Why I Went Plant Based
Done with Dairy
Growing up I primarily ate frozen meat and cheesy things - as you can imagine, that caught up with me eventually. I began noticing my body's rejection of dairy in middle school but at the time I knew nothing about how harmful consuming dairy actually is. I would just swallow a pill that assisted my body in digesting dairy and continue on with the milk, cheese and ice cream. At school we would learn about the Food Pyramid or MyPlate which had dairy being an important part of your daily food intake but they never mention that only 25% of the world's population is physically capable of digesting dairy products. Recently, when my stomach really started to scold me for not taking better care of it, I cut dairy out for good and within a few weeks there was a noticeable difference in my bloating / discomfort. That was enough for me to decide that dairy was not made for ME to consume. It’s so important to listen to your body. If something is not reacting well with you in terms of your diet, there’s no need to get tested for an allergy. Just simply don’t eat it. Your body will do better than any test could ever do for something like that.
No More Meat
A few months later I started learning more about the negative effects that meat had on human bodies when my boyfriend was getting certified as a health coach and it came up a lot in his courses. I was eating red meat, an inflammatory, while taking anti-inflammatory pills for my joint pain. After watching Cowspiracy on Netflix my mind was made up for sure. I believed that meat wasn't healthy for your body but after seeing the impact of raising livestock on the environment along with the disgusting treatment of the animals, the thought of eating animal products suddenly nauseated me. The number of forests that are cleared to make room for raising livestock with no healthy way to dispose of animal waste is one of the biggest causes of the increase in greenhouse gases that are polluting our world. The animals often live in unsafe conditions and are surrounded by unsanitary or chemically altered sources of food and water. When a cow is sick or is eating pesticide covered grass, it still gets chopped up and fed to humans who are then eating whatever chemicals the cow had been exposed to. It's also just heartbreaking to imagine harmless animals standing / sleeping three inches deep in manure and muddy water. Basically, there's just too many questionable things about the meat industry and since there's no harm in me NOT eating animal products, it only makes sense to me to live plant-based. One of the best ways to decrease your carbon footprint is to go vegan. I know it seems like one person going vegan doesn’t make a difference but if everyone hops on vegan the band wagon the environment will soon be in much better shape.
Better Ways to get Nutrients
There are other ways to get any nutrients that are in meat without eating meat and dairy. Being plant-based has forced me to become more creative with what I'm eating. It's easy to get protein from tofu, beans, or almonds. There are so many more vegan sources of protein than those three. Calcium is in almond milk as well as leafy green vegetables, soybeans, beans, lentils and peas plus many more. It is so easy to eat filling meals without any animals being involved if you actually try. Maybe start by having mashed potatoes, rice and beans with some veggies mixed in for dinner instead of a steak. Adopting a vegan diet has been one of the most beneficial decisions I’ve ever made. I’m confident that it will improve your life too!
