Benefits of Becoming Vegan

One of the most popular trends in the last decade or so is to change your diet. People are beginning to discover that processed meat and red meat leads to health risks, both in the short- and long-term. As such, more and more people are becoming pescetarians or vegetarians. Some are going even further, however, and eliminating all animal products. They are known as vegans. While many people think becoming a vegan is impossible, switching to a vegan diet can be a great life decision that has a huge positive impact on your health.

Physical Benefits

One benefit of switching to a vegan diet is reducing the risk of obesity and losing weight. This may seem obvious, as eating fruit as opposed to greasy hot dogs is definitely the healthier alternative, a vegan diet helps in other ways as well. Red meat, processed meat, and poultry all contribute to weight gain. In fact, according to one study, a person who eats about 250 grams of these meats a day was more likely to gain weight than somebody who didn’t even if their calorie intake was the same. Just because you make a change to a vegan diet doesn’t mean you will instantly lose weight, however. Replacing chicken with white bread and pasta can actually make you gain weight. Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and always choose to healthy alternative. This will help promote a healthy lifestyle and help you lose some extra weight, and keep it off at the same time.

Health Benefits

There are also many health benefits to be had by switching to a vegan diet. By eliminating all meat, dairy, and other animal products, you are significantly reducing the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat your body is consuming. This significantly reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. The consumption of meat has also been linked to gastric, prostate, and colon cancers, while women who consume meat have a much higher risk of breast cancer. Dairy has also been linked to cancer, particularly milk. By eliminating all dairy and milk, you are significantly reducing the risk of cancer. You do need to make sure you are getting enough nutrients, however, such as iron, protein, and vitamin B12. You will have to incorporate some supplements into your diet, particularly iron and B12, because almost all vegans are deficient in these areas. Because the iron from dried beans, spinach, and dried fruits is absorbed by the body differently than iron that comes from meat, many experts recommend that vegans consume double the amount of iron they were before. In order to reach this number, you will need to take supplements. Vitmain B12 is another issue. A B12 deficiency can lead to a number of health problems. Because there is no other way to consume B12, you will need to take a B12 supplement as well. While there is no doubt that switching to a vegan diet has numerous physical and health benefits as long as you ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients you need, and that you are not replacing meat and dairy with fatty foods that can actually make your diet less healthy than it was before.