Why you should consider a vegetarian or plant based diet

"It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind." - Einstein 

 I avoid using the word vegan because i find a strict vegan diet hard to follow when eating out with friends or
family. I first decided to try cutting out meat, eggs and dairy after finding out that many of my favorite bloggers practiced some form of vegan diet.
I saw the benefits immediately, i felt happier, healthier and had more energy. As well as this i was helping the environment and i wasn't eating the animals i love.

Here are my reasons why i suggest you try eating vegetarian and cutting out as much egg and dairy as possible. Just try it for a week!

It helps with your well being

I was really amazed how i felt after the first week! My skin looked better, i had more energy and i was altogether happier. I had a lot of assignments at the time, but i felt far less stressed than i usually would have. I began trying new foods and being more aware about what i was eating. 

The reduction in my stress levels and my mood being more stable could probably be attributed to having less refined carbohydrates and sugar and more filling and nutritious foods.  There have also been some studies on how dairy effects the body, but i am not sure what to believe. So maybe less dairy played a part in making me feel better.

It helps the environment

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” - Gandhi

Manufacturing animal products can cause considerable harm to the environment. 

Far less land is needed to support someone on a vegan or vegetarian diet then on a normal diet. I believe that in the next hundred years will we face a global food crisis as there will not be enough usable land to support the ever growing population. As well as this, as the amount of already available farming land decreases, the world will look for other land to use. This would mean an increase on destruction of natural habitats, such as rain forests and other beautiful areas. The answer to this is surly to eat foods which require less land to produce.   

As well as this, the meat, egg and dairy industries produce many greenhouse gasses. Some studies suggest that meat production produces more harmful gasses than all transport combined. I am big on reducing global warming because i love the world the way it is! (I also love skiing and would be very sad of couldn't do this any more)

If you want to know more i suggest you look at this great graphic representation as a place to start.

I would hate it if our world changed so much that animals and plants became extinct, but i would really miss the snow as well!  

Its cheaper 

As a student, this means a lot to me. I couldn't believe how cheap its is to eat vegan. I try and buy fruit and veg that is in season and my grocery bill has halved since then. As well as this all the food i buy seems to keep for ages! I need to go shopping less than once a  week. I really don't have anything else to say on this matter! Its just cheaper!

Reduces cruelty 

I was bought up eating free range eggs and chicken but was oblivious to the suffering of other animals. I do not want to use guilt to try and encourage people to eat vegan by telling them about all the horrible things that happen to animals, but it is pretty bad how cows, chickens, pigs and other animals are treated.

What about dairy? Surly that is fine?

I used to live off dairy. Unhurt, milk, ice cream; i would eat kilos a week. We always here so much about getting our calcium so we should eat lots of dairy, right? Not so much, we can get our calcium from other sources such as broccoli, soy beans and kale.

I have not done much research into the effects of dairy on the human body, but i have found that cutting back as much dairy as i could, my body felt amazing. As well as this i looked into how the the dairy industry treats calf's and i was pretty upset. All living things deserve to live a life at least for a few days. 

What about protein deficiency?

I can say that i believe that there is no reason why vegetarians should be deficient in protein. I eat a lot pf foods that are high in protein, such as my favorite home made hummus and paprika or edamame beans. (if you only take one thing from this blog, make it that next time you are at Japanese order edamame beans! Everyone in my family loves them!)  Have a look here for a far more in depth blog on protein and vegans (its much better than i could do).

My home made hummus!

Try it out! 

I encourage if you are reading this to try going vegetarian for a week and see how you feel! Don't be to hard on your self and explore new foods and different flavors! If you have any questions at all please leave a comment! 

Yummy vegan dumplings, ice tea and lotus tea with my man!