While there are many reasons to become a Vegan these days, here are 10 that I believe should be considered – have more that you think should be added? Comment below!

1. Health– The United State’s FDA (Food and Drug Administration) now recognizes both vegan/vegetarian diets are the healthiest diets of all due to low cholesterol and less health problems. If 20 vegans can live off the same land required by one meat eater. If Americans would simply reduce their meat consumption by 10%, that would free up 12,000,000 tons of grain. This would feed 60,000,000 people around the world.

2. Rain-forest – The land that is being lost now due to meat consumption and cattle grazing is destroying the rain-forest. This area is considered to be the lungs of the planet, which allows each human to replenish their own oxygen supply. Additionally, 25% of methane emissions is due to cattle farming alone – excluding chicken and other poultry, pigs and sheep farming.

3. Be environmental friendly –By being aVegan/Vegetarian you will help reduce waste and air pollution. A farms in Milford, Utah, that raises 2.5 million pigs yearly, produces more waste than the entire city of Los Angeles, this is just one farm. Each year, our nation’s factory farms, produce 2 billion tons of manure, a substance that’s rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the country’s top 10 pollutants. And that is not even taking in to account the amount of methane gas released by cows, pigs and poultry, which contributes to the greenhouse effect); the ammonia gases from urine; poison gases that emanate from manure lagoons; toxic chemicals from pesticides; and exhaust from farm equipment used to raise feed for animals.

4. Water – The water on earth is the lowest it has ever been, with 25 gallons of water needed to produce one pound of wheat and 2,500 gallons to produce only one pound of meat. Meat and dairy farming use 159,250,000,000 liters per year of water for their operations.

5. Weight Loss – Vegan and vegetarian diets are the only diets that work for a successful long-term weight loss program. Popular diets that promote meat consumption will eventually increase a person’s risk of becoming obese. Americans on meat and dairy diets have three times the obesity as vegans. Only 2% of those on vegan diets are obese. Fast food restaurants are quickly being targeted as the cause of childhood obesity. It is considered unhealthy and can eventually cause many health problems due to the emphasis on meat products.

6. Live Longer- Numerous University studies have found that vegetarians live about seven years longer than non-vegetarians, and vegans live on average about 15 years longer than meat eaters. Studies such as these are further confirmed by the Chinese Health Project, which is the largest population study on diet and health to date. The Chinese Health Study found Chinese people who eat the least amount of fat and animal products have the lowest risk of heart attack, cancer, and other serious diseases.In addition to this, proof comes from a British research group that tracked 6,000 Vegetarians and 5,000 meat eaters for 12 years to find that vegetarians were 40 percent less likely to die from cancer during that time and 20 percent less likely to die from other diseases. High Cholesterol – Meat diets go hand in hand with high cholesterol and cholesterol health issues. For meat consumers, the lowest cholesterol level is 150 while the average cholesterol for the average vegan is 128 as they do not consume any cholesterol. Studies are also connecting men with high cholesterol levels as having double the impotence problems as men on vegan diets. You will give your body a detox- Giving up meat helps rid the body of toxins (environmental pollutants, pesticides, and preservatives) that overload our systems and cause illness. Many of these additives cannot be assimilated and pool in various parts of the body.

8. Milk consumption– Milk consumption has been connected or tied to Crohns Disease, arteriosclerotic heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, infectious diseases, milk sickness, Parkinson’s disease, allergies, anal fissures, chronic constipation, ear infections, multiple sclerosis, and prostate cancer. You are more likely to get Crohns Disease with cows milk than if you were on soy milk. In factory farms, animals are routinely injected with hormones and stimulants to make them grow bigger and faster. Many dairy ranchers use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to enhance milk production, despite the fact that this chemical – which has been implicated in causing cancer and other diseases – shows up in milk. Animal rights- Animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, or any other reason. By going to a plant-base diet, We will be able to alleviate the needless suffering and deaths of animals, the damage done to the earths air and water pollution, the erosion of lands, waste of energy, and deforestation. Deprived of veterinary care, exercise, sunlight, and even the feeling the grass beneath their feet, these living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings, whose senses are so much like our own, suffer and die at the rate of millions per day, just so we can have burgers, patties, nuggets, and hot dogs. Deciding what we will eat, means choosing between the horrors of factory farming and respect for animals. Raising and eating meat leaves behind an environmental toll that generations to come will be forced to pay. Feedlots are crowded, filthy, stinking places with open sewers and choking air. The animals would not survive at all but for the fact that they are fed huge amounts of antibiotics. In some farms, cattle are fed “renders” – dead and grounded up cows. Modern high-pressure agriculture commonly keeps cows, calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other animals in overcrowded stalls, cages, crates, or sheds where they are often unable to turn around or take even a single step for their entire lives.

These animal cannot experience love and happiness. Instead they only feel loneliness, and fear. More than 25 billion animals are killed by the meat industry each year – in ways that would horrify any compassionate person. The average American meat-eater is responsible for the abuse and death of about 90 animals per year.

9. High Fiber – The vegan diet contains high amounts of fiber and phytochemicals, all necessary to keep the body healthy and boost the immune system. Vitamin C (oranges and grapefruit, guava, red and green sweet peppers, kiwi, and strawberries) is in many vegetables and fruits, which is an antioxidant and Vitamin E (fortified cereals, roasted sunflowers, almonds and hazelnuts, cottonseed and safflower oil, turnip greens, tomatoes, peanuts and peanut butter, and dark leafy vegetables) also in vegan diets can decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.

10. Food Poisoning – Infected meat and meat recalls involved 9.80% of the world’s food poisonings. Also, studies show that the clear wrappings in supermarkets and butcher stores are made with chemicals that lower sperm count in men; fur from animals contain formaldehyde which causes cancer; barbecued charred meat contains carcinogens, known to be a leading cause of cancer; and E coli comes from animal feces, usually found in hamburger. Avoid toxic chemicals 95% of pesticide residue in the Western diet comes from meat, fish and dairy products. Seafood, in particular, contain carcinogens (PCBs, DDT) and heavy metals (mercury, arsenic; lead, cadmium) that cannot be removed through cooking or freezing. Meat and dairy products are also laced with steroids and hormones that are injected into the animals to combat disease.