If you're looking to get started on a vegetarian diet, chances are you're concerned about your falling back to meat-eating habits somewhere in the middle. Many people who begin on this journey do. To prevent yourself from going back, you need to have a deep conviction inside about why you want to be a vegetarian. The reasons are as diverse as there are people, but if it's on your mind to make this change of diet, then there must be a reason that will appeal to you the most. Once you're convinced deep down inside that it is the right thing to do, those meat dishes in your friend's party will not seem tempting at all, and it will be easy to stick to your chosen path.

So why is it important to be a vegetarian? First and foremost, there are important health benefits in a vegetarian diet. Several research studies suggest a link between longevity and a vegetarian diet. According to a study by the Loma Linda University, vegetarians live almost seven years longer, and vegans almost fifteen years longer, than meat eaters. A vegetarian diet can help in reducing risk of cancer and cardio-vascular disease. Fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidant nutrients that protect the heart and its arteries. Animal food products are loaded with dietary saturated fat and cholesterol. An average American male on a meat-based diet has a 50 percent chance of dying from heart diseases. A study of a group of French vegetarians found that they had a daily intake of 25 percent less fat than non-vegetarians. Some of the other proven health benefits of a vegetarian diet include significantly reduced rates of obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, constipation, and gallstones.

Secondly, the mass production of meat is environmentally damaging, and unsustainable, and going vegetarian can help restore the planet's health. Approximately 70 percent of the grain crop in the US is used for feeding animals being raised for food. It takes 15 pounds of feed to generate 1 pound of meat, and if the grain were given directly to people, there would be enough food to feed the entire planet. According to a study, the inefficiencies in the production of meat, milk, and eggs range from 4:1 to 54:1 energy input to protein output ratio, when tracking animal food production from feed to consumption Hence the production of animal foods is much less energy efficient than harvesting of grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits. Animal farming also generates significant amounts of nitrous oxide and methane, which have a significant impact on global warming. Also, it is estimated that a pound of beef takes 2,500 gallons of water, while a pound of wheat takes 25. Hence, production of meat leads to wastage, and rampant water pollution.

A vegetarian diet can protect you from food-borne illnesses. Vegetarianism reduces the risk of E.coli infection. It is estimated that approximately five percent of cows slaughtered in America for meat contain the lethal O157:H7 strain of E.coli, which can even lead to death. Also, there have been various animal food safety scares over the last few years, including avian influenza in poultry, mad cow disease in cows, foot-and-mouth disease in sheep, and mercury in fish. Therefore, being vegetarian can protect you from several such diseases.

Another important reason to be vegetarian is that it is ethical. Each day, 22 million animals are slaughtered in America to produce meat. The entire life of a captive animal raised for meat is unnatural, and involves abnormal diets for fattening, hormonal stimulation, and the eventual killing, which are totally unnecessary. If animal rights concern you, then a vegetarian diet is a natural choice.

A vegetarian diet can help you save money. Replacing chicken, meat, and fish with vegetables and fruits is estimated to help save close to $ 4,000 a year. Hence it makes economic sense as well to convert to a vegetarian diet.

There are compelling reasons to turn vegetarian, and the question you should be asking yourself is not why, but why not? With obvious benefits for your health and the planet's, and being a better economic choice, it is no wonder that there is growing interest in vegetarianism today.