1. – It’s better for us.

Both in terms of disease prevention as there’s a growing body of evidence to link meat-eating, particularly red meat, with the growth of degenerative diseaeses like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

For example, one study indicates that vegetarians are 40% less likely to die of cancer than meat eaters.

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that vegans are lighter than meat-eaters, 5 units lighter on the body mass index (BMI) scale according to one study.

2. – It’s better for animals.

Many animals are kept in factory conditions and suffer their whole lives. To fully appreciate this point, watch ‘Meet Your Meat’ at the bottom of this post which covers each stage of life of animals raised for food.

Not only that, but the close proximity means that diseases can spread so antibiotics are regularly injected into animals which will end up in the meat on supermarket shelves.

3 – It’s better for the environment.

Farming animals has a massive impact on the environment, in terms of the amount of water that is used throughout the process as well as the amount of land needed for grazing which has resulted in massive deforestation.

For instance, in John Robbin’s book, Diet for a New America, he argues that giving up one pound of beef a year could save more water than if you stopped showering for 6 months!

My story.

The health factor was the key motivator for me to change to a vegan diet in 2006. I was never a great red-meat eater, but did love chicken as well as processed meats.

However, intuitively eating meat didn’t feel right to me, so I gradually reduced the amount of meat I was consuming, and learn’t about plant-based nutrition, adding more green vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds to my diet.

Discovering the world of raw and living foods and building my own knowledge of nutrition has helped me take my own health to a new level.

In short, the transition from a meat-based diet to a plant-based diet is very difficult at first and there are many ‘meat-substitute’ products that are very useful during the transition process.

However, there’s so much evidence to suggest that vegetarians who eat a very balanced diet and take appropriate supplements where necessary live longer, healthier lives and weigh less.

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