I’ve now been vegan for 8 months and before this, I was vegetarian for 5 years. I was also veggie when younger and only really ate chicken and fish when I returned to meat as I thought these were healthier and we needed to eat meat. I was heading towards a vegan lifestyle and had an interest in plant-based living long before I made the final decision to cut eggs and honey from my diet – the last animal products I was eating whilst vegetarian. I’d cut out milk and then cheese before this.
I read educational books, watch documentaries and even watch university lectures on plant-based living and the science behind it. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but it was only this year I started reading again whilst my daughter was in her swimming lesson. I just never find time to read otherwise. I bought a book I wanted to read for ages called The China Study by T Colin Campbell and even though I’d already turned to a 100% plant-based diet and thought I knew a lot, this book really opened my eyes even more and showed me how dairy is linked to nearly all modern developed world diseases today, also known as diseases of affluence.
I will never again consume dairy or other animal products again. I only wish I’d read this book years ago, and even that we are taught the links between dairy and disease in school. A lot of it is covered up though and the book will show you how the industry protects its profits and keeps us in the dark.
I am now reading a book by John Robbins called The Food Revolution – how your diet can help save your life and the world. It discusses a lot of similar points, but it also has a lot of new information too. I find a shocking statistic or study on almost every page! Every fact, study or statistic is referenced and these books are by people who have been in the health professions for years. They have nothing to lose or gain and I believe them more than the humungous money-hungry meat and dairy industries don’t care about animals lives or human health.
I’ve said for a while that I believe we are meant to eat plants only and all my research keeps confirming this.
Here are 8 clues we are meant to be vegan:
Photo by Sergey Romanov
Not natural predators
We’re simply not natural predators. It’s not naturally in us to creep around following a cow and then pounce on it and tear it apart. We like our meat in a plastic packet, far removed from what it once was and without imagining what happened to the animal to get it there.
Dislike guts and blood
Most of us also dislike guts and blood. I know some people like a rare steak, but if you saw a dead animal with all its blood and guts hanging out, I doubt you’d want to jump on it and eat it. We don’t salivate at that thought. We are so different to the carnivorous animals of this Earth. We don’t have those same natural instincts or desires to act like them. What we are naturally attracted to is beautiful colours and smells of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Long intestines
We have long intestines. Everything I read tells me that herbivores have long intestines, but carnivores have very short intestines. We also require fibre to help move food through our long intestines, yet carnivores do not need fibre. Carnivores also don’t need to worry about high cholesterol, whereas high cholesterol is dangerous to humans. Cholesterol is only found in animal-based products and vegans have the lowest cholesterol levels out of meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. John Robbins’ book says vegans have 35% lower levels and vegetarians have 14% lower levels.
Blunt teeth
We have blunt teeth, bar our two canines which aren’t really that sharp, or at least mine aren’t. They definitely wouldn’t be suitable for tearing through the fur, skin and flesh of an animal. Nor could I ever imagine wanting to do that and having that texture, taste and feeling in my mouth. It would disgust me, not appetise me.
No claws
We have no claws either. Carnivores in the wild have sharp claws to help catch, stop and tear up their prey. Where are our claws?
Perfect picking hands
We do have perfect picking hands though! Perfect for picking fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds! Yum!
Meat sweats
Meat can make us feel gross. I know it did me. I always felt quite disgusting after eating meat and like it needed to be processed. I never felt full of energy after a meaty meal. In fact, quite the opposite. Like I needed to rest and recover! Heard of the ‘meat sweats’?
Meat and dairy poisons us
Finally, meat poisons us. Meat, dairy and animal products all cause disease in our bodies. Some take years and years to develop, but by eating animal products we are giving them the environment to thrive and to grow into nasty problems that will affect us later in life, if not sooner. Also, many meats need to be cooked or they poison us instantly and make us sick. It’s not ‘natural’ to have to cook food. We wouldn’t have cooked our meat before making our own fire was discovered.
These are just some of the reasons. It just doesn’t make sense to me that we are supposed to eat meat. In many of the countries that don’t eat meat or dairy, or no dairy and a very tiny amount of meat, as shown in the book The China Study, these countries have very low instances of cancer and heart disease for example. Start introducing dairy and meat and increasing their intake like the Western diet and all of a sudden their disease rates go up. It’s not a coincidence.
A final word on eating meat
Regardless of whether we are meant to or not, or what you think, please also consider the disastrous effects on human health (think antibiotic resistance and all manner of diseases caused by animal foods), the devastating effect of animal agriculture on our planet (rainforests being wiped out at alarming rates to grow crops for animal feed, water pollution, soil pollution) and the endless suffering of animals who do not want to die and are living sentient beings often skinned or boiled alive when stunning fails to work.