Vol. 58 No. 41 • May 9, 2017

Vegans are taking all over! It’s becoming trendy and fashionable to be vegan nowadays and many celebrities globally are supporting this trend. However, there is much more to a vegan diet than celebrity endorsements.

There is abundance of scientific research available that demonstrates the health benefits of a natural plant-based diet. Such a diet is rich in fiber, folic acid, vitamins C and E, magnesium, unsaturated fat, and phytochemicals. Vegetarians therefore have a low risk of high cholesterol & blood pressure, obesity and heart disease. Studies also indicate that vegans have a low risk of diabetes and cancer. While moving to a vegetarian diet, some individuals worry about their protein intake. Almonds, chickpeas, broccoli, lentils, spinach and tofu are all rich in proteins.

Furthermore, being a vegetarian can keep you away from many infections. Several microbes that cause ailments in human beings are becoming resistant to antibiotics. One of the reasons for this is an excessive use of antibiotics by the meat industry, which frequently feeds antibiotics to livestock animals from birth to slaughter to promote growth. Also, did you know that animals that you eat aren’t fed what they’re designed to eat? They are fed something that is cheap and makes them grow fast. Many might not know but animals are sometimes fed boiled and ground up remains of dead and diseased animals. This makes people who eat large quantity of meat products prone to diseases.

Finally, it is only an assumption that because animals have smaller brains, they suffer less than humans, as the ability to suffer is linked to intelligence. Studies indicate that animals too feel pleasure & sadness, excitement & resentment, depression, fear and pain. It is of course a matter of choice to hurt them or not.

By adopting a vegetarian diet, you can gift yourself ‘better health’. Also, if we want to reduce the human impact on the environment, eating less meat is the simplest and cheapest thing we can do.

Personally, I turned to a vegetarian diet 11 years ago and feel so much healthier and happier.

Healthy & Happy eating!