Persuasive Speech Flashcards
It won’t be long before you start thinking about how you’re going to look out on the beach when the summer returns. That suit or dress you’re supposed to wear to your friends wedding seems like it’s shrinking… it’s not.
The next time you have to squeeze into that thing it’s going to look like you were poured into it.
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For these, and many other reasons, more people should consider a vegetarian diet.
We’re just getting into fall, but the new year will be here soon enough. Like many of you, I ring in the new year with health related resolutions. One year I quit smoking, another year I swore off soda and one year I even quit drinking for an entire month, imagine that! These are all good resolutions, but the most important of all was the year I decided to become a vegetarian.
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What is a vegetarian? According to Brown University Health Education, “a vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat, poultry, and fish. Vegetarians eat mainly fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts. Many vegetarians eat eggs and/or dairy products but avoid hidden animal products such as beef and chicken stocks, lard, and gelatin.”
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I made the resolution to become a vegetarian for Y2K and stuck with it ever since.
To illustrate my point of why you should consider a vegetarian diet let’s consider some of the major health related issues we are facing today and how organizations are scrambling to find solutions to the most deadly, how a vegetarian diet can help to reduce these risks and other benefits it can have for you, and a simple thing you can do to improve your quality of life without sacrificing hardly anything at all.
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[Let’s start on a lighter note]
Remember how we talked about the beach and the wedding just a minute ago? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy way to shed a few extra pounds and maybe even feel better at the same time? It’s also fair to assume that most us of here are fairly health conscience as well, right?
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[You aren’t alone in worrying about your personal health and appearance.]
Everyone wants to improve their health and look better.
Obesity is a serious health threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are serious consequences associated with obesity. “Among them are elevated risks in coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancers of all kinds, hypertension, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis and numerous gynecological problems.”
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People and organizations all over are looking for ways to control cancer.
Susan G Komen’s organization fights breast cancer, their trademark pink ribbons are everywhere. The American cancer society has been around for over 100 years! Let’s move! is an organization launched by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation.
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[There is an easy way to reduce your risk for every one of these things.]
Research shows that a vegetarian diet is healthy. A vegetarian diet can reduce the risk of many diseases.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, “When cancer researchers started to search for links between diet and cancer, one of the most notable findings was that people that avoided meat were much less likely to develop the disease.”
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Vegetarian Times says, “A vegetarian diet reduces the risk for chronic degenerative diseases such as obesity, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer including colon, breast, prostate, stomach, lung and esophageal cancer.”
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A vegetarian diet can lower the obesity rate. Vegetarian times cited a study that took place between 1986 and 92 conducted by doctor Dean Ornish, president and director of the Preventative Medicine Research Institute, He found that “Overweight people who followed a low-fat, vegetarian diet lost an average of 24 pounds in the first year and kept off that weight 5 years later. They lost the weight without counting calories or carbs and without measuring portions or feeling hungry.”
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[It’s not pleasant, but try to consider the grave consequences of simple decisions.]
Think about your future. Do you want to celebrate your sixtieth birthday one hundred pounds overweight? Do you want to become impotent or infertile?
Don’t do this to yourself or your family and loved ones. Imagine yourself turning heads on the beach and let that be your motivation to skip that triple bacon double cheeseburger!
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[Improving your overall health is easy.]
Starting up a vegetarian diet is easy. Instead of ordering a hamburger or chicken the next time you go out to eat, order a salad instead.
[There are plenty of ways to better yourself, going vegetarian is just the easiest.]
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Today we talked about a few of the major health risks our society is facing today, we talked a bit about a few of the major organizations and important people who agree that our health is our most important concern, I showed you how a vegetarian diet is proven to reduce these risks across the board, and how one simple changes in your lifestyle has the potential to drastically improve your quality of life… You’ll see the results every time you look in the mirror.
As the old saying goes, “you are what you eat.” I’m sure none of you want to be a piece of dead meat!
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