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Why Are You Vegan???

Hey everyone,

I was having a discussion with my parents on why people become vegans. My mom says its only because of the love for animals. She believes this because knows THREE vegans who say they've become vegan for the love of animals only. Me, having to go against the grain, i say that that's wrong because in my opinion personal health is the biggest benifit from being vegan. I mean of course once i read and watched things on the slaughter houses that made me feel for the animals so that was one of the reasons but PERSONAL HEALTH is #1 for me... HOW ABOUT YOU??

Just let me know what is your number one reason for becoming vegan... no arguements or judgements =]

thank you

Comments

  • the movie "EARTHLINGS"

  • vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

    For me I was sick all the time and having stomach/digestive issues so I went vegetarian and after my second daughter was born found out me and the kids are allergic to dairy (amidst other things) and went full vegan and then about a year ago started on the raw. So it is both health reasons and a love for animals b/c I learned about factory farming at the same time I went veg. now that I am raising children we have actually let them try meat whether on purpose or an accidental grab from a relative and they do not like meat and we are not trying to force them (other than their food allergies) we want them to be vegan of course but we want them to want to also. (free will and all) but our oldest who is almost 4 vocalizes from watching others and seeing the movie charlottes web that some people kill animals and eat them and she does not want to. So I guess in answer to the origianl question my reasons for being vegan seem to change like the flow of life what it started out as and how it evolved is all part of the process of evolving conciousness.

    Great post by the way.

    Most people I know also are vegan for more than one reason like health, life altering moments, and love of animals or religions or practicing nonviolence in any way etc

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Personal Health immediately followed by smaller carbon foot print... smile

  • randommararandommara Raw Newbie

    I would guess most raw vegans are vegans for health primarily because otherwise they'd probably be just regular vegans. I know plenty of animal loving vegans that live mostly on french fries and other garbage food. Most eat healthier but raw people are different.

  • joannabananajoannabanana Raw Newbie

    I first became vegan because I had an eating disorder. That sounds kind of weird, but I was trying to disguise it as "oh, it's healthier to eat this way" but I was really just restricting my diet and limiting the foods I could eat. When I look back on that, I totally wasn't vegan for the health of my body, but I am now. I then decided to do RAW because I wanted to take better care of myself and because I'd developed so many digestive/allergy/asthma issues over the years. I got rid of all of my health problems though... finally!!

  • I turned to vegan for both health/animal ethical/environmental reasons...

    Now truthfully, I haven't been fully restricting my food choices in any way but rather just eating what I feel like when I feel like it. Sometimes I eat raw fish, mostly I eat only raw vegan...I just feel like it and go with it. I like to not label my way of eating : )

  • I became vegan simply because I was tired of picking up products that said things like no rHB added, or no antibiotics added. I thought what is rHB and why should I care if it is or isn't added. I still don't know what it is, but that is why I became vegan. It seems silly now, but I'll never forget picking up the ice cream container and reading that. I put it down and have not had regular ice cream since.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    Here's what I have on my own personal raw vegan food blog:

    http://www.beautifullivingfood.blogspot.com/

    "This is a place to share my passion for raw vegan food preparation. My dream is to inspire people to choose compassionate and cruelty-free plant based food that is amazingly healthy, humane and delicious. I love animals, especially farm animals who are sweet, kind, loving and intelligent sentient beings. Yet these animals suffer from extreme violence and the unspeakable cruelties of factory farming. I hope you find my blog helpful as well as inspiring"

    Why have I chosen a Raw & Living Vegan Diet?

    I am a vegan because I love animals and want to see an end to all the suffering on factory farms. I can't change the world by myself, but I can lead by example and share my food with as many people as I can. If one person decides to become a vegan, than I have saved hundreds of innocent farm animals.

    "To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Why raw and living food? At temperatures below 120F degrees, the nutrients and enzymes of plant based food are preserved for maximum nourishment. I feel the best when I eat raw foods. I feel I'm in the best shape of my life by embracing this lifestyle. And I truly find raw and living foods to be vibrant in taste and extremely flavorful. This artful style of food preparation is simply beautiful and delicious! I hope you enjoy it as much as myself.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    I'm a vegan primarily for animal rights. I'm passionately against factory farming and the horrors that animals must endure to feed the western world.

    Please visit the Farm Sanctuary website to learn more:

    http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

    Here's a blog posting by Jasmine from one of the Farm Sanctuary Blogs:

    http://farmsanctuary.typepad.com/making_hay/2009/04/virtual-reality.html

    "As someone once said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we

  • wichtenwichten Raw Newbie

    I became vegan for health reasons. I was very sick, the docs couldn't or wouldn't do anything for me so I read everything on nutrition i could get my hands on and here I am.

    I grew up in rural country, so our family actually butchered our own meat. It wasn't really till I was out on my own that I learned about factory farming and all its nastiness. I think knowing where meat and milk comes from makes it easier to be vegan. If you've ever processed chickens before it is so nasty! The smell is something you'll never forget.

  • gratefultobegratefultobe Raw Newbie

    I am vegan because of my quest for Ahimsa. I have no desire to participate in the suffering of the helpless. I know I have a long way to go but not eating meat, eggs or dairy is easy. Finding cute shoes and coats is really hard but I dont care, I dont want to wrap myself w/ anothers skin. I am raw for health reasons. !YES!

    Love to all for the compassion I see here =)

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    I started out only for health. I believe our stomachs are herbivore stomachs. Chimpanzees eat a little meat, but not that much. I didn't realize I had digestion problems for years because I never knew what normal was. My stomach used to make weird noises all the time and I would just think that was digestion.

    I went raw vegan and felt great. I sampled some cheese once after a while and felt like crap for days.

    After studying more and more, I now will never eat an animal because I find the concept repulsive. Those slaughter houses cause so much pollution, use so many resources, etc.

  • LilEarthMuffinLilEarthMuffin Raw Newbie

    For me first and formost it was about my personal health, but now i cannot stand the thought of hurting another animal.

  • Sounds like my mother. She knows only a one or two people of a certain "group type" and she thinks she is an expert. I think there are many vegans out there who eat that way for health only and don't label themselves as vegans. They may not even know much about the vegan lifestyle since health is their main motive.

    I started out as vegetarian many moons ago totally for health. It wasn't until much later I found about the factory production of meat and it disgusted me. I was glad I was already a vegetarian. When I cut out dairy, I still wasn't too keen on calling myself a vegan becuase it seemed to offend vegans who actuallylived the whole lifestyle because I am far from green and crunchy and still ate raw honey. I had no problem not calling myself a vegan.

    So there may be more out there like me, that eat a vegan type diet, but don't want to label themselves as vegan.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    I don't know of any health reasons for avoiding leather, wool, silk, honey, animal-tested products, animal ingredients in toiletries, etc.

    I'm a vegan for ethical reasons and environmental reasons/social awareness reasons.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    Anyone ever see that movie, Year of the Dog with Molly Shannon (from Saturday Night Live)? I really enjoyed that movie. It's about a quiet ,mild-mannered woman who becomes a vegan and adopts all these homeless dogs. It's a sweet movie and has some very funny moments. (At work she brings in some vegan cupcakes to share with her office co-workers and they are not sure what to think). I saw it a few years ago but I remember she really embraced the who vegan lifestyle and felt so happy to call herself a vegan since she was motivated by her love of animals. I highly recommend the movie. And I keep meaning to buy myself a copy. I like Molly Shannon and the movie has a nice message.

    http://www.yearofthedogmovie.com/

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    I started from the traditional, eat american growing up that way. When I was 19, I found out i had pre-cancerous cells. I went the conventional way with 1 internal "freeze" and 2 surgeries to cut it out. DIdn't work. I then read "A cancer battle plan" and had my first lifestyle change with juicing, cutting down saturated fat intake, meat, and up-ing fresh veggies, whole grains, etc. I still drank milk, cheese, as dairy was still too well ingrained. At that time i never though i could give it up. (now i've gone from drinking soy milk, to attempting to change to cashew/almond milk) The changes I did had an impact. When i went to the doctor i had "normal" cells again. I was really good for awhile. Then I was not as good. The last few years with my boyfriend, I had been eating worse again, but by christmas of this last year we were both getting fatter than we liked. That, coupled with the raw food party we went to, and just doing the master cleanse have lead me back to even healthier state of affairs. Granted I'm still experimenting with the "raw" world. Every day I hear about one more "additive" that I don't want to be consuming. I have to admit I feel less heavy and more energy with a "raw" diet. The one thing that's gonna kill me is the cost. I'm not sure i can afford to be raw all the time. With only making $12/hr I feel like i'm gonna have to add back in things like tortillas, black beans, rice, granola, to make it all happen. Oh. another reason i'd like to, is that i'm a musician, so the better appearance I can pull together, probably the better chance I have at making an impression. And I like the "raw" community. I find "raw fooders" are generally decent positive people. yay.

  • luxdivon,

    i love to hear about stories of people being cured just by eating health i gives me motivation and a reason for why i have this raw vegan goal =]

  • gratefultobegratefultobe Raw Newbie

    Joyce, I just rented Year of the Dog. Very funny and sweet. Thanks for recommending it. I dont think I would have run across it on my own. There is so much to say about it. Its remarkable. Very different kind of movie for this day and age. :)

  • RawaholicRawaholic Raw Newbie

    I have been a vegan since I was six years old. My mom decided that the whole family (minus my dad), was going to become vegan for health reasons. My mom had terrible migraines every single day and never got out of bed before noon due to the severity of them. My younger brother refused to walk because he said that it hurt. I had severe night time asthma attacks. One time it was so severe I almost suffocated to death because my entire airway got blocked up. Six months after becoming vegan my mom's migraines were completely gone, my brother was walking, and my asthma was gone (I haven't had one since and I later found out that the main cause the attacks was because I was lactose intolerant, and I ate a lot of dairy before going vegan.).

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I'm vegan for the animals, raw vegan for health. If I found out eating meat was healthy, i'd still be vegan.

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    Oh my god, I've just watched the trailer for Earthlings and I feel really sick. I'm currently a veggie (although I rarely eat dairy/eggs) and have been thinking about turning vegan for a while now. I'd wondering if watching this kind of film might really force me into action.

    After seeing the trailer though, I honestly don't think I can bring myself to watch it. It looks totally horrific.

    When I turned veggie, it was like this slow build inside that I could feel coming and I knew that it would only be so long before I had to stop eating meat. I think it might be the same for becoming vegan. I can feel this unease building but I'm also a bit scared of what it means it I turn vegan. It's really hard.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    I was already vegan when I watched Earthlings and cried through the whole thing, even though I didn't contribute to those businesses anymore. :( It's very upsetting, but it's good to be aware at the same time.

  • I WATCHED EARTHLINGS!!!! OMG THAT WAS HORRIFING STUFF. I TOO CRIED THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE THING. I WAS DISGUSTED WITH MAN KIND AND FEEL PAIN FOR THE ANIMALS WE MAKE SUFFER EVERY DAY. NOW I SEE WHY PEOPLE WOULD BECOME VEGAN JUST FOR THE ANIMALS. =] MY DAD ISNT GANNA EAT CHICKEN ANY MORE (my mom and sister refuse to watch the movie) just taking small steps to my goal =D thank you

  • KristensRawKristensRaw Raw Newbie

    I went vegan for the animals. I recognize it's optimal for health and the environment, but my initial reasoning is my passion and love for animals. My introduction into veganism was with John Robbins' book Diet For A New America.

    Cheers,

    Kristen

     

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    Lisa, congratulations! It's beautiful how much you've changed from the time you started this thread to your last post after watching Earthlings. In the beginning you said it's going vegan for the benefit of animals is the wrong reason...but when you see their suffering with your own eyes, it's different now, right?

    For Sv3 and others who think it is too much to view, they also have an audiobook download on their site so you can listen to the information without the visuals. (The download is not free.) I think we can get people to listen to it who would not be willing to see it - although I think seeing is the most effective by far. The late great actress Gretchen Wyler said "We cannot refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies."

    In the 1940s Donald Watson invented the term "vegan" to mean those who do not use any animal products including food, clothing, beauty, etc., nor do they use products tested on animals. For the sake of accuracy, the Vegan Society identifies veganism as a philosophy, not a diet. People who *are* vegans ascribe to this philosophy of the non-exploitation of animals. People who *eat a vegan diet* without the philosophical belief may still choose to wear fur or leather, go to the circus, use cleaning products that aren't bunny-safe, etc. (Personally I extend veganism to the avoidance of pharmaceutical drugs, which are always tested on animals by U.S. law.)

    So according to these definitions, technically nobody becomes vegan for their health, as Superfood2 pointed out. I don't bother with the distinction of BEING vegan versus EATING vegan. There are probably 50,000 good reasons. I don't care what motivates people to stop killing animals, whether it's self-interest or public interest, as long as they stop. However, I think it is *critical* that people who choose a vegan diet become educated about the environmental, animal, health, and spiritual benefits so they are able to represent veganism well to the rest of the world.

    My final two cents: We desperately need millions upon millions of people to choose a vegan diet because of the problems faced by humans and the planet (global warming, water pollution, starvation, overpopulation, diabetes, cancer, swine flu...the list goes on and on). We must do whatever it takes to convince people to stop killing and eating animals, as if our lives depend on it, because they might!

  • I have been a vegetarian for most of my life, originally for moral reasons, but moral and health reasons aside eating meat to me now seems like a really odd thing to do. Perhaps it's because I've never really done it but I can't ever imagine having the desire to put a bit of another animal inside my mouth, chew it up and swallow it. Only recently have I begun to feel the same way about milk and eggs but yes these too have started to seem very unappealing to me.

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