A Vegetarian Diet Can Heal—or Harm—Depending on Dietary Choices
While plant-based diets are generally healthy, some people develop an unbalanced nutritional profile, increasing their risk for metabolic or chronic conditions.
A friend of mine was a long-time vegetarian whose daily meals were light and low in oil. Every afternoon around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., her stomach would rumble, and she would sometimes feel weak and shaky in her legs when she stood up from her chair. Could her diet have been part of the problem?
While plant-based diets are generally beneficial to health, some vegetarians develop an unbalanced nutritional profile, increasing their risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, fatty liver, memory loss, anemia, and osteoporosis.
A Balanced Vegetarian Diet Is Beneficial to Health
In recent years, many studies have confirmed that plant-based diets are beneficial in preventing various diseases. A 2019 article published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that a plant-based diet helped prevent Type 2 diabetes, especially for those who followed a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. These people have a 30 percent lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Naiwen Hu is a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician at Shanghai Tong Te Tang in Taipei and a former Stanford Research Institute scientist. Hu has treated more than 140,000 patients, taught at an American university, and hosts a popular YouTube health program with 900,000 subscribers, as well as international wellness roadshows.
