Vegan Benefits that Make a World of Difference: When Living without Animal Products Goes Right

When most people think of vegans (pronounced vee-guns), they imagine someone subsisting on sprouts and lentil stew. But veganism is a rich lifestyle that encompasses not just diet but a host of choices that an individual makes to reduce cruelty toward animals and harm to the environment.

Vegans avoid any food, clothing, or other products that use or harm animals. Like vegetarians, vegans don’t eat meat, chicken, or fish but they take it a step further and steer clear of all animal products or byproducts. That means no milk, eggs, or honey in the refrigerator. It means no clothes or furniture that contain wool, down, silk, leather or fur. It also means no soap, shampoos, cosmetics or other personal products that are tested on animals.

Even those who are not yet ready to fully embrace the vegan lifestyle can benefit from learning about the way vegans eat. Because vegan diets are plant-based, they are healthier than more typical American diets filled with processed and high-fat foods with few nutrients. Vegan eating has many advantages, including:

More fiber  Dietary fiber aids digestion and helps protect the body from illness. In the body, fiber even limits the absorption of excess cholesterol. Vegan diets provide an abundance of fiber through fresh leafy green vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Less fat and cholesterol  The harmful saturated fat and cholesterol in our diets comes from meat, chicken, and dairy products. These foods and the fats they contain contribute to the thickening and hardening of arteries that lead to the nation’s number one killer, heart disease. Vegans avoid these fats and their health consequences by not eating flesh foods and their byproducts. They get the dietary fat that their bodies need from healthier plant sources. In fact, the whole grains, produce and beans that compose much of a vegan’s diet contain no cholesterol.

Lower risk of disease   Research shows that vegetarians tend to have lower rates of common chronic illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Dr. Dean Ornish, who founded the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, discovered that a vegetarian diet could help to not only stop the progression of heart disease but also reverse it. Vegetarians are also less likely to become overweight or obese, a health hazard that affects millions of Americans.

To begin eating more like a vegan, take baby steps, such as eating one non-meat meal per day for a week or two. Gradually increase the number of vegan meals over time until most or all of your diet is devoid of animal products. To make it easy, shop for convenience foods created for non-meat-eaters, such as those produced by Fantastic World Foods and Harvest Foods. If you like eating out, opt for restaurants that have vegan dishes on the menu or ethnic eateries that feature such dishes, like curries at Indian or Thai restaurants or Middle Eastern hummus and tabouli. Before long, you’ll reap the health benefits and see how effortless it can be to transform your lifestyle into one that is more wholesome and humane.

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