Some doctors and nutritionists still hold onto concerns that a plant-based diet won’t provide enough of some nutrients that are commonly found in meats, especially protein, iron and zinc. But a new study published yesterday in the Medical Journal of Australia, is reassuring doctors in that country.

The study shows that a well-planned, well-balanced vegetarian diet is sufficient for both adults and children, including providing enough protein, iron and zinc. It also states that the health benefits of a vegetarian diet far outweigh any possible deficiencies.

Nutritionist Dr. Rosemary Stanton wrote a commentary to accompany the study and as she says,

The evidence is quite good that people who follow a vegetarian diet are likely  to have less heart disease, less colorectal cancer, less type-2 diabetes and  they’re less likely to be obese.”

This research study is the first Australian-based research into vegetarianism and I’m glad that someone’s finally done it. Americans are known to have the worst diets in the world, but all Western countries are seeing the same trend in obesity, heart disease, Type-2 Diabetes and other diet-related illnesses.

It’s time for all Western countries to learn from cultures that eat diets largely based on plants.

They typically have a far lower rate of nutrition-related illness and deaths and much less trouble with obesity.

You can read about the study at The Australian (dot)com. It would make a great forward to a friend or relative who’s on the fence about changing to a vegetarian diet.