Benefits of a Vegan Lifestyle
Going Cruelty-free Impacts Health, Animals and the Environment
May 28, 2009
The farms of today are far different than that of Old McDonald. Vegans realize this dismaying fact and combat it by choosing a diet that promotes health and wellness across the board: that of animals, humans and the Earth.
Respecting Animals and Health
Rarely when people grill steaks for a party or feed their child a chicken nugget, do they realize the animals used to make their dinner came from a place more like a factory, where the animals were treated as commodities, their lifespans cut short when they stopped producing.
When talking to vegans, one of the main benefits to using animal-free products and abstaining from eggs and dairy is that they are participating in a movement to treat animals with the respect deserving of living creatures.
Additionally, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine promotes vegan diets and vegetarian lifestyles for everything from reaching weight loss goals, reversing diabetes and reducing the risk for heart disease. It lauds vegan diets as being filling and tasty, while lowering cravings for fatty foods.
Going Vegan, Going Green
Veganism is also good for the environment. Space is at a premium and each generation is becoming more conscious than the last about the carbon footprints they’re leaving on the planet.
According to a November 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, livestock production creates more greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation industry. It is also expected that meat production is only going grow, continuing to pollute water and soil, as well as the air.
The Cruelty-Free Lifestyle
Michael Doss, a 30-year-old researcher from Santa Ana, Calif., has been a vegetarian for 15 years and has gradually incorporated more and more vegan products into his cruelty-free lifestyle.
“I know that I can sustain myself without having to rely on killing animals. There are a lot of ecological aspects to vegetarianism that really appeal to me, and I think that it's a better way to live. Personally, I also get a lower fat, lower cholesterol diet,” he said.
Luckily, going vegan can ease the pressure of many of these global issues for everyone, and the diet isn’t as hard to stick to as it might have been in the past.
“It seems to get easier literally every time I go to the grocery store. More and more meat and protein substitutes are popping up, and labeling has improved to make it easier to find out what's in the packaged and processed foods I like,” Doss said.
Vegan Products
Not only are vegan products being incorporated into regular chain grocery stores and specialty shops like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, online merchants like Pangea provide a 1-stop shop for many vegan products, including food, clothing and cosmetics.
Harbingers of a New Age offer vegan kibble for cats and dogs, as well as supplements, and provide literature and other information for animal owners who are interested in feeding their animal companions in a vegan way.
Sources:
FAO Newsroom: "Livestock a Major Threat to Environment"
Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine on the Ease of a Vegan Diet
