Disclaimer: Any extra material I list is simply so you know I'm not making this stuff up. You are free to click on the links that interest you or ignore all of them.
This lesson will be all about the different reasons people go vegan, and the different diet subcategories within veganism itself.
There are three main reasons people go vegan:
Some people only go vegan for one of these reasons. Other people go vegan for all three reasons, but they still have their “favorite” reason that trumps the others. Personally, I am vegan for all three reasons, but my favorite reason that trumps the others is Personal Health.
Personal Health and Animal Welfare are the most popular reasons in the vegan community. Though I don’t think anyone has ever taken a vote to find out which one is actually the most popular. I know so many people who are vegan for either of those reasons that I too can’t say which is the most popular.
Personal Health
There is an endless amount of research showing that plant foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, etc) are extremely healthy for you in their whole, unprocessed forms. All groups of people studied on a whole foods plants-only diet routinely live, on average, 10+ years longer than the rest of the population around them. Their risk of disease is also substantially lower and incidents of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, etc are almost nonexistent.
Extra material:
Animal Welfare
Because most meat, dairy, and eggs come from factory-farmed animals, animal cruelty has been a huge motivator for many people to go vegan. There has never been a “humane way” to kill an animal, but the factory farms have increased the animal cruelty to the levels of the holocaust. Many people believe if we just get rid of the factory farms, then killing and eating animals is ok. But the fact is factory-farming is the ONLY way to provide meat cheap enough (and in the quantities modern society demands) that most people can afford it. If factory farming was completely removed, most people wouldn’t be able to afford meat/dairy/eggs because it would become so expensive, and only the modern-day “royalty” and “nobility” of our society would be able to eat animal products because they are wealthy.
Extra material:
Environmentalism
This is usually a secondary reason for most vegans rather than the primary reason. But there is no doubt factory farming and its pollutants are destroying our ground soil, polluting it with unmanageable amounts of animal feces, chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics used on the factory animals. Wild-caught fish are disappearing because we are fishing the oceans dry. Factory-farmed fish are fed corn, instead of what they would naturally eat. The diversity of plant species is disappearing as we grow the same type of corn and soy all over the place. There used to be many, many regional varieties of corn, soy, etc. Now everything is becoming a monoculture. The dangers of monoculture farming are well-documented. More than 60% of corn grown in the USA is fed to livestock. The reason we grow so much corn, soy, etc is to create meat/dairy/eggs. There isn’t enough grass in the world to feed all of the cows modern factory-farms produce. Corn is the only way to produce so much meat quickly and cheaply. In the meantime, we are cutting down more and more of the rainforest to make more room for livestock production. Factory farming produces more greenhouse gases than all of the other sources (cars, airplanes, etc) combined. Eating animals is destroying our ground soil, the oceans, the ozone layer that protects us from the sun, and our rainforests. Humans have proven that they will burn this planet to the ground all in the name of one last cheeseburger.
Extra material:
There are three main reasons people go vegan:
- Personal Health
- Animal Welfare
- Environmentalism
Some people only go vegan for one of these reasons. Other people go vegan for all three reasons, but they still have their “favorite” reason that trumps the others. Personally, I am vegan for all three reasons, but my favorite reason that trumps the others is Personal Health.
Personal Health and Animal Welfare are the most popular reasons in the vegan community. Though I don’t think anyone has ever taken a vote to find out which one is actually the most popular. I know so many people who are vegan for either of those reasons that I too can’t say which is the most popular.
Personal Health
There is an endless amount of research showing that plant foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, etc) are extremely healthy for you in their whole, unprocessed forms. All groups of people studied on a whole foods plants-only diet routinely live, on average, 10+ years longer than the rest of the population around them. Their risk of disease is also substantially lower and incidents of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, etc are almost nonexistent.
Extra material:
- Calorie Density: How To Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer: watch video
- For all of known human history, every human civilization has existed on high carb low fat almost completely vegan diets: watch video
- For those of you who think the meat-heavy low-carb ancient Eskimo diet was healthy, it’s not: watch video
- Study after study shows that a whole-foods vegan diet is the ultimate factor in preventing (and even reversing) all the diseases we see today (heart disease/cancer/diabetes/etc): watch video
- Why don't mainstream doctors recommend veganism? video 1, video 2
- The two groups that live the longest on earth are the vegan Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California and the vegans in Okinawa, Japan.
- 100+ years old vegan Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda: video part 1, video part2, 100 year old Dr Ellsworth
- 100+ years old vegans in Okinawa, Japan: video 1, video 2
- Adventists live the longest. They beat the Japanese by just a few years: Aging in Style
Animal Welfare
Because most meat, dairy, and eggs come from factory-farmed animals, animal cruelty has been a huge motivator for many people to go vegan. There has never been a “humane way” to kill an animal, but the factory farms have increased the animal cruelty to the levels of the holocaust. Many people believe if we just get rid of the factory farms, then killing and eating animals is ok. But the fact is factory-farming is the ONLY way to provide meat cheap enough (and in the quantities modern society demands) that most people can afford it. If factory farming was completely removed, most people wouldn’t be able to afford meat/dairy/eggs because it would become so expensive, and only the modern-day “royalty” and “nobility” of our society would be able to eat animal products because they are wealthy.
Extra material:
- For those of you interested in animal cruelty and destruction of the environment: video 1
- video 2 ( **WARNING** the very end of this video has some factory farm footage of animals being harmed, so please skip the end if you cannot handle it. HOL is not responsible for any clips of animal cruelty you happen to see.)
- Food Labels mean nothing. In most cases, they're just lies: video 3
Environmentalism
This is usually a secondary reason for most vegans rather than the primary reason. But there is no doubt factory farming and its pollutants are destroying our ground soil, polluting it with unmanageable amounts of animal feces, chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics used on the factory animals. Wild-caught fish are disappearing because we are fishing the oceans dry. Factory-farmed fish are fed corn, instead of what they would naturally eat. The diversity of plant species is disappearing as we grow the same type of corn and soy all over the place. There used to be many, many regional varieties of corn, soy, etc. Now everything is becoming a monoculture. The dangers of monoculture farming are well-documented. More than 60% of corn grown in the USA is fed to livestock. The reason we grow so much corn, soy, etc is to create meat/dairy/eggs. There isn’t enough grass in the world to feed all of the cows modern factory-farms produce. Corn is the only way to produce so much meat quickly and cheaply. In the meantime, we are cutting down more and more of the rainforest to make more room for livestock production. Factory farming produces more greenhouse gases than all of the other sources (cars, airplanes, etc) combined. Eating animals is destroying our ground soil, the oceans, the ozone layer that protects us from the sun, and our rainforests. Humans have proven that they will burn this planet to the ground all in the name of one last cheeseburger.
Extra material:
- How the Growth of Monoculture Crops Is Destroying our Planet
- Monoculture And The Risk Of Crop Failure
- Fishing the Oceans Dry ( **WARNING** some scenes show fish being killed, so please skip if you cannot handle it. HOL is not responsible for any clips of animal cruelty you happen to see.)
- Beef Production is Killing the Amazon Rainforest
Vegan subcategories
Now that we’ve briefly discussed the main reasons people go vegan, let’s discuss the different diet subcategories within veganism.
Vegan by Religion
Religious vegans are usually vegan for one or all of the three main reasons (personal health, animal welfare, environmentalism).
Christians/Jews can be vegans for all three main reasons, but they usually are most concerned about personal health because the body is the “temple of the Lord” and therefore should be treated as such.
Junk Food Vegan
You will meet this type of vegan pretty frequently. Many of them are obese too. This is the proof that not every type of vegan diet is healthy. Junk Food Vegans are purely about the animal welfare. They will eat ANYTHING as long as it doesn’t come from an animal. Which means they often eat a lot of processed, high in fat, sugary vegan junk food. Thanks to the rise in popularity of veganism, vegan junk food has become very common. Many people now see the label “vegan” or “gluten-free” etc on their cookies, cakes, and other junk foods and think that means the junk food is now “healthy” when it is no better than the normal junk food version! Junk is still junk, no matter what you remove from it!
My personal opinion is that if you want to represent the animal welfare aspect, you need to show people how healthy the diet can be too. Gorging on vegan junk food and not caring about your own health isn’t a great way to sell veganism and animal welfare to people. If you want to live a long life to campaign on the behalf of animals, then please take care of your health and eat real plant foods instead of junk that will send you to an early grave.
Raw Veganism
Raw vegans eat only plants, but also eat all of their food raw. Nothing can be heated. Things like fruit smoothies are allowed because you aren’t heating the food. This is a very healthy diet as long as you do it correctly, but there is no research showing that raw veganism is superior to normal cooked whole foods veganism. So go Raw if you wish, but it is not a requirement. In general, most vegans find they cannot stay 100% raw all the time because it is difficult. So many vegans practice other methods like Rawtil4, which is something I have occasionally done. Rawtil4, and other similar methods, mean you eat a large portion of your food raw, but then have at least one cooked meal by the end of the day. You should go with the diet that is maintainable for YOU in the long-term. Most Raw Vegans only switched to Raw after they already had been a normal vegan for many, many years. Trying to go Raw and Vegan at the same time is usually too overwhelming for most newcomers.
Fruitarianism
This is an even more restrictive subset of Raw Veganism. It usually has a religious or philosophical basis. Jains and some Christians may become interested in Fruitarianism for spiritual reasons. If you read Genesis in the Bible, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden seem to have been Raw Fruitarians.
It is possible to be on this diet and remain healthy, but it takes even more careful planning to avoid problems. Being vegan is easy (just stop eating animals). Being Raw Vegan or Fruitarian is a lot harder.
Fruitarians eat anything that is scientifically defined as a “fruit”. (which by the way, is exactly how the Bible defines “fruit” too!) Botanically speaking, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and stems.
So a "fruit" is not only foods like apples and bananas, but also tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, avocado, nuts, seeds, peas, beans, eggplant, cucumber, corn, bell peppers, etc. These are all foods that can be harvested without killing the host plant. Botanical vegetables are the "root, leaf, or stem" of a plant, aka potatoes, carrots, lettuce, celery, etc. When vegetables are eaten, the entire plant is destroyed.
So when Jains or Christians or other people practice Fruitarianism, it usually isn’t about personal health, it’s about the philosophical/spiritual idea that the “plant doesn’t have to die either”. They only eat plants that “bear fruit” and this fruit can be harvested without killing the plant. When people eat the root, leaf, or stem of a plant, the plant must die.
If you ever decide to do Raw Veganism or Fruitarianism, please research nutrition extremely well because these are the diets that have people end up in the newspapers for being “malnourished vegans” because they didn’t eat enough variety of plants or enough quantity of plants. You can do these types of diets correctly, but you must know what you are doing. Just "guessing" at it can harm you.
HCLF or “whole foods plant-based” vegan
This is the most popular vegan diet for Personal Health and weight loss! This is the diet recommended by most Vegan doctors and researchers!
HCLF (High Carb low fat) whole foods vegans are the vegans that are studied in the research papers and live the longest on the planet. If you are going for longevity and health, this is the diet to follow.
HCLF vegans eat tons of veggies, potatoes, fruit (like watermelons and bananas), rice, etc.
Here’s a list of the most prominent vegan doctors who all support a HCLF whole foods vegan diet: Plant-Based Health Professionals
HCLF vegan Food pyramid for disease-free longevity:
- Religious vegan (Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, etc)
- Junk food vegan
- Raw veganism
- Fruitarianism
- HCLF or “whole foods plant-based” vegan
Vegan by Religion
Religious vegans are usually vegan for one or all of the three main reasons (personal health, animal welfare, environmentalism).
Christians/Jews can be vegans for all three main reasons, but they usually are most concerned about personal health because the body is the “temple of the Lord” and therefore should be treated as such.
- Bible Quotes - Body is a Temple
- Jewish view of body and soul
- Comprehensive Guide of the Biblical evidence for Veganism
Junk Food Vegan
You will meet this type of vegan pretty frequently. Many of them are obese too. This is the proof that not every type of vegan diet is healthy. Junk Food Vegans are purely about the animal welfare. They will eat ANYTHING as long as it doesn’t come from an animal. Which means they often eat a lot of processed, high in fat, sugary vegan junk food. Thanks to the rise in popularity of veganism, vegan junk food has become very common. Many people now see the label “vegan” or “gluten-free” etc on their cookies, cakes, and other junk foods and think that means the junk food is now “healthy” when it is no better than the normal junk food version! Junk is still junk, no matter what you remove from it!
My personal opinion is that if you want to represent the animal welfare aspect, you need to show people how healthy the diet can be too. Gorging on vegan junk food and not caring about your own health isn’t a great way to sell veganism and animal welfare to people. If you want to live a long life to campaign on the behalf of animals, then please take care of your health and eat real plant foods instead of junk that will send you to an early grave.
Raw Veganism
Raw vegans eat only plants, but also eat all of their food raw. Nothing can be heated. Things like fruit smoothies are allowed because you aren’t heating the food. This is a very healthy diet as long as you do it correctly, but there is no research showing that raw veganism is superior to normal cooked whole foods veganism. So go Raw if you wish, but it is not a requirement. In general, most vegans find they cannot stay 100% raw all the time because it is difficult. So many vegans practice other methods like Rawtil4, which is something I have occasionally done. Rawtil4, and other similar methods, mean you eat a large portion of your food raw, but then have at least one cooked meal by the end of the day. You should go with the diet that is maintainable for YOU in the long-term. Most Raw Vegans only switched to Raw after they already had been a normal vegan for many, many years. Trying to go Raw and Vegan at the same time is usually too overwhelming for most newcomers.
Fruitarianism
This is an even more restrictive subset of Raw Veganism. It usually has a religious or philosophical basis. Jains and some Christians may become interested in Fruitarianism for spiritual reasons. If you read Genesis in the Bible, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden seem to have been Raw Fruitarians.
It is possible to be on this diet and remain healthy, but it takes even more careful planning to avoid problems. Being vegan is easy (just stop eating animals). Being Raw Vegan or Fruitarian is a lot harder.
Fruitarians eat anything that is scientifically defined as a “fruit”. (which by the way, is exactly how the Bible defines “fruit” too!) Botanically speaking, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and stems.
So a "fruit" is not only foods like apples and bananas, but also tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, avocado, nuts, seeds, peas, beans, eggplant, cucumber, corn, bell peppers, etc. These are all foods that can be harvested without killing the host plant. Botanical vegetables are the "root, leaf, or stem" of a plant, aka potatoes, carrots, lettuce, celery, etc. When vegetables are eaten, the entire plant is destroyed.
So when Jains or Christians or other people practice Fruitarianism, it usually isn’t about personal health, it’s about the philosophical/spiritual idea that the “plant doesn’t have to die either”. They only eat plants that “bear fruit” and this fruit can be harvested without killing the plant. When people eat the root, leaf, or stem of a plant, the plant must die.
If you ever decide to do Raw Veganism or Fruitarianism, please research nutrition extremely well because these are the diets that have people end up in the newspapers for being “malnourished vegans” because they didn’t eat enough variety of plants or enough quantity of plants. You can do these types of diets correctly, but you must know what you are doing. Just "guessing" at it can harm you.
HCLF or “whole foods plant-based” vegan
This is the most popular vegan diet for Personal Health and weight loss! This is the diet recommended by most Vegan doctors and researchers!
HCLF (High Carb low fat) whole foods vegans are the vegans that are studied in the research papers and live the longest on the planet. If you are going for longevity and health, this is the diet to follow.
HCLF vegans eat tons of veggies, potatoes, fruit (like watermelons and bananas), rice, etc.
Here’s a list of the most prominent vegan doctors who all support a HCLF whole foods vegan diet: Plant-Based Health Professionals
HCLF vegan Food pyramid for disease-free longevity:
The bulk of the diet is fruits, veggies, and whole grains with some beans and leafy green veggies thrown in on the side. Junk processed food does not exist and "healthy fats" are to be eaten rarely as a special treat.