June 27, 2012

Benefits of a Vegan Lifestyle


"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." – Albert Einstein

There is a stereotypical image of a ‘vegan’ as being a hairy, stinky hippy who wears potato-sacks and eats only lettuce and tofu. But, this is not true. Veganism is becoming more and more fashionable and is being adopted by many celebrities such as Alicia Silverstone, Pamela Anderson and Paul McCartney. Intellectual and famous genius icons in history such as Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Pythagoras, Sir Isaac Newton and Vincent Van Gogh all lived vegan lifestyles.  Is this an obvious message to us?

Veganism is a lifestyle where a person does not consume or use any animal-based products. For example, a vegan will not consume food that includes any animal products, such as dairy, eggs, meat etc… A vegan person will also not support animal products for the use of clothing such as leather, silk and wool. This can be due to cruelty/ethical reasons or maybe for health reasons. Personally, I decided to go vegan for ethical reasons. I had researched what happens in the meat industry and I was so shocked and distraught by what I saw, that I just had to give up animal products. This was a personal choice.  Starting off with small actions such as switching from dairy milk to a plant-based milk such as soy milk or almond milk will make a huge difference to your body. So, do some research and become informed so that you can make decisions that are right for you ^-^. 

The American Dietetic Association explains: "Vegetarian diets are often associated with a number of health advantages, including lower blood cholesterol levels, lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure levels, and lower risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) and lower overall cancer rates."

Here is a summary of some of the main benefits of undertaking a vegan lifestyle:

Personal Benefits
  • Assists with weight loss – prevents obesity
  • Lowers cholesterol levels
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Helps prevent cancer
  • Assists with body image and looking good
  • Prevents heart disease
  • Reduce the risk of food poisoning
  • Can assist with relieving menopause symptoms
  • Can give you more energy
  • Reduce constipation and haemorrhoids
  • Helps prevent kidney stones and gallstones
  • Assists with the prevention of diabetes, arthritis and gum disease
  • Live longer

Environmental benefits
  • Reducing pollution
  • Avoiding the use of toxic chemicals
  • Save animals lives
  • Water conservation
  • Reduce the use of fossil fuels
  • Save the forests

Financial benefits
  • Prevention of health care and medical costs
  • Reduce grocery costs by not purchasing expensive items from the meat and dairy aisles

Mental benefits
  • Knowing that you do not support factory farming
  • Peace of mind
  • Helping animals and not supporting animal cruelty

18 comments :

  1. You are quit right, my friend! :) Well stated!

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  2. Hi Madison! I love your blog and drawings. I'm thinking of starting my own and would like to feature my husband's drawings in my header. Is there a particular way to set it up? In other words, how did you get your drawings in your header? If you could direct me to any info on it, I'd appreciate it. Thank you so much for any help!

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    1. Hi Marie. The whole banner is an image. So it was all drawn in the same program, including the font. Then in blogger there is an option to upload a banner instead of having a text header :) Good luck!

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  3. I can not agree more with everything you said! I quit eating meat and only used cruelty free products when I was 15 years old after seeing one of the videos of what a pig who lives in a gestation crate's life was like. I immediately started crying and ran downstairs to tell my mom that I was never eating animals again. And now, 5 years later I made the switch to veganism and I am loving the way it makes me feel to be doing everything I can to help animals. It takes some time to cut out all animal products but if you start one by one you do realize that it is extremely easy and rewarding to not only you but every animal's life you are saving. Love your blog and I can't wait to try out one of your yummy recipes!!! :)
    -Stephanie

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    1. Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for your comment. I loved reading about your progression to veganism and why you cut out meat. Thank you and I hope you do try some of our recipes :)

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  4. Hi Im not actually a vegan.. I'm seriously considering it tho. The reason Im making this life decision is because my dad started caging bunnies. he would sell them, eat them, and even breed them. He constantly tries to make me eat it and i refuse. I freed them, hoping they can have some sort of chance. Anyway thats why Im making this choice. Any advice or tips to help make it easier, i would be so grateful :)
    -Casey

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    1. Hi Casey,
      Wow, that would be tough. Good on you for making such a loving and kind decision. My tips would be to follow some of our recipes and get used to vegan cooking. Find your favourite milk substitute, look at egg substitutes, read about the benefits of veganism and start having fun with cooking! :) Feel free to email us with any questions.

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  5. Hi, thank you for your great post. I love that picture where is lifestyle. The expressions.. so good :)

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  6. Good post. I really believe that health changes and you become more positive eating vegetables. I feel great:)!

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    1. I completely agree! I feel great and more positive too :)

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  7. Thank you so much for this blog! I am a college student and have a difficult time finding vegan meals on campus, especially deserts. So, finding recipes such as the two-minute brownie was a lifesaver.

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    1. Oh our pleasure!! I am really glad that Veggieful is helping you :)

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  8. Thanks for the recipes. I'm not actually vegan but because of my religion we fast vegan for nearly half the year, I'm orthodox by the way. I do love the food and often think of going vegan but find if really hard so i was so happy to find this page and I'm using it as a support page for myself.

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    1. Hi there! Thanks for your comment and kind words :) I hope you love our recipes!

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  9. Poor sweet animals :(
    http://live-counter.com/animals-killed-worldwide/

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  10. Changed to Vegan lifestyle and loving it!!!

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  11. Our family, friends, work; media all form the approach to life we tend to live. Some ne'er get the chance to be exposed to something completely different and simply develop habits that suffer them until death.

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