Surprise! I’m vegan! You guys had no clue this was coming! Just kidding, you all probably came to that conclusion when you read my previous articles about meat, fish, and dairy. You’re probably wondering why I became vegan. First let me tell you, a few years back I wasn’t all for veganism until a tragic event happened in my life. That really affected me and a few months after that incident happened, I found a documentary explaining the benefits being on a plant-based diet and here are my 4 main reasons why I’m Vegan.

#4 The Environment

I heard that vegans are saving the planet by not partaking in meat, fish and dairy. I said “I’m in!”. Livestock farming is a contributor to global warming and fishermen that use giant fishing nets to capture fish to sell in supermarkets are #1 listed on the list when it comes to plastic waste in our ocean. I’m still learning what is happening to our planet and taking small steps to do my part. From purchasing vegan products, they always use recyclable packaging and I see more and more vegan brands leaning towards a compost or no plastic packaging. Another thing I noticed is every time I go to a vegan event there is always a recycle, compost and trash bin. As I’m learning more and more about our planet it makes me happy that I can help contribute on saving our lovely planet earth.

#3 The Animals

These poor little creatures get treated so HORRIBLY. As I mentioned in my previous articles some of the mistreatment these animals go through is just sickening. Let’s review, male chicks are sent in a grinder or suffocated in large plastic bags because they are useless to the dairy or meat industry, male calves get sent straight to the slaughterhouse right after birth, female calves are next in line to produce milk once mama cow can no longer produce, piglets suffer because they are born in filthy conditions and mama pig is confined in a small barrier where she lays on her side to feed her piglets and who knows if mama pig isn’t well and the babies are ingesting her illness through her milk, chickens are injected with hormones that their little legs are unable to support there massive rapidly growing bodies due to the hormone and plastic waste in our ocean are killing or injuring our poor sea life. Don’t get me started on the fashion industry now. Yes, I also do not purchase clothing or accessories that contains any animal skin or fur in it due to the mistreatment.

#2 My Health

While I sat and watched the documentary “What The Health” I kept telling myself “I haven’t sprained an ankle or broken a bone, I’ve never been diagnosed with anything (besides anemia) and I have never been UNDER THE KNIFE. I am TERRIFIED of surgery and I don’t plan to be admitted into the hospital for that reason anytime soon.” That kept replaying in my mind and something else. I kept telling myself the “what ifs” if I continued to eat the way I ate. At the end of the documentary I made up my mind and told myself “I’m going Vegan”. I went cold turkey that same day. I cut out all meats, eggs, dairy and all fish. I thought I was insane for making those drastic changes in my diet. So I allowed myself to try it out for 2 weeks to see how it would affect my body and guess what, I’m still vegan. It did wonders and as I mentioned in my “No Meat for Me Please!” article I hated that sluggish, bloated feeling after eating a meal that contained meat and let me tell you, I do not miss it. I am thankful that my brother already cut meat out a month before I did and I have 2 cousins that are Vegans. So I rang them up asked them for advice ( if you both are reading this, THANK YOU! I am so thankful for the help you both gave me 😘) and they helped me out tremendously! My body feels so much better and lost some weight along the way.

One thing I have to repeat. Dairy is one of the #1 thing I will COMPLETELY refrain from. Finding out what Casein can do to your body scares me and I don’t want to have ANYTHING to do with it. If I see an ingredient that was extracted from milk I will not eat it or drink it. No thank you!

#1 My Dad

One of my biggest reasons for going vegan was my dad. Again, while I was watching the documentary they mentioned that the #1 cause of death in America is cardiovascular disease . If you know me, you know that 2018 wasn’t the nicest year to my family. Early morning on a January of 2018 my dad was admitted to the hospital due to a heart attack. He had a blood-clot in his artery and a week after being admitted into the hospital, on January 24, 2018 at 6pm I was told he is pronounced brain dead. On January 25, 2018 around 9:15am I got a call from his nurse saying “Your dad’s heart stopped beating, I’m sorry to informing but your dad has passed away.” I’m was incomplete shock and I went numb, I had no clue how to react. It was hard for me to tell my siblings. We drove to the hospital to tell our dad goodbye. Our lives have changed. My dad’s death really affected me in may ways. On my dad’s side of the family it’s very common to die from a stroke or a heart attack and it is common to develop type 2 diabetes. That’s what my dad was diagnosed with. I wish I would of known what being on a plant-based diet could do for you when my dad was around. It could of kept him around for a few more years. Now I am passionate to inform people what a plant-based diet can do for them and maybe I can change a life and that is the reason why I’m Vegan.