Vegan Lifestyle, Why Go For It?

Today, heart diseases and cancer rates are getting high. These resulted mostly from unhealthy lifestyle and consumption of processed food products.

In a busy city, ready-to-eat food and flavored drinks are extensively available. Yes, they can fill you up and satisfy your taste buds at an instant but most of them are loaded with harmful ingedients which could chip away your health. Before you know it, you are already a candidate for lifestyle-related diseases.

Because of the increasing instances of deaths from lifestyle diseases and cancer, more and more people adopt a vegan lifestyle nowadays.

Veganism or vegetarianism is no longer just a diet fad but a solution to an epidemic.

There are many reasons why one should go for it — the obvious health benefits, discourages animal exploitation, and environmental recovery.

But for now, the focus of this article is improvement of health.

Vegan Diet

Before you jump into a big change in your diet, that is veganism, you have to fully understand what is a vegan diet.

Vegan diet is the practice of consuming of plant-based food products as a way of life. The aim is to avoid animal, or animal-derived products and other processed foods.

Nutrients and flavorings in animal products can be found in combination of different fruits and vegetables. For every non-vegan food, there is a plant-based alternative.

Availability

These foods are either prepared fresh from your own garden or from the supermarket.

In grocery stores, ready-to-eat vegan meals are provided with a proper label, vegan-friendly or made from meat-free kitchen. Be meticulous, check their packaging.

Top Health Benefits

1. No animal fats and oils
   By not eating animal products, you eliminate unhealthy fats in your diet — bad cholesterol, triglycerides among others. In effect, you prevents life-threatening cardiovascular diseases.
2. Fiber-rich
   Plants are extremely rich in fiber which helps maintain bowel health, manages weight and blood sugar levels.

3. Supports bone health
   By eating more fruits and vegetables, your blood maintains alkalinity which then support your bones. In addition, vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and boron from plants are all necessary for stronger bones.
4. Improves cardiovascular health
   Uh… duh.
5. Time-travel
   Plants contain so much nutrients which are very good for the skin. They are rich in antioxidants and anti-ageing substances that will retard ageing of your body — inside and out.

In short, vegan diet improves overall health and lowers mortality rates.

Nutritional Risks

Going fully vegan needs careful planning. It is advised to transform in a gradual manner… more slowly if you were a voracious meat and processed food eater.

The things you must avoid are deficiences of certain vital nutrients. The sudden switch to a vegan diet might cause lack of micronutrients to some degree.

Making a list of all plant alternative sources is advised. You must be vigilant and always be aware that you have enough iron, calcium, vitamins, proteins and minerals.

Consider the following guide.

For Vitamin B12 – fortified soy, sea weed, cereals, nutritional yeast

For Omega- 3 Fatty Acids – soy products, flax seeds, walnuts, canola oil and hemp drinks

For Calcium – tofu, tahini, green leafy vegetables, soy beverages, fortified cereals

For Vitamin D – fortified soy beverages, rice milk, fruit juices, spending adequate exposure under the sun

For Iron – dark green leafy vegetables, dry fruits, dried beans

For Zinc – whole grains, legumes, soy products, pumpkin seeds, nuts, fortified cereals

For Proteins – soy, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds