The simple answer would be that going vegan is like killing three birds with one stone. Switching to a vegan-based diet is good for your health, good for the animals, and good for the environment. It is well researched and well accepted that a high intake of quality organic fresh fruit and vegetables is vital in enabling the body to protect itself from degenerative disease. And it is clear that farming animals to feed humans is causing huge damage to the environment.

Approimately 100 times more land is required to feed people from animals rather than vegetables - and that's often 100 times more pesticides, fertilizers and water used too. Not to mention the huge areas of deforestation to provide grazing land for animals. And worst of all - 540,000,000 tonnes of grain fed annually to animals to feed a few is us, when all it would take is 40,000,000 tonnes of grain annually to feed the world's hungry people.

Chew on that for a while, and then consider: going vegan can put years on your life, years on other peoples's lives, and years on the life of the planet, too. Not to mention a few animals here and there.

100% Vegan ... or not at all?

100% vegan is a status for which many strive and few attain - but an 80% / 90% based vegan diet can go a long way to improving health, managing weight gain and loss, and reducing negative impact on animals and the environment. Many people adopt a diet rich in organic fruit and vegetables, free from dairy product and meat - and then occasionally eat some animal product. Others find a way of substituting their favourite animal products with vegan alternatives, of which there are many on the market.