Browsing through Netflix this past weekend, I came across a documentary called “What the Health.” I have always been interested in healthy living and always try to strive to be the healthiest I can possibly be. Since I had nothing better to do, (aka procrastinating my homework) I decided to watch it, and to my surprise, it ended up being one of the most motivational and eye-opening movies I had ever seen.
It depicts the life of Kip Anderson, who thoroughly researches studies of how consuming meat and dairy products over a long period of time can increase one’s chance of developing diabetes, various heart diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and breast cancers. However, when he visits the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association websites, for example, the foods and recipes they list as a guide for people to eat to prevent these diseases contain a multitude of meat and dairy products—bacon wrapped shrimp and Yoplait yogurt, to name a few—foods with ingredients that are, in fact, thoroughly researched to cause diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and many others. When he tried interviewing the head honchos of these national associations, they either declined his interviews or asked to stop the recording when he asked why these problematic food groups were on their website.
I won’t spoil the mystery if you do decide to watch the movie, but I will say that because of the alarming and grim statistics of people who develop these life-threatening diseases due to meat and dairy consumption, the harm that producing meat and dairy can do to animals as well as the environment, and the reported accounts of getting a better night’s sleep and having much more energy throughout the day made me want to at least try to go vegan. And so far, I’m loving it—I’ve already made a handful of delicious vegan meals this week—acai bowls, pasta with meatless ground beef and veggies, and quinoa tacos! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE lover of eggs, cheese, and steak, and certainly won’t judge meat and dairy enthusiasts because I am one, too. However, because of this particular movie, as well as my vegan friends who swear by their vegan butter, cheese, and meatless ground beef, I decided to give plant-based eating a try, and you should too! (Or not—please keep eating omelets, ice cream and turkey for me!)
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