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| Photo credit: fs999 via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND |
Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? Where and how your chicken lived before it was killed? If you are imagining bright green, trimmed grass with chicken running around happily, you are not imagining the truth. Animals are packed in a dark, ugly barn with very little breathing space all day. The animals you consume come from factory farms. A factory farm raises and produces thousands of pigs, cows, fish, chicken, and turkey at a disturbing pace. They are fed antibiotics and hormones to prevent disease and up the supply of animals, all for profit. Animals today are fed corn, wheat, and soy because it is cheaper. Cows came on this earth eating herbs; however, in modern times, they are not being fed the dense, nutritious foods they need to live. Their diet has large amounts of pesticides, which lead to health hazards in humans. Meat is very fattening today because of what the animal is fed. The delicious chicken we consume every day is packed with cancer-causing GMOs. Not only meat and poultry, but fish as well as anything originating from an animal, like dairy and eggs, contain GMOs. Because factory farms confine so many animals in one place, they produce more waste than the surrounding land can handle. Water, land, and air pollution are results of factory farms. Cows are not only abused in the process of the kill, but they are abused for their milk. The dairy industry is very misleading. The sweet, happy cow you see on your milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, etc. is the complete opposite of the truth. In order for a cow to lactate, it needs to carry a baby, mother cows are forced many, many times throughout their life to carry a child in order to lactate. Within hours from when the mother gives birth to the newborn calf, it is stolen away from the mother.
Many myths are told about veganism, all of which are false. Milk is full of fat and hormones. Dairy is actually not necessary in one’s life to maintain his/her health. The hormones in milk can lead to cancer and create acne; the rBGH (prosthetic hormone) in milk can mess with your natural hormonal function, intruding the body. Dioxins that are found in milk because of the manufacturing process can, in fact, infect the reproductive, nervous, and immune systems. Melamine negatively affects the body because of its high nitrogen content, and the carcinogenic toxins which are found in milk (found in plastics too) also have adverse effects. People that endure headaches, fatigue, asthma, and digestive problems show complete improvements when excluding dairy from their diet. Many believe that you need milk because of its calcium and its vitamin A, C, and D content, however, the nutrients are added, not found naturally. An alternative to milk like almond milk has vitamin A, D, iron, riboflavin, and calcium. Neither dairy nor meat is needed to maintain a healthy diet/lifestyle. All of your six key nutrients can be met with the vegan diet, just from different food sources. For example, you can find iron in meat but you can find more natural iron in dark, leafy green vegetables. A big misconception is that carbs are bad for you; that is actually false. Carbohydrates are your body’s immediate source of energy, so if you eat less dense, refined carbs like bleached white flour, white rice, or white bread, they have no nutrition and make you feel sluggish. On the other hand carbs like brown rice or whole grain/whole wheat bread, nuts, oats, and beans are extremely packed with healthy and essential nutrients. Carbs are what most of your diet should be; carbs do not get you fat, but overeating of refined, bleached carbs can lead to obesity. Another misconception is that you do not receive enough protein. Yet again, that is false information because you can receive protein in different ways. For example beans, couscous, quinoa, nuts, buckwheat, soy, and grains will supply your body with protein just like meat does, only better. Human teeth are meant to chew food grown from the ground, not meat. Digestion starts in your mouth with your saliva that has enzymes to start the breakdown of food; however, these enzymes can not break down meat properly. True carnivores can eat chunks of raw meat, however, humans have weaker stomachs, and our weaker acids are very similar to animals who digest pre-chewed fruits and vegetables. Meat can cause food poisoning and takes a very long time for humans to digest when it is simply sitting in you. The animal-based diet has a lot of risk factors that humans take every day because they are not educated on what fully happens in your body as well as what happens when your food was alive.
A brighter, better, healthier future lies ahead of us when more people go vegan. Some do not care about animal abuse, but they should care about their surroundings and their own health. The benefits on your health will not show as much when you are young, but as you age, they will. Going vegan will have a tremendous effect on everyone and everything for the better.
By Lauren B.