When a lot of people hear the word vegan they instantly think of some hippie with dreads that praises the dirt like it has its own personality. I am not one of these people. I chose to go vegan based on the idea of my health. I have watched plenty of the food industry documentaries like Food Inc. and Forks over Knives but nothing made me really want to “convert” to veganism till I just realized the food I was putting in my body wasn’t the best.

As much as I love eggs and cheese and meat I realized that I always had this sense of feeling heavy afterward. Even if I didn’t eat that much I would still feel more sluggish than I would if I had eaten a salad, fruit, or vegetables. And as soon as I started eliminating animal products from my life I immediately felt better. And if you don’t believe me try it for yourself.

Another deterrence that drives people away from veganism is the difficulty of giving up the foods you love and finding enough protein in your diet without meat. But in reality, you probably eat too much protein anyway. Your diet is supposed to consist of 10%-12% of the calories as protein-based calories. When the average meat eater eats about 18%. Vegans lie in between the desired percentage. Almost everything we eat has some sort of protein in it.

There are hundreds and hundreds of vegan recipes that are extremely easy and affordable. Also, there are a lot of substitutes for the things you love. There’s vegan cheese, vegan eggs (who knew), vegan meatballs, soy yogurts, and anything you can think of. And why be vegan if you can get the real thing? Because vegan products come from plants, strictly plants. The proteins produced from animals contributes to plaque buildup in arteries and is often the cause of heart attacks and strokes.

There have been many studies that have been done that have successfully linked a correlation between health problems and meat eating based diets. In today’s society, there seem to be more processed foods than organic products that fill the shelves. But the more people buy these products, the greater the demand is and the greater the production. The food industry has turned into something much different geared towards mass production. In reality, this reduces the production quality and ends up producing animal products that are harmful to human health.

Not only does being a vegan help with my health but it also reduces my carbon footprint on the world. And at the end of the day, it’s nice to know that I’m sparing animals mistreatment and abuse from the demands of today’s food industry.