50 Reasons to Try a Vegan Diet

Health Conditions, Plant-Based Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine, Special Diets

In the past few years, I have seen a huge spike in interest towards vegan diets as more and more people are being more conscious of their diet, the environment and their overall health. Adopting a vegan diet is often misunderstood as a fad diet, but the benefits of a vegan diet are immense, and even going vegan or vegetarian occasionally can be highly beneficial for health. Start by even going vegan once a week! Before making drastic changes to your diet however, it is always a good idea to seek advice to ensure your new diet fulfills all of your nutritional needs.

50 Reasons that a Vegan Diet Can Be Healthy:

1. Reduced saturated fats. Dairy products and meats contain a large amount of saturated fats. By reducing the amount of saturated fats from your diet, you’ll improve your cardiovascular health
2. Increased Fiber. A vegan diet is usually high in fiber which can help with bowel movements, prevent colon cancer, improve cholesterol profiles, and help remove toxins from the body.
3. Increased Magnesium. Nuts, seeds, and dark leafy greens are an excellent source of magnesium and often deficient in our diet as it gets depleted with stress and poor diets. Magnesium helps to relax our nervous system and nervous system, and helps us absorb calcium.
4. Increased Potassium. Potassium balances water and acidity in your body and stimulates the kidneys to eliminate toxins. Diets high in potassium have shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
5. Increased Folate. This B vitamin is an important part of a healthy diet. Folate helps with cell repair, generating red and white blood cells, and metabolizing amino acids.
6. Increased Antioxidants. Antioxidants are the protectors of our cells which helps to prevent cell damage and degenerative conditions. Most of our antioxidants are found in nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
7. Increased Vitamin C. Besides boosting your immune system, Vitamin C also helps keep your with tissue repair from injuries, prevent gingivitis, and also reduce allergy symptoms.
8. Increased Vitamin E. This powerful vitamin has benefits for your heart, skin, eyes, brain, and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. A diet high in grains, nuts, and dark leafy greens is full of Vitamin E.
9. Increased Phytochemicals. Plant-based foods provide phytochemicals which help to prevent cancer, degeneration, boost protective enzymes, and work with antioxidants in the body.
10. Vegetarian Protein Vegetarians obtain their protein from beans, nuts, peas, lentils which are low in saturated fats, full of fibre and nutrients. Vegetarian proteins are not inflammatory like meat proteins which can often exacerbate inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.
11. Disease Prevention. Eating a healthy vegan diet has shown to prevent a number of diseases.
12. Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular disease. Eating nuts and whole grains, while eliminating dairy products and meat, helps improve cardiovascular health. A British study indicates that a vegan diet reduces the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and the incidence of heart attack and stroke.
13. Improves Cholesterol. Eliminating any food that comes from an animal eliminates a huge source of bad cholesterol from the diet.
14. Reduces Blood pressure
15. Reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes
16. Reduces risk of Prostate cancer. A major study showed that men in the early stages of prostate cancer who switched to a vegan diet either stopped the progress of the cancer or may have even reversed the illness.
17. Reduces risk of Colon cancer. Eating a diet consisting of whole grains, along with fresh fruits and vegetables, can greatly reduce your chances of colon cancer.
18. Reduces risk of Breast cancer. Countries where women eat very little meat and animal products have a much lower rate of breast cancer than do the women in countries that consume more animal products.
19. Prevents Macular degeneration. Diets with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes, can help prevent the onset of age-related macular degeneration.
20. Prevents Cataracts. Much the same way macular degeneration is headed off by a vegan diet, cataracts are also thought to be prevented through the intake of the same fruits and vegetables. Produce high in antioxidants are also believed to help prevent cataracts.
21. Improves Arthritis. Eliminating dairy consumption has long been connected with alleviating arthritis symptoms, but a new study indicates that a combination of gluten-free and vegan diet is very promising for improving the health of those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.
22. Prevents Osteoporosis. Bone health depends on a balance of neither too much or too little protein, adequate calcium intake, high potassium, and low sodium. With a healthy vegan diet, all four of these points set a perfect scenario for preventing osteoporosis.
23. Improves Body Mass Index. A diet without meat usually lower BMIs and body weight.
24. Helps with Weight loss. Often a healthy vegan or vegetarian diet eliminates most of the unhealthy foods that tend to cause weight issues.
25. Improves Energy. When following a healthy vegan diet, you will find your energy is much higher because you are consuming more nutrient-dense foods instead of high calorie-low nutrient foods.
26. Healthier skin. The nuts and vitamins A and E from vegetables play a big role in healthy skin, so vegans will usually have good skin health. Many people who switch to a vegan diet will notice a remarkable reduction in blemishes as well.
27. Longer life span. Several studies indicate that those following a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle live an average of three to six years longer than those who do not.
28. Reduced Body odor. Eliminating dairy and red meat from the diet significantly reduces body odor. Going vegan means smelling better.
29. Helps Eliminate Bad breath. Vegans frequently experience a reduction in bad breath due to a healthier gut function.
30. Healthier Hair and Nails. Many who follow vegan diets report that their hair becomes stronger, has more body, and looks healthier.
31. Less PMS. When switching to a vegan diet, many women tell how PMS symptoms become much less intense or disappear altogether. The elimination of dairy is thought to help with those suffering with PMS.
32. Improves Endometriosis. A Vegan diet is much less inflammatory due to the absence of meat and dairy, and often helps to improve the pain and hormonal imbalances associated with endometriosis.
33. Reduces Migraines and Headaches. Migraine suffers who go on vegan diets frequently discover relief from their migraines.
34. Improves Allergies. Reduction in dairy, meat, and eggs is often tied to alleviation of allergy symptoms. Many vegans report much fewer runny noses and congestion problems.
35. Eliminates Animal proteins. The average American eats twice as much meat protein as necessary for a healthy diet and much of that is from red meat. Getting protein from beans and grains is much healthier and reduces the risk many health diseases.
36. Eliminates dairy. The human body is not designed to digest another animal’s milk but sadly, dairy products are advertised as being healthy by dairy companies. As many as 75% of people in the world are lactose intolerant and/or sensitive or intolerance and has shown to worsen conditions such as allergies, eczema, autoimmune disease, acne, and more.
37. Eliminates Eggs. Many nutritionists believe that the number of eggs in the American diet is too high and eggs have become one of the top allergens, with many children today being anaphylactic to eggs.
38. Reduces Mercury. Most of the fish and shellfish consumed have mercury and other toxins in it. While some fish have less than others, it is almost impossible not to be putting mercury or some other toxin into your body when you eat fish.
39. Reduces Sugar. Most people have heard that Americans consume way too much sugar. Relying on other sweeteners that are not synthetic, processed, or derived from animal products is a healthier way to eat. Many vegans do not eat processed sugar due to the fact that most of the cane sugar is refined through activated charcoal, most of which comes from animal bones.
40. Improves Animal Welfare. Many people begin a vegan diet out of concern for animals. Whether opposed to the conditions of animals intended for food or eating animals in general, knowing where and how livestock are raised increases our awareness and appreciation for them. It can help us to adapt more responsible habits such as minimizing portions, reducing wastage, supporting local famers and organic farmers.
41. Improve Human Welfare. Jobs in slaughterhouses and dairy farms are consistently ranked among the most dangerous in the U.S, and workers are often exposed to poor working environments.
42. Reduces E. coli. Contamination Most E.coli contamination comes from contaminated red meat and is the leading cause of bloody diarrhea. Young children, those with compromised immune systems, and elderly people can become extremely ill or die from E. coli. Eating vegan means completely avoiding the risk of E. coli infection.
43. Reduces Salmonella. Another gastrointestinal illness from animal products, salmonella food poisoning is closely related to E. coli. The most frequent way people contract salmonella food poisoning is through contact with raw eggs or raw chicken meat from chickens infected with salmonella. Again, going vegan means eliminating this risk altogether.
44. Mad cow disease. A fatal, non-treatable disease caused by eating animals infected with mad cow disease.
45. Reduces Hormone consumption. Eating animals that have been given hormones to speed growth (a common practice in the meat industry) means those hormones go into your body as well. Not only can this disrupt the natural balance of your hormones, but some of the hormones given to animals have shown to cause tumor growth in humans. Since 1950, girls are hitting puberty on average 4-7 years earlier and boy’s sperm counts have decreased by 25-50% due to the hormones present in non-organic meat and dairy products.
46. Reduces Antibiotics Consumption. Antibiotics are frequently given to feed animals, which can lead to bacterial resistance. Many of the antibiotics used to treat human infections are also used in feed animals and has led to the emergence of super-bugs.
47. Less consumption of Pesticides, Herbicides and Chemicals. Many vegan or vegetarian diets promote also the consumption of organic fruits and vegetables, reducing the intake of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals which have been found to be toxic for the body and the environment.
48. Cost effective. Vegan recipes are often cheap, plentiful and tasty!
49. Support heathy ecosystems. Nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers and vastly effect the health of micro environments and ecosystems.
50. Reduce global warming. the 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas which leads to global warming). Over 51% percent of man-made pollution comes from the meat industry and its byproducts, putting animal farming ahead of transportation in contributing to the greenhouse effect.