Have you ever considered being vegan? If you’re anything like I used to be, it’s seems like a foreign and even crazy way to live. I spent my younger years wondering why on earth someone would want to do such a thing, especially when it was so obviously difficult and socially ‘weird’. If that sounds like how you think of vegans, then I have some good news for you. It is no longer difficult. In fact, with a little simple education on the subject it is quite easy! I’m here to share some of the positive reasons to be a vegan, and why you would benefit immediately.

To start, I’ll tell a short story. Several months ago several of my coworkers decided to have a weight loss competition. They decided that whoever lost ten pounds, and did so in a healthy, normal way, was the winner. Well, I decided I would participate in the ‘weigh-ins’ with them on the calibrated industrial scale in our shipping dept. Each of my coworkers would weigh in each Monday and compare notes on what they were doing and how it was working, how they enjoyed their meals and how they felt during the day. For my part, I just went along with them, and watching with curiosity as my weight slowly spiraled down. I didn’t work out. I didn’t go hungry. I wasn’t counting calories. In fact, I was eating a LOT of food. Here is what was happening. The beginning of the competition just happened to be at the same time my wife and I decided to become vegan. Over the course of 6 weeks I lost 13 pounds without doing a single thing extra! I went from 143 pounds to 130 pounds and never felt better!

I know many people are looking for healthy ways to lose weight, but what if you are at the weight you wish to maintain? More good news. When I reached 130, the weight loss simply stopped. I never lost any more. It’s been six months since then and I still weigh the same.

While there are no guarantees that a vegan lifestyle can do for you what it has done for me, I can suggest it won’t cause you any harm. I’ve been a sufferer of pervasive acne since I reached my teen years. It didn’t matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get the stuff to stop. Then, becoming aware of the many reasons to be a vegan, I chose the plant-based diet. Now I use no treatments of any kind and the acne, while still occurring now and then (and in MUCH reduced severity), is no longer a concern. Even when some does crop up, it is soon gone with only normal washing.

How about cholesterol? Where will I get my B vitamins? Protein? To wrap up, I’ll leave you with the some food for thought. A plant-based diet is low, low, low in cholesterol. Most any plant food you eat contains in the neighborhood of 5-50 mg/kg of cholesterol. Egg yolks, butter, and pork contain on the order of THOUSANDS of times more cholesterol than plants foods often used as a substitution. The dreaded fatty avocado contains about 30 mg/kg of cholesterol while butter (and who doesn’t like foods made with butter?) contains 2,500 mg/kg! Yikes! And protein? Where does a cow get it's protein? How about elephants? And while it is true that you can get B vitamins from eating meat, where do you then get all of the other vitamins? A simple source of B12 is nutritional yeast. Sound annoying to have to find the stuff and eat it? I'd like to suggest it is no more a hassel than using meat for the same reason. It doesn't spoil, takes up very little room and won't contribute other things such as fat and cholesterol to the diet.

So if you are looking for an easy way to achieve a lean, strong body, have clear, non-oily skin and keep your heart and arteries healthy, then give the plant-based lifestyle a try. I hope these few reasons to be a vegan are enough to pique your interest and encourage you to find out for yourself what a healthier tomorrow can bring.