Health

Improve your health

Studies show that diets rich in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and low in animal fats keep us healthy and disease-free. In particular, your risk of dying from one of the biggest killers – heart disease and cancer – is significantly reduced on a plant based diet.

Heart disease and other circulatory diseases

During World War I Denmark was blockaded and admist fears of food shortages the government chose to feed all their grain to the people and not to animals – thus creating a vegetarian nation. The results were staggering. During that period death due to circulatory diseases was 34% lower than the average of the proceeding 18 years. Similar results were seen in other European countries during World War II.

Of all the factors involved in heart disease; obesity, lack of exercise, sugar consumption, total fat consumption, smoking, high blood pressure, lack of fibre… there is one factor which is by far the most significant – saturated fat and cholesterol, the vast majority of which comes from animal-based food products. “A vegetarian diet can prevent 97% of our coronary occlusions“, wrote the Journal of American Medical Association, following the announced results of a 10 year study in 1984.

Cancer

There is not a single population in the world with a high meat intake which does not have a high rate of colon cancer (18). Studies in the 1970s first discovered this and subsequently the relationship between meat consumption and colon cancer has been proved again and again.

Those who consume meat daily are 4 times more likely to get breast cancer than those who eat little or no meat. The greater the consumption of eggs and dairy, also the greater the risk of breast cancer.

Other cancers with a proved link to animal fat consumption are cervical, uterus, ovarian, prostate and, surprisingly, lung cancer (18 )

Diabetes

Diabetics are extremely vulnerable to atherosclerosis which makes them highly prone to heart attacks and stroke (18). The damage caused by atherosclerosis often results in blindness, kidney failure, gangrene and impotence.

Low fat diets, particularly those without saturated fat, have been proved to reduce the risk of damage due to atherosclerosis as well as reducing the need for insulin (18).

Rheumatoid arthritis

As with diabetes, people with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. New research has shown that a gluten-free, vegan diet can reduce the risks associated with atherosclerosis for people with rheumatoid arthritis (26). This diet reduces LDL-cholesterol (the bad fats in our bodies) and increases levels of anti-PC, a type of antibody that the researchers believe has a protective effect against atherosclerosis.

Osteoporosis

The dairy industry continue to tell us that we need to consume dairy products to get the calcium we need for strong, healthy bones. However, much research has shown that it is the excessive protein of meat-based diets that cause osteoporosis. Decades of research has shown that the most positive step we can take to reduce our chances of osteoporosis is to reduce our consumption of protein, rather than to try to increase calcium levels (18 )

We don’t need as much protein as you may think. In fact, it is almost impossible not to consume enough protein on a varied vegan diet. Many vegetarians who over load on dairy produce to compensate for the lack of protein end up consuming far more protein than they need which only results in excess fat in the diet and increased calcium loss.

Other diseases

Other conditions which have been proved to benefit from a plant based diet include hypoglycemia, multiple sclerosis, ulcers, constipation, obesity, arthritis, gallstones, high blood pressure and asthma.

Bacterial infections

Meat, dairy and eggs are also the cause of human ill health due to bacterial infections such as e-coli and salmonella. Some studies have shown that a shocking 50% of chicken carcasses are contaminated with salmonella.

We now know that consuming cows infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease) can result in the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease in humans. Over 100 human deaths have occured following contact with birds carrying the Avian Influenza virus (aka bird flu). Diseases such as BSE, bird flu, foot and mouth, blue tongue disease become more prevalent as more animals are raised for food and undoubtably impact human health.

Pesticides

Pesticides are poisoning our planet. They not only kill plants and animals who come in to contact with them but also enter the food chain – and stay there. Levels of chemicals from pesticides accumulate in the fat cells of animals; and that includes us. When we eat the meat of animal that has been accumulating these chemicals, we consume these chemicals too. A mother’s milk is produced from fat cells and as such, dangerous levels of chemicals can be passed on to their babies (18).

As much as 95% of toxic chemical residues in the American diet come from meat, dairy and eggs (18).

Anti-biotics

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 70% of antibiotics in the U.S. are used to speed the growth of animals and to compensate for crowded, stressful, and unsanitary conditions rather than to treat disease.

As reported by the coalition Keep Antibiotics Working, this results in an increased amount of resistant bacteria which makes diseases in both farm animals and humans much harder to treat and cure.

Meat for strength

The idea of people needing meat for strength is a ‘ridiculous fallacy’, so says Dave Scott, considered the greatest triathlete alive – some would say the fittest man who ever lived. He is amongst many other great vegetarian athletes, including Sixto Linares (who set the world record for the longest single day triathlon), Edwin Moses (Olympic Gold medalist who went 8 years without loosing a race), Paavo Nurmi (who set 20 world records and won 9 Olympic medals), Carl Lewis (who is vegan and won 10 Olympic medals including 9 golds, and 10 World Championship medals, of which 8 were golds). The list goes on and on.

Need meat for health, strength and endurance? I don’t think so!

Be healthy. Go vegan.