Choosing to live a vegan or plant-based lifestyle involves choosing a diet that excludes meat, dairy products, and other animal products. The amount of the population who have decided to choose a vegan lifestyle in the UK has increased fourfold between 2014 and 2019 and the reasons given for this shift in eating behaviors are primarily based on health and moral motives.
Yes, there are those who will have made the choice to follow this regime after taking a uk food intolerance test but the majority of people have been influenced by the many health benefits as well as the environmental positives this culture brings.
Environmental benefits of shifting to a plant-based diet
The climate crisis we are currently facing is extremely worrying and if we don’t change our habits the rising sea levels and increasing natural disasters will cause imminent dangers for millions of people.
It may sound like a lot but by choosing to live a vegan lifestyle one person can save about two hundred mammals a year! Furthermore, the process of meat manufacturing is exceptionally wasteful and is very harmful to the environment. Breeding, feeding, and slaughtering these animals uses vast amounts of land, food, and water and produces masses of waste and pollution. The production of plant-based meat also produces up to 90% fewer greenhouse gasses than the production of traditional meats. This means that by becoming vegan you can make a massive improvement to our worrying climate crisis.
What’s more, dairy milk is clearly better for the environment than cow’s milk. The manufacturing of these kinds of milk utilizes a reduced amount of land and less water, consequently generating reduced quantities of greenhouse gasses. The trees which are used to produce almond milk hold a large quantity of CO2 as they grow, therefore this milk is the safest for the environment as it expels the least amount of greenhouse gas.
An international shift to a vegan diet could reduce greenhouse gasses which are caused by food production by a massive 70% by 2050!
Health benefits of choosing a vegan lifestyle
Factory farming raises animals in tight, sometimes filthy conditions where the spread of bacteria and diseases is rife. Therefore, these animals are pumped with antibiotics which will slowly see the population become immune to a number of antibiotics we rely so heavily on.
It is evident that dairy products can cause complications to our digestive system, and also our immune system if we have an allergy. Dairy products can cause nausea, abdominal pains, bloating, weight gain, headaches, and rashes. Therefore, by switching to plant-based milk you will feel better and feel healthier.
Furthermore, research has indicated that a vegan diet can help to promote weight loss and more importantly reduce your risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. What’s more, it could decrease the chances of getting certain types of cancer, such as colon cancer. In addition, a plant-based diet could manage diabetes by lowering A1C levels.
Becoming vegan could save your life!
The evidence is plain to see, there are multiple benefits to changing to a vegan diet, not only for our environment but for our own health. In fact, a worldwide change to a plant-based diet could decrease mortality rates by 10% by 2050! That must be worth giving up a steak for?!
