Benefits of being vegan

I realized on my way to the studio this morning that I may appear very negative with respect to writing about veganism, however I am in general a positive individual. I guess it is just that those things that seems unfair and cruel tend to stick in your mind the most and that is what drives the need to write a post about it. As I have said previously, being vegan is difficult at times as your awareness is raised as to what animals have to endure and what used to pass unnoticed now slaps you in the face. Yesterday for example I was almost sick in the petrol station paying for fuel as all I could smell was cooking bacon and it smelt so disgusting. For me, the image of burning dead flesh of a helpless, possibly tortured creature cannot be separated. Yet being vegan also brings with it an amazing quality of life. So today I want to talk about the positive aspects of being vegan. I did touch on this in one of my early posts, just after I had changed my lifestyle from pesco vegetarian (fish eating vegetarian) to vegan so now I thought I would make sense to talk about the benefits 8 months later. Everyone is different and I am not saying that these are benefits to everyone following a vegan diet, all I can say is that these effects are real to me and I would like to share them!

1. The psychological benefits: Knowing that I do not contribute to animal suffering makes me feel better about myself as a person. I do not eat the flesh of animal, chew their dead ribs, crunch on their skin, chew minced up body parts, spread smoothed out paste from animal organs on my sandwiches, drink milk intended for that particular animals babies which are taken away from them and usually killed, grate cheese that a small calf may have been killed for a part of its stomach, wear leather that has been skinned off a helpless animal, use cream that has parts of a murdered pig in it, eat eggs from a hen that might have had its eyes pecked out by its neighbour, trapped so close together they have gone mad.....I could go on but my point is that knowing I do not do this makes me feel more alive and part of a change in the world that will come.

2. The physical benefits: I have so much more energy since giving up dairy and my diet is so much more exciting. Before I stuck to the same meals, repeated over and over, now I am looking for new things, choosing new ingredients and experimenting and it is a lot more fun and I feel my body is getting more nutrients and I feel I am taking better care of myself. My skin is amazing, no blotches, no cellulite, no lumps of fat under the skin, a better skin colour and smoother skin in general. My breath is always fresh and doesn't smell of rotting food (sorry meat eaters but you do smell of meat a lot of the time). My figure has changed, not only did I drop a lot of weight in the first month but my shape has changed, admittedly I practice yoga regularly but have always done that so veganism must have made the difference...and it's a good difference. My nails are stronger and I have half moons at the bottom of the nail (I was always told that was a good sign you are getting enough calcium) where I never had them before, my hair is softer and shiner (I used to colour my hair but now it looks so healthy I no longer do it), my joints never feel stiff, I have fewer colds and I have less bags under my eyes even though Heidi still wakes me up at 6am most mornings!

I am sure I've missed some but I hope this list gives you some food for thought and if the psychological benefits don't get you, maybe you'd like some of the physical benefits! What's the harm in giving it a go for a month or even a week and see how you feel. What could you lose, apart from an ingrained untruth that meat eating is acceptable.

Advert in the Co-op

Dinner anyone?

Advert for 'wild pig meat' on the noticeboard at the local Co-op food store here in Storsteinnes. Described as 'feast food'. I was so close to writing something on the poster or calling the number to ask if I could buy a pig but then I realized they were dead already.

How can people do this?

Mad Cow

Am I mad to be vegan? Read on...

Article from www.goveg.com

Mad Cow Disease: It’s Mad to Eat Meat

According to a 2006 report by the USDA inspector general, USDA slaughterhouse inspectors are still allowing many “downed cows”—who may be infected with mad cow disease—into the human food supply illegally.

Mad cow disease is one of the most frightening diseases of our generation. Also known as “bovine spongiform encephalopathy,” it is a member of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. These diseases, which cause the brain to degenerate until it becomes “spongy” and lead to eventual death, are caused by misshapen proteins called “prions.”¹ Researchers have traced massive outbreaks of the disease on factory farms to the meat industry’s cost-cutting practice of mixing the brain tissue of dead farmed animals into the feed of other farmed animals.…

Any animal with a brain has the potential to become infected with a prion disease and could pass the disease on to humans who eat the animal’s flesh. Scientists have already identified mad cow disease variants in humans, fish, sheep, minks, cows, deer, and cats.^2,3,4 Although illegal in Japan and Europe, in the U.S. and Canada it remains common to include the blood, bone, and unwanted flesh of all types of farmed animals in the feed of chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Of all the animal flesh and bone meal that is processed into food for farmed animals, almost half is fed to chickens and turkeys, 13 percent is fed to pigs, and 10 percent is fed to cows.⁵

How Do People Get Mad Cow Disease?

When people eat infected animals, they can develop the human version of spongiform encephalopathy called “new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease” (nvCJD). This disease eats holes in the brain (which results in a spongy appearance), initially causing memory loss and erratic behavior. Over a period of months, victims gradually lose the ability to care for themselves or communicate, and they eventually die. There is evidence that a large number of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia may in fact be victims of CJD.

Eating contaminated meat has caused more than 150 deaths worldwide. Thousands more are likely infected but do not know it yet, according to a study published in The Journal of Pathology, and it can take years for symptoms to develop.^6,7 Millions of cows developed the disease in Europe in the 1990s and were killed and their bodies burned—although burning does not destroy prions. Hunters in the U.S. and their families may have contracted the disease by eating infected deer they killed.⁸

Order a free vegetarian starter kit to protect yourself and your family from mad cow disease, as well as heart disease, cancer, and obesity.