Thinking about going vegan? This diet or lifestyle has become a new trend. There are many people transitioning to the vegan lifestyle, because of its many health benefits and because of its recent popularity.
A well-balanced vegan diet can be life changing. People have overcome diabetes, lose weight and see improvement in many other health problems since going vegan.
A lot can happen to your body when you change your diet from eating unhealthy foods to a plant-based diet.
When I started this journey over a year ago, my intentions were never to go vegan, I wanted to eat more veggies and less meat. But I fell in love with the vegan lifestyle.
I grew up thinking, eating meat was necessary for survival, that you were superior when you could afford to buy meat. Growing up poor, we didn’t always have the best choice of food. We ate what our parents could afford, and since meat was cheap and available, we ate it. So eating meat for survival was all I knew.
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What Is Veganism? and Why I Transitioned
Well, being vegan means not consuming or using any animal products. Not eating, wearing, applying it to your body, not using it in any way.
I never truly enjoyed eating meat, but I enjoyed seafood. They raised me to believe that incorporating meat into our diet was best. Even in nursing school, they thought us that meat, dairy and fish were necessary for health and development.
The documentaries Cowspiracy and What the Health provided insights into the inhumane ways most animals are treated while in captivity.
I was so grossed out by the disgusting nature of animal agriculture. And concluded that to make a change, I needed to not consume animal products. The health issues that arise from eating animal products was also not worth risking my health over.
Reasons to Consider a Vegan Lifestyle
Take the time to educate yourself and realize the impact your choices have on the environment and the animals. Documentaries such as Cowspiracy, What the Health, and The China Study taught me how foods affect our health.
What the Health documentary highlights many health issues we all face because of consuming too many animal products. Knowing these implications on our health and the torture animals experience while being in captivity was strong enough reason for me to go vegan.
Go Vegan For Animal Freedom
Think about it, animal agriculture imprisons, force reproduction, and torture animals so we can eat. Like how inhumane is it to force these creatures to do what we want? Then eat them… By avoiding animal products, we support animals’ right to have freedom as much as we do.
Go Vegan For The Environment
Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of deforestation. This is providing space to grow the vast majority of grains needed to feed animals. It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of beef, which is insane! Also, animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change.
Improved Health on Vegan Diet
What The Health, claims that a vegan diet has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, lower cholesterol, reverse type 2 diabetes, reduce inflammation, and support weight loss. This documentary highlights the overall positive impact a vegan diet has on improving our health. A balanced vegan or plant-based diet will increase energy levels and improve overall health.
If you want to try this vegan lifestyle or need more information on transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, read this post.
Health Risk in Consuming Animal Product
The idea behind most of these documentaries is to inform people about the dangers of eating animal products. Consuming animal products increases your chance of heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Not to mention the large amounts of antibiotics these animals receive while in captivity.
Don’t get me started on dairy. A mother’s milk was intended to feed their babies, so why should humans drink cow’s milk? This makes no sense!
Did you know that humans are the only species that consume milk from other mammals into adulthood? Have you ever seen a full-grown animal drinking milk?
Dairy products increase the risk of multiple sclerosis and diabetes, it also contains hormones. Casein a dairy protein found in milk facilitates the development of cancer. Did you know that cow’s milk also contains pus? Unbelievable!
Increased dairy consumption is also bad for our bones. A contradiction to what we have been told. I can remember my parents saying ‘drink your milk it’s good for your bones’. No, it’s not!
Raw vs Cooked Vegan Food
A raw vegan diet means consuming only raw unprocessed plant-based foods. This includes fruits, raw vegetables, nuts, and seeds. This diet can be very restricting and if not done properly may cause health problems. Raw vegans refrain from cooking foods above 115 F, since uncooked foods provide living enzymes and proper nutrition, whereas cooking foods destroys these enzymes.
Consuming raw foods preserves all the nutrients and water content found in these foods, this promotes optimal health, since the unprocessed foods are in their natural state.
Also, cooking destroys many essential amino acids and decreases the insoluble fibers in vegetables. Raw vegan foods are known as superfoods that are packed full of nutrients. Raw vegan food promotes bowel movement and cleanses the body.
A typical vegan diet includes raw and cooked plant-based foods, this includes nuts, grains, seeds, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. A vegan diet also includes processed foods like bread, vegan cheese, tofu, etc. A balanced combination of raw and cooked vegan meals is more ideal to promote optimal health and sustainability.
I prefer a balance of raw and cooked vegan meals; this offers more variety, and it makes an easier transition from a carnivore diet. Why not try a raw vegan diet for a week and observe what happens to your body? It’s amazing!
Changes I Experience After Going Vegan
The changes are more noticeable if you are going from a high carnivore diet to high raw vegan diet.
I was a pescatarian for 1 year before transitioning to a vegan diet. My diet included seafood, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes, fruits, and no dairy. As you can see, I was already incorporating some vegan foods. When I transitioned to a vegan diet, it was a breeze.
The biggest change I experience was my energy level. I have so much energy to keep up with my kids and get my chores done. I no longer feel the need for a midday nap.
People that experience significant changes in their health from a vegan diet usually eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and avoid processed foods.
Most people experience bloating and gas, a result of increased amounts of beans. This was not a problem for me. Because I was slowly incorporating more beans and veggies, giving my body time to become accustomed to consuming beans.
Another change I experience was my poop. Yes, I said poop. I went from going 4-5 days per week to daily. This is due to the increase in dietary fiber from my diet.
This will be a continuous journey of learning about how foods affect our health and encouraging others to make the change. For these reasons, I want to continue to tell everyone I meet why a vegan lifestyle is the best.
Is The Vegan Lifestyle Expensive?
It depends on an individual need, but the cost can add up if you plan on buying processed foods, eating out, indulging in superfoods, juicing regularly, using organic produce, and nuts.
Whereas, buying things in bulk like beans and rice are inexpensive, also cooking your own meals as opposed to buying prepackaged meals.
The abundance of meal ideas is limitless, but most foods have a vegan substitute. So you can still enjoy things like vegan pizza and cream in your coffee. The flavors can be mine blowing once you figure out how to combine ingredients and make foods you will enjoy.
If you are thinking about going vegan, do your research before diving into it, go slowly, start out by replacing 1 meat product per day or do a vegan day, one day per week. Try incorporating more fruits and veggies, and limiting your dairy intake.
It can be beneficial and rewarding to go vegan. Since I made the change, I am loving every moment. I feel more energetic and more motivated to work on all aspects of my life.
Why not give this amazing lifestyle a chance? Challenge yourself to go vegan.
