Today I want to share with you why I’m vegan and eat a plant-based diet. I have been vegetarian by choice since childhood and switched to a completely vegan diet about 3 1/2 years ago. Since that time I’ve focused on eliminating unhealthy foods and enjoying a whole food, plant-based diet. There are many reasons to go vegan and eat a plant-based diet, let’s get started.

What is a vegan?

First, let me explain what a vegan person believes. Someone who chooses to identify as “vegan” is someone who is making a statement to the world that they are not ok with using animals for food, clothing, or labor. Some vegans are ok with using second-hand animal clothing and goods which I am because I believe it is more disrespectful to throw these items away. My goal is to do my best each day in respecting life, to the best of my abilities.

What is a plant-based diet?

You can eat vegan without being vegan, this is called eating a “plant-based diet”. Many people eat a plant-based diet, especially people who are referred to this diet by their doctors, and do not consider themselves “vegan”. This is ok. I believe that taking the first step in eliminating animal products from our diet is a great contribution to not only an individual’s health, but it also makes a huge impact on the sheer number of animals who are being used for food for humans.

My hope for this article is to share with you my personal reasons for going vegan. Maybe you will not agree with me, or you will find yourself feeling reluctant to hear my words. That’s ok. Read what is of interest to you, skip what is not. Please share your thoughts in the comments below so we can have a great discussion about this important topic.

I understand that many people have a negative reaction to the word “vegan”. I myself used to believe that going vegan was extreme. However, once I started thinking more about everything that goes into eating animals and their secretions as food, I started changing my perspective and my life has been better because of it.

Why did I go vegan?

I went vegan for a variety of reasons, here’s the most important reasons I choose to switch to a vegan lifestyle:

God

I believe that God does not want us to harm any living beings without good reason. I do not believe that God wants us to indulge in gluttony at the expense of others, including animal beings.

Non-violence

I believe in the yoga philosophy of “ahimsa” which essentially means to live a “non-violent” lifestyle. I believe that taking the life of another being for no other reason than to eat it’s body during a time when there is plenty of other food available, is an act of violence. I believe that forcing animals to do labor for us, such as produce milk and eggs, is an act of violence and oppression.

Kindness

I believe that choosing non-violence is an act of kindness. I believe that kindness is how we achieve peace in our lives and in our communities.

Respect

I believe that being respectful is important. Being respectful to other humans, animals, our things, other people’s things, and our planet should be the priority. Respect is how we achieve peace in our lives and communities. I believe that respecting the sanctity of life is at the core of building peaceful communities.

Health

I believe in respecting my body and focusing on health as a priority is an act of worshiping God. When I’m healthy I can focus on being of service to others, which is what God wants us to do. When I’m not healthy my focus becomes myself. I believe it is important for our community to focus on being of service to others because this creates peace and harmony.

It is a fact that those who consume a healthy, whole food, plant-based diet are overall in better health than those who choose to consume animal products on a regular basis. Animal products contain estrogen, cholesterol, and no fiber. The combination of these pollutants with no fiber to help remove them, causes buildup in our bodies and decreases our ability to fight off illness. This leads to many diet related illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Our bodies already produce estrogen and cholesterol, there is no need to add more.

My goal is to live a long and healthy, able-bodied life and what I eat each day determines if I will meet my goal or not. Additionally, I want to be alive for a long time for my family, and I want to be healthy and feel great each day so that I can be of service to my family.

Clear skin

Prior to cutting dairy out of my diet I was eating cheese all the time. Basically everyday, sometimes three meals a day. What I didn’t know was how this was affecting my skin. I suffered from acne my whole life, however once I cut out dairy products from my diet, and then added oils, my skin has cleared up and I do not get acne. This alone is just a great benefit because I can feel confident in my appearance.

Another thing I have learned since is that regular acne can be a sign of cancer. Learn more about this by listening to this podcast episode from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Environmental pollution from feces

When I started to do more research on the topic of animal agriculture, I was shocked at how animal agriculture causes problems in our environment. I’m not going to debate climate change, however one very obvious problem is that it is causing is the sheer amount of animal feces that is flooding our lands.

Animal agriculture does not process animal waste like we do with human waste. Instead, often times these animal farms allow the feces to run out into rivers, fields, and some even spray the feces into the air over a field to disperse it. This is causing serious health issues for people who live near these factories. For this reason alone, I cannot support this system of creating food.

Feeling great

Choosing to go vegan helps me feel great each day. This is a combination of things, including:

• Knowing I am serving God each day by protecting those who cannot defend themselves (i.e. not purchasing animal products).
• Taking care of the body that God gave me so that I can be of service to others.
• My body does not have to process out all of the extra estrogens, cholesterol and other toxic substances that are found in animal products. Instead, my body can focus on maintaining health and functioning as it was intended. When I was eating animal products, such as dairy and eggs, each day my body had the burden of processing these substances. This lead to many issues, such as mood swings, feeling puffy and not flexible, as well as being overweight and sluggish. Instead, my body is not overweight, my moods are stable and my body is able to do many things that were once a drag.

Easier and cheaper meal prep

Lastly, eating plant-based foods is overall:

• Less expensive (grains, beans, vegetables are all less expensive than purchasing animals as food)
• Easier to store foods (no big freezers, etc)
• Easier to clean (no salmonella from meat and eggs)
• Quicker meal prep (no hours of roasting meat to get it to a temperature it is safe to eat)

I’m sharing this post today with the hopes that it will inspire you to evaluate if eating animal products is serving you. Is it worth it? And, what would your life be like if you focused on feeding your body the foods it needs to thrive?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Sincerely,

Chef Veronica

Further reading:

For more information about plant-based diets I encourage you to check out the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website, PCRM.org, as well as their awesome podcast at PCRM.org/podcast.

• How (and why) I kicked my addiction to oil
• Here’s the science behind why added oils are bad for our bodies
• 5 vegan meal plans for beginners
• Here’s 6 reasons to make your own plant milk at home
• [Printable] Daily Meal Tracker – track your daily intake and plan your meals with this tool!

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