1. Save resources
EVERY DAY you choose to eat a vegan diet (whether you cook vegan or not!) you can save: 1,000 Gallons of Water, 45 lbs of Grain, 30 sq ft of forests, 20lbs of Co2, one animal life
2. The Definition of being a Vegan
The term ‘Vegan’ is less than 100 years old although it has existed as a way of life in many cultures for thousands of years. Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. This does not mean that the world needs millions of perfect vegans! It means that every day your try your best to exclude any types of animal products from your lifestyle, you are not only saving animal lives, but single handedly doing the best you possibly can to reduce your own carbon footprint and to leave a better world to future generations.
3. Veganism for World Hunger
You may have already read this, but please read it again …. If we stopped giving all our crops to feed live stock and rediverted them to HUMANS, we could feed an additional 4 BILLION people! Please re-read this statement and think again.
4. The Cheese Debate
If you feel you could never live without your daily cheese fix, you should know you are not alone! Many people feel addicted to cheese because it has morphine-like compounds called casomorphenes (from the milk protein casein found in all milk products) that attack the brains opiate receptors (the same as many drugs) plus the high levels of salt and fat which studies have shown it very addictive to many people. The good news is that its not hopeless! The vegan cheese industry has improved a million times from the era of a yellow slither of cardboard being presented as your dairy free alternative. So, fret not and know that you have an abundance of choice readily available. If at first you don’t find an alternative you love, keep on trying and ask for advise from the many vegan forums out there. Remember, that by giving up dairy you are not only doing wonders for your body, from your digestive system to your skin and in regards to disesase prevention, but you are also saving innocent calf’s being born to mothers who weep while their babies are taken away from them or shot at birth, so that we can drink the milk intended for their babies. It’s a harsh reality, but one that it’s time we all faced up to.
5. Fish Facts
We could have fishless oceans by 2048 … this is real! What can we do? On top of reducing the global thirst for all things plastic and organising recycling, we can simply stop eating fish. The overfishing of our oceans that causes ever increasing ‘dead zones’ can be stopped and reversed. Shockingly, even for those (myself once included) who think ‘well, I only have a piece of fish once in a while’, there are actually four bi-kills for every fish you eat. That means that the massive trollers, some the size of Buckingham Palace, that scoop up your fish fingers are catching tonnes of sea life unintentionally which simply gets thrown back into the sea, dead. So rather than contribute to this industry and hurting your own health at the same time, reach for the array of seaweed options available to eat up all your healthy minerals, iodine and vitamins without the middle-man, or rather ‘middle fish’.
6. It’s a Bees Life
Honey is yummy, agreed. But have you tried Agave? Maple syrup? Coconut or Date syrup? And so much more! Remember that without bees, the planet will die, and unfortunately due to the rise in demand for honey, the expense of keeping bee hives and the increase in pesticides, our bee population has halved in the past decade. So avoid those creams which use the ‘secret, magical’ ingredient unnecessarily of honey and crack own your alternative syrups! Remember also that a little bee works its WHOLE life (all 40 days of it) to make just one teaspoon of honey.
7. Save our Water
Although all kids are taught to turn off the tap while brushing their teeth and we are encouraged to take showers and not baths, these (very important) actions are a (pun intended) drop in the ocean when it comes to the comparison with rearing livestock. About one third of the global water consumption goes on rearing livestock for food according to some reports, so if you are intent on saving our planet, it may be worth passing up on that beef burger and opting for the even taster plantbased alternative.
8. Delicious Protein
If Beans Vs Beef (per 100g) were up against each other in a contest, here are some interesting results …. They have the whopping same protein amount (22gr)! Not only that, but beef has 74mg cholesterol whereas beans ring up at a big fat Zero. Beef has 16mg calcium and 0g fiber whereas beans have 123mg calcium and 15g fiber! Finally and indeed shockingly, it takes 1480litres of water to produce the 100gr of beef as opposed to 103 litres of water to produce the same amount of beans.
9. A plant-based diet increases metabolism!
Yes, it’s true. By eating plant based your body will in fact burn more calories, allowing you to keep on munching on your favourite fruit, veg, nuts and legumes while burning more energy! Personally, this is one of the best things of going plant-based – no more counting calories! You can eat, eat and eat again knowing that everything going into your body is nutrious, good for you, and the more the merrier – while not gaining weight! Obviously, a balanced diet is necessary, but you get my gist 😊
10. Just to leave you some little facts you may or may not know:
Next time you go to do your nails and think about your shellac, just know that it’s actually the resin secreted by female lac insects. It’s also the same substance that goes into a lot of sweets to make them shiny, like jelly beans.
On that note, gelatine, used in so many sweets is actually made from the left over carcases, including bones, cartilage and skin of animals. Contrary to what we were told as kids also, it’s not good for you and does not give you a calcium kick. Better to eat some nuts or seeds and when craving some gummies, there are so many vegan options now that even according to non-vegans taste better due to the natural flavouring used.
As if cigarettes aren’t bad enough for you, they actually have beevers anal gland secretions to improve their taste!
Regular White Sugar is actually not vegan as crushed animal bones are used in the filtering process to make it whiter.
Wine not labelled as vegan uses isinglass, basically fish bladders, in the distilling process, hence cannot be vegan. The good news is, the bio wines and vegan wines usually come hand in hand, so while not all wine producers will pay for the vegan label, by going organic and bio, you will also be getting vegan wine.
Red lipsticks contain cochineal which is actually crushed red beetles…. Pretty gross. Good news is there are so many brands now which use vegan alternatives.
By Farah Shammas