I've always toyed with the idea of being vegan when I was younger. It was something that I was interested in, having been vegetarian for two years in the past. It wasn't until May that I realized it was something I really wanted to try. So I decided that this summer I would try to figure out if it was something I could do. For the past three weeks I've been making my own vegan meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Vegans normally get a bad rap because people who aren't vegan think that it is strange to dismiss all animal products. Being vegan is a choice, one that comes with many benefits.

1. A healthier you

By getting rid of all animal products in your diet you can live a healthier life. "Eating animal fats and proteins has been shown in studies to raise a person's risk of developing cancer, diabetes,rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, and a number of other illnesses and conditions"

By going vegan you can get more vegetables into your diet which is always recommended by doctors.

2. Saving the animals

Obviously by not eating animals or their byproducts (like milk or eggs.) you can save them. Every time you buy meat to eat, you're buying an animal that was killed. A vegetarian saves between 371 and 582 animals per year.

3. It's cheap

There are plenty of ways to buy your food without breaking the bank. Your local farmer's market is a great place that will save you money and help out local farmers in your area.

Some bloggers even have websites dedicated to recipes that are cheap and easy like:

Minimalistbaker

Ilovevegan

Ohsheglows

4. Help the environment

"By eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could prevent several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage, researchers said".One of the main reasons that we have such high emission rates is because of agricultural farming. "With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority. Methane is produced by a number of sources, including coal mining and landfills—but the number one source worldwide is animal agriculture".

Since animal agriculture is the number one source of methane gas it makes sense why we would want to cut down on animal agriculture. And how do you do that? By reducing your meat intake. "When it comes to climate change, following dietary recommendations would cut food-related emissions by 29 percent, adopting vegetarian diets would cut them by 63 percent and vegan diets by 70 percent".

5. You won't be alone!

In 2009, a tiny one percent of the US population reported eating vegetarian or vegan. Now, 5% of the United States population is vegetarian and half of those people are vegan.That's about 16 million people in the United States that are no longer eating meat and those numbers are always growing.

So why should you go vegan? To save the environment, to save the animals, to become a healthier version of yourself, and to have tasty meals everyday that you won't regret.