Surprising Health Benefits of Going Vegan

I originally made the full transition to a vegan diet in 2016 after my dog died.  When I was watching him suffer, I realized that I never wanted to contribute to an animal's suffering for as long as I lived.  I also made the connection that "meat" came from an animal, an animal who was tortured and killed for my five minutes of pleasure.

Although the animals were absolutely enough to keep me vegan for the entirety of my lifetime, I truly love the health benefits of being vegan as well.  I had hoped that I would feel better but some of these benefits were truly unexpected.  My body has completely transformed inside and out.  I will take you through just some of the major health benefits that I have experienced over the last two years.

Lyme Disease Remission: for those of you who haven't been following my blog for long, you may not know that I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2015 (for more information on this please click here). I had awful symptoms including severe leg pain, digestive distress, anxiety, brain fog, insomnia, memory loss and fatigue.  I spent $1000's on treatment and at one point was taking over 90 supplements per day.  Within a few months of switching to a vegan diet, almost all of my symptoms disappeared.

Less constipation and bloating:  okay this may seem like TMI, but going to the bathroom is a really important part of our health.  On a diet that consists mostly of animal products, we are not getting the fiber that we need (meat, dairy and eggs contain 0g of fiber!!!!).  This can lead to constipation and bloating.  (Side note: did you know that a healthy person should go to the bathroom 3 times per day?!).  Going vegan definitely helped me with this issue.

No more thyroid pills: just like many people around the world, I was put on thyroid medication at a very young age. I had been taking thyroid medication for 15 years prior to going vegan.  After a year of being (mostly) a whole food plant based vegan, my thyroid had healed itself and my doctor took me off of my medication.  No more of those nagging pills!

Clear skin and strong nails: this one may not seem very important but I am sure that most of us know what it feels like to wake up with a giant pimple on the center of your face!  It can truly halt your confidence and put a damper on your day.  Whenever I would consume dairy, I would almost immediately develop cystic like acne on my face and body.  My skin has cleared up dramatically since being vegan.  In addition, my nails are stronger than ever!!!

Less pain during that time of the month: I can vividly remember the days of curling up in a ball on the floor because my menstrual cramps were trying to kill me!  This would happen every single month and I truly dreaded my period.  Nothing seemed to help including Midol or chocolate.  Although I still get a tiny little cramping, it is nothing like it used to be.

Transitioning to a vegan diet has truly been one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I love the feeling of saving animals, but it has improved my health dramatically, and in only two years.  I cannot wait to see what the future holds and to see how my health will improve from here.  I bet that it will just keep getting better and better <3

I would love to hear from you; what health improvements have you seen from switching to a vegan diet?

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