Earlier this year my hubby and I were having lunch with supermodel Erin Heatherton when she pronounced “I could never go vegan! I wouldn’t want to be the boring one at a dinner party!!” (as she munched on her veggie salad). I commented that most vegans are anything but boring, and moved on.
Shortly after, we became addicted to the show Billions. After ravaging season one, we were excited to devour season two. The new character on season two is a androgynous trader named Taylor. Taylor’s character is introverted, grumpy, skinny, dresses in black, looks sickly, and has a shaved head that might indicate she’s receiving chemo.
If viewers had to guess the diet of this character, most might assume vegan. And when ‘Taylor’ was asked by another character on the show if she is vegan, her response was “Of course I’m a vegan!”, as if it should be assumed by her appearance.
For years, vegans have been labeled as the weird/alt worms of our society. But why? A balanced vegan diet is way healthier than any non-vegan diet, and it’s much better for the planet too. So why do people throw shade?
Let’s start with this: What does vegan make you think of?
A thin, pasty and unhealthy person? A tree-hugging hippie? Someone’s weird aunt? A bodybuilder?
Chances are, not the bodybuilder. Am I right?
Now, what does veganism mean?
A movement to help reduce: climate change, food waste, water use, human and animal slavery, antibiotic resistance, hunger and extreme poverty. This is all done by avoiding the consumption of products that use animals.
What does a vegan really look like?
Me, my hubby and many of our friends. There’s also Woody Harrelson, Miley Cyrus, Michelle Pfeiffer, Venus Williams, Olivia Wilde, Russell Simmons, and a long list of celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs. We have solid cohort of bodybuilders too!
Why go vegan?
To protect the planet: It’s by far the most impactful thing you can do to curb climate change, world hunger, etc. It takes 660 gallons of water to make one hamburger. Another fact that doesn’t get enough press is that animal agriculture produces more carbon emissions that all planes, trains, and cars combined!
To look younger, fight acne, and lose weight: Animal-based proteins are inflammatory and filled with acne-causing hormones. Inflammation is the primary cause of aging and disease. In addition, your gut flora will be healthier on a plant-based diet, which will affect every part of your body and mind. And so long as you’re not eating a ton of sugar and gluten, your body will slim down to its ideal, fit weight.
To get healthy: We all know that heart disease and a litany of other fatal ailments are caused by red meat, but did you know that the World Health Organization has labelled meat as a class-one carcinogen? That means it’s in the same category as cigarettes. Add to that all the pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, hormones, tumors, feces, parasites, puss and blood in every sip or bite, and you’re got yourself a very unhealthy meal indeed. Think milk does a body good? Nope. That’s just marketing. In fact, the acidic protein in dairy causes osteoporosis. And animal proteins are a contributing factor for diabetes, too.
To help the hungry: An incredible amount of food is wasted by feeding it to animals instead of being consumed directly by humans. Diverting animal feed to humans would increase food calorie availability by almost 50%.
To help animals: The horrors of factory farms are well documented. While the companies involved in this death trade work mightily to keep us in the dark, amazing organizations like Mercy For Animals are shedding light on the nauseating conditions we keep over 10 billion land animals in each year (56 billion globally). If you love dogs, you’d love a pig or a turkey too. So why eat them when there are so many reasons to do the right thing?
To save money: Meat and dairy are expensive, so it’s no surprise that it’s cheaper to eat vegan. Making your own nut milks is easy, and there are lots of websites that are dedicated to helping new vegans figure out what to eat. I also recommend picking up a copy of Eating Vegan on $4 a Day, which outlines an entire day’s-worth of nutritionally-complete, delicious meals that cost less than a take-out sandwich or double cheeseburger dinner.
How did we get this distorted idea of what a vegan is?
Factory farms (where 90% of American animals are raised and slaughtered) are horrific places, but they are highly profitable. And did you know that 80% of antibiotics sold in America get pumped into farm animals? That makes the meat and dairy industry the largest client of big pharma, so they’re all teaming up to keep us in the dark about how meat and dairy are bad for health and climate change.
Big Ag (factory farms) and Big Pharma (prescription drug manufacturers) are two of the three largest lobbying groups in America. As a result, they wield an immense amount of influence on our government and the media. That’s why, in states where there’s a drought, America’s corrupt politicians tell residents to cut back on showers and let their lawn die, but they don’t tell residents to cut back on meat consumption, which would be far, far more effective, since a small hamburger takes over 660 gallons of water to make. It’s also why the government mandates that schools dish out a minimum amount of dairy with each lunch.
To confuse matters even more, the lobbyists pay for fake studies in an attempt to counteract all the real (ie. negative) studies, then pay for influencer marketing (getting bloggers and journalists –even corrupt doctors and scientists– to promote the falsified studies) to confuse consumers. As if that wasn’t bad enough, with all that money, the lobby groups also sue celebrities who speak out (for example, when Oprah said she wasn’t going to eat another burger, they sued her) to scare people into not talking about the dangers of meat and dairy.
What can we do?
Skip the meat, dairy and seafood (except for oysters and mussels, which don’t feel pain and are environmentally neutral) and opt for a plant based diet instead. Here are some great recipes.
Remind people that vegans are strong, sexy, and successful. Names like Venus Williams, Olivia Wilde, and Russell Simmons are all the proof you need.
Host a movie night and watch Cowspiracy or What The Health (both are on Netflix).
When you pass a restaurant, ask what vegan options they have. If they say none, say that’s really unfortunate because you and your friends would have loved to dine there. Most restaurants are happy to serve you up something tasty even if it’s not on the menu. I mean, if Taco Bell can provide over two dozen ways to serve vegan food, anyone can!
Have you ever had a Buddha bowl? How about a delicious quinoa salad or black bean burgers? There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world, of which somewhere between 150 and 200 have been domesticated and farmed. You probably haven’t tried even half of them yet! Looking out for delicious new recipes broadens your horizon, your taste buds, and lets you discover delicious and healthful dishes you wouldn’t have thought of in the beginning. Being vegan doesn’t mean you have to eat boring food- because it’s absolutely not boring and it’s not just salad, salad, and salad.
Hahah! It’s funny when people automatically think we just eat salad. Dear, that’s not how it is in this generation.
Vegan diets can be extremely economical. When you center your diet around grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and seasonal fruits and veggies, you might be cutting your monthly food expense in half. Many of these foods can be bought in bulk and stored for a long time. Compared to meat that can get stale.
When you cut out animal products, you automatically abstain from all the stress hormones these animals produced on their way to slaughter, until the very last second. This alone can have a significant impact on your mood and stability. I bet most of us don’t even know this.
The killing of farmed animals is unnecessary, and therefore a cruel act. We simply do it for pleasure and out of tradition. There is no proof, whatsoever, that human beings must eat meat, dairy or eggs, in order to be healthy and thriving. Quite the opposite is the case. It’s a learned behavior, we are taught which animals are okay to eat, nothing that you would need to show a true meat eater like a lion or a bear. These animals aren’t as picky and show very different behavior and instincts than we as humans. Let’s not forget that we are not baby cows either who require the milk of their mothers and there’s no need to consume any other secretion besides our own mother’s milk past the first years of age.
That idea made me laugh. Although I’ve seen studies about it too. It’s just funny to think about.
You don’t even have to watch your protein intake very much when you turn vegan. All whole plant foods contain protein, and it’s of great quality, too.
Animals don’t want to die, they love and appreciate life. Unfortunately, we just view them as “farm animals”, a faceless crowd without thinking of individuals with unique personalities and emotions, just like cats and dogs. Once we understand this connection and take appropriate steps, we can finally align our actions with our morals. Being vegan doesn’t make you an animal killer.
Even though for some people, the ethical argument for veganism isn’t as strong, it can never hurt to be kind. Sparing someone’s life is always the right thing to do, especially if that someone is completely innocent. Unfortunately, there’s been a huge greenwashing campaign going on, initiated by the meat and dairy industry, in order to play with our conscience. Happy animals are shown on cartons and packages while the reality is a lot more sinister. There’s really nothing humane about animal farming or taking someone else’s life. This doesn’t just go for meat products, though, because the dairy and egg industries are in the same niche working together in the animal agriculture. Dairy cows are forcefully impregnated, their calves are taken away and killed shortly after, their milk stolen and, after a few years, they end up as hamburger meat. You have probably heard about little chicks being shredded or gassed alive, if not just thrown away on top of each other in a huge garbage bin as if they were inanimate objects.
Most people fear a loss of energy or muscle mass when abstaining from animal products, but quite the opposite is true. Meat and dairy are especially hard to digest, taking much of your energy and leaving you tired. Adopting a vegan diet does in no way hinder you from reaching your fitness goals and might likely give you a nice boost of added energy and strength. Which is why bodybuilders are becoming vegan now.
It’s also so much easier to build lean muscle on this type of diet and you don’t have to go into the whole “bulking and cutting” stuff. Plant protein comes with so much less fat than animal products. You’ll just be shredded all year!
Animal products are dirty. They contain so much bacteria… Plants don’t have those.
Our diet is one of the most impactful parts of our lives. It determines whether we’re going to end up with certain diseases, which businesses make money off of us, and it’s a statement of how conscious we are. Simply put, we as consumers have tremendous power when we vote with our money, we can put whole industries out of business. The more people patronize the meat industry, the more businesses will feel like they have to slaughter more animals in order to increase their profits. A simple lifestyle change can create such a huge impact, even if you don’t see it as something significant other than your own diet.