Bustle just published an amazing article by Rachel Krantz entitled, “What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Eating Meat, Dairy & Eggs,” in which the author goes into great scientific and medical detail with a lot of excellent citations explaining the science behind what actually happens to your body when you stop eating meat, dairy, and eggs.
What she found in her research, including an interview with a clinical director for the University of Rochester Program for Nutrition in Medicine, was that within just a couple weeks of switching to a vegan diet, people can expect to see incredibly powerful, positive changes in their body, including improved insulin sensitivity, lower cholesterol, and even improved sleep, energy levels, bowel movements, and skin quality.
Loathe to support veganism to her friends and family on the basis of flimsy evidence, Krantz begins her column by sharing the importance to her of having the very best facts to present when telling her friends and family about the advantages and benefits of veganism:
“The internet is abounding with promises of what will happen when you try a plant-based diet. Of course, some rumors are truer than others, which is why knowing the actual science of what happens to your body when you stop eating meat, dairy, and eggs is so important. Having gone vegan myself two years ago now — and experienced numerous health and emotional benefits as a result — I was wondering which changes have actually been backed up by science, mostly so that I can tell friends and family members giving a vegan diet a try what they might be able to expect.”
She found in her research that taking action based on the evidence of medical science is so serious when it comes to your diet, that it could save your life or the life of someone you know:
“Decades of scientific study have linked dietary cholesterol and saturated fat to cardiovascular disease. Saturated fat is present in all meat and fish, while a vegan diet is devoid of any cholesterol and is low in saturated fat — so it makes perfect sense that studies have consistently shown that when people switch to a plant-based diet, their cholesterol levels drop, and their risk of heart disease goes down.
Dr. Klaper tells Bustle that within just a few weeks on a plant-based diet, ‘elevated cholesterol levels begin to decline, and blood vessel walls become healthier and more compliant as cruciferous vegetable intake increases nitric oxide in arterial walls, all of which reduces the risk for heart attacks and strokes.’”
But before you go ahead and decide to give up meat, diary, and eggs with a heavy sense of resignation for the sake of the innumerable health benefits, remember that you can really enjoy what you eat as a vegan. As a reminder, here’s an article from Runner’s World with five really tasty, no-cook vegan meals. And here’s one from One Green Planet with 20 different amazing recipes for vegan ice cream that you won’t dare let melt!
When it comes down to it, your body needs whole foods, meaning unprocessed foods. Adhering to a plant based diet will teach your body to crave these things. To unlearn what it is currently dependent on and understanding what it actually needs. Your weight will become balanced, your cravings for sugars will end, your dependence on high-fructose corn syrup will stop. Your body will regain its independence, effectually and properly functioning in all ways – mentally, emotionally, and physically.
