The first reason to become vegan

There is real meat behind this argument.

Herbal foods are currently one of the most fashionable trends in the food industry. After about a week, the meat industry goes beyond meat

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The Burger King fast food chain announced that it would launch the nationally-based Impossible Whopper Group, based at the factory, and furniture giant Ikea announced that it would improve the version without meat of his popular Swedish meatballs.

"A vegan diet is probably the most effective way to reduce your impact on the planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and the use of water … It is far more important than reducing your flights or buying an electric car. & # 39;

All this can lead you to suppose that more Americans than ever are now vegan, or at least vegetarian, but you would be wrong. Indeed, a survey conducted by Gallup in 2018 reveals that only about 5% of Americans say they are vegetarians, number unchanged since 2012. Meanwhile, 3% of them say they are vegans, against 2% in 2012.

But it is obvious that more and more people should consider these diets, especially veganism, for a big reason: they help the planet a lot. According to a 2018 study of 40,000 farms in 119 countries and published in the journal Science, reducing your consumption of meat and dairy products may be the most effective measure you can take to reduce your negative environmental impact on the Earth. One reason is that we only eat 18% of our calories and 37% of our protein in meat and dairy products, but cattle consume 83% of our farmland and generate 60% of our greenhouse gases. agricultural origin.

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"A vegan diet is probably the most effective way to reduce your impact on the planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use in the world, "said Joseph Poore, senior researcher at Oxford University's Guardian. "It's much more important than reducing your flights or buying an electric car."

Plus, a vegan or vegan diet – or at least a diet with a lot less meat – could improve your health. According to a study published this year in the Lancet, if we consume twice as much red meat and sugar today, this would prevent an average of more than 10 million premature deaths from heart disease and stroke. diabetes. A vegan diet could also give you a health boost: "Vegans tend to be thinner, have lower serum cholesterol and lower blood pressure, which reduces their risk of heart disease," a research study found. the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. .

Indeed, the scheme did deal for Seth Kravitz, a 36-year-old Chicagoer, turned vegan earlier this year. Prior to that, the 6-foot-tall CEO of PHLEARN, a training company of Lightroom and Photoshop, weighed about 220 pounds and had an abnormally high cholesterol level. "I ate a diet rich in meat and dairy products, with light vegetables and I drank regularly on top of it all. To combat this, I decided to try a vegan diet for a month only to see what changes might possibly result. During the first 30 days, I lost 14 pounds and I felt better than ever, "said MarketWatch Kravitz, who is now 22 pounds lighter than normal cholesterol.

See also: Put down your hamburger and try sausages with fly larvae and ice cream.

Plus, fleeing meat can save you a lot of money. A study published in the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition in 2015 found that a herbal diet could save you about $ 750 a year. Invest these savings each year in your retirement account and you will earn more than $ 10,000 after 10 years, assuming a 6% rate of return. After 25 years, these savings will reach more than $ 43,000.

Of course, there are disadvantages to becoming vegan. Although there are more meat and dairy alternatives than ten years ago, most people do not like a real steak or a bowl of ice cream. Kravitz notes that it "takes a ton of perseverance to stick to it" and that it takes "a lot of research" to learn how to replace certain foods. This is important because, as the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes, vegans sometimes have nutritional deficiencies in vitamins such as vitamins B12 and D, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids. "Appropriate supplements must therefore be consumed".

It can also be difficult to go out to eat because meat and dairy products are part of many menu items (although skipping restaurants probably saves you even more loot). "It created a sometimes uncomfortable social situation in which I went to something and discovered that I had no vegan option," Kravitz says. And you could have dirty looks, as items such as Vice, "Why People Hate Vegans, According to Plants" and Vox, "Why do people hate vegans so much?

Yet many of those who practice it love it, MarketWatch Apryl Boyle, a long-time marine and plant biologist, told MarketWatch. "I like that my health and my wallet are better because of my 100% herbal diet."

"I also love the fact that it's good for our environment," said the 50-year-old, adding, "People often think I'm 30 years old. [or] 35. "