Veganism.

The New England Journal of Medicine is anticipating a potential decline in Life Expectancy in the 21st century. Let us contemplate this for a moment.

Humans are a species that have been able to consistently increase our life expectancy as our population has developed, thanks to the emergence of new medicines, innovations, etc. Why, now, are medical experts led to believe that the younger generation has grown up more sickly than the previous one, and therefore, less apt to survive as long? Several reasons lay a solid foundation for such a severe conclusion; the most prominent one being the rise in obesity.

The most recent statistics taken by “The State of Obesity” regarding adult obesity in the United States depicts that “adult obesity rates now exceed 30 percent in four states, 30 percent in 25 states and are above 20 percent in all states”. The exceedingly growing (in more ways than one) American population has attempted to put a lid on rising obesity rates throughout the past decade. Cue Michelle Obama and her groundbreaking “My Plate” campaign. Cue restaurants beginning to advertise calorie counts; cue a massive influx of medical prescriptions for hypertension, cholesterol and blood pressure medication, to try to combat the side effects of obesity. And let us not forget the outbreak of GREEK yogurt,- which was put on earth to save us all from regular yogurt.

Still, obesity charts have illustrated a less-than-stellar performance -- none of our efforts have had lasting positive results.

But what if we were given the solution to this problem, delivered to the human population on a silver platter? What if we already know the answer, but we are turning the other cheek because it requires effort? The vegan diet is one that allows for the consumption of solely plant-based foods. This requires the consumption of an abundance of fruits, a boat load of whole grains and yes, unfortunately, a lot of kale. Veganism does not, however, allow for the consumption of any animal products, which includes but is not limited to any meats, eggs or cheese. Now, this scares everyone, because we hate the fact that we would no longer be able to sink our fangs into a hot Philly cheese steak, or even a fresh out-of-the-oven pepperoni pizza. And so, we continue to make excuses and list off reasons for why the vegan diet just wouldn’t work.

Over the years people have claimed many times that, “You need meat in order to get the correct levels of protein,” or, “How would we get calcium without cheese?” Whether these are common misconceptions or scapegoats, humans can actually receive enough protein and calcium through plants to sustain themselves. Dr. Jozsef Tamasi, specialist of internal and social medicines, and expert of natural therapies, elaborates on the fact that humans actually receive too much protein by consuming meat in his article "Plant Based Diet vs. Meat Eating Diet From a Medical Perspective":

“It can be said that an adult body cannot process, absorb and properly digest a large amount of animal proteins taken by food, and through bacterial processes its partial breakdown produces a number of harmful metabolites, toxins which inhibit recovery. Civilized people do not suffer from a lack of proteins, rather from protein poisoning! All this is nicely demonstrated by the path of recovery because if such a protein poisoned patient switches to a vegan diet, inflammation and other chronic diseases disappear already from that,” says Tamasi.

Many uphold the belief that veganism is too extreme, and their aspired result can be reached via a less intense diet. This is absolutely true. I have no doubt in my mind that my father could have lowered his cholesterol levels by working out more, and my cousin could have bypassed acquiring diabetes by eating less sweets. “Every Day Health” online provides insight on how to lower cholesterol levels without switching to veganism.

“The right kinds of workouts, done regularly, can raise levels of heart-protecting HDL cholesterol and drop dangerous triglyceride levels,” says Robert H. Eckel, MD, professor of medicine in the cardiology division at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. “By losing fat and building muscle, your numbers can really improve.” Certain health problems such as high cholesterol levels are easier to reverse. Unfortunately, other health problems are not so easy to erase and therefore, veganism may be the most obvious answer. Although diabetes is easy to prevent, it is not easy to reverse. The vegan diet is distinctive because it is effective in reversing such acquired diseases.

The Nursing Degree Catalog illustrates the potential health benefits that many encounter from taking on a vegan diet, including the reversal of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, many types of cancers, cataracts, arthritis and even osteoporosis. Veganism can answer these problems, but first, it has to be considered as a solution. Unfortunately for many, healthy doesn’t feel as good as ice cream tastes.

There are many other reasons to consider going vegan, including economic prosperity. Michael Catham from “Gentle World,” explains how the vegan diet could benefit starving populations around the world:

“In 2013, scientists from the Institute on the Environment and the University of Minnesota published a study examining agricultural resources (including meat, dairy, and egg production) and the dilemma of world hunger. The scientists reached the conclusion that if all food crops were fed directly to humans instead of animals, around 70% more food would be added to the world’s supply, which would be enough to feed 4 billion additional people. That sudden surplus alone would be enough food to feed over half the humans on earth, let alone the 925 million who face hunger every day,” says Chatham.

Or how about the fact that switching to a vegan diet would anticipate significant environmental progress in terms of global warming. An article from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) describes a study carried out by an Oxford University Research team. Their findings revealed that those who eat meat produce about two and a half times as much greenhouse gases and pollution as vegans do. PETA states:

“The U.N. believes that a global shift toward plant-based food is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change. A report published by the Worldwatch Institute shows that a staggering 51 percent or more of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture.” (PETA)

It is believed that by doing minuscule tasks such as car-pooling, turning the lights off when leaving a room, taking shorter showers and recycling, we can reverse climate change. This is simply untrue. It is just not enough. The statistics mentioned previously prove that one-half or more of greenhouse pollution in the world is due to animal agriculture. This means that animal agriculture is the majority in terms of global warming causation. It is imperative that we tackle the biggest factor in order to solve the over-arching problem.

Of course, in order to make such a prominent impact on the world, we would be asking people to abandon their comfort zone, and try something that may be uncomfortable to some. There is no way of knowing how long it will take before people finally realize the danger ahead. We, as a population, are growing increasingly unwell, due to a variety of factors including physical unfitness and environmental depletion. Whether or not we choose to acknowledge or ignore the situation we have put ourselves in, it will come down to choosing between eating to live, or living to eat.