Saturday, November 22, 2008

Going Vegan and What it Means for Your Lifestyle

If you're planning to embark on a vegan lifestyle, chances are you're wondering how it's going to change your current way of life. A vegan won't purchase or utilize any product that's derived from animals. This means no steak, no milk, no eggs, not even bread with milk in it! Nor will any true vegan ever purchase a leather product. This goes for shoes and handbags, belts, gloves, any product that can be made of leather. The overall goal of veganism is to reduce animal suffering. If a product is developed through some form of animal cruelty, vegans will have no part of it.

There is a wide variety of reasons why people choose to become vegan. The first and foremost is animal welfare. Many people believe that the consumption of dairy products, and eggs laid by chickens does not contribute to animal cruelty. Unfortunately, even animals that are bred for dairy and eggs are eventually slaughtered as their production levels decrease. In fact, some of the most diehard vegans will not consume honey from companies that farm bees specifically for the production of the product

Another popular reason for going vegan is to support the environment. Many people elect to live a vegan lifestyle because animal agriculture has such a negative impact on the planet. The farming and raising of livestock for food is an ‘upside down’ process because it requires more resources to accomplish than are manufactured.

Still others choose to live the vegan lifestyle because of the dramatic impact it will have on one’s health. Over consumption of animal fats has been linked to a wide variety of life threatening diseases, including but not limited to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease.

Unfortunately, becoming a vegan can be difficult in terms of commerce. Many people have a difficult time finding products that will help support a vegan lifestyle like faux leather. The good news is that more and more retailers are becoming sensitive to the needs of this exclusive group of people.

Yet, even with the increase in vegan sensitivity, the best place to purchase vegan products continues to be the Internet. If you’re struggling to find quality vegan products, consider shopping online. Most vegan products will come branded with the vegan society logo. This logo appears on thousands of animal friendly products that have been registered with The Vegan Society.

Some vegan products will not have the vegan logo, in which case you will have to examine the packaging and labeling extremely carefully in order to ensure that you avoid all non registered products. Unless you’re paying careful attention, you could end up utilizing animal byproducts like as gelatin and rennet unbeknownst to you.

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