I was vegetarian for about five years—and about four months ago, I went vegan.

Since becoming vegan, I have done plenty of research about all the accusations meat-eaters make about plant-based diets and how horrible they are. I looked at veganism from environmental, health, and ethical standpoints. There have been times I wondered if vegetarianism was a better choice for me, but after learning so much, I would be wrong to ever voluntarily eat meat or dairy again.

I don’t want to focus on the ethical reasons because as a previous meat-eater and a more recent dairy consumer, I knew many of the ethical arguments behind veganism —and ignorantly persisted in my consumption of cheese and milk.

Instead, I would like to discuss the environmental and health reasons for veganism in hopes that you will realize the ways you’ve been deceived about meat and dairy your entire lives.

First, you can make a difference. Too many times I’ve heard that one person not eating meat cannot make a difference. To make one hamburger, 660 gallons of water are needed. To put that in perspective, one burger’s water exploitation is equivalent to the usage of one person’s shower usage for two months. So, if you stop eating burgers and other processed meat, you’re already making a difference.

To give even more perspective, the meat and dairy industry use one-third of the Earth’s fresh water. If you stopped eating meat, you wouldn’t have to worry about all the organizations raising money for the poor to have water. Water, as it should, would be in abundance all over the world.

Forty-five percent of the land on Earth is used to raise livestock for food—which means we could have more schools, shelters for the homeless, and literally anything else, with over a third of our planet’s land used to support the demand for animal food. Waste from a farm with 2,500 cows is equivalent to the waste produced by a city with 411,000 people. This is not a joke.

Now that I shared all the environmental information you probably didn’t know, here’s something else so many people obviously don’t know—no one in the United States, literally no one, has died from a lack of protein. Yes, you cannot live very long without protein. At most, you can live about two and a half months. But get this! You don’t need meat or dairy for protein! Now, there’s something you don’t hear every day.

Protein is in plenty of plant-based foods and if I listed them, I would bore you. In the United States, protein deficiency is not an issue we face—obesity is. Women need about 40 grams of protein per day and men need about 50 grams. For example, one bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich has 34 grams of protein. So, if you have any more meat or dairy for the day, you’ve already overeaten—and if you eat this way everyday, you put yourself at risk for heart attack and other health complications.

Another thing: you don’t need cow’s milk for calcium. There are plenty of calcium sources in a plant-based diet. Not to mention, a glass of soymilk has the same amount as cow’s milk.

For anyone who says humans are meant to eat meat, you’re also wrong. Humans have canines, yes, but they are nothing compared to those of felines and other known carnivores—which is why we use a knife and fork, and they don’t. In addition, our intestines are 30 feet long, while theirs are 15 feet long. That means, decomposed flesh (or chicken parmesan as some may call it) remains in our body for two times as long as it’s supposed to.

And that’s what meat is, at the end of the day. Many seem to forget that they are literally consuming the flesh of another being. How can veganism be considered extreme when you consider meat-eating in this perspective?

I really don’t mean to guilt anyone for their diet, as long as no one responds trying to guilt me for mine. But think about the ways in which you have been fooled all your lives. Why is this information so inaccessible? Why are we willing to feed the world animals instead of saving our planet and our lives?

It’s just a crazy thought to stop being ignorant and actually learn about this stuff. Do more research.