defects. Folic acid from foods (mostly fruits and vegetables) may also cut the risk.
* Diabetes: “We found a lower risk of adult-onset diabetes in people who ate more whole grains,” says Willet.
6. Safer food
Some of the deadliest food-borne illnesses enter the body via animal foods. “Ground beef is the most likely source of E. Coli 0157:H7. Poultry carry Salmonella and Campylobacter, and the consumption of raw shellfish has caused infection with Vibrio vulnificus,” says David Swerdlow of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Any raw food - including fruits or vegetables - can carry harmful bacteria. “For example, recent outbreaks of Salmonella have been associated with cantaloupe, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts,” says Swerdlow. But meat, seafood and poultry are the most likely culprits in food-borne illness.
7. The environment
“Our eating habits have a tremendous effect on the planet,” says Jenkins. “Eating animals wouldn’t harm the environment if it were done on a much smaller scale,” explains Alan Durning, Director of North-west Environment Watch in Seattle.
“Modern meat production involves intensive use - and often misuse - of grain, water, energy and grazing areas,” says Durning. He cites the following examples:
* Water pollution: the manure and sewage from stockyards, chicken factories, and other feeding facilities can pollute water supplies.
* Air pollution: thirty million tons of methane - a gas that contributes to global warning - comes from manure in sewage ponds or heaps.
* Soil erosion: nearly 40 per cent of the world’s - and more than 70 per cent of US - grain production is fed to livestock. For each pound of meat, poultry, eggs and milk we produce, farm fields lose about five pounds of topsoil.
* Water depletion: an estimated half of the grain and hay that’s fed to beef cattle is grown on irrigated land. It takes about 390 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.
* Energy Use: it takes almost ten times more energy to produce and transport livestock than vegetables.
* Overgrazing: about 10 per cent of the arid West of the US has been turned into a desert by livestock. But some of that land couldn’t be used for much else. “That’s why my argument isn’t for vegetarianism, but for people to reduce the consumption of animal products,” maintains Durning.
8. Cost
Sure, you can spend $7.99 a pound on mesclun or other gourmet foods. But from squash to sweet potatoes, most plants are a downright bargain. And the lower price of plants shows up when you eat out. On Chinese, Indian, and most other restaurant menus, the vegetarian selections are usually cheaper than the meat, seafood and poultry.
9. Animal welfare
It’s unpleasant to think about, but before we slaughter them, the animals we eat are often raised and transported under inhumane conditions.
10. Taste
The number-one reason for eating a plant-rich diet is that it tastes good. The five vegetables that Americans eat most are French fries, tomatoes (mostly as sauce or ketchup), onions, iceberg lettuce, and other potatoes.
But if most Americans shrink the meat, seafood and poultry on their dinner plates, they - or many of their favourite restaurants - wouldn’t know what to replace them with. You have to go to ethnic restaurants to get interesting plant-based dishes. It’s no coincidence that ethnic restaurants know how to make vegetable dishes taste good. “Fortunately, there’s a wealth of experience around the world because almost all traditional diets are plant-based,” says Willet.
Yet many Italian, Mexican and other ethnic restaurants have become so Americanised that their vegetables have been largely replaced by meat and cheese. And that’s a shame.
In Asian and Mediterranean cuisines, cooking fruits and vegetables is an art form. The Italians don’t put tremendous amounts of meat and cheese on pizza, for example. I had a thin-crust pizza at a traditional restaurant recently with no cheese - just fresh basil, tomatoes and garlic. It was totally wonderful.
Sumber :
Copyright 1996 CSPI. Reprinted/Adapted from Nutrition Action Healthletter (1875 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 300, Washington DC 20009-5728. $24.00 for 10 issues.)
