What Is Veganism and is it Something I Should Consider?

 

Vegans do not use other animals for food, clothing, entertainment or other purposes, insofar as it is possible and practicable to do so.

Wow, that is a life-changer, right?  Why would anyone want to do this? It sounds so hard.  What do you eat? What do you wear? Really, is it even possible to live a healthy and enjoyable life without exploiting animals in some way? Well, the answer is yes!  Yes, it is absolutely possible to live an amazingly rich, satisfying, healthy and enjoyable life as a vegan.  In fact, more and more people every day are finding that choosing a vegan lifestyle has actually enhanced their health and well-being and added profound peace and joy to their lives in ways they could never have imagined.  I am one of those people.

My name is Diane and I live in San Diego, CA.  I am about to turn 54 and 2 years ago I made the life changing choice to become a vegan.  Before this I had floated in and out of being a vegetarian and on occasion had fish, but in the spring of 2016, I made the conscious decision to go completely, 100%, all-in, vegan.  There are three core reasons why people are becoming vegan in a growth movement like we’ve never seen before these are; compassion for animals, a person’s health requires it, and saving the planet by reducing animal agriculture. 

For me, my initial reason was very singular, it later was expanded to include these other two reasons as my education expanded, but initially it was one reason and one reason only that I chose to become vegan… compassion.  I no longer wanted to be responsible for causing the suffering, or death of another animal simply for my temporary enjoyment and pleasure of a taste on my tongue.  Now I know there are differing medical opinions on this depending on which doctor, or medical “expert” you speak to, and it is not my intention here to determine which side is correct, I am not a doctor myself, but from my personal experience, and the overwhelming studies being done on plant-based nutrition, and what I feel is right for my body… I agree with the medical statement that “there is nothing a human body needs in order to be healthy and happy that it has to get from an animal”.  I believe this to my core and I am living a life that proves it.  I now eat a plant-based diet and I feel better and look better than I have in years.  As a non-vegan, I was never really “sick”, but I was suffering some gut issues, had inflammation, and some pretty significant deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, (which I never understood why because I ate a pretty healthy diet which did include plenty of “healthy” meats)… flash forward a year, and as a vegan, my test results show amazing increases in all measurements!  My doctor was quite pleased; now at two years a vegan, I am even off my T3 deficiency medications.  So, I don’t know if this is because I don’t consume animal products any more, or because I don’t ingest the hormones and stress (aka cortisol) of slaughtered animals any longer, nor do I create stress myself (more cortisol) from knowing that my eating, or wearing that animal has caused it great pain, suffering and usually their eventual death.  I don’t know the cause of my physical and mental health improvements… other than I know that the only thing that changed in this timeframe of improved health is that I became vegan; I stopped eating animals, I stopped wearing animals and I stopped spending money to watch animals in cages. 

Because of the Internet and easily accessible quality movies on Netflix I became educated to what was really going on with animals BEFORE they showed up at the grocery store in a tidy cellophane wrapped tray, and what happened to animals BEFORE they were a cute leather handbag, and what happened to animals BEFORE they were on display and performing at my local zoo or amusement park.  All animals are living, breathing precious beings, who feel pain and have emotions just as human animals do … these animals are treated with such horror and cruelty that I could no longer be a part of it.  If this is all new to you, I encourage you to do some Google searches to educate yourself on what is really going on in factory farming and animal based industries.  The torturous treatments and atrocities to animals are often hard to watch, but you not being aware, does not mean that it isn’t happening… this is all happening so that big businesses can create as much “product” as possible.  These “products” are NOT potatoes!  These are living individuals; just as humans are living individuals.  There is no difference.

No one wants to die.  Not you, not me and not a cow, a chicken, a pig or a fish.  No one.  Their lives are valuable to them, just as your life is valuable to you.

So… what have I gained from being a vegan?   Yes, my health is great, but in addition I have a peace of mind and happiness and joyfulness that I have never experienced before, tranquility in the knowledge that my being alive causes no harm to, nor takes the life of another living being and that is a wonderful feeling. 

“We only have a short time here on earth and I have come to believe that perhaps we only have one true lesson to learn while we are here... and that is unconditional love.  Unconditional love not just for human beings, but for every living individual being on this planet. No one is better, we are just different.” 

Some great resources for more information are:

Look for these Top 5 new movies and documentaries releasing in 2018 are:

  1. Eating Our Way To Extinction
  2. The Yoyo Effect
  3. The Game Changers
  4. Dominion
  5. Taking Note
 
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