10 Reasons to Go Vegan
Whether you are an environmental guru, a going green goddess, or simply vegan-curious, there are always new ways to incorporate healthy choices into your life. Choices that not only affect you directly, but also affect the world around you. So as you sit down and reflect on 2022, and begin to consider your goals for the New Year, take a deep breath and ask yourself, how did I feel this year? What did I do to benefit my own health, the health of others, and the planet?
Though a fully vegan lifestyle may not be for everyone, we can still shop and consume consciously by choosing more plant-based foods and sustainable products. Incorporating vegan, cruelty-free, and organic values into your lifestyle and buying choices makes a big impact on you, our community, and the planet. Curious to learn more?
We’ve put together a list of 10 reasons to go vegan, or at least give it a try!
1. Helps save animals:
This may be the most obvious reason, but when you make the decision to pursue a vegan lifestyle, you are making a choice to protect the environment and wildlife around you. It’s estimated that on average every vegan saves roughly 200 animals per year (PETA). That’s a lot of animals to save while making a lifestyle change that benefits your health as well.
2. Benefits the health of our oceans:
Becoming vegan, or even making more plant-based choices, can significantly reduce the harm done to the vast and diverse ecosystems in our oceans. The commercial fishing industry kills thousands if not more creatures that call the ocean home, outside of those they are targeting. Their processes are also destructive to the entire health of the ocean ecosystem. Refraining from eating sea creatures means saving our ocean’s sharks, turtles, and dolphins among many others, preserving our ocean’s complexity, and keeping the ecosystem healthy and functioning.
3. Lowers the impact of climate change:
Switching to veganism means helping our environment with the effects of harmful climate change. 51 percent of our global greenhouse-gas emissions are produced by animal agriculture (PETA). Therefore, by cutting out meat and dairy you are lowering the percentage of greenhouse gases in our ecosystem.
4. Helps preserve our rainforests:
When you choose veganism you are choosing to take 20 times less land in order to produce food and feed yourself. It takes a whopping 56 million acres of land in order to grow and feed animals for us to eat, it only takes 4 million acres to produce enough plants for human consumption. That’s a big difference!
5. Lowers water consumption:
Changing to veganism helps to lower the overall use of the earth’s water resources. Replacing your next beef burger with a tofu one can be more beneficial than you think. It takes over 2,400 gallons of water to generate one pound of beef, but it only takes 244 gallons of water to generate a pound of tofu.
6. Veganism challenges you:
Doing something new can often leave you feeling defeated, but that’s the beautiful thing about change, you learn how strong you truly are. If going fully vegan seems like too great of a challenge, ease into it by cooking a vegan meal at least once a week. If you enjoy, switch to two and continue.
7. Benefits your overall health:
Plants are full of calcium, iron, and protein plus many other important vitamins. According to The Vegan Society, living a plant-based life can lower your chances of medical illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
8. Cuts down on pollution for human health:
When you switch to a vegan lifestyle you are effectively helping to lower pollution in our ecosystem. PETA studies show that animal waste releases airborne chemicals that can harm human health, resulting in possible immune and neurochemical problems. That means becoming a vegan not only helps your personal health, but the health of others as well.
9. Recipes are inexpensive to make:
Not only does eating vegan help to lower your chances of certain medical illnesses, it also can lower the cost of your grocery bill! Reader’s Digest found that you could spend an average of $4 a day on a vegan diet, making delectable meals that cost less than take-out.
10. Vegan food is tasty:
More people making the switch to go vegan means more delicious dairy-free and meat-free alternatives that are being created using plant-based ingredients. This makes the switch a bit easier. Take a trip to your local grocery store and browse around the health food section and see what plant-based alternatives are offered. It never hurts to try something new!
Considering experimenting with a vegan diet? We’ve deep-dived into all the benefits in honor of November being World Vegan Month, on the Holief blog. From skincare and wellness supplements to clothing, there are so many ways to incorporate plant-based choices into your life and make a difference.
Explore the blog to learn more!
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