Gone Vegan: The Three Ys

Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Always consult your physician or other qualified healthcare provider before making significant lifestyle changes or starting or modifying any treatment.

Three primary reasons people adopt a vegan lifestyle are personal health, environmental sustainability, and/or animal welfare.

A whole food plant-based diet is a lifestyle, not a temporary way of eating. Enjoy whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, high in nutrients and fiber.

Diseases associated with the standard American diet are usually not infectious.[1] They include cardiovascular and vascular brain disorders such as loss of cognitive function, lung disease from chronic airway inflammation, diabetes, liver disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and digestive cancers, including pancreatic cancer.[2]

In the US, we pay more for health care than any other country. We focus on health emergencies rather than promoting wellness.[3]

Dairy contributes to chronic inflammation. Animal products are the only externally derived sources of cholesterol, leading to hypertension. Fish isn’t just a protein and omega-3 source; it brings with it mercury and plastics.

My journey began when I became lactose intolerant at 35. I could immediately feel the results of what I was eating. My body was slowly losing the enzyme lactase. At first, it was enough to switch to goat dairy, which is lower in the carbohydrate lactose. Eventually, my body couldn’t digest that either.

Who doesn’t want to eliminate chronic inflammation, bloating, brain fog, heal quickly, sleep well, feel well mentally, and lead a long, independent, healthy, active life?[4]

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) confine, feed, and maintain large numbers of animals (1000 beef cows or 82,000 laying hens, for example). CAFOs are the dominant method of livestock production in the United States. According to the NPDES EPA 2024 report, there are more than 21 thousand CAFOs in the U.S.[5]

  Manure and wastewater contribute potentially harmful levels of pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter, sediments, bacterial pathogens, hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals, and other contaminants to the environment.

  Crowded animal lots emit unpleasant odors, methane, nitrous oxide, and small airborne particles, which can lead to respiratory diseases. Compaction and soil-borne bacteria directly degrade soils.

Farmed fish released into waterways threaten native fish populations and deplete resources.

Concerns about the environment lead directly to concerns about animal welfare. Along my own journey,  I tried to address my animal welfare and environmental concerns by purchasing meat from local small farms. When I visited, I could see animals from newborns, as they’re raised, and their final moments. I bought fish from local fishermen. I raised chickens in my backyard for fresh eggs. I watched my cholesterol skyrocket and used both Chinese Traditional Medicine and Western medicine to address hypertension. It was time to move exclusively to plant foods and away from animals for better health.

CAFOs are the main method of providing the US with dairy, cheese, eggs, and meat. Kept inside, animals in CAFOs lack adequate space and are restricted from moving freely.[6] For example, naturally grass-eating cows are fed corn and antibiotics for fast growth, then experience painful bloating and physical distress. Dairy cows are separated from their young and connected to machines that cause pain, producing pus, and sores. Swine are kept in gestation pens where they are unable to move around. Overcrowding and restricted movement prevent natural behaviors like stretching, rooting, pecking, and maintaining individual space. Some birds are bred with oversized breasts that their legs cannot support, leaving them unable to move naturally or stand.

Vegan diets cut back on wildlife destruction, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, water, air, and soil pollution, pesticides, and fertilizer use and runoff.

The current food system produces and promotes cheap, hyperpalatable, nutrient-poor foods. Corn, wheat, and soy become livestock feed, highly processed ‘foods’, and ethanol. Food production has been consolidated and federally subsidized.[7] 

Let’s turn that around to become healthier, better stewards of the environment, and advocates of animal welfare. Every purchase you make can have a positive influence. Make healthy food choices. Support local, sustainable, and organic farms by consistently buying their produce. Promote humane treatment of animals.

References

1] Greger, M.,& Stone, G. (2016). How Not To Die. Macmillan

2] Campbell, T.C., & Campbell, T. M. (2005). The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long Term Health. Ben Bella Books (https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/)

3] Esselstyn, Caldwell B., Jr. (2007). Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure. Avery Penguin

4] You Are What You Eat, A Twin Experiment https://www.worldofvegan.com/vegan-documentaries/#You_Are_What_You_Eat_A_Twin_Experiment_Netflix

5] https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-09/cafo-status-report-2024.pdf

6] Jaiswal A., Shrivastava T., The Ethics of Veganism. Cureus 2024 Mar 15; 16(3): e56214. DOI:10.7795/cureus.. 56214.PMID:38618417;PMCID:11016330

7] Moyer, J., Stoll, S., Schaeffer, Z., Smith, A., Grega, M., Weiss, R., Fuhrman, J. (2020). The Power of the Plate: The case for regenerative organic agriculture in improving human health [white paper].  (https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Rodale-Institute-The-Power-of-the-Plate-The-Case-for-Regenerative-Organic-Agriculture-in-Improving-Human-Health.pdf)