If you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian, then you have to be wondering about the pros and cons of doing so. There are different methods of looking at this. On the macro or global scale, you as an individual, by giving up eating meat, will personally save the lives and suffering of all the animals that you would have eaten, if you had not given up.

On the other hand, a couple of hundred animals during quite a number of years will not make much difference to the animal numbers. What is more, with the Chinese and Indian populations becoming richer, it is almost certain that they will be eating more and more meat in the near future. You will be doing your piece though.

However, on the micro, or personal level, becoming a vegetarian will transform your life. Those who have faith in detox diets say that many of the toxins that they say mount up in our bodies come from the hormones, pesticides and antibiotics that are in meat but should not be.

Meat, eggs and dairy products are a Westerners main sources of cholesterol and fat but cholesterol and fat are blamed for being the foremost contributor to the West's biggest killer - heart disease.

It is true that there are other reasons for heart disease, yet it has been worked out that vegetarians have about a quarter of their meat-eating compatriots' chances of having a heart attack. This seems significant, yet the difference between vegans and meat-eaters is even more glaring at one tenth the chance.

So, it appears to count what form of vegetarian you become, because lots of vegetarians still eat fish, eggs and cheese and drink milk. However, by giving up meat alone, you will miss out on lots of the chemicals that farmers pump into their meat and poultry.

For example, preservatives are reckoned to be connected to some cancers; growth hormones given to animals have an effect on our own hormones and many people just cannot digest milk, which causes the production of mucous and can give rise to digestive concerns

On the negative side, you will have to learn a whole new system of supplying your body with the nutrients and vitamins that it requires. Meat is a concentrated kind of food and merely eating a standard western meat and two vegetables type meal without the meat will soon become boring but also land you in very hot water.

Malnutrition is the biggest risk that novice vegetarians have to be cautious of. Obviously, it is not so a problem to get hold of information to help you get your vegetarian diet correct as it used to be and there is a huge choice of foodstuffs available to the modern vegetarian, but they are not all cheap, so cutting out meat will probably not save you much money.

At the end of the day, becoming a vegetarian is a very personal matter. It is between you and your conscience, and doing the correct thing will make your life more of a problem, as does attempting any lifestyle change, yet you will find it simpler as you get into the swing of things.