Top 10 Reasons to Try Plant-based Diet

Many people’s New Year’s resolutions include losing weight, eating better, getting healthier, and doing more to make the world a kinder place. The good news is that you can accomplish all these goals by going vegan—and you’ll enjoy delicious, satisfying meals as well.

1. Be Healthier

Being vegan is great for your health! According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure than meat-eaters are. Vegans get all the nutrients that they need to be healthy, such as plant protein, fiber, and minerals, without all the nasty stuff in meat that may slow you down and make you sick, such as cholesterol and saturated animal fat.

2. Best Way to Help Animals

Did you know that every vegan saves nearly 200 animals per year? There is simply no easier way to help animals and prevent suffering than by choosing plant-based foods over meat, eggs, and dairy products.

3. Save the Planet

Feeding massive amounts of grain and water to farmed animals and then killing them and processing, transporting, and storing their flesh is extremely energy-intensive. And forests—which absorb greenhouse gases—are cut down in order to supply pastureland and grow crops for farmed animals. Finally, the animals themselves and all the manure that they produce release even more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.

4. Help Feed the Third-world

Eating meat doesn’t just hurt animals—it hurts people, too. It takes tons of crops and water to raise farmed animals. In fact, it takes up to 13 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh! All that plant food could be used much more efficiently if people just ate it directly. The more people who go vegan, the better able we’ll be to feed the hungry.

5. Slim Down and Become Energized

Is shedding some extra pounds come first on your list of the new year goals? Vegans are, on average, up to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters are. And unlike unhealthy diets, which leave you feeling tired (and usually don’t keep the pounds off for long), going vegan allows you to keep the excess fat off for good and have plenty of energy.

6. Better emotion

Foods that help control anxiety, stress, anger and other conditions that lead to depression and other problems are almost always plant-based. A great example is leafy greens, which have high vitamin C content, an antioxidant known to fight stress. Leafy greens also contain magnesium, a nutrient responsible for relaxing muscles and reducing anxiety.

7. Makes you smell better

Go ahead and raise your eyebrows, but a recent study analysed the sweat from those who eat a plant-based diet was deemed to be more attractive to women (who actually had to smell and evaluate each sample) than those meat-eaters. The sweat produced by veg-eating men was described as "floral, fruity, sweet or having medicinal qualities." Do you need another reason?

8. Meat Is Gross

Animal flesh is often contaminated with feces, blood, and other bodily fluids—all of which make animal-derived foods the top source of food poisoning. Group of scientists have tested supermarket chickens’ flesh and found many packaged chicken was contaminated with campylobacter, a dangerous bacterium that causes 2.4 million cases of food poisoning each year, resulting in diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever.

9. Improve Sleeping Quality

Due to the increased consumption of vitamins such as magnesium and calcium, you will have a more regulated and effective sleep cycle. Magnesium helps improve your sleep health whilst calcium helps aid a healthy sleep cycle. "The highest source of magnesium comes from plant-based foods such as spinach, pumpkin seeds, and avocados."

10. Vegan Food Is Delicious

When you go vegan, you can still eat all your favorite foods, including burgers, sandwiches, and ice cream. The only difference? You’ll saving the animal from mistreat and without putting up your cholesterol level. As the demand for vegan food skyrocketed, companies are coming out with more and more delicious “meat”– and dairy-free options that taste great, are much healthier than their animal-derived counterparts, and don’t hurt any living beings.

Before You Go...

Now, I believe that you're sold on veganism. It's time to embrace the opportunity to experience a whole new world of cuisine. There are numerable delicious ways to eat vegetables, and, in case you missed it, veganism is a big deal in the food world now, with bloggers and books soaring to popularity. So, kick start your plant-based journey by getting in the kitchen and try something new. You may even find you like it.