Thinking of going vegan?

Thinking of going vegan?

 

 Vegan Chow Mein

The vegan lifestyle is definitely gaining in popularity. Many ask, what exactly is a vegan lifestyle? Primarily the diet precludes the ingestion of animal based food such as meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans also do not consume other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products and honey, and as a lifestyle, most do not use products that contain leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products. In essence, vegans are against the inhuman treatment of animals as a way of life, and their diet consists primarily of nutritious plant based foods, including vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds and fruits.

Besides a conscious animal humanity and consideration, there are other pluses to this diet and lifestyle, including a reduced risk of mortality from Type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and obesity. While a vegan lifestyle may be a big step for many, there is also the less extreme vegetarian diet which can include animal by-products yet excludes the consumption of meat, fish, or poultry. Sometimes this is the first step in going vegan.

In addition to animal humanity and personal health, there is another vital aspect of the vegan lifestyle that must be addressed; the lifestyle promotes the efficient use of natural resources and world conservation. This is so important as we increase as a population regarding our planetary resources.

An animal based diet is a tremendously inefficient use of our planetary crops as many people in this world still suffer from being undernourished. Over half of all world crops are used to feed the animals many of us eat. Is it worth it? In addition to the cruelty involved, our overall health and that of our planet is compromised as well. Over 60% of deforestation is of land converted to agricultural land, much of it used to raise livestock for consumption.

So you may ask yourself again, is it worth it to eat meat?

 

[author name="Carlyne Rachele" bio="Caribbean Travel Writer and frequent EyeDope Blogger" image="cr1.jpg" ] 

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