Mr. Whelan
English 4
21 September 2017
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of minimizing animal harm by not eating meat, dairy, eggs, honey, and any other animal byproduct. Many vegans also try and avoid using products made from animals, such as leather or wool, and products that have been tested on animals usually being hygienic or medical products. We are beginning to see an increase in vegan and vegetarian diets as more people are introduced to it, now about five percent of U.S. citizens eat a vegan or vegetarian diet. Veganism is not only about the moral aspects of it but also about how it affects your own health and the environment.
When we are born meat is brought into our diets as soon as we can chew it, but do we ever …show more content…
Whenever we begin to look at characteristics of herbivores and omnivores you can see that humans have the same characteristics as other herbivores and not omnivores or carnivores. Some characteristics of meat-eaters are, they have claws, no skin pores, perspire through the tongue, have sharp front teeth for tearing, no flat molar teeth for grinding, have an intestinal tract three times their body length to quickly pass decaying meat, and have strong hydrochloric acid in their stomach to digest meat. When we look at characteristics of non meat eaters alongside humans we see the same characteristics. Non meat eaters do not have claws, perspire through skin pores, no sharp teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding, have an intestinal tract ten to twelve times their body length, have stomach acid twenty times weaker than a meat eater, well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits, and have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains (Celestial Healing). We can also see that animals who eat meat do not get diseases or health issues that humans do from eating meat such as heart disease, …show more content…
According to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a vegetarian or vegan diet can substantially lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases. Studies were conducted comparing vegans to meat eaters and vegetarians, it showed that vegans are thinner, have lower total LDL cholesterol, and modestly lower blood pressure. Vegans consume more fruits and vegetables which are rich in fiber, folic acid, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, which is associated with low blood cholesterol concentrations, lower risk of stroke, and ischemic heart disease. Data from the Adventist Health Study showed that non vegetarians had a substantially increased risk of colorectal and prostate cancer than vegans. A vegan diet provides a variety of cancer reducing factors, one being that vegans on average have a considerably lower BMI than non vegans do which is important to lowering risks of cancer and heart disease, which is the number one killer in