Vegan Diet Pros and Cons List

The vegan diet used to be exist on the fringes of society, but with recent advances, has become much more feasible as a means of sustenance. While this dietary approach certainly has its fair share of detractors, it also has a great deal of supporters. As such, the time has come to unpack the advantages and disadvantages that are inherent in the vegan diet.

List of Pros of Vegan Diet

1. Decrease In Numerous Health Risks
If a person relies too heavily on meat and meat based products for their daily sustenance, they place themselves at a far higher risk for a number of health related complications later in life. Diabetes and heart disease are both much more common for meat eaters. Those who make the switch to an all vegan diet greatly decrease their risk factors.

2. More Humane Treatment For Animals
One of the primary reasons people make the switch from consuming meat to a vegan diet is out of concern for the senseless slaughter of animals around the world. In modern society, there is no longer a plausible reason to kill animals to gain sustenance and vegans have proven that a person can live a normal, healthy lifestyle without having to eat animals.

3. Less Starvation
While animals are a finite resource that cannot always be replenished, vegan dietary substitutes are far more renewable, which can lead to a serious decrease in world hunger. Instead of using whopping amounts of grain and plant protein to continue to nourish animals that will end up on someone’s dinner plate, these resources can be used to feed the hungry.

List of Cons of Vegan Diet

1. Life Expediencies Remain The Same
While those who have established a vegan dietary lifestyle will often claim that they will outlive their meat eating counterparts, there is scant evidence to support this bold, audacious claim. Scientists have performed a plethora of studies on this very topic and to date, they have not able to uncover any sort of concrete evidence to bolster the increased vegan life expectancy hypothesis.

2. Less Avenues For Protein and Essential Vitamins/Minerals
One of the main reasons dietitians believe that humans need meat is because there are few sources for protein that provide the same level of overall nourishment. Amino acids are also much harder to come by for those who do not consume meat based products. Vitamin B, zinc and iron are also found most frequently in meat.

3. Meat Plays A Role In Evolution
Scientific studies have concluded that one of the primary reasons that humans crave meat is because of the evolution that has taken place since the dawn of early man. While a person can choose to quit eating meat if they wish, eliminating the cravings is a much more challenging feat.