Vegan diet is one of the most popular and widespread diets, millions of people around the world already follow vegan diet for different purposes.
Also, researches have shown that lately, the amount of vegan people in the world is in continuous increase.
Even though a lot of people follow vegan diet, however a lot of people do not well understand it.
What does going vegan mean?
Vegan diet is actually a type of vegetarian diet which excludes any meat derived products in addition to meat itself.
Accordingly, a person who follows a vegan diet is not able to eat eggs, milk, butter, yogurt or even honey.
In addition to not eating meat or meat derived products, going vegan is also about not using any products manufactured using animal parts. For example:
- Fur
- Leather
- Animal glue
- Silk
- Wool
Why would someone go vegan?
In fact, people who decide to go vegan are not just following the trend.
On the contrary, they are people who have different reasons behind this decision.
The reasons behind going might be:
1. Saving Animals
One of the main reasons why a lot of people decide to follow veganism is saving animals.
Vegans find killing other living creatures in order to get your food is something inhumane, especially, when you have other substitutes to get your food.
Actually, every vegan saves about 200 animals per year.
2. Saving The Environment
Unfortunately, production of meat is one of the causers of pollution, wastes and climate change.
This is why people who seriously care about the environment are mostly vegans.
3. Saving Money
Another reason for going vegan is saving money, no need to mention that red meat, poultry and also seafood are way more expensive than fruits, vegetables and legumes.
Actually, some vegans say that they spend half the money they used to spend on food before going vegan.
So, a lot of people find it a successful idea to get enough food, nutrients and also save a lot of money.
4. Saving Health
Here is another main reason for going vegan, most of people decide to go vegan in order to stay healthy and keep diseases away.
They think that meat is full of toxins and bacteria and can cause a lot of diseases.
Going Vegan Health Benefits
In addition to being a way for saving animals, money and environment, going vegan also has a lot of health benefits.
These benefits include:
1. Reduces Risks Of Heart Diseases
Heart diseases are from the most serious and life threatening problems around the world.
In fact, eating a lot of meat can be one of the reasons for heart diseases.
Researches have shown that people who follow a vegan diet are at a 40% decreased risk of dying from heart diseases.
2. Protects Liver And Kidneys
Not only for the heart, meat is also not totally safe for your liver and kidneys, especially when you consume a lot of it.
Therefore, people who follow vegan diet are clearly at a lower risk of liver and kidneys failure.
3. Reduce Risks of Diabetes
As a matter of fact, diabetes in one of the most common diseases on the world.
Unfortunately, a diabetic person is not able to eat whatever he wants.
Actually, studies have shown that people who follow a vegan diet are at about 68% lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes.
4. Reduces Risks Of Certain Types Of Cancer
When you stop eating meat with its different kinds, you are protecting your self against different types of cancer, such as:
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colon cancer
Studies have actually shown that vegans are at 15% lower of dying from cancer.
5. Strengthens Hair
A girl’s hair is her crown, each girl looks for a strong and thick hair.
Actually, most of people who went vegan said that veganism provided them with a stronger hair.
6. Strengthens Nails
Breaking and weak nails is one of the most annoying and common problems between girls.
Just like hair, vegans say that veganism provided them with stronger nails.
7. Healthier Skin
Veganism also gives you a healthier and a clearer skin, since going vegan requires relying on more vegetables, fruits and nuts.
Also, it requires stopping meat and dairy products.
So, as a result, it makes your skin healthier and more good looking.
Can Veganism Help Weight Loss?
In fact, a lot of people decide to follow vegan diet just to lose weight, they do not really care about animals lives nor health benefits.
However, they only want to lose weight, but, is vegan diet able to make them lose weight?
The answer to the previous question is yes! As another benefit to veganism is that it helps in weight loss.
Since veganism depends on fruits, vegetables and nuts which are full of fibers and low in fats, therefore, it allows the body to lose weight.
According to researches, vegans can lose about 7.5% of their body weight in six months.
Why would going vegan to lose weight not work?
Going vegan and cutting off meat do not mean that you will definitely lose weight.
However, there are a lot of mistakes that vegans do that prevent them from losing weight.
These mistakes include:
1. Eating Too Much
We can not deny that fruits, vegetables and nuts are already the reasons why veganism helps weight loss, but, when anything exceeds its limit, it causes negative results.
Therefore, eating too much fruits, vegetables or nuts might also be the reason for stopping your weight loss process.
2. Not Getting Enough Protein
A lot of people think that cutting off meat means not getting enough protein anymore, which is totally incorrect.
Actually, protein exists in a lot of vegetables, fruits and nuts, the problem is that you do not pick up the right food to get your sufficient protein intake.
Protein makes you feel less hungry and is also necessary for building your body, try to focus on getting more protein everyday.
3. Having Extremely High Expectations
Even though going vegan helps in weight loss, however, it does not mean that it will give you magical results!
So, having really high expectations will make you end up frustrated, accept the fact that things take time and effort and set yourself realistic goals.
4. Not Exercising
Going vegan alone is not enough for weight loss, you still need to exercise to allow your body burn fats and to get a shape.
You can join the nearest gym or even workout at home.
5. Not Drinking Enough Water
Not getting enough water is one of the most common mistakes, we all forget to drink enough water throughout the day because we are too busy to remember.
But, drinking enough water has a lot of benefits, one of these benefits is that drinking water makes you feel full and reduces the portions you eat.
7. Having A Mental/Psychological Problem
Depression, anxiety, stress and bad mood, these are all cases that can stop weight loss.
They can be reasons why you eat more or that your body can not burn food.
In both cases, if you felt that you are suffering from one of these problems, then, do not ignore it and visit a psychiatrist as soon as possible.
The Bottom Line
Losing weight is one of the most annoying problems to a lot of people.
If you do not suffer from this problem, you definitely know someone who does.
A person who suffers from overweight is always searching for a solution to try.
As a result, you find a lot of overweight people following the vegan diet, actually, it is a good choice if you knew how to follow it correctly, and how to avoid the common mistakes, you will get a pleasant result.
