When I was much younger, I was a complete vegetarian.
Not to be confused with a vegan.
A vegetarian doesn't eat meat, but may consume other animal products like eggs and dairy, which I did.
A vegan eats no animal products whatsoever.
Speaking from personal experience, there are many great benefits to a vegetarian diet, although there are also some things you need to be aware of.
The first thing I noticed was a very gradual and steady weight loss.
Makes sense though, considering you're not taking in very much saturated fat at all.
A diet that low in fat will indeed take the weight off of you.
And it will happen gradually, in a healthy way, unlike a crash diet.
The second noticeable, and very important benefit, was a drop in blood pressure.
At one point, I had the lowest normal adult blood pressure, which is 90 over 50.
My doctor advised me of a couple of things though.
First of all, he thought it was wonderful.
But he also said that vegetarians tend to have a little less energy than people who eat meat.
The good news is that vegetarians tend to live longer.
So you get more time to do things since you have less energy, right? Of course, you can compensate for this by taking healthy doses of vitamin B12, which I recommend for all vegetarians.
It's best to buy the sublingual capsules, as these will get directly into your bloodstream much faster.
And there's no known upper limit for B12, since it's water-soluble.
Your body will just eliminate any it doesn't need.
B12 doesn't occur in any plant sources, only animal sources.
Another thing to be aware of, especially if you're a female, is iron deficiency.
Once again, easily remedied by taking an iron supplement.
If you go the vegetarian route and you feel fatigued a lot, that could be the issue, but no biggie.
There are also some good food sources that contain iron, like tofu, soy beans, green leafy vegetables.
You can always do an internet search and find some more information on that.
Vegetarianism obviously isn't for everyone, but from my personal experience, the benefits far outweigh the downside.
And here's the strange thing.
Since we're all creatures of habit, once you stop eating meat, after a little while, you don't even miss it.
Even stranger, you might grow to find it somewhat repulsive.
Although vegetarianism is a very safe dietary choice, it's important to be aware of the things I've mentioned above.
Your friends and family may consider you to be strange, but when you don't have to take medication to lower your cholesterol levels or your blood pressure, you'll probably be very glad in the end that you made the choice.