20 Reasons To Eat Less Meat

Here’s 10 things that made us stop eating meat seven years ago and decide to take the plunge to go vegan at that time and eat very little meat now:

 

1. I had to. My partner pronounced that day he had stage III of IV stomach cancer and had 2 years to live if he didn’t change his diet. It was “do or die” and all the motivation we needed to change our diet immediately.

 

2. Within a few weeks I was rid of the need for 25 years of prior medication. And lo and behold, my digestion and health improved. I got a buzz from doing “my bit” to fight diseases, and within months even the thought of chewing on a piece of charred animal flesh seemed oddly less appealing to me. I confess, I didn’t want to give up meat then but I’m glad I did and now it’s a choice.

 

3. I no longer had to vomit every day without some of my medication because my body became alkaline. For the first time I discovered just how acidic meat and dairy are and the side effects from the toxicity.

 

4. I read the book, The China Study, the largest ever human study into the health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet. T. Collin Campbell tells it straight: eat vegan to dramatically cut your risk of pretty much every major degenerative disease going, from heart disease to diabetes to cancer. This is the book that inspired my veganism seven years ago.

 

5. I fell down the Netflix vegan rabbit hole. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; The Gerson Therapy; Vegucated; a vegan smorgasbord of documentaries about the benefits of going meat-free. Just watch a couple shows and Netflix will recommend the rest.

 

6. I listened to Charlotte Gerson and the teachings of her father, Dr. Max Gerson. Dr. Gerson was an eminent scientist, closely involved in the debate in the U.S. Congress on policies for cancer treatment, and was acknowledged for his brilliance by Nobel Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer. From a true healer, precious tools to maintain and improve your health if you are fit and well or to regain it if you are ill, and a far cry from the pill-popping instant ways of conventional medicine.

 

7. I bought a great alkaline way cookbook making eating vegan downright delicious. That book is called Eating The Alkaline Way. Click on the link to order it for yourself. Let’s face it, eating just salads every day for my family was just not going to cut it so I had to make it interesting and tasty. I’m just waiting for some local hipster restaurateurs to get with the program and do it up plant-based style. I was secretly hoping my brother, Ron, would embrace this culinary fare in his restaurant but it didn’t happen.

 

8. I started meditating and journaling more. This, along with the other holistic practices I’ve been exposed to, has served to make me a more self-aware, consciously switched-on human being. Thinking about my life, including my food choices, from a more soulful perspective has made it obvious to me that mostly veganism is a great way forward.

 

9. I read every cancer and disease fighting book I could during every spare waking moment I had and they all advised a predominately plant based diet. This was the final straw. And that’s how I ended up writing this and starting a website. I honestly believe that one day we’ll put eating meat in the same category as smoking cigarettes.

 

10. All my research pointed to mostly veganism being the healthiest diet to combat disease and avoid medication. You don’t have to be totally vegan to embrace the benefits of eating less meat.

 

Whether you’re thinking of going vegan, vegetarian or just cutting down your meat intake, there are plenty of great reasons to reduce your consumption.

 

Eating more veggies, fruits, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, and seeds instead of meat can have huge implications for your health, as well as the environment.

 

Need some motivation? Here are 10 good reasons to consider.

 

1. You’re likely to reverse heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Switching to a plant-based diet has been shown to not only treat heart disease, but reverse its progression.

 

2. You’ll stay slim. Research has shown that eating meat has been linked to obesity. Let’s get real. For lots (I’ll say “most”), eating healthy goes hand-in-hand with wanting to stay a certain size, however messed-up that sounds. Does the oft-quoted observation “there are no obese vegans” play a part in my decision? Absolutely. My 40 lb weight loss was great incentive after not being able to lose weight for many years prior. You don’t have to blame weight gain on age. I now weigh the same as I did over 40 years ago.

 

3. You’ll save money. Vegetarian and vegan meals tend to be less expensive than meat.

 

4. You’ll reduce greenhouse gases. Animal agriculture is estimated to produce more greenhouse gases than the whole transportation industry combined. Lowering or eliminating your meat intake can have huge implications on climate change.

 

5. You’ll reduce animal cruelty. Millions of cattle and poultry are killed each year for meat, with a huge number of these being raised in factory farms.

 

6. You’ll be aligning with some of the greatest minds in history. Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, Charles Darwin and George Bernard Shaw, T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Robert Young, and myself (LOL), all thought it was a smart idea to follow a plant-based diet.

 

7. You’ll join many ultra-endurance athletes in following a plant-based diet. What do marathon-runner Bart Yasso, triathlete Rich Roll and ironman Brendan Brazier all have in common? No meat in their diets!

 

8. You’ll help save the Amazon from destruction. The Amazon is being destroyed to grow feed crops for cattle. The situation is severe, the majority of Amazon deforestation is due to animal agriculture.

 

9. You’ll discover more delicious recipes. Reducing the meat in your life allows you to expand your food horizons and discover exciting new main dishes.

 

10. You’ll be making a choice embraced by religions around the world. Whether you’re non-religious, spiritual or a God-fearing person, it says something that many world religions endorse a meatless diet in some form. For example, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism all encourage followers to adopt a plant-based diet. As I mentioned in a previous article, the Bible tells us God gave us plants as a plan for our diets.

 

Reducing or eliminating your meat intake has so many benefits: look better, feel better and save the planet. Eliminating meat from your life is one of the more significant things you can do for your health.

 

If you’re still on the journey of decreasing or eliminating meat from your diet, start taking baby steps today. Improve your health and the planet, one meatless meal at a time.