The benefits of a plantbased diet

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A while ago, someone left me a comment with the idea/suggestion to tell you guys a bit about the benefits I've been experiencing since I started eating a plantbased/vegan diet. I first and foremost thought about how the change of diet affected my health and overall feeling of health, but I never really got around writing this post because I always felt like there was more to the benefits of eating a vegan diet than just a few (positive) changes in health I've observed. However, let me start with what I've noticed has changed body or health wise since I've decided to drop meat, fish, dairy and eggs...

Better digestion - flatter stomach?

For some people, all things digestion might be a bit TMI, but to put it simply: living off a whole foods vegan diet has improved my digestion, which often has as consequence that I tend to be less bloated or that I don't carry around food babies (haha) for as long as I would sometimes do before I went vegan. Given that I eat a lot of whole foods and mainly cook with very unprocessed foods (the keyword here is mainly - not exclusively!), my body has less of a tough time when it comes to working with the food it's been given. I also barely ever use any kinds of oil, which I personally think makes the digestion process easier as well.

More energy/less sluggishness

This point kind of goes hand in hand with the digestion benefits, as an easier and faster digestion usually has as consequence that you're less tired after you've eaten a meal since your body can more easily transform the food into energy.

Quicker recovery post-workout

From what I've read, seen and heard, plantbased protein is a lot easier for our bodies to use than protein found in animal products such as meat, eggs or dairy. Logically, the more often you work out, the better you get and your body is more likely to adapt to your workout routine and you can experience less soreness the day(s) after you've worked out, so that too, plays into how you might feel after working out. However, I have found that since I get my protein exclusively from plantbased foods (especially from foods like beans, lentils, tofu etc., which are particularly high in protein), my body takes less long to recover from a workout, as my muscles have it easier to repair themselves. This is not only something I've experience myself but I've actually read about it too, as quite a few people seem to be experiencing this on a plantbased diet!

While these are the main health related benefits I could think of since I've started eating a vegan diet, I find it important to note that I have, however, also experienced psychological benefits (if that's what you'd like to call them) since my change of diet. 

Knowing that I contribute to on average 200 less animals being killed each year, simply by the way I eat, my conscious feels a lot clearer and I immediately feel... lighter. Of course, one single person does not make as much of a difference as 10, 100 or even 1000 people, but knowing that my efforts to avoid all animal products can help saving lives, often makes me happier than I at first realised it did. 

However, after starting a (sometimes very rocky) journey to veganism - or a vegan diet at first, about a year and a half ago, I have also become more interested in stepping out of the box of the vegan diet and got more invested in buying vegan, cruelty free products such as creams, shampoo and shower gel as well as completely avoiding leather, wool and other materials stemming from animals.

Generally speaking, I feel like my whole mindset, including the way I see our planet, has shifted enormously within the last year and a half. I've come to the simple conclusion that whatever we do that harms our planet (animal agriculture being one example), will eventually come around and bite us in the ass. To me, going against nature is pretty, well, stupid. Now, don't get me wrong, I still take planes and drive cars and I know that that too, contributes to a lot of bad things happening to our planet - amongst other things - but the awareness I've attained over the past months has helped me to put more effort into things like recycling as well. Ultimately, I find myself to be feeling a lot more grateful about little things in life or simply the beauty of our surroundings (especially in nature). This all might sound a bit overdone and hippie-esque, but I feel a lot more peaceful a lot of the time, knowing that I'm actively trying to reduce suffering and the destroying of our environment.