Many people throughout the United States have cut out animal products, at least partially, from their diet. Recent studies weighing the benefits of going vegan or vegetarian have proven that reducing one’s consumption of animal products leads to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimers, and lung disease. On average, vegetarians and vegans live 8 years longer than those who consume meat. As well as the benefits for humans, reduced meat production is very helpful for the environment. Meat production leads to pollution through fossil fuel usage, animal methane, effluent waste, and water and land consumption. Meat is one of the prime factors contributing to the current 6th mass extinction, also known as the Holocene extinction. Hundreds of millions of people around the world do not have access to clean water; converting to a plant-based diet conserves water and therefore would be helping to provide water to those in need. Scientists at the University of Oxford have found that converting to a plant-based diet could reduce one’s carbon footprint by up to 73%. Additionally, animals could be spared from unnecessary abuse and slaughter. Each person who transitions to veganism saves approximately 100 animal lives per year. If everyone in the world went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would be reduced by 70% by the year 2050. Reducing one’s consumption of animal products is not only beneficial for animals, but for humans and the ecosystem, too.
Sources
https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/201603-plant-based-diets/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160926-what-would-happen-if-the-world-suddenly-went-vegetarian
YES!!!! I’ve been vegan for 31 years now. It is the best thing you can do for your health, and the health of this planet!
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