What is a vegan diet? A vegan diet is that which does not use any animal product (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy) and any by-products derived from them. Many people turn to a vegan lifestyle for better health, ethical and environmental reasons.
Years of research show that meat and dairy in our diet is posing health hazards leading to chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity.
THE HEALTH REASON:
Firstly, I would like to elaborate on the health benefits of this diet. On this a little bit of the history of human evolution… the animal-kingdom evolved over millions of years and the humans evolution started about 4 million years ago. The ancestors of modern humans are believed to have subsisted mainly on wild fruits, leaves, roots, and other high quality plant parts with a few animal foods in their daily diet.
Most present day apes, with whom we share the same genetic lineage, still live on a mostly vegetarian diet which mostly includes fruits, leaves, flowers and bark with a little consumption of insects like termites and small animals.
Evolutionary changes takes place over millions of years… but human behavior changes more rapidly. The human body has not evolved enough to consume meat, although our social and dietary habits have changed over the thousands of years to include meat in our daily diet. Our teeth, jaws, stomach and digestive canal all indicate that we are herbivores and not carnivores or even omnivores.
Animal products besides containing large amounts cholesterol and saturated fat also contain pesticides, growth hormones, hormone-like chemicals and antibiotics. If there is any advantage to eating meat, it is clearly out-balanced by the disadvantage of the harmful effects of these toxins.
The biggest advantage trumped by pro-meat and pro-dairy industry is the high protein in meat and calcium in dairy. But the counter argument, backed by scientific research, is that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and grains gives you all the protein and calcium you need besides other important nutrients like minerals, vitamins and lots of fiber.
THE ETHICAL REASON:
If our body can not process meat easily, what is the logic in killing animals for food. And if there are available alternative means of survival, one ought to choose the option that does not cause unnecessary harm to animals.
Cattle and dairy farming by their very nature cause untold pain and suffering to the animals… it is not possible to kill an animal humanely. The animals are removed from their environment and fed food that is not part of their natural diet, food that is genetically modified for better milk or fat yield, they are pumped with antibiotics and other chemicals so that they can survive in their artificial environment.
Another ethical reason which would also be considered an environmental issue is the world hunger. More and more land and water resources are being used up for growing feedstock for animal farming. And with this we are using up fertile land and clean water that we could have used for growing plants and grains for human consumption. Some environmentalists suggest that the amount of grains and soya that are grown to feed livestock in the US, would be enough to feed all the starving population of the world. 20 vegetarians could be fed from a land that yields enough feedstock to produce meat for 1 person.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL REASON:
The environmental impact of the cattle and dairy industry is considered to be so high that its supposed to be responsible for 18% of the green house gas emission GHGE. Large scale livestock farming around the world is having a huge impact at local, regional, nations and global levels. Degradation of fertile land due to use of single-crop techniques, deforestation for pasture land, water pollution due to run-off from the cattle and dairy farm wastes and air pollution, loss of biodiversity are some of direct effects. Then there is the impact from the economic activity that follows this industry, the impact of processing plants, packaging and transportation of the prepared meat and dairy products.
My quest for a healthy diet started when I was in my teens, back in India. I did not have any serious ailments but I was not happy with the way i felt after eating and had various digestion problems and general lack of energy, heaviness in my body. And I knew intuitively that my diet was key to change the way I felt. My family followed a typical Gujrati vegetarian diet. Nine years ago, when I moved to the US I was introduced to the concept of veganism. I was convinced that this was the diet that I was looking for all my life, it has been 7 years now that I have been following this diet and I can easily say that becoming vegan has changed my life. I have more energy and am stronger now than when I was in my 20s, am much more happier, have a more positive outlook and I also feel more physically active and mentally creative. And I believe there are many reasons for this… I was eating food that was fresh, nutritious and well-balanced; varied in grains, lentils, fruits and vegetables. I was also happy knowing that the food I consumed was not the cause of pain and suffering to any animals, was free of toxins and pesticides and the production of which did not have any adverse effects on the environment.
The only side-effects of this diet, if at all it can be called that, was the tendency to question how my food was being prepared. I wanted to know what went into it and I started reading labels, I researched on what the many unfamiliar ingredients in packaged food were. I wanted to be sure they did not contain any animal, poultry, fish or dairy products or by-products. Gradually, in order to eat food that was ethically prepared I ended up eating more and more fresh and unprocessed food. I appreciated the taste of ripe fruits and vegetables that were in their natural form just as nature intended them to be enjoyed.
See this short video on Why Vegan?
The books listed below have more information on Vegan Diet and Lifestyle:
The China Study
By T. Colin Campbell PhD. & Thomas M. Campbell
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser
Mad Cowboy
by Howard Lyman
Being Vegan
by By Joanne Stepaniak
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes
by Dr. Neal D. Barnard, MD
Dr. John McDougall’s Digestive Tune-up
The Rise of the Power Vegans – Businessweek Magazine
Steve Wynn, Russell Simmons, Bill Clinton and a comparable cast of heavies are now using tempeh to assert their superiority. A look at what gives.