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Food Choices
By: Christia Ambroise

Introduction
The question of would we be
healthier on a vegetarian diet?,
seems to still be up for discussion.
Studies have shown peoples reasoning
behind poor food habits that result in
an unhealthy lifestyle. Most would
assert that healthy and balanced
nutrition is important for the human
body. Many others would agree with
that statement, but find exercising to
be more important still. While some
find incorporating a restricted diet
into their lifestyle will increase their
ability to fight diseases. This report
provides information on why people
eat what they eat and how it affects
them personally.
Expert Positions
Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a
Mediterranean diet? (Mediterranean
diet includes eating fish, red meat,
vegetables, and healthy oils.) This
question is debated among experts
and is an important question that
guides this research.

The term vegetarian is often used to

describe a whole range of diets
practiced with varying degrees of
restriction, making it a challenge to
meaningfully compare and contrast
the health benefits of various
vegetarian diets, says Winston J
Craig, Professor of Nutrition and
Director of the dietetics internship
program at Andrews University. The
different types of vegetarians are
Lacto-ovo,
Lacto,
Ovovegetarian, and Vegans. Lacto-ovovegetarians eat both dairy products
and eggs. Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy
products but avoid eggs. Ovovegetarianism
involves
the
consumption of eggs but no dairy
products. As for vegans, they
eliminate all dairy, eggs or any other
products which are derived from
animals. Recently a national poll was
created and showed that 1.4% of the
American population is vegan.
Craigs position as a nutritionist
compares the difference between
being a vegetarian and vegan. He
believes that theres a lot of health
benefits in being both vegetarian and
vegan, however regarding vegans

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eliminating all animal products from

the diet increases the risk of certain
nutritional deficiencies, such as the
lack of vitamins B-12 and D, calcium,
and (omega-3) fatty acids.
On the other hand, some people argue
that diseases such as obesity, diabetes,
hypertension and heart disease are
solely brought on by junk and
processed foods. Micheal Mosss
article The Extraordinary Science of
Addictive Junk Food establishes the
reasons major food companies get
people hooked on their products.
Moss provides scientific research to
provide background information on
how food is examined in labs to create
the perfect balance of sugar and salt
used to get people hooked. Most of
these junk or persevered foods
including meat are reasonably priced
and convenient for customers, giving
people a great reason to indulge.
Instead of completely eliminating
such foods out of ones diet the
solution lies in companies making
healthier snacks and food options
available. As for individuals, making
it their responsibility to limit their
intake of such foods is an option for
avoiding such body diseases.
In March of 1975 an online article
called Vegetarianism: Growing Way
of Life Especially Among the Young
was published. According to
interviews by New York Times
correspondents across the country,
more people are converting into

vegetarians and eating less meat.

Some reasons behind this would all
result in economic issues such as cost
of food, income and availability,
attitudes and beliefs about the
methods by which animals are treated,
health
implications,
and
the
knowledge about chemicals, drugs,
and preservatives that are often found
in meat. In this article Doctors and
nutritionists generally give an almost
unqualified yes to the question asked
Is their way of eating healthy and
safe. Likewise, these doctors and
nutritionist agree with Winston J
Craig on lacto-ovo vegetarianism
being healthy and safe, but express
some concerns about vegan diets. Dr.
Philip White, director of the
American Medical Associations
department of food and nutrition
recommended the lactoovo style as
the best diet if one prefers to avoid
flesh. He states If done carefully and
well, a vegetarian diet is not harmful.
After all, two-thirds of the worlds
population subsists on vegetarian
diets. Dr. White continues on stating
that a strict vegan diet could result in
a Vitamin B-12 deficiency as stated
by Winston J Craig, which could
cause severe anemia and damage to
the spinal cord over a period of 10 to
15 years.
Methods
In order to understand peoples food
choices and answer my main research
question--is a vegetarian diet healthier
than a Mediterranean diet? I designed

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a survey that I distributed online via

Instagram, and Snapchat. This survey
contained 10 questions, both multiple
choice and open-ended questions.
This survey was open to all age
groups, female, and male. The
purpose for this was to gather
responses from different people and
get into their mindset on why they
choose to eat what they eat. I wanted
to get into the reasons behind their
eating lifestyle, how it made them
feel, and see if they were satisfied
with their food choices. Being that the
survey was open for three days it gave
me the opportunity to collect a total of
34 responses. Nineteen participants
which in percentage was (55%) were
female and fifteen (44%) were male.
In addition, 90% were in the age
bracket of 18-25, while 3% in each of
the three age brackets were 26-35, 3645, and 46 or older.
Results
My overall question in my survey was
Is this statement true or false?
Veganism has the potential to reduce
the risk of obesity, and diabetes, heart
and other body diseases. If you
answered "true" and are a meat eater
is this statement strong enough to
eliminate meat out of your diet? Some
of the results to this question was
surprising but expected.

Figure 1: The results of feelings towards the

benefits of veganism
Figure one shows that twenty-one (66%)
out of 34 agreed with the statement and
added on to why the statement was true.
For an example one stated that this
statement is true because vegans eat
food that are alkaline. While some out
of the twenty-one who agreed with the
statement found themselves on both
sides but wasnt moved enough by the
statement and was ok with sticking to
their current eating habits. Thirteen
(40%) choose no as a response. Some
argued that there is too many factors
that play a role in what health
complications you may develop, like
family medical history, and how active
you are. And others say its hard to
change their diet when there not the ones
cooking and they enjoy red meat too
much to eliminate it out of their food
choice.

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Discussion
The results to this short survey ranged
from different point of views. Though
majority of the respondents were not
vegetarian or vegan (as you can see
on the graph to the right) they were
still
open-minded
and
found
themselves agreeing with the uplifting
facts that outweighed the negatives on
a vegetarian diet.
Conclusion
The results from the survey conducted
that majority of the people who took
the survey were college students.
Overall, a strong percentage was
aware of the benefits of a vegetarian
diet. The survey gathered that only a
small percentage disagreed on the
main question--Is a vegetarian diet
healthier than a Mediterranean diet?
The participants that disagreed feel no
need to change their eating habits and
eliminate eating meat, being that they
never met any risks that concern their
health. Most feel that its hard to stick
to such diet because they have easier
access to foods that aren't so healthy
and is convenient but incorporate
exercising into their lifestyle to
balance their food choices and health.
Experts have proven the benefits of
participating in a vegetarian diet and
as a result to my survey 21 out of 34
participants have agreed with the
question is a Vegetarian diet healthier
than a Mediterranean diet.

REFERENCES
Craig, Winston J. ajcn.nutrition.org.
11 March 2009. 3 October
2016.
Klemesrud, Judy. The New York
Times. 21 March 1975. 5
October 2016.
Moss, Michael. "The Extraordinary
Science of Addictive Junk
Food." Gerald Graff, Cathy
Birkenstein, Russel Durst.
They Say I Say. New York:
The New York Times, 2013.
471-495

About the author: Christia Ambroise part

time student at Norwalk Community college,
majoring in Physical Therapy.