Jayne, the Vegan

Oooh celebrities ... Don't we just love them?

Anybody wanna guess what all of these celebrities have in common?

That's right ... They're All Vegan!

So, what is veganism? Well in short, it is the practice of removing animals or animal products from our lives completely. This includes what we wear, as well as what consume.

According to wikipedia.com, there are 3 types of vegans:

ETHICAL vegans are those who abstain from eating meat because of the pain inflicted on the animals during livestock rearing, or slaughter for clothes or food.

ENVIRONMENTAL vegans are those who abstain from consuming meat products because of the adverse effect livestock rearing has on the environment. According to thee Guardian, a leading newspaper in the UK, over 30% of the total earth's land surface area is taken up by animal farms. Furthermore, animal rearing is one of the biggest contributors if methane gas, thus contributing to global warning and climate change.

DIETARY vegans are the most popular vegans. These are people who decide to go vegan for health purposes.

Let me take you back to the '90s and the '2000s. During those years, HIV/AIDS was one of the biggest causes of death in the world. However, through education and lifestyle changes the prevalence of this disease has drastically reduced, and according to the World Health Organisation is no longer part of the top 10 causes of death in the world. However, heart disease and cancer are.

What is heart disease?

Heart disease is caused by the accumulation of fatty deposits (or plaque) in the arteries which transport blood to and fro the heart. This can result in heart attacks, strokes and hypertension, otherwise known as the silent killer.

According to the American Cancer society, only 5-10% of cancer is genetic.

Therefore 90-95% of cancers can be avoided through adopting a healthy lifestyle!

So, what are the main culprits of ill health?

Animal products

Processed Foods

Source: See "What the Health" documentary on Netflix

Solution?

Start by looking at the man in the mirror.

If I were to ask, out of the monkey and the bear who you thought was our closest relative, you would agree that it's the monkey. That is correct. It is important to note that a monkey is largely a herbivore (it consumes 97% of it's cholesterol from plant based sources), but a bear is an omnivore. Yet most human eat an omnivorous diet instead of a herbivorous one.

Our teeth, being closest to that of a monkeys than a bears can also give us clues as to what diet we are designed to consume.

Therefore the solution is to embrace a more whole foods plant'based diet, otherwise known as a vegan diet.

And, what's in a vegan diet?

The main categories are:

WHOLE GRAINS include whole wheat bread, pastas, rice, corn, millet and sorghum.

FRUITS - well, need I say more. Every fruit you can think of. In order to be cost effective, I advise that you buy in-season fruits which are always cheaper than out of season ones.

VEGETABLES - perhaps this is the most important of the categories. Buy as many vegetables as you can, but I would advise you to buy just what you need for each week so as to avoid them going bad. The more assortment if colours on your late, the healthier it is.

LEGUMES, NUTS and SEEDS. People always ask me where I get my protein from. Well, I get it direct from the source, from t plant. Beans, lentils, peas, nuts and seeds are all great sources of protein.

So, where can you start?

Well, like Lao Tzu said a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. Just start where you are. You don't necessarily need to go cold turkey, but you can start by reducing the meat an processed foods in your diet whilst adding more plant based foods in.

To your health!