Healthier Food

Many vegans choose the diet purely for its health benefits. Although veganism requires supplements and professional consultation to meet dietary needs, most vegans can get all their nutrients without animal products. Vegan mainstay foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes are naturally low in fat and cholesterol and rich in fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and vitamins C and E.

The American Dietetic Association reports that vegetarians and vegans have lower body mass indexes, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels than non-vegetarians do. They also reported decreased rates of type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, prostate cancer, hypertension, and heart disease.

Want to lose weight?  Vegans are, on average, up to 10 kilos lighter than meat-eaters are. And unlike unhealthy fad diets, which leave you feeling tired (and usually don’t keep the pounds off for long), going vegan allows you to keep the excess fat off for good and have plenty of energy.

Tastier Food

Vegan food challenges amateur cooks around the world and the pros are joining in. There are so many recipes across the world that use meat and dairy products and vegans cannot just replace meat with a vegetable and expect the same taste. A whole new world of combinations and flavors need to be discovered.

Veganism also gets people to try foods that they would never normally use - or even know existed. And most of the time, the flavor is effortless. Most vegan food does not need to be cooked for hours. Instead, they are quick and easy meals that are packed with natural taste.

Stylish Fashion

As more and more consumers wake up to the high costs of cheap clothes–from workers poisoned by toxic chemicals to landfills brimming with discarded garments–“ethical” and “sustainable” have become two of the biggest buzzwords in the fashion industry.

But if you ask me, unless that jacket or pair of shoes are vegan, applying those terms is just green-washing. That’s because producing leather, wool, cashmere, and other animal-derived materials pollute the planet, endangers workers’ health, and cause animals to suffer needlessly.

Eco-Friendly Fashion

Brands such a Stella McCartney, Mango, H&M and Tom Ford are all moving into vegan inspired products by making their clothes from eco-friendly products such as hemp, cotton and linen and removing other fabrics such as fur from their line.

PVC is basically out from the manufacturing process since its boom in the 60s and 70s and research shows that out of all the fabrics used in the fashion industry, the ones from animals do the most damage with leather at the lead.

The Environmental Impact

Animal agriculture requires vast amounts of land and water to support livestock and grow feed. The land conversion needed for pastures and feed crops leads to deforestation, soil degradation and a decline in biodiversity. The water used by animal agriculture, mostly as irrigation for feed crops, accounts for 8 percent of global human water use. Enormous crops of corn or grain also require pesticides and fertilizers.

The nitrogen in fertilizers contributes to algal blooms and creates ­dead zones. Animals themselves generate waste and pollution. Livestock produces 18 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent -- that's more than transport. Methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than CO2­, makes up the majority of livestock emissions. Animal manure contaminates water and releases antibiotics that may increase the resistance of some bacteria.

No More Hunger

The production of animal products places a heavy burden on the environment - from crops and water required to feed the animals, to the transport and other processes involved from farm to fork. The vast amount of grain feed required for meat production is a significant contributor to deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction. In Brazil alone, the equivalent of 5.6 million acres of land is used to grow soya beans for animals in Europe.

This land contributes to developing world malnutrition by driving impoverished populations to grow cash crops for animal feed, rather than food for themselves. On the other hand, considerably lower quantities of crops and water are required to sustain a vegan diet, making the switch to veganism one of the easiest, most enjoyable and most effective ways to reduce our impact on the environment and rid the world of famine.