Why Vegan? What Are the Reasons For a Vegan Diet?

Why live vegan? The reasons that speak for a vegan diet include, above all, ethical motives. Avoiding animal suffering is the decisive factor for many people to change their diet to a purely plant-based diet. But there are also health and ecological arguments in favor of a vegan diet.

Many vegans cite ethical reasons as the motivation for their dietary decisions. Because in order to be able to meet the enormous demand for animal products such as meat, milk, or eggs, the majority of animal products in Germany are produced in intensive animal husbandry, also known as factory farming. Economic aspects are in the foreground so that the conditions under which the animals are kept in industrial plants are ethically unacceptable for many animal rights activists. Barns that are too narrow, poor care, and injuries suffered by the animals are just a few of the reasons why factory farming is a controversial topic. By avoiding animal products, vegans want to prevent or at least reduce the suffering and exploitation of animals.

Medical arguments are cited as another reason why a vegan diet offers benefits. For example, the fact that eating too much meat can have a negative effect on health – as has now been scientifically proven. Too much animal fat can promote cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or obesity, for example. This is partly due to the high cholesterol content of animal products and the large proportion of saturated fatty acids. Excess cholesterol can build up deposits on the inside of the arteries, eventually clogging them. This so-called arteriosclerosis, also known colloquially as hardening of the arteries, can lead to narrowing of the coronary arteries and reduced blood flow to the heart. In the worst case, a heart attack can occur if a blood clot blocks an already narrowed artery.

In addition, regular consumption of processed meats such as sausages or ham can increase the risk of developing colon cancer. This is confirmed by a recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, the WHO considers it very likely that there is a connection between the consumption of red meat and the development of colon, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) therefore also recommends omnivores to eat no more than 300 to 600 grams of meat per week. With a purely plant-based diet, the risk of developing cancer through meat consumption is correspondingly reduced.

Vegans also often cite ecological aspects as reasons why they have decided on this form of nutrition. They argue that animal husbandry causes higher pollutant emissions than, for example, global road traffic. Enormous amounts of soy have to be grown to feed the animals – around 90 percent of the world’s soy harvest is used as animal feed. Soya is mainly grown in South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina. However, more and more rainforest is being cleared to make room for these cultivation areas. As a result, entire animal and plant species are becoming extinct. The clearing of the rainforest also contributes to climate change. Last but not least, thousands more people could be fed if the soybeans were used directly as human food instead of being fed to animals.

In addition, the lower consumption of resources is cited as a reason for a vegan diet. This is because drinking water consumption in animal husbandry is three times as high as in crop farming.