In recent years, more and more people are adopting the vegan lifestyle. There are a number of great reasons to go vegan. Not only is it an ethical life path to follow, following a plant-based diet also offers many key benefits. From environmental impacts and animal welfare, going vegan has great positive results.
Be Healthier and Happier
Health is important and taking care of your body is the key to living a happy life. By going vegan, you give your body the nutrients it needs to thrive. Think of a hospital. How many patients that are sick with osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, etc. are vegan? How many of them are meat-eaters? The answer to these questions is obvious. In fact, a lot of people have healed themselves from such medical conditions by adopting a vegan diet. It has been shown that vegans are less vulnerable to developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease than meat-eaters are.
Vegan Food is Delicious
If you are thinking that going vegan will mean having to give up ice cream, chicken sandwiches, and hamburgers, you need to think again. Contrary to what most people believe, you can still enjoy most of what you enjoyed when you used to eat meat. Not to mention, since the demand for vegan food is increasing day by day, companies are coming out with more and more tasty and delicious non-dairy foods and vegan meat which have all the taste of the real stuff but none of the cruelty or cholesterol. Not to mention all the foods in a vegan diet are very delicious and their recipes are easy to find.
Save the Planet
Going vegan is one of the best things you can do to save the planet. Meat is not friendly for the environment. In fact, meat production is one of the leading causes of soil erosion, water depletion, climate change, and most other environmental problems. So, the more people move away from encouraging meat production, the healthier the planet will be. This means by going vegan, you can save those cute animals as well as the planet itself.
Help Feed the World
According to Cowspiracy and PETA, eating meat does not just harm animals, it harms people as well. Animal farming requires lots of water and crops. In fact, producing just 1 pound of animal flesh takes up 13 pounds of grain. If that plant food was fed directly to people, it could be used much more efficiently. All in all, the more people who go vegan, the more able we will be to feed the world.
In conclusion, going vegan clearly has several advantages. There are health benefits, ethical benefits, environmental benefits, and more. However, individuals should not feel pressured to go vegan if the idea does not appeal them. The research indicates that there are different benefits when you consume all forms of vegetarian diets – even those that contain eggs and dairy. It is important to note that people can still follow the confines of veganism and eat diets of processed, unhealthy foods.
Photos by: Ella Olsson, August de Richelieu, Lina Kivaka, Lauris Rozentāls, Markus Spiske, Edgar Castrejon