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A vegan diet requires someone to eliminate all meat and animal products from their diets. Over the past couple years, the benefits of a vegan diet have been circulating all over the internet.
But, what are the facts?
Some people claim that a vegan diet will cure any ailment and love all the attention that veganism has been receiving. Others think that there are no benefits of a vegan diet and that vegans are just trying to push their “agendas” on the rest of the world.
If you’re still on the fence about switching to vegan, here are some facts:
The processed food that is part of a traditional American diet does not comply with a vegan diet. This inevitably leads to vegans eating more real, whole foods.
According to Healthline.com, processed, unhealthy foods are usually replaced with vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds and whole grains. Contrary to popular belief, vegans consume many necessary vitamins and nutrients, without relying on supplements.
A diet filled with processed and red meat will increase one’s chance of getting prostate cancer. Men who consume more than 3 eggs a week increase their chances of getting lethal prostate cancer by 81%. Additionally, eggs and poultry advance the progression of any diseases one already has.
The foods typically consumed on a vegan diet, like legumes, fruits and vegetables also help protect the body against cancer.
It’s no secret that our Earth is currently suffering at the hands of global warming.
According to Time.com, the cultivation of livestock alone makes up for approximately 14% greenhouse gas emissions on Earth. Cows release a large amount of methane in to the air. Replacing livestock farms with plants, trees and crops would greatly reduce the pollution in the air.
Another benefit of a vegan diet is that it would help conserve water. A large amount of our Earth’s water goes to raising livestock. It also takes about 100 times more water to cultivate a pound of beef than a pound of plants.
Livestock not only consumes tons of water, they also tend to pollute it. If more people adopted a vegan diet, a larger portion of the population would have access to fresh, clean drinking water.
Adopting a vegan diet will help you eradicate this problem, as the meat industry significantly contributes to global warming.
Unlike many other fad diets, you can still eat all of your favorite snacks and junk food on a vegan diet. Since going vegan has become so popular, many companies and restaurants have come out with vegan alternatives to your favorite guilty pleasures.
If the reason you don’t want to go vegan is because you love meat, think again. There are many vegan versions of your favorite meat products. There are vegan versions of sausage, chicken nuggets, chorizo and basically any meat you could think of. One meat product that is taking social media by storm is the “Beyond Burger,” which looks, smells and tastes eerily similar to ground beef.
If you love late-night snacking or you’re worried that a vegan diet will change your movie snacks, there’s no need to worry. America’s favorite men, Ben & Jerry’s, have even come out with dairy-free versions of your favorite flavors, including Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey to name a few. Milk alternatives include soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk and many more, that can be found at basically any grocery store.
While one of the main benefits of a vegan diet are all the whole foods you’ll consume, you can also be a junk food-loving vegan if you so please.
We would never want anything to happen to our dogs or cats. Why don’t we think of cows or chickens the same way?
We don’t think of livestock the same way we think of our beloved pets because they aren’t as “cute” and they aren’t “family,” like our pets are. Society has reduced livestock to only “food,” rather than the amazing creatures they are.
But, the truth is cows, pigs and chickens are living, breathing creatures just like our pets are.
The farming industry kills over 56 billion animals each year, in order to keep up with the demands for poultry, pork and red meat. This is not even counting the millions of fish that are killed each year to keep up with seafood demands. Fish are so grossly overfished that many species, including tuna, are at the risk of becoming endangered.
One of the best benefits of a vegan diet is the fact that you will be saving the lives of billions of innocent animals.
Not everyone is ready to go completely vegan overnight. That’s okay! The key is taking baby steps.
If you aren’t ready to go completely vegan, try cutting out meat from your diet a couple days a week. You can make it fun by getting your loved ones to do “meatless Mondays” with you or having a movie night with only vegan snacks.
Even if you don’t plan on ever going completely vegan, try replacing some of your dairy or meat products with vegan alternatives. These small steps can greatly help our environment, save billions of animals and do wonders for your health. Next time you’re in line to get a hamburger or want to cook up a juicy steak, remember all the benefits of a vegan diet.
