Going vegan was a decision that changed our lives in many aspects, we would like to share with you all the advantages of veganism, which is not a diet, it is a way of life.
Being vegan is refraining from consuming or using products and services of animal origin or that involve their exploitation.
For about 6 years we had changed certain habits in our diet incorporating a greater part of legumes, vegetables, fruits and seeds, and eliminating meat almost completely, but it was just over a year ago when our head clicked and we decided to go completely vegan.
It is true that we love animals, you can see on our social networks the photos of dogs that we have, but it is also true that our change at first was for health. They recommended this book to us: THE CHINA STUDY, and those of you who have read it already know what we are talking about, if you have not done so, just tell you that it is the largest and most complete study on nutrition. The next and last click that made our heads was when we saw THE GAME CHANGERS documentary, and it was what really made us make the change.
Once inside you realize without the blindfold of the barbarities that we make animals to feed on them or how polluting the livestock industry is.
That is why we have decided to write this blog post and give you the 6 most important reasons to choose veganism.
1 Health
There are plenty of studies that show that the consumption of animal products is associated with multiple diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis… and that all of them can be prevented with vegan or vegetarian diets.
When we consume dead animals we do not introduce the same level of energy into our body as when we do it with fresh vegetables or fruits, at the moment you start veganism, you notice that your energy levels go up, digestion is also much less heavy. WE ARE WHAT WE EAT.
Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products such as red meat, cow’s milk and dairy products such as cheese. These clog arteries and create cholesterol, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
2 Deforestation
In the last 25 years, an area equivalent to the territory of India has been deforested, more specifically in America the Amazon, and it is used for cattle grazing.
We cannot live without forests, they are fundamental to our planet and to our lives. They regulate the carbon in our atmosphere, preserve the quality of the soil and thanks to its biodiversity many ecosystems prosper.
A global plant-based diet would return to nature the equivalent of 62 Spains.
The plant-based diet only needs a third of what the carnivore needs.
You already know that from Lawak we contribute directly to reforestation with LAWAKTREE, we send a small tree with each order so that our clients can plant it and also feel part of the change.
3 Reduce water consumption
Agriculture requires much less water than livestock. In addition, livestock farming uses 35% of farmland and 20% of fresh water to produce feed and feed livestock.
Livestock in Spain consumes as much water in one year as all households together in two decades. Two thirds of the livestock farms in the Ebro basin pollute the aquifers on which they are built.
The Spanish agriculturalsector is the main consumer of water, with around 84%, largely due to irrigated crops that are used for produce food for livestock (66% of the cultivated area in Spain has this purpose). According to an analysis by Greenpeace, livestock farming in Spain consumes 48,000 million cubic metersof water per year, the equivalent of what all Spanish households combined would consume for more than 20 years.
If you want to save water, it is more efficient to reduce or eliminate the consumption of meat, even more efficient than reducing the time in the bathtub or in the shower…
4 For the animals
Veganism defends the rights of all animals and practices the principle of equality between individuals of all species. Speciesism is discriminating for belonging to a species, it is “the belief according to which the human being is superior to the rest of the animals, and therefore can use them for their own benefit”. Wanting animal equality does not mean ignoring the biological differences of each species, in the same way that defending the equality of women and men does not mean denying the differences between the sexes. The equality we seek, in all these cases, refers to equal rights,regardless of biological differences. All animals suffer the same, why differentiate between a dog and a cow or between a cat and a pig.
The industry that raises animals for human consumption is very cruel. Genetic changes are made to them to enlarge them and produce more profits for the industry. They remain static and crowded almost 90% of their lives in very small places between their feces and food. Not to mention the barbarities that are done to them such as crushing male chicks or cutting part of the beak of hens.
5 Reduce CO2 emissions
Food production generates 25% of the total greenhouse gases and within these emissions, 14% are specifically from foods of animal origin.
Beef emits 330gr of CO2
Chicken emits 53gr CO2
Fish emits 40gr CO2
Vegetables emit 14gr CO2
Legumes emit 2gr CO2
Veganism can have up to 5 times less impact than a carnivorous diet.
Eliminating meat and dairy from the diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by up to 73%.
6 Ensures food for all humans.
The plant-based diet is the fairest because it is the one that best allows all human beings to have access to sufficient nutrition. With the plants necessary to feed a piece of livestock (1/3 of the world’s agricultural production is eaten) several people can be fed. The more than 900 million undernourished people who barely survive could feed themselves with dignity if we all opted for a vegan diet (and for fairer social relations).
We hope that little by little the consumption of animal products will decrease. You can try to do it little by little, or for example two days a week that you do not take anything animal. If you have doubts, you can consult a nutritionist.
Thanks for reading, I hope we make a better planet together.
BE THE CHANGE.