Are there Different Degrees of Veganism?

Vegan living is the purest form of vegetarianism.  There are multiple degrees of vegetarianism, including some levels that do not eat meat but do eat byproducts such as diary.  A vegan is someone excludes any animal product or byproduct from their lifestyle.  A vegan does not eat any type of meat or any type of animal byproduct, nor do they purchase anything made from animals (like leather coats).  Many people are concerned that without any type of animal product, their diet will be devoid of the appropriate amount of protein but there are many healthy alternatives in a vegan diet, such as beans, nuts or any type of soy product.

Vegans do not include anything in their life resulting from an animal – this includes clothing, honey, gelatin, meat, eggs or dairy.  Vegans have very strong convictions regarding animal rights and believe that using anything derived from animals is ethically wrong.  By refusing to eat or use any animal derivative, vegans make a very strong political statement, one of the many benefits of a vegan lifestyle.

In addition to the ethical benefits of veganism, there are many health benefits to this kind of lifestyle.  Vegans are typically not overweight and if they do have weight gain are usually able to quickly reduce their weight and thereafter maintain it.  Maintaining a healthy weight greatly reduces risk of stroke or heart disease.  Heart disease is still the number one killer in the United States and there is a 40 percent greater chance that meat eaters will have cardiovascular disease than a vegan.  On average vegetarians live 7 years longer than a non-vegetarian and a vegan lives 15 years longer than someone who eats meat or other animal byproducts.  That, in itself, is a significant benefit.

Studies have shown that vegans generally have less risk of any type of degenerate disease than non-vegans.   By association with the food consumed and excluded from a vegan diet, vegans eat less junk food resulting in a low fat, low sugar diet.  In addition to the reduced risk of weight gain, this also results in lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

Eliminating meat from your diet and other animal derivatives cleanses your system.  More toxins are introduced into our body through animal products; increased fruit and vegetable consumption help rid the body of those toxins and provide antioxidants that build a healthy immune system.  Research shows that the combination of increased antioxidants and reduced toxins reduce your risk of cancer.  Multiple studies have concluded that plant based diets are much more equipped to fight off cancerous tumor cells than diets which include meat.

There is a monetary benefit to vegan living as well, which is not as well known.  Eliminating meat from your diet can save up to $4000 per year more than meat eaters.  In today’s economy, that is even more important than it has been in the past but in any economy, saving money is always good!

These are certainly not all of the benefits associated with a vegan lifestyle – there are literally hundreds of benefits.  The most visible are the increased health benefits, but the ethical and monetary improvements cannot be ignored.