Real men don't eat meat: Column Why this veteran Marine and police officer went vegan.

Robert Atcheson | USA TODAY

I fall pretty squarely into the stereotype of an all-American tough guy.

I grew up on a farm in Iowa, where I helped my family raise and slaughter hogs and cattle before moving into a town of 50 people. For a time, we ran a restaurant that served standard greasy-spoon fare: bacon, burgers and fried chicken. At 19, I left home to spend four years in the Marine Corps, then joined the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. I worked on the MPD’s Fugitive Task Force apprehending suspects wanted for murder, robbery and rape, and later supervised the presidential escort unit. I was eventually promoted to captain and retired after 25 years of service last fall.

For years I drank and smoked. I still pump iron and drive a big pickup truck I call Bruno. At work and at home, I’ve always been a strict disciplinarian.

So when my teenage daughter told me she was going vegan several years ago, I did what many tough parents would do when faced with the same situation. I gave her a simple choice: Either eat the food I cook for you, or get out of my house.

Today, I have the same rule for everyone who enters my home. Except the food I now cook is 100% vegan — no meat, eggs or dairy. If I had things my way, everyone in America would make a similar choice. What prompted the change?

I’m a no-nonsense guy, the chief cook and bottle washer at our home. While I ridiculed her for it at first, my daughter’s decision got me thinking. I started to read books on the subject, trying to find the flaw in her argument. It turns out that her facts were supported by experts on all sides: doctors, researchers, dietitians, fitness gurus — everyone except the meat industry itself.

And I thought of my own relatives. My dad had seven stents put in his heart and died of a heart attack at age 69. My mom, who has type 2 diabetes, had quadruple-bypass surgery in May. At family get-togethers, I cringe each time my family members pop pills and stick their sides with insulin needles while telling me — without missing a beat — that they could never give up meat and cheese.

Most Americans would say the same. The state of America’s health today is, as I like to say, FUBAR (to put that more politely: fouled up beyond all recognition). We are now more likely to die from poor diet than from anything else. Rates of diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity are off the charts. So is the amount of money we spend treating these diseases: about 75% of the nation’s $2 trillion health care bill in 2012.

The problem plagues not only American civilians but also our military and police forces. Obesity is the No. 1 cause of military ineligibility, and according to Mission: Readiness, a group of 300 retired military generals and admirals, it costs the Department of Defense about $1 billion annually. Chronic diseases also disproportionately affect veterans: One in four has diabetes, and nearly 80% are overweight or obese.

Cops are no better off. Law enforcement is the fattest profession in America, according to an analysis of data from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Doughnut jokes aside, more than 40% of police, firefighters and security guards are obese. Police officers are 25 times more likely to die from weight-related disorders such as heart disease than from fighting crime.

I retired from the police force at age 50. If I had the same lifestyle and eating habits as most of my colleagues, I could expect to be dead in five to ten years.

It’s ludicrous that those responsible for protecting the people of this country are themselves in dire need of protection — and from entirely preventable diseases, no less. Because I don’t eat animal products, my risk of cancer is a fraction of the average. I weigh the same today as I did at age 21. I’d bet my life savings that unlike many of my family members — and fellow jarheads and cops — I will never get heart disease or diabetes.

As a police captain, I was known as a hard-ass, take-no-excuses kind of guy. Once I went vegan, I gave my officers a message I’d like the whole country to hear: When you eat meat and other animal products, you’re playing a losing game of chicken with your health. It takes courage and discipline to ditch that crap and clean up your plate.

So do what I did, and what many of my best officers eventually did, too: Trade in that morning doughnut for a smoothie. Swap that chicken sandwich for a black bean burger. Your health — and your family — will thank you.

Robert Atcheson is a former captain in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department who retired in late 2014 after 25 years of service.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors.To read more columns like this, go to the Opinion front page.