I have been vegan for 10 years. For two years prior to that, I was eating a predominantly plant-based diet, but still ate meat on occasion when visiting family and friends. Then, one night, I decided to commit to being vegan. I’m still here and not only surviving but thriving! There are hundreds of reasons why I still think this was the best decision ever. In celebration of my first vegan decade, in this post, I will share 10 of the most powerful reasons that stick with me today.

I’ll start with what was most obvious to me from the very beginning, then share some of the reasons that I discovered over time.

If you are already vegan, please tell me in the comments! I’d love to celebrate that with you. 

If you avoid animal products like meat, dairy, and/or eggs, whether for health or for environmental reasons, but still consume some animal products because going fully vegan seems too difficult or too extreme, feel welcome to comment below, too. This post will help you decide whether you want to take a few more steps. 

Environmental reasons

I have been vegan for 10 years but, previously, I was predominantly plant-based for about 2 years. Environmental reasons were the original reasons for me. Cooking plant-based meals started because I needed to be intellectually consistent. I cared about the environment, climate stability, and biodiversity. Avoiding fossil fuels, I walked and biked everywhere and used public transit whenever possible. Once I knew about the carbon footprint of meat and dairy, I had to also start cutting back on those.

Do I still hold those views? You bet! Here are some of the still-really-good reasons why I’m glad I have drastically reduced my consumption of animal products.

Reason 10: Biodiversity

Overpopulation is a thing… farm animal overpopulation!

Sadly, humans have pulled off an awfully sad double feat:

1. Since pre-historic times, we have crashed the population of wild animals sevenfold. In my own lifetime, wild animal populations have decreased by 68 percent!
2. Meanwhile, we have massively grown the population of livestock like cows, pigs, and chickens. The biomass of farm animals on land is now 14 times greater than that of wild mammals.

Reason 9: Farming animals for food is such an inefficient use of space!

Farm animals require large swaths of land for grazing and to grow the industrial monocrops that feed them. That land is no longer available for wild animal habitat.

Look at this chart:

• 45 percent of the world’s habitable land mass is used for agriculture;
• Of that, 80 percent is used for livestock;
• Livestock supplies only 17 percent of the total calories consumed, and 38 percent of the protein.

How come? Animal agriculture is a form of bioprocessing: we feed legumes and grains to animals, and the animals metabolize that feed into meat and/or secretions. To get 1 pound of meat, we need to feed an animal 2 to 10 pounds of feed! How silly is that? Instead of eating chicken, let’s make tofu from those soybeans! It’s twice as efficient and doesn’t carry salmonella.

My personal decision to be vegan for 10 years now doesn’t weigh very heavily in land use policy, but when millions of people decrease their meat consumption significantly – even without going fully vegan – it creates possibilities. Either way, I just prefer being part of the solution.

Health reasons

Health reasons came later for me. At first, I thought vegans were exaggerating the benefits of eating plants. Now, having studied for two plant-based nutrition certificates, I see how the science supports a drastic reduction in the consumption of animal products and a massive increase in the consumption of plant foods.

Reason 8: Dairy is icky!!

I used to LOVE a big chunk of good old Canadian orange cheddar, or a piece of pungent French Ossau Iraty cheese, or a glass of milk with a piece of chocolate cake. But once I started thinking about it more seriously, I realized that dairy is icky.

After breastfeeding my own kids for almost 7 years in total, I can no longer understand how drinking the mammary secretions of another species past childhood makes sense.

In addition, dairy cows are practically always pregnant, which means that their milk is naturally carrying lots of progesterone. If milk was consumed in small quantities, maybe it would not be an issue, but my generation was raised to believe that we needed two or more glasses of milk per day! Plus, the average American consumes over 60 pounds of cheese per year. Cheese is concentrated milk, which means there is a lot of fat content, further concentrating the hormones. Isn’t that a bit gross? No wonder the connection with prostate cancer is becoming more clear. Considering those risks, since there is plenty of calcium in greens and other plant foods, there’s no reason to continue consuming dairy.

I regularly hear how taking even just a two-week break from dairy brings clearer skin and happier joints. Just quit dairy for a month as a tiny experiment and see how it goes!

Reason 7: Everyone needs to eat a lot more vegetables and beans anyway.

There are so many sick people already, we all need to do our best to avoid finding ourselves in need of medical attention. We all know that eating more vegetables and beans contributes to good health, and it’s now increasingly clear that those consuming a diet high in healthy plants have better health outcomes. When eating following the Green Food Guide, we get all the macronutrients we need (protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats) and we get tons of phytonutrients that fight inflammation, cancer, and infections with every bite while also keeping our blood vessels clean, nurturing a healthy gut microbiome, and improving our mental health. Phew! What’s not to like?

Too many animal foods and too few vegetables, beans, and fruits lead to chronic disease, filling up our hospitals and the pockets of pharmaceutical companies. Imagine all the cool stuff we could do with that money if we didn’t have to pay for pricey healthcare. Eat your veggies everyone!

Reason 6: Dementia sucks.

My father passed away with dementia. I am full aware of the tragic cost that diseases like Alzheimer’s lay onto those who have it and their caregivers.

I do everything I can to reduce my own risk of developing the disease.

We do know that diets high in saturated fats, which are abundant in meat, eggs, and full-fat dairy products, are associated with a greater risk of cognitive impairment.

However, it’s not so much that eating meat, dairy, and eggs causes dementia, bur rather that every bite of animal product robs us of the opportunity to ingest phytonutrients such as anthocyanins, chlorophyll, and others.

Berries, greens, and beans are the foods that help clear heavy metals and pollutants from the brain, prevent amyloid plaque from forming, and keep our tiniest blood vessels clear of obstruction, preventing mini-strokes.

Greens are especially strong at preventing dementia. In the China Longitudinal Aging Study from Shanghai, researchers discovered that those eating greens every day had a 78 percent lower risk of cognitive impairment compared to those eating greens just once per week. I want to be one of those people!

Reason 5: Weight management is easier on a plant-based diet.

This may be a bit shallow, but I like to eat a lot of food without gaining weight. That’s thanks to the low calorie density of plant foods, which allows me to enjoy a plate full of vegetables and beans, plus some whole grains, and still have room in my daily calorie budget for the occasional treat! I would hate having to pay close attention to calories, carb count, or portion size in general, or have to deny myself seconds when I feel like having them.

Reason 4: Moderation isn’t what people think.

Some believe that moderation is good in all things, however most have a skewed view of what moderation actually means. Small amounts of meat would mean maybe a couple of palm-sized pieces of chicken or fish per week, and an egg every few days. Such small amounts of animal products probably wouldn’t cause major health problems if one is also eating copious amounts of vegetables and beans through the week. However, even people who think they eat animal products in moderation still have them every day, often in multiple portions. This robs them of the opportunity to eat far more nutritious and healing plant foods.

Reason 3: Being fully vegan decreases my mental load.

How much meat, dairy, and eggs can or should a flexitarian be eating? What amount of meat does one have to take out of their diet to earn the label “reducetarian?”

The logical consequence of the reasons I have shared so far for being vegan for 10 years is to drastically cut back on meat consumption. But what does that mean in practice? What does one do at restaurants, when traveling, or at social events where abundant animal products may be used? What about when visiting friends? If one eats at home 98 percent of the time, it’s easy, but the average person spends half of their food dollars outside of the grocery store. Conflict opportunities abound!

By choosing to be fully vegan, I reduce my mental load: I don’t need to make decisions about if or when I’m going to eat animal products. I just default to plants all the time. If there is nothing vegan to eat, I just don’t eat – which has happened to me perhaps twice in ten years? No big deal.

Ethical reasons

What makes me tip beyond being predominantly plant-based to fully vegan is, at the end of the day, a commitment to avoid being responsible for inflicting unnecessary pain onto other sentient beings.

Reason 2: Life on industrial farms is miserable.

The horrors of life as an animal born in an industrial farm is impossible to describe. Billions of beings are selectively bred to develop attributes desirable to humans but deleterious to their own well-being, whether it’s disproportionately large breasts (chickens), daily laying of eggs (hens), or ridiculously humongous, engorged udders (cows). Billions of beings are born to a brutal existence that’s violent from birth to death, just to that humans can enjoy foods they find familiar, flavorful, and convenient.

As Jeremy Bentham noted, “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but Can they suffer?” And we know for fact that hey can, and do, suffer.

We can all reasonably agree that factory farms are awful, but what about small, “humane” country farms?

Reason 1: Humane meat does not exist.

One might want to believe that supporting a small, “humane” farm is possible, but the straight up reality is that it isn’t.

First, considering that the vast majority of consumers are very sensitive to price fluctuations in the cost of foods, it is simply not possible to raise animals with the kind of space they would need to meaningfully exercise in somewhat natural conditions. And even if we could, at an extremely high price point, then livestock would only be taking more space and have a greater environmental footprint. “Humane meat” is a lovely idea in theory, but not a reality.

Second, human slaughter is a contradiction in terms. Animals aren’t stupid. They can see, hear, and smell better than humans. Maybe in the best possible conditions the first animal may be fooled into approaching the knife thinking they will be petted… but the second animal in line will sense death and, given the choice, would prefer to live.

Even if one doesn’t care about the animals, or believe them to be sentient, then of course there’s the toll slaughter takes on those who have to slice their throats: humans. Meat packing plants are some of the most dangerous places to work, and no-one can be killing hundreds or thousands of animals every day and come home to their family at peace and in a joyful mood. Even if so-called humane slaughter existed, would it not take a bit of dissociation to be kind, gentle, and loving to an animal who doesn’t want to die, and kill them the next minute?

Top reason: Why not?

Though there are some very limited and narrow exceptions, such as people dealing with multiple life-threatening allergies, we know that from a nutritional perspective practically everyone can not only survive but thrive on an entirely plant-based diet.

We also know that growing plants is more efficient and less environmentally damaging than raising animals.

We are fully aware of the suffering inflicted upon innocent beings for human pleasure and convenience.

For me, knowing all that and not acting upon it took a psychic toll. I carried the burden of cognitive dissonance for some time, perhaps primarily because I didn’t have the energy to proceed with the changes I needed to make to my daily habits, especially when it came to cooking and eating.

Maybe that’s the situation you are in right now, too, and I get it.

I just want you to know that, 10 years ago, when I let go of my habit of eating animals, I felt immediate relief. A spiritual weight was lifted off my shoulders and everything felt so right once my knowledge, beliefs, and actions were aligned.

You can experience that, too.