More and more people are turning to healthier lifestyles each day. Whether it’s due to personal beliefs or health reasons people are looking to ditch unhealthy meals and cut down or even completely exclude red meat or even all animal products from their diet. As a result, there are more and more vegan products available in stores and through specialist online stores. There are a mix of products that you can use when cooking vegan meals and also preprepared vegan meals. In this post, we look at reasons to consider a vegan diet.
Reasons to Consider a Vegan Diet
What is a Vegan Diet?
A vegan diet is one where absolutely no animal products are used. We’re talking no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese etc. But, it doesn’t stop there, you need to look further and also avoid anything with gelatin made from animal origins, honey, and certain E numbers such as the red food dye cochineal (E120).
Reasons for Becoming Vegan
It Reduces the Number of Animals Needed for Food Each Year
Becoming a vegan means that our diet choice reduces the number of animals that are bred in captivity, kept in confined spaces in poor conditions, and, that are being killed for food each year. Approximately 200 million animals are slaughtered worldwide each day. If we can reduce that amount then we are doing something good. By becoming vegan it’s estimated we save approx 105 animals per year per person.
Environmental Impact
By breeding, feeding, and killing fewer animals there is a positive environmental impact. Livestock and their byproducts create almost 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions, worldwide. It also accounts for 70% of the world’s freshwater annually.
As individuals, it reduces our environmental impact. In fact, if you decided to eat vegan food only for one day each week for a whole year you would save almost 143kgs of CO2 per year.
It also reduces deforestation. One of the main causes of global deforestation is animal agriculture. If we all switched to a vegan diet, research by the University of Oxford showed that global farmland use could be reduced by 75% and that if we all switched to eating soya instead of animals for our protein requirements, deforestation would fall by 94%.
How it Affects Our Health
As if that wasn’t a good enough reason, having a well-planned vegan diet will give our bodies all the nutrients we need to stay strong and healthy. This can help reduce the risk of a range of health conditions including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can also improve the appearance of our skin. This is due to them consuming a larger amount of vitamins, minerals, and of course antioxidants which can help keep skin looking great.
It has been indicated that a vegan diet can help reduce the pain, and inflammation associated with arthritis. It’s certainly something to consider with the number of people that suffer from this sometimes debilitating condition.
Veganism and Weight
A plant-based diet can help promote weight loss. The reason for this is that the metabolism of those on a vegan diet is faster. The food eaten by vegans is also less calorific which means it’s easier to achieve a healthy body weight.
Regular Dental Check-Ups
If you do decide to try a vegan diet it’s important to make sure that you have regular checkups with your dentist. Interestingly vegans have an increased risk of dental erosion. This is due to a high intake of acidic foods many of these like fruit are high in natural sugar. Additionally, by relying on starch-heavy foods such as pasta as a substitute for meat there is an increased risk of cavities as starchy foods get broken down in the mouth into sugar. Look up dentist Peterborough or where you’re located to find a suitable dentist to keep those pearly whites in tip-top shape.
Summary
I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading my post and agree that these are all great reasons to consider a vegan diet. Of course, the choice is all our own to make. There are plenty of amazing vegan meals you can make easily and you can find some great inspiration online to help you get started.
Do you eat vegan food?
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It wouldn’t be for me since I love my meat. But I know lots of people who are vegan and seem to enjoy it! I like some vegan foods that I’ve tried as well.
I’ve been trying more and more vegan foods lately. There are some lovely ones out there.
I mostly follow a vegan diet. I will have fish and eggs once in a while.
It can be so varied and it’s super healthy x
Great tips. We try hard to have a few vegan meals each week.
It all helps. There are so many great options to choose from.
I honestly thought about this too. I think it would be a good diet to be on. There are so many great vegan recipes too.
I agree, loads of options that are tasty and healthy.
I have been considering adding more vegan meals to my diet. Plus, the dishes sound fun to make!
There are so many to choose from.
I wish that I could sustain a vegan diet but there is no way. I love my meat and carbs. I do need to implement more fruits and veggies in my diet.
These are some really solid reasons for adopting the vegan lifestyle.
Thanks Elizabeth, I’m glad you liked the post.
I really have considered becoming a Vegan. I think it’ll help all my gut issues.
I understand why folks choose vegan, but its not for everyone. The loss of protein is such a big factor for me as I age and gets harder and harder to achieve more and meat is a great way to get more protein in your body.
It isn’t for everyone. It’s a choice we all will make at some stage. Even just having vegan food a day or two a week can help with health etc. There are plenty of protein sources for vegans which is good x
This is a really great and very informative post. I really enjoy reading this and I can somehow relate because my friend is vegan.
It is something many are embracing.
I have a new found love from Plant based burgers. It is not that I don’t like beef, I just can eat it. It makes me feel ill. I tired the plant based burgers and I was sold! I am trying to eat better!
I try and cook 4 vegan meals a week, but have not made it to cutting out meat products entirely yet
I am so glad to find out so many things about the vegan diet and how to start it!
Vegan diets greatly decrease your cholesterol also.
I was a vegan for around 10 years, but after I had my children I did start eating meat again and I’m not sure why. We definitely don’t eat a lot of meat as a family and my daughter is vegetarian so we mostly eat around her diet anyway!
That’s interesting. It can be easier to have a vegetarian diet and it still has a positive impact on the world around us x
This is something I have been thinking about – trying to eat less meat just now!
That’s good to hear, you’ll be much healthier for it x
I try and have several meat free meals a week, but I do eat quite a lot of milk products and eggs as I am trying to eat more protein
I keep saying I am going to start eating less meat. Really need to!
Although I have cut down on my meat consumption, I wouldn’t cut it out completely as no substitute tastes as good.
It’s good t hear you have made an effort though and I’m sure you feel healthier for it too.
A lot of information in this post , my daughter wants to go vegetarian and this is useful .
Thanks Jo. It can be hard but even days at a time can make a difference x
I love my meat to much I do not think I could ever go vegan
It is a choice of course. You might find a day a week or even a couple of vegan food can do your body wonders. There are so many fabulous recipe options.
There are certain cuisines where I can happily eat their vegan food every day. In Chinese food I love their use of wheat gluten and beancurd sheets to substitute for meat like they’re mock duck and chicken. And both Korean and Chinese food uses fermented bean sauce and vegetables to add flavour. I also love vegan Indian food more than their meat dishes like their dhaal and their use of nuts and coconut milk for protein.
This wouldn’t be for me, but nevertheless an interesting article
I do enjoy eating vegan food as being coeliac and dairy intolerant a lot of foods I have, already are vegan. Very interesting thank you.
I do love vegan food now I’ve tried it. There are lots of yummy recipes to choose from.
There certainly are Jodie x
I eat more vegan now but I don’t know if I could become one full time, I am a vegetarian.
It sounds like you are doing well there. It has a massive impact on your overall health.
Yay i am also Vegan! So i agree! 🙂 Love this post Loving them jumpers
I’m working on increasing my vegan food intake but I’m not vegan….yet.
Some really good points, problem is I love my meat too much.
I eat more vegan now but I don’t know if I could become one full time,
Unfortunately veganism isn’t for me as I love meat and cheese to much but we do try and eat meat free once a week
interesting post, its not something i’d consider but my daughter has been trying more vegetarian products
As much as I love healthy vegan food I don’t have the discipline to stick to a vegan diet as I love chicken, eggs and honey too much. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this post about the reasons to consider a vegan diet. I agree a vegan diet can be a healthy and sustainable choice for individuals and for the environment. Your post also provided some helpful tips and resources for those who may be interested in transitioning to a vegan diet.
Some of the family are vegans and I drift between vegetarianism (very strict, no eggs) and veganism. The plant-based substitutes are much better quality and much better in product ranges these days compared with my initial period of veganism. Now is a good time to try again.
I enjoy my vegetarian diet and my meals are vegan on some days but not all!
Your bang bang cauliflower looks delish!. I have introduced some vegetarian and vegan meals into my family’s diets but haven’t managed to eliminate meat completely.
I really appreciated your article on the reasons to consider a vegan diet. You presented compelling arguments and shared valuable information about the environmental, ethical, and health benefits of adopting a vegan lifestyle. It was an insightful read!
Thanks so much. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the post.