Why I'm A Vegan

Why am I a Vegan? My answer to this question is, "For Health Reasons!" Anyway, this would be my first reason. As it turns out, I have many.

On July 16th of 2008 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. On July 18th they cut out a grapefruit-sized (according to the Dr.) tumor. This hurt! When I woke up from the surgery, I had a temporary transverse loop ostomy. What this means, in a nutshell, is that I got to poop in a bag for four months. I need you to know right now, I don't regret this experience. I met many people that have ostomies for the rest of their lives. I have a new appreciation for how our bodies work. I am also amazed that someone figured out that you can pull part of your intestine out of your body and collect your poop in a bag. I would much rather do this than die. At times it was painful, embarrassing, uncomfortable, messy, and downright disgusting. What it didn't do was stop me from living, working, riding my bike, or most importantly, loving my wife and family.

I recovered from my first surgery fairly quickly. I shocked most of my co-workers. I had a few things on my side. I was young, physically fit, and an optimist. Just before Thanksgiving 2009 I went into the hospital and had my ostomy reversed. After another painful but even quicker recovery, I am back to using the toilet the normal way. I still had to work out a few things, but all in all I am doing great.

This brings me back to why I am a Vegan. I started reading... LOTS! I wanted to know why, I, at age 38, in very good physical condition, with NO family history, ended up with colon cancer. My findings were overwhelming. My diet caused my cancer. Specifically, my consumption of animal protein. I have listed some of the books I have read on this subject on another post within this blog. For some reason my body has a predisposition to colon cancer. My body reacts poorly to the consumption of animal protein. The only thing I can compare it to is when you hear of a person that has been chewing tobacco for 40 years and doesn't have any cancer. Then you hear of a young man that has only been chewing tobacco for two years and is now going to die. Our bodies just react differently to different carcinogens. And, YES, from my findings animal protein IS a carcinogen.

So, long story, but the first and biggest reason why I am a vegan is because I don't want to die from cancer. I had it once, and if simply changing my diet will keep it away, then that is the least that I can do!

But that isn't the whole story. I have become enlightened to a great many other reasons to become vegan. In my quest to stay healthy, I realized that we are not only killing ourselves, but also our planet through the consumption of meat. Then I got angry. I don't like the fact that our government is paying for about 92% of the cost of your hamburger. That's right! Through government subsidies the cost of your hamburger is kept down. The true cost of a Quarter Pounder without government subsidies would be about $25. You do the math. That is alot of government tax dollars going to support our nation's unhealthy eating habits! What is even worse is most of us don't know this is even happening; and what is even more frightening is that those that do know about it don't care.

I better get off my soap box and back to the question. Why am I a vegan?

Health
Animal cruelty
Pollution
Hormones
Antibiotics
The waste, the waste, the waste involved in eating meat
The water consumption:

• A vegan uses about 138 gallons of water a day to eat
• A vegetarian uses about 250 gallons of water a day to eat
• A meat eater uses about 4,000 gallons of water a day to eat (That's right, per day!)

The amount of grain we feed just the cows in the US could feed the world.
(By the way, cows aren't supposed to eat corn. They are supposed to eat grass. But grass doesn't fatten them up like corn does.)

I have only scratched the surface of why I am a vegan. The better question to ask is why aren't we all? If you eat meat, why do you do it? The really funny thing is.... I can list many, many reasons why I am a vegan. What are your reasons for eating animal products? Are they good reasons? Are they truthful and accurate reasons? Do you know your facts? Do you even know what you are eating? A few years ago, I couldn't answer these questions. NOW I can. NOW, I am a VEGAN!