# What are 10 good reasons to go vegan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336 "2012-01-22T22:33:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/61 "2012-01-23T16:02:03Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Well, there is eating healthy, eating vegetarian, eating vegan and the entire vegan lifestyle. > > Eating vegetarian is reasonably straight forward. Make sure you get all the protein, vitamins and amino acids. > > Eating vegan can be quite challenging. Go out for Italian with friends, and you can’t have pasta because the noodles will have been made with egg. There are just tons of basic foods out there that have dairy or eggs in them. I did a vegan diet for about 6 months and gave it up because I spent waaaaaaaaay too much time worrying about what I could eat and scanning all the ingredient labels. > > The vegan lifestyle, whether as practiced by the Jains or their new age American counterparts, is quite involved. You started out with a nice sentence outlining the distinctions. Particularly that veganism is about more than diet. However, things went a bit downhill later. While pasta sometimes has egg in it, sometimes it does not – it is best to ask. And frankly, while vegans do generally have to pay attention to the ingredient lists, that’s not necessarily a bad thing – we could all stand to be more aware of what we’re eating. Lastly, veganism is only “guilty by association” of being New Age; they don’t always go together. And I’m not sure what “American” has to do with it; the Vegan Society was [founded in Britain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan_Society). ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/62 "2012-01-23T16:15:06Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m just checking here. Pigs are technically vegetables, right? My veggie-burgers are 100% ground pork, so they’s better be 🙂 I cannot imagine going vegan it looks like too much work for the food. However, being conscious about your food is always good and more greens and less meat is better. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/63 "2012-01-23T16:19:01Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > As [Mark Bittman](http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455) said: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/64 "2012-01-23T16:21:55Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > you personally deciding to stop buying chicken just gets lost in the noise. You know who else got lost in the noise? [Oskar Schindler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Schindler). > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > You’re saying that one individual’s ethical choices are always meaningless because a) you’re just one person, so it makes no difference if only you do X, and b) if everybody did X, it still wouldn’t make any difference if you did X, because everybody else are doing it anyway? Therefore, no one should ever do X? > > Yeah, that’s some water tight reasoning right there. Exactly. Isn’t everyone’s moral choice always made essentially alone? Isn’t morality what we do when no one is watching? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/65 "2012-01-23T16:25:18Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > You’re saying that one individual’s ethical choices are always meaningless because a) you’re just one person, so it makes no difference if only you do X, and b) if everybody did X, it still wouldn’t make any difference if you did X, because everybody else are doing it anyway? Therefore, no one should ever do X? But if fifty people turned vegan, that would be a movement. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/66 "2012-01-23T16:33:23Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > While your ethical or moral actions will likely not save the world, they may very well preserve and promote one’s own sense of well-being when adhered to. You might want to look for a book called Eat To Live. It doesn’t necessarily promote veganism, and it’s too severe for my personal tastes, but it does have some good ideas such as avoiding processed foods almost entirely and eating nutrient dense foods almost exclusively. I’ve been trying to follow the guidelines and I do generally feel better from what I eat. > > Yoga was mentioned above, and it’s an excellent point. Regular exercise can make a large difference in quality of life, and yoga seems to be an exercise that a lot of people can stick with. > > Another thing that may be useful is learning the glycemic index for foods you commonly eat. I’ve heard that book was good, I’ll probably be getting it! ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/67 "2012-01-23T16:36:26Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > All of this and bolding mine. > Cultivation of vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains also displaces and kills indigenous vegetation and along with it, wildlife - so it’s not like even “true” vegans are wholly innocent. Here in Michigan soybeans are a major farm industry, so tens of thousands of acres are plowed bare and denuded of anything that sustains wildlife to maximise profit. Same goes for most crops. > > In any case, being a committed vegan is a _lot_ of work. If all you want is better skin and more energy - exercise more, don’t smoke or drink (too much), eat less meat, fast food and over-processed foods and more vegetables, fruits, legumes and home cooked meals. > > As [Mark Bittman](http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455) said: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I know it’s alot of work but Im still interested in becoming one though. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/68 "2012-01-23T16:48:44Z")
As stated by others, just take a look at your food to make sure you’re eating a well-balanced diet, and a multivitamin with B12 just in case wouldn’t hurt. (A lot of cereals/bread products are fortified with B vitamins, but if you’re eliminating a lot of store-bought processed foods, you might miss that.) The Happy Herbivore cookbooks are good, as are Appetite for Reduction and Veganomicon. A big :rolleyes: to the concept that doing something small to reduce suffering is worthless. By those guidelines, you should either say “fuck it” and be totally selfish, or kill yourself now because you are unworthy of continuing to exist and use up our planet’s resources since you’re not curing a major disease. Giving a few dollars to charity is not meaningless to those who are helped by your dollars and the dollars of others, pooled to do good. Saving a dog from euthanasia in a pound is not meaningless to that dog. Do what your conscience guides you to. Full disclosure: I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan. My consumption of dairy and eggs is fairly low, and at least for my home usage, I try to get those products from humanely-raised animals whenever possible. I cook meat for my husband, as he’s an omnivore, but he happily eats vegetarian or vegan meals at home too. I don’t preach to others (exception: threads where someone asks for advice); this is just what I believe, and I know it is not acceptable or practical for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/69 "2012-01-23T16:51:29Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > OK. what do “processed foods” have to do with a vegan diet? Some Vegan products go out of their way to taste like the real thing and the final result is way over processing. As an example take a look at the ingredients of fake (vegan) bacon; There are _a lot of ingredients._ Way too much processing for my likes. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/70 "2012-01-23T16:57:44Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > Another thing that may be useful is learning the glycemic index for foods you commonly eat. Not really. > **[Diets | Livestrong.com](https://www.livestrong.com/scat/diets/)** > > This page has information on various diets, including popular diets for weight loss and specific health conditions. Get support to improve your health. "At our diets page, we unders... [http://www.alanaragon.com/elements-challenging-the-validity-of-the-glycemic-index.html](http://www.alanaragon.com/elements-challenging-the-validity-of-the-glycemic-index.html) Both article written by Alan Aragon. This guy: > **[Alan Aragon - Nutrition Science and Training Expert](https://alanaragon.com/)** > > Alan Aragon's Research Review (AARR) is the original, gold standard monthly journal for the latest research in nutrition, supplementation, and training. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/71 "2012-01-23T17:25:18Z")
Well, diets don’t work in the long term. Ok, you may lose a few pounds, but to keep them off you need a Lifestyle Change. Going Vegan, or Vegetarian, or Pescatarian, or Michael Pollans “Fooditarian”, or like I did “No fast or junk food tarian” all work. Now, actually Pollans rules “Eat food\*. Not too much. Mostly plants." (it’s important to know his definition of what is “food”) is likely the healthiest, but it’s hard to do. It does fit nicely into what you liked, which is fewer processed foods. Give it a try. Read his books. But you can certainly eat tons of processed junk which is completely vegan. HFCS is vegan, for example. If you want healthy and easy to commit to, then I think Pescatarian works best. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/72 "2012-01-23T18:13:46Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Well, you can certainly eliminate processed foods from your diet without adopting an exclusively vegan lifestyle. In our home, we eat animal products regularly, but rarely processed foods. We also eat several vegetarian meals a week and sometimes vegan meals. Not because we are trying to eat a certain way, but because we are eating yummy, healthy food and meals without meat/animal products are also yummy. Sometimes I make a meal and then as we are eating it, I realize it’s completely vegan. We eat what we like and what’s healthy. Sometimes it’s vegan, sometimes vegetarian and sometimes it has meat. Right, you could largely to wholly eliminate processed foods (which I agree can lead to feeling kind of crappy) at the other extreme from veganism too. Atkins and the paleo diets are pretty doggone unprocessed. My skinny girly ex-GF took to paleo with the zeal of a convert when she realized that having steak and eggs for breakfast rather than a “healthy” bran muffin or granola bar totally cured her mid-morning hypoglycemic fugues. What was the old home ec mantra? Do your shopping around the edges of the grocery store, generally stay out of the aisles (i.e., you’ll be hitting the fresh produce, and, if you want, fish, meat, and dairy sections and avoiding the factory-made “products.”). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/73 "2012-01-23T19:06:25Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Isn’t morality what we do when no one is watching? I thought what we did when no one is watching was download porn and scratch our balls? I might have misunderstood something, though. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/74 "2012-01-23T20:16:03Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Not really. > > [Diets | livestrong](http://www.livestrong.com/article/435162-a-closer-look-at-the-glycemic-index/) > [http://www.alanaragon.com/elements-challenging-the-validity-of-the-glycemic-index.html](http://www.alanaragon.com/elements-challenging-the-validity-of-the-glycemic-index.html) > > Both article written by Alan Aragon. This guy: > [http://alanaragon.com/](http://alanaragon.com/) I’ll have to look those over. I know that I’ve had success in the past, at least temporarily, eating foods that showed up better on the glycemic index, but of course that meant I was eating more nutrient dense leafy greens and a lot less processed foods. And of course, there’s proponents and opponents to any plan for eating. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/75 "2012-01-23T20:39:24Z")
Let us be clear here. There are no health benefits from going vegan or vegetarian. They are health benefits from cutting down on calories, eating less junk and processed food, and eating more fruits & veggies. One can do that and still eat some meat, but yes, it’s easier to do so for most dudes by cutting out meat entirely. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/76 "2012-01-23T20:43:52Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > I’ll have to look those over. I know that I’ve had success in the past, at least temporarily, eating foods that showed up better on the glycemic index, but of course that meant I was eating more nutrient dense leafy greens and a lot less processed foods. Would you be surprised to learn that a Twix bar and pound cake are low on the glycemic index and potatoes and parsnips are high? Carrots and potatoes have about the same high GI as sugar and white bread. But potatoes are ranked as being very high on the [satiety index](http://foodandhealth.com/cpecourses/giobesity.php). Here’s another article by Aragon regarding the glycemic index I think you’ll appreciate. > **[The Truth about the Glycemic Index](https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19525801/understanding-the-glycemic-index/)** > > Proponents of the glycemic index say the secret to losing your gut is to eat by their numbers. But what happens when those numbers lie? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/77 "2012-01-23T20:49:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But you can certainly eat tons of processed junk which is completely vegan. HFCS is vegan, for example. Vegan / vegetarian food can certainly make you fat. For a while, I replaced a lot of dairy with coconut milk. Only problem is, coconut milk has an \*unbelievable \*amount of calories and saturated fats. I’m slightly amazed that it didn’t kill me outright. Now, I mostly replace dairy by… eating something else that isn’t supposed to have dairy. Well, and some soy milk (which, by the way, is another thing that is processed out the wazoo). ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/78 "2012-01-23T20:50:27Z")
Another consideration pro-Vegan is the antibiotic issue. Each winter I am plagued by sinus infections and bronchitis that WON’T go away. I’ve had to get some times as many as five courses of antibiotics to finally rid myself of the green gunk. Cattle ranchers pack their animals in feedlots prior to slaughter. The animals are fattened on whatever bulk foods the rancher can obtain cheaply. Because the animals are stressed out and under such crowded conditions, their feed is liberally laced with antibiotics. Now, supposedly the antibiotics are halted for a period of time before slaughter, to minimize the antibiotic residue in the meat. However, antibiotic use is increasing in the United States, as more and more bacteria are becoming resistant. MRSA is in the rise. How often do we hear of E. coli contaminating certain meat supplies? Chickens are raised in factory farms. PETA can educate you on the lovely accommodations of chickens. To minimize animal loss, the chicken farmers feed them antibiotics. And we are all cautioned about possible salmonella contamination of eggs, egg products, and chicken meat. Cows get antibiotics and sometimes growth hormones. If I do return to Veganism, it will be because of these factors. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/79 "2012-01-23T20:52:03Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Now, I mostly replace dairy by… eating something else that isn’t supposed to have dairy. Well, and some soy milk (which, by the way, is another thing that is processed out the wazoo). Make your own soymilk. Wonderful stuff, doesn’t even come close to resembling the crap in the stores. Just soybeans and water. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336/80 "2012-01-23T21:26:47Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m just checking here. Pigs are technically vegetables, right? Only if you bribe your rabbi:) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-10-good-reasons-to-go-vegan/610336.md?page=5)