Health & Nutrition

Why I'm a Vegan

Although lots of people know what vegetarianism is, not many know what the term "veganism" means. Well, a vegan is a vegetarian that excludes all animal substances from it's diet. Most vegans don't eat eggs or dairy. Even though such a diet is natural for the human body, doctors suggest that vegans take lots of vitamins and supplements. Personally, I only take a Calcium + D tablet.

I've been on a vegetarian diet since August/Sept. '98, and I feel so much better than when I was consuming meat. The fibers in plant matter are much easier to digest and contain much more nutrients. I've also avoided consuming any dairy products. After doing research, I've found that giving up dairy was the first thing I should do because, even though tons of money is spent on advertising the importance of milk, there are many diseases linked to dairy consuption such as heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. And, from an animal rights standpoint, consuming dairy is cruel to the cows. Let's think about that for a moment...

What is milk for? Feeding young, right? And just how does a mother mammal go about making milk for her young? In order to produce milk, she has to be pregnant. Therefore, the mass production of milk at dairy farms means that the cows have to be constantly pregnant, whether that means being injected with birth control hormones or actually being pregnant. Doesn't that sound fun? Let's also think about this. Milk is for baby animals to feed off of until they're big enough to feed themselves. Why on earth would adult humans need to drink it? Did I hear you say "Calcium?"

The calcium that cow's milk contains is much coarser than average calcium and it's hard for the human stomach to digest. The sugars sit inside your stomach and become toxic with time. Many people often complain of indigestion after eating pizza or cheeseburgers. Lactose intolerance is a good example of the stomach's inability to digest dairy. Another thing that people think milk is good for is that it contains vitamin D, which is essential to the absorption of calcium. The vitamin D in milk gets burned out during pasteurization and it has to be chemically re-added. Although there are strict government regulations stating how much vitamin D should be added to the milk by dairy producers, the actual number varies greatly, from being too little to way too much.

Leafy vegetables, like spinach, contain lots of calcium, as do carrots, fruits, nuts, beans, tofu, and many other vegetables. Vitamin D is actually found in a lot more places, although it isn't usually found on labels. You can also obtain vitamin D from the sun, but remember to wear sunblock!! So that's my speil about milk. Here comes the meat!!

Most people say that if you want to become a vegetarian you have to make sure to have enough protein in your diet because you've stopped eating meat. In actuality, meat contains less protein than most other whole foods!! Meat farmers state that they give their animals only the best supply of grains to eat. Us, in exchange, believe that since the pig, cow, bird, etc., is eating so much protein, that their meat will be loaded with it. This is so far from the truth. The grains that the animals are fed contain more protein than the serving of meat you get from them. In a hunger crises standpoint, it's insane! Combining rice with beans or lentils will give you 43% more protein than a serving of steak.

The government spends so much money advertizing the importance of meat and dairy because there's a surplus in America. It takes acres more of land to produce meat and dairy products than it does to produce fruits and vegetables because the animals need so much food to graze on. This is one of the reasons that we have a population problem in America. There's too much land being given to meat and dairy farmers that could instead be used to grow twice as many fruits, grains, and vegetables.

You barely hear anywhere that a balanced vegetarian diet is probably the healthiest one out there. I'm not trying to preach, I'm just giving the facts that I've obtained. You can decide what's true. There are a lot of people who say how starved vegans look. However, most vegans, if they know what they're doing, eat a more balanced diet than "omnivores" do. The only difference is the lack of toxic fat that's found in dairy and meat. Being a human omnivore is also an unnatural existence. Carnivores, or animals that eat meat, have four sets of inscisors. How many humans do you see with tiger teeth? The human body lacks these teeth as well as sharp enough claws that would be able to kill an animal for consumption. I know that people think that since we have knives and guns that it's okay and right to do, but tools aren't going to change the human body.

I'm not trying to convert anyone to vegetarianism, but I'm just telling you why I'm a vegan. To me, it makes the most sense. If you're interested in researching a prospective vegan diet, I encourage you to read the following books:
Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover
Diet For a Small Planet

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