HEALTH

5 Reasons It’s Healthier to Be Vegan

Going vegan could save 200 animals a year, but it could also save your own life

Did you know that being vegan could help you prevent 8 out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the Global North?

Increased risks of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are all associated with eating meat and dairy.

According to nutrition expert Dr Michael Greger, all of these common killer diseases and more can be prevented or even reversed with a plant-based diet.

Veganism Rocks

Veganism rocks. People will try to tell you it doesn’t, but I went vegan in 1986 — that’s thirty-eight years ago — and I can tell you hand on heart that going vegan kicks ass.

Of course, veganism itself is not merely a diet. It is a philosophy and a way of life which seeks to exclude, as far as practicable and possible, all forms of oppression and exploitation of animals, whether for food, clothing or any other purpose.

The average non-vegan pays for the brutal and often agonising deaths of around 200 animals every year. Who wants that on their conscience?

That said, eschewing all meat, dairy, eggs and other animal products can have significant benefits for your health. So by being vegan, you’re not only helping prevent animal suffering, it could also save your own life.

Vegan Success Stories

By going vegan, countless people have totally transformed their lives for the better. They become enthusiastic ambassadors for the movement and they never look back. They thrive.

You’ll often hear them say the only regret they have about going vegan is that they didn’t do it sooner. They’re like beacons of light — superstars.

Of course, there’s always a few who decide they’ll simply replace their crappy Western diet of sausages, cheese, bacon and pizza with vegan versions of the same. Those people don’t thrive. At least, not in the long term.

A crappy diet is a crappy diet, whether it’s plant-based or not.

But a well-balanced, vegan, wholefood diet with plenty of grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables is like rocket fuel for your body. It can supercharge your energy levels and add years to your life.

It’s no coincidence that so many top athletes are now vegan and plant-based.

Below, I examine 5 reasons why being vegan is healthier for you.

1. Vegan Food Has Zero Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a substance manufactured in the liver and is not found in plants. Although our bodies need cholesterol to function (it’s used to make vitamin D, hormones and bile, which helps with the digestion of fat) high levels of cholesterol can lead to atherosclerosis.

This is a potentially fatal condition where plaque builds up in the arteries, dangerously narrowing the blood vessels. This can cause major health problems, including heart attacks, haemorrhagic strokes, high blood pressure and erectile dysfunction.

A balanced vegan diet contains everything our body needs to manufacture its own cholesterol while avoiding the cholesterol overload commonly faced by consumers of a diet rich in meat, dairy and eggs — which are all high in cholesterol.

2. Vegan Diets Tend To Be Lower In Saturated Fat

Animal products tend to be high in saturated fats. Eating too many saturated fats can raise the level of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in the blood which, as mentioned above, can cause heart disease and strokes as well as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

Although it is certainly possible for vegans to consume too much saturated fat, particularly if a lot of processed or convenience foods are eaten, on the whole vegans tend to eat a lot more fruit, vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds — which are all either low in fat or rich in beneficial unsaturated fats.

3. Vegan Diets Are Higher In Fibre

Dietary fibre is essential for a healthy digestive system. When many people think of fibre they tend to think only in terms of it being needed to prevent or relieve constipation, but fibre has many additional benefits besides this.

There are two basic types of dietary fibre — soluble and insoluble fibre. Oats, pulses, apples, citrus fruits, carrots and barley are all high in soluble fibre, while whole wheat flour, bran, nuts, beans, cauliflower, green beans and potatoes are all great sources of insoluble fibre.

Meat, milk and eggs, on the other hand, have ZERO dietary fibre, which can lead to loose, watery stools, constipation, higher cholesterol levels, increased risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer.

4. Meat Causes Cancer

The World Health Organisation has classified processed meat (ham, bacon, salami, frankfurters and the like) as a Class 1 carcinogen on a par with tobacco or asbestos — meaning that eating it increases your cancer risk, particularly stomach and bowel cancer.

Indeed, your risk of developing bowel cancer increases 1.18 times for every 50 grams of processed meat you eat per day. Other types of red meat (unprocessed) are classified as Level 2A which means that although there is not so much evidence as there is for processed meats, they probably still cause cancer.

5. Bacterial Toxins

After a typical meal of meat or other animal products, the bloodstream becomes awash with bacterial toxins, a condition known as endotoxemia. These endotoxins are highly resistant to both cooking and to our own body’s acids.

In addition, saturated animal fat actually increases the body’s absorption of these toxins into the bloodstream. The resulting toxic overload can lead to fatigue, autoimmune disease, depression, insulin resistance, diabetes, inflammation, pain and increased risk of cardiovascular disease among other problems.

So there you have it…

The above five factors are just some of the reasons why being vegan is a healthier option. In addition, purely plant-based diets tend to be high in antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds and richer in potassium, magnesium, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E.

By going vegan, you are not just making a stand against injustice and animal abuse, you are also doing yourself a favour and creating the conditions to help you live a long, active and healthy life filled with a robust vibrancy many meat eaters never know.

No wonder veganism is one of the fastest-growing trends in the world!