My wife and I have been vegan for a few years now. When people learn this about us we are met with a wide range of responses including:

“I could never give up cheese!”

“Why don’t you eat meat?”

“What does Vegan mean exactly?”

“I’ve heard a Vegan diet is healthy but I don’t know how?”

etc….

This post is intended to simply outline the “What”, “Why” and “How” of veganism.

What

From Wikipedia: Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.

I think that pretty well sums it up. But in case you don’t know, animal products include:

Meat (Fish, poultry, seafood, red meat, processed meat)

Dairy (Yogurt, milk, cheese, half and half, cream, buttermilk)

Eggs, anything else that comes from an animal

Why

There are 3 contributing factors in our decision to adopt a mostly vegan diet:

Personal Health Animal Ethics Environmental Impact

1. Personal Health

This is usually the most contested point and was honestly the one that took the most convincing for me. After all, humans have been eating meat for 1,000’s of years, how can it be that all the sudden eating animal products are bad for us? I could go on for an entire post just about the health benefits (and perhaps I will in the future) but for now I’ll stick to the key points that slammed the health argument home for me:

The Protein Myth: Most people believe we need to eat meat in order to get the necessary amount of protein our bodies need. But in fact, many plant foods have a higher percentage protein content than animal foods.

The truth is that as long as you are getting enough calories, you are likely also getting enough protein. After all, when was the last time you knew someone personally who had a protein deficiency? Now compare that to obesity or heart disease…

Most people believe we need to eat meat in order to get the necessary amount of protein our bodies need. But in fact, many plant foods have a higher percentage protein content than animal foods. The truth is that as long as you are getting enough calories, you are likely also getting enough protein. After all, when was the last time you knew someone personally who had a protein deficiency? Now compare that to obesity or heart disease… Heart Disease, Diabetes & Strokes: Dietary Cholesterol and Saturated Fats are key contributors to these diseases. Dietary Cholesterol is only found in animal products which also happen to be high in Saturated Fats, thus if you remove animal products from your diet you can almost instantly start to prevent and reverse heart related illnesses.

Dietary Cholesterol and Saturated Fats are key contributors to these diseases. Dietary Cholesterol is only found in animal products which also happen to be high in Saturated Fats, thus if you remove animal products from your diet you can almost instantly start to prevent and reverse heart related illnesses. Fat and Calorie Density: According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 66% of Americans are considered to be “Overweight” with 1/2 of those considered to be “Obese”. This can only be attributed to people eating more calories than they burn. The reason most people are gaining weight is simply because they are eating foods that have a high calorie density so their stomach stretch receptors (which notify the brain when you are “full”) are not being activated, even though they are eating more than enough calories:

The consumption of high calorie animal foods and oils is what leads to added stores of fat in the body which increases your chance of getting diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Also, being overweight or obese decreases energy, can lead to depression, etc. etc.

The simple fact is, you can easily have all of your nutritional requirements met with a Vegan diet so the only reason to not eat a vegan diet is the pleasure we get from eating animal products.

2. Animal Ethics

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to see what the life of a factory farm animal looks like: (WARNING: Graphic Video Showing Real Factory Farm Conditions). Spoiler Alert: it is terrible. For the longest time, I chose ignorance instead of learning the truth of how bad it is for animals confined to these conditions their whole lives. Out of sight, out of mind right? But once I saw it for myself, it was clear that my choosing to eat animals and be the cause of such intense suffering just because they taste good was no longer something I wanted to do.

I had to honestly ask myself this simple question:

“Why do I love and care for cats and dogs but pay money for the torture and slaughter of animals with the same levels of intelligence and abilities to perceive pain just for the pleasure of my taste buds?”

I found that I had no logical or justifiable answer. Do you?

3. Environmental Impact

I went into great detail about the environmental impacts of animal agriculture in my post about Earth Day so I’ll keep to the main bullet points of how it impacts our environment:

Transport – The animals and the supplies needed to raise them are transported long distances before ever reaching your table.

– The animals and the supplies needed to raise them are transported long distances before ever reaching your table. Water – Large amounts of water are used to grow the feed for animals and to quench their thirst.

– Large amounts of water are used to grow the feed for animals and to quench their thirst. Pesticides – Used to grow animal feed, they require large amounts of energy to produce. They also contaminate air, water and soil.

– Used to grow animal feed, they require large amounts of energy to produce. They also contaminate air, water and soil. Fertilizers – The use of fertilizers in feed production results in emission of greenhouse gases and contaminated runoff water.

– The use of fertilizers in feed production results in emission of greenhouse gases and contaminated runoff water. Feed Production – Half of all U.S. cropland is used to grow feed for animal production.

– Half of all U.S. cropland is used to grow feed for animal production. Grazing – An area seven times the size of California is devoted to animal grazing.

– An area seven times the size of California is devoted to animal grazing. Confined Feedlots – Animals packed into feedlots produce 500 million tons of manure a year causing water and air pollution emitting two potent greenhouse gases (nitrous dioxide and methane).

– Animals packed into feedlots produce 500 million tons of manure a year causing water and air pollution emitting two potent greenhouse gases (nitrous dioxide and methane). Slaughterhouses – 55 million pounds of toxic pollutants produced by 32 slaughterhouses were dumped into America’s waterways in 2009.

– 55 million pounds of toxic pollutants produced by 32 slaughterhouses were dumped into America’s waterways in 2009. Meat Consumption – The US produced 208 pounds of meat per person in 2009, 60 percent more than Europe.

Waste – 20 percent of all meat sold ends up in the trash.

Any person looking for a way to reduce their impact on the environment can easily accomplish this by simply avoiding consumption of animal products.

How

Now that I’ve covered the “What” and “Why”, some of you may be wondering “How do I transition to a Vegan diet?”. My simple answer is to suggest you visit the following link and they will explain exactly what to do:

Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet Guide – T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies

This site really is a fantastic resource for what to eat, what to avoid, sample diet plans, recipes and what to get at the grocery store.

The “Whole Food, Plant-Based” diet is one step up from a “Vegan” diet because it also encourages you to remove processed foods and oils which can be every bit as unhealthy as animal products.

My top suggestions for sustained success would be:

Eat a LOT of salads Get creative to include things like nuts, beans, avocado, raisins, oranges, berries, seeds, peppers, etc. You can find TONS of salad recipes online that are simple and quick to make but also very nutritious and filling.

Find a staple that you really like and is easy to make in bulk. For us, we go with a Chipotle style burrito bowl which includes at least one each of the following: Grains (Rice, Quinoa, etc.) Beans (Black, Garbanzo, Pinto, etc.) Leafy Greens (Lettuce, Kale, Collards, etc.) Extra Veggies (Avocado, Mushrooms, Corn, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, etc.) Seasoning/ Sauce

Use replacement products at first and then limit their use Things like “Vegan” hot-dogs, burgers, mac and cheese, pizza, etc. all help transition into a vegan diet and hit the ethics and environmental “whys” but most of them are still unhealthy. We eat them from time to time but much less than when we started out. The BEST veggie burger is the Beyond Meat Burger TGI Fridays!

Eat out less often and when you do, look at the appetizers and sides Most restaurants are offering more vegetarian and vegan options but if you find the choices lacking, look at the appetizers and sides. Most places will have a salad and offer vegetables as apps or sides. Eating a salad and some sides will not only be healthier, it will probably be cheaper than getting a full meal too! Remember, the joy of eating out is having someone else cook and just spending time in a fun place with friends. These things can still be done by just ordering a salad and some sides.

Think of it as “Addition” not “Subtraction” You will inevitably miss some of the old foods you enjoyed so instead of focusing on what you are missing out on, think of it as an opportunity to try new things. I would have never guessed that Coconut Veggie Thai Soup and Avocado, Cucumber Sushi Rolls would be two of my favorite foods but here were are. Get out there and try some new things!

Continue your Vegan Education! Making the leap at first can be exciting and fun as you try new things but unless you have unwavering will power, you may start to fall off the wagon at some point. For me, I needed to revisit the information from time to time in order to refresh my “Why”. Some great films worth watching would be: Forks Over Knives What The Health Cowspiracy Vegucated



I hope I’ve opened your eyes to Veganism and encourage you to give it a try for at least a couple weeks. You’ll be amazed how quickly you start to see and feel the benefits! If you have any questions or are looking for support, just leave a comment or hit me up on Facebook or Instagram!