And once again it’s time to set up new goals and resolutions. For most of us, January becomes our healthiest, fittest and most productive month. We tend to give our best in every field, every aspect of our lives. We try out various new fitness regimens and swear off the bad habits and push ourselves to bring our best foot forward.. While most of us ended the 2021 holiday season on a high note where we let ourselves go, no rules, no limits—January is the perfect time to start afresh.
All of this makes the first month of the year the perfect time to turn vegan, yes?. Veganuary, an annual challenge run by a UK-based non-profit organisation, encourages people to stick to a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. This initiative has spearheaded and changed lifestyles for the better for many years now. Let’s face it, we’ve all at some point or the other thought about going vegan—to better our own health, avoid cruelty against animals, and protect the environment.
Veganism is described (by the Vegan Society) as ‘a way of living that excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.’ Now is the time, at the dawn of 2022, to make this decision and give veganism a try.
Listed ahead are ten worthwhile reasons why you should give it a shot.
For our body:
1. Opting for a plant-based diet boosts your energy with less fat and more direct oxygen pumping into your bloodstream.
2. Plant-based meals are colourful (so pretty you’d want to post it on your Instagram feed), nutritious and most importantly delicious. You can fill up your plate with a full spectrum of foods that can be cooked or raw that will help you feel fresh and satisfied instead of feeling heavy and lazy after a non-vegetarian meal.
3. Veganism helps your body maintain and manage your weight and sugar content. Fruits and vegetables help create better metabolism, the lesser dairy content allows less inflammation and you also end up avoiding animal proteins that aid in type 2 diabetes.
4. Protects your heart and strengthens your gut health with low-fat content, high-fibre and immunity-boosting minerals that get absorbed quickly into your system.
5. And finally, plant-based diets are enriched with antioxidants and collagen-boosting nutrients, making your skin look supple, even-toned and young.
For our planet:
6. Veganism reduces our carbon footprint in a huge way. People who eat meat or other animal products tend to contribute almost double the emission of greenhouse gases than vegans and vegetarians (according to a study by Oxford University).
7. Did you know it requires about 4000 gallons of water (over 18,000 litres) to feed a meat-eater in one day, while a vegan needs about 300 gallons of water (1,300 litres)? Animal agriculture also contributes to the highest human-caused greenhouse gas emissions amongst other industries.
For our animals:
8. By cutting meat off your diet, you can protect hundreds of animals from being raised to be slaughtered for meat consumption.
9. It’s not just about your diet, a vegan lifestyle also allows you to opt for PETA-approved, cruelty-free fashion and beauty. You can choose a variety of products that have been sourced from nature, without any toxins or animal-based ingredients.
10. You invariably tend to shop for earth-loving, nature-friendly, Ayurvedic and cruelty-free brands that strive to make the planet a better place. You can try Lotus Herbals, The Body Shop, Kama Ayurveda, Himalaya, Just Herbs, Mcaffeine, Plum, Simple, Soulflower, Disguise Cosmetics and more.
