6 Science-Based Health Benefits of Eating Vegan
6 Science-Based Health Benefits of Eating Vegan
We’ve all heard that a vegan diet can help you lose weight. But what do the science-based facts say? Let’s take a look at some of the health benefits of going vegan and how they might affect your body.
Vegan diets reduce the risk of heart disease by 25%
Eating a vegan diet can lower your risk of heart disease by as much as 25%!
Vegan diets are lower in saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and potassium than the typical American diet. They also contain more fiber and antioxidants (which help fight cancer). These nutrients help keep your blood pressure low, which reduces the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Vegan diets reduce the risk of cancer by 30-60%
A vegan diet is associated with a 30-60% reduction in the risk of cancer. This is because a vegan diet contains far less animal products, which can increase levels of estrogen and other hormones in your body. Higher levels of these hormones may contribute to an increased risk for certain types of cancers like breast or prostate cancer.
A vegan lifestyle also has many benefits for your overall health: it lowers your cholesterol and blood pressure, improves heart health and lowers the risk of diabetes, promotes weight loss (it’s easier to maintain a healthy weight when you’re not eating meat), helps prevent stroke by reducing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels while keeping HDL (“good”) ones high. Additionally, research suggests that vegans have lower risks for obesity than non-vegetarians because they tend not to overeat fatty foods like meat does when eaten regularly—so being vegan may actually help you lose weight!
Vegans are likely to be slimmer than meat-eaters, but not for lack of effort
If you’re a vegan, you may have heard that your diet is more difficult to maintain than one that includes meat. This is true in some cases (vegans who tend toward a “clean” or “raw” diet might find it harder to get enough protein), but not always.
For example:
- Meat-eaters are likely to spend more time at the gym than vegans because of their higher calorie intake—and if they have access to an abundance of meat and dairy products, there’s little incentive for them to leave the house!
Vegans live about 10 years longer than meat-eaters
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that vegans live longer than meat-eaters. The study looked at data from over 5 million men and women who were followed between 2002 and 2013.
The results showed that vegans had a lower risk of dying from heart disease or cancer during those years, as well as being less likely to die from stroke or diabetes.
Vegans consume less saturated fat and more vitamin B12, which is good for our heart and brain health.
- Vegans consume less saturated fat and more vitamin B12, which is good for our heart and brain health.
- The American Heart Association recommends that people with high cholesterol should eat 2 servings of tofu or other plant-based foods each day to lower their risk of heart disease.
- A study from the University of Cambridge found that vegans have lower blood pressure than meat eaters after controlling for age, sex and weight; another study showed that vegans had a smaller waist circumference compared to omnivores (those who don’t follow any specific diet plan).
Vegan diets affect your microbiome, which helps keep you healthy.
The microbiome is a community of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in your gut. It’s important because it helps you digest food, absorb nutrients from foods, and fight off infections. A healthy microbiome can help keep you healthy—and a poor one can cause weight gain, inflammation and even chronic disease like cancer.
Vegan diets can actually help people lose weight. Your body uses its own fat for energy instead of relying on our dietary fat intake.
- Vegan diets are high in fiber. Fiber is the part of the plant that your body can’t digest, but it’s essential for good health because it cleanses the digestive system and helps you lose weight.
- Vegan diets are high in antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals—unstable molecules that can cause inflammation and many other diseases if they accumulate in your body too much.
- Vegan diets are low in saturated fat and cholesterol (which raises bad cholesterol levels). Reducing saturated fats from animal products reduces risk factors for heart disease, like high blood pressure or diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM). But be careful: too much saturated fat may increase your risk for certain cancers as well!
- Vegetarians tend to eat more protein than meat-eaters do; this helps maintain muscle mass while keeping calories low overall! This can reduce calorie intake even further by triggering satiety signals when we feel full faster than usual after eating less food containing protein instead of carbs/sugar etc…
Conclusion
If you’re interested in getting healthier and feeling good about yourself, then veganism is the way to go. You can lose weight by eating less fat and more of your own body’s natural energy source, which will also make you feel happier. It may seem difficult at first but with a little effort, it will be worth it!
