Why Vegan is Best!
Discover the benefits of a vegan diet!
Health
In terms of nutrition, a well-balanced vegan diet contains all the protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy. It is low in saturated fat and free from animal protein, cholesterol and hormones – all linked to disease. A vegan diet can provide all the nutrients required for all stages of life, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence and for athletes too!
Compared to meat-eaters, vegans weigh less, have lower cholesterol, blood pressure and rates of type 2 diabetes. They have a 30 per cent lower risk of heart disease and lower cancer rates. Most cases of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and a third of cancers can be avoided by changing to a healthier diet, increasing physical activity and stopping smoking.
We don’t need saturated fat, animal protein or cholesterol. We don’t need trans fatty acids in processed foods or salt and sugar in their current quantities. We do need to move towards a plant-based, whole food diet containing a wide range of fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds for the nutrients that promote a long and healthy life and protect against disease. The same diet that is good for preventing cancer is also good for preventing heart disease, obesity, diabetes and so on. Changing your diet can have an enormous impact on health – for better or worse!
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Environment
What’s the connection between a Sunday roast and the loss of the Amazon rainforest? Soya… the vast majority of soya grown in the Amazon is used for animal feed so people can eat meat and dairy. Vegetarians and vegans eat a tiny fraction and if you want to be sure to avoid it buy organic.
Livestock farming requires vast amounts of land, water and fuel, harms biodiversity and leads to species extinctions. It devastates ecosystems, pollutes oceans, rivers, seas and air, uses up water, oil and coal and contributes to climate change. The United Nations’ report, Livestock’s Long Shadow, says livestock farming is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world’s transport combined (cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships and planes) put together! It takes far more resources to feed a meat-eater than a vegetarian or vegan; animal protein requires five to 10 times more water than vegetable protein. Leading scientists have issued stern warnings about global food supplies, saying that the world may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet to avoid catastrophic shortages.
Animals
Every year in Britain, over a billion animals face slaughter having spent their short lives in confinement, pain and misery. The growing demand for cheap meat, dairy and eggs has led to a drop in welfare standards as factory-farming methods intensify. Chickens crammed into sheds with no room for compassion, mothering sows routinely caged to deliver and feed and zero-grazing cows that never see grass. Organic and free-range alternatives are not much better, and they all end up being slaughtered for food. Turning vegan means you’re no longer a part of that cycle of death.
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