even taking on a couple of vegan lifestyle traits you could notice a difference in your health
A vegan diet could give you a healthier lifestyle
Fad diets have now been said to be just as bad as eating rubbish all the time, and in some cases cause more problems than the person experienced prior to their dodgy diet. However, by taking on simple parts of a vegan diet, you could be stepping in the right direction for weight loss and a healthier lifestyle, permanantly.
There are a lot of pros to taking on aspects of a vegan lifestyle. Following a vegan diet is usually originated in a persons feelings towards animals and their treatment, but the diet they follow has proven to be very effective for weightloss so has become a diet to try if you want to lose weight through healthier eating.
If you don't like the idea of cutting out all meat and dairy from your diet completley try following a vegan, or at least vegetarian, diet for two or three days per week. Even that will make some difference if you stick to it.
Megan Fox was famously vegan for about a year and a half, but realised she had lost too much weight living a vegan lifestyle so slowly introduced animal by-products and meat back into her life. This is proof the vegan diet works if ever you needed it!
One big positive of following a vegan diet is the health benefits. Vegans tend to find themsleves with reduced risks of bowel cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cataracts, osteoperosis and artritis.
These health benefits come from a range of reasons, such as a diet high in fibre, like a vegan one usually is, sustains healthier bowel movements which reduces the risk of bowel cancer. Eating less red meat cuts down the amount of unnecassary protein and fat which can lead to cholesterol, its these simple changes that can alter your health completely.
Not only are there many health benefits from going vegan, but there are a lot of personal differences noticed when altering your diet to a vegan one. Weight loss is one, but you could also experience an increase in energy, because the food you will be eating is a lot easier for your body to use and digest than processed foods, healthier skin comes from a higher intake of Vitamins A and E from vegetables and nuts, lots of studies have found that veganism can actually give you a longer life as well; on average vegans live three to six years longer than non-vegans.
Body odour apparently changes when a vegan diet is followed; this is down to eliminating red meat and dairy from your diet. Vegans also experience nicer smelling breath, and hair and nails become much stronger with a vegan diet, all very appealing physical changes that would come with a slight change in attitude towards food.
A strong factor for some women to change to a vegan diet, at least for a couple of weeks each month, is that PMS symptoms become reduced, and in a lot of cases cease to exist enitirely. It is thought that dairy products make all PMS symptoms worse, so by eliminating milky drinks and chocolate just before, during and after your menstrual cycle, you could also eliminate period pain. So, even if you only take up the vegan diet around that time of the month, a chnage in your mood, and therefore perhaps less chocolate-binging would occur, which will help you to feel better, and probably look better.
A similar thing can be said for migraines. Certian foods bring on migraines, so by eliminating those from your diet, you could get rid of migraines, and it seems a lot of meat and by-products are the culprit in many cases.
So, even taking on a couple of vegan lifestyle traits you could notice a difference in your health, but which traits are the best to adopt?
If you substitute sweetenners and synthetic or procesed sugars, usually derived from animal products, with natural cane sugars you will be taking in less chemicals and your body won't react in a bad way, leaving you less at risk of diabetes.
Cows milk is actually not as good for you as everybody assumes. When you are young and growing, a high level of calcium is needed, so drinking cows milk is a great way to get this. But, once you've got strong bones and teeth if you substitute your regular cows milk, whether it's blue, green or red top milk, for an alternative, you will cut out a lot of fat from your diet. The amount of calcium the average adult does need in their body can be got from other foods such as sesame seeds, tahini, pulses, bread and dried fruits like raisins, prunes and apricots.
Great tasting cows milk substitutes are rice milk, oat milk and soya milk. Semi skimmed cows milk contains 255 calories per pint and 9.9g of fat whereas rice milk has 278 calories but only 5.6g of fat per pint and soya milk has 205 calories but 12.6g of fat per pint. It depends what kind of diet you are going for and what other foods you will be eating. If you aren't eating a lot of fatty foods at all, a milk with a higher fat content isn't a bad thing to drink or put on your cereal.
Weirdly, 75% of people in the world could be lactose intolerant, so many people don't realise it. If that was the case then cutting out dairy will certainly improve your health.
Eating nuts, grains, pulses, and dark green vegetables you should be able to get in all the nutrients you need without added extras, so why not cut out meat and animal by-products and see if it makes a difference to your health and lifestyle.
By visiting the NHS Choices website you can find out more about how to introduce a vegan diet into your life without creating hazardous risks to your health. If you are drastically changing your diet, or want to start a big weight-loss plan, you should consult your GP.