If you told me a year ago I would become a vegetarian, I would have never believed you. I used to live off of chicken strip baskets, fresh seafood, and bacon. I always thought meat was the only way to get my vitamins and nutrients. I was never really opened up to the idea of a meatless diet until my friend took me to a local vegetarian festival. Over the past few months, I have learned a meat-free diet is the best thing for me and one of the best changes I've ever made, and I'd highly recommend you give it a shot. Here are some reasons why I think becoming a vegetarian is the way to go.
1. You are not putting any toxins in your body.
Something I never realized was that animal products have a lot of hormones which are not good for your body. Animals are fed with hormones to make the meat "better". These added hormones are not usually natural to humans, and adding them to your system could cause detrimental health effects such as cancer.
2. It's contributing to climate change.
It may sound strange, but meat production is a major cause of our goal climate change. Researchers have found that 51 percent of greenhouse gas emission is caused by animal agriculture. By moving towards a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle we can highly decrease those numbers, according to the United Nations.
3. You genuinely feel better.
In my personal experience, eating a meat-free diet has made me feel so much better. I find myself eating more and more fruits and vegetables, and less junk. When I was eating meat I'd always get that full feeling after each meal- you know the one where you need to sit on the couch for an hour or so- and now I hardly ever feel that way. I find myself always trying to get proper nutrients and therefore eat healthy most of the time. I also find that a meat-free diet shows you what you should and should not eat. There are a lot of foods out there that you should really avoid eating, and ever since I became a vegetarian I find myself avoiding those bad foods.
4. You are helping animals.
Many people know that what goes on in slaughter houses is not really a good thing. They say they "feel sorry for" the animals and that is is "just how life goes". But what many people don't know is how cruel it truly is. I will not get too much into it, but if you would like to see how bad the conditions really are, then take a look at the video linked below.
5. It can end world hunger.
This may seem like the craziest reason yet, but I can assure you it will prove to be the most valuable. There are estimates of over 900 million people who are suffering from hunger in the world. To be honest, it's due to animal production. Statistically, there is enough crops in the world to feed every person in this world, but unfortunately, most of our crop goes to feed animals at production farms. If all of us moved towards a plant-based diet, we would not waste our crops on feeding these animals who are not living in the wild, and would ultimately help to end world hunger.
These are just 5 of the reasons why all of us should consider becoming a vegetarian. It will be better for us all in the end.
