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Improving Your Health
People are beginning to understand that a plant based diet is superior in nutrition and health enhancing properties for preventing major illnesses. Many doctors prescribe a vegan diet as the most powerful way to obtaining and maintain better health. Extensive research shows that eliminating animal foods and choosing a wide variety of plant-based foods significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
"...80 to 90% of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age simply by adopting a plant-based diet."
- T. Colin Campbell , (PhD, Professor of Nutrition, Cornell University, Epidemiologist and Director of the Cornell-Oxford-China Diet and Health Project)
Cows' milk, which is full of fat and protein, is ideal for young calves, but not for humans. Eggs have the highest cholesterol of any food and is a leading contributor of cardiovascular disease. There is serious concern regarding the health consequences of eating products from animals who are regularly given hormones, antibiotics and other drugs. While hormones force animals to grow at an unhealthy rate, abnormally increasing milk, egg and meat production to satisfy consumer demand, antibiotics try to address the widespread sickness caused by these drugs and the inhumane conditions animals are forced to endure.
Vegan foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans, are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and are rich in fiber and nutrients. Vegans can get all the protein they need from legumes (e.g., beans, tofu, peanuts) and grains (e.g., rice, corn, whole wheat breads and pastas); calcium from broccoli, kale, collard greens, tofu, fortified juices and soymilks; iron from chickpeas, spinach, pinto beans, and soy products; and B12 from fortified foods or supplements. With planning, a vegan diet can provide all the nutrients we were taught as schoolchildren came only from animal products.
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