Being Vegan is Not Restrictive: Veganism frees from Disease & Death. Eating healthy is a hot topic these days.  It is more important than ever that everyone eat healthy.  While someone might look at a vegan diet as very restrictive, a vegan diet is a healthy diet, if properly designed.  There are many benefits of a vegan diet.  There are benefits of for the earth, for the animals, and most importantly, for the vegan.

First, a vegan is a vegetarian that does not eat anything that comes from an animal: not meat, not eggs or milk, or any related products.

The health benefits of being a vegan are many. Vegans tend to have a lower body mass, less heart disease, less hypertension, lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure.  Vegans also have less incidents of type 2 diabetes.  The reasons for these health benefits is that vegan foods are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and have higher levels of carbs, fiber, magnesium and antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E.

Animals that end up as meat at the store do not have a pleasant life.  They are kept confined, and denied veterinary care.  They are mutilated without slaughtered while fully conscience.  The photographs of these living conditions are horrid.  The farm is simply not what it used to be.

Being a vegan benefits the earth because meat factories are, when all is said and done, factories.  They pollute the environment and consume large amounts of diminishing resources, including water, grain, petroleum, and pesticides.

Becoming a vegan is not nearly as restrictive as it used to be.  There is an abundance of vegan food made to replace the meat that people are used to eating.  There are stores dedicated to organic, vegetarian and vegan foods.  Most grocery stores carrying a selection of such “meats” as burgers, sausage, bratwurst, hot dogs, chicken and sandwich meat that is made from soy.  There is also a variety of flavored milks, including vanilla, chocolate, soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk.  There are soy yogurt products, cheese products, and there are vegan egg products.

Whether someone is simply seeking to take advantage of the health benefits of a vegan diet, or has health issues already that they can benefit from changing to a vegan diet, it is well worth looking into relatively simple things that can be done to change to a healthy lifestyle.  It is also important to keep in mind, just as one must make a balanced diet when eating meat, one must make a balanced vegan diet as well.  The most common pitfalls of a vegan diet is eating too many carbohydrates, which result in weight gain over time; and not eating enough proteins.  As a vegan, proteins will come from soy products, as soy is high in protein.

There is no reason that a vegan has to feel deprived of good food that not only benefits the body, but the animals, and the earth as well.

Tags: animal-free, Animal-Rights, dairy Free, Lifestyle Choices, meat eaters, Recipes, vegan, vegan animal rights, Vegan Diet, Vegan Food, Vegan Health, Vegan lifestyle, Vegan Products, Vegan Support, Veganism, vegetarian, Vegetarianism