Veganism, the ultimate degree of vegetarianism: A lifestyle in which you avoid all animal products. Meat, milk, eggs and even the aromas in paprika chips are not vegan. Today, the first day of November, we celebrate World Vegan Day. But why should we eat plant-based more often? We will explain.
Animal friendly
“I do not see why someone should lose their life just so that you can have a snack”, Russell Brand says. Happily there has been a lot of commotion concerning the milk- and meat industry. Now there is strict control on animal cruelty and bigger punishments. Vegans want to minimize animal cruelty and therefore they avoid all animal products.
“I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just could not disconnect myself from it any longer.” -Ellen DeGeneres
Eco-friendly
Are you turning of the lights when leaving the room? Do you close the tap directly after using it? Good! But do you want to be even more friendly to the environment? Try to eat less animal-based products. A weekly steakmeal for you and your family harms the environment almost as bad as the average use of electricity in a family per year. Animal-based products are harmful for the environment because of the cattle feed. For one kilogram of meat, you need five kilograms of cattle feed. For the production of cattle feed you need land, fossil resources, water and energy. Plant-based products, such as beans, tofu and nuts are less polluting [1][2][3][4].
“One to change a few. A few to change many. Many to change the world. Starts with one.”
Health benefits
Animal products are not unhealthy, nor healthy. Animal products have some health benefits, for example the high amount of protein, iron, vitamin D and vitamin B12. Your body absorbs iron better from animal-based products than from plant-based products and you can find vitamin B12 only in animal products. For this reason vegans should take suppletion for at least vitamin B12. However, a plant-based diet comes more often with a healthy lifestyle. A vegan consumes on average more fruits and veggies and less saturated fats. Chronic diseases and overweight appear significantly less in a vegan lifestyle (The plant-based diet, 2011).
Will you be eating vegan today?
