There are many benefits that people can get by eating more vegetables and fruits. This has become the basis on the importance of vegan lifestyle. As an example, people often say that vegans can live longer, because they consume potentially harmful substances in larger number, such as free radicals, saturated fat, trans-fat and cholesterol. It is also widely accepted that people who adopt vegan lifestyle are less likely to suffer from cancer. Animal protein consumed in large number could elevate the incidence of cancer, although it doesn’t mean that meat-eaters will eventually die of cancer. In fact, it is shown that colourful plant-based food sources, such as beet, blueberry and purple-colored grapes, contain enough antioxidants to negate free radicals that we get from bad lifestyle. It appears that people who consume animal products regularly are more likely to suffer from weight gain and obesity. Dairy products and animal products could be loaded with growth hormone. These artificial hormones are designed to grow a tiny calf into a huge cattle in a very short time.

Unfortunately, these hormones may not be fully metabolized by the cattle and they won’t be destroyed by cooking process. These hormones could also have an effect on human growth and this will result in significant body growth on children. While children may become taller after exposed to these growth hormones, adults are more likely to be obese. Animal products contain high amount of bad cholesterol and unhealthy fats. There’s no way we will get these substances from eating animal products. In reality, our body has produced a significant proportion of daily need for cholesterol, so there’s little need to get it from our food. High cholesterol level will result in clogged artery and chronic cardiovascular problems. Brain-related diseases could also happen due to frequent consumptions of animal products. Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke can be associated with frequent consumptions of animal products. While Mad Cow scares have been sometimes blown up out of proportion, we should also consider the danger of eating animal products during the outbreak of the disease.

We should also consider incidences of auto-immune disorders caused by excessive consumptions of animal products. Multiple sclerosis, lupus, fibromyalgia and Crochn’s disease may affect vegans, but the risks are much reduced. Auto-immune problems could happen when foreign proteins leak into our bloodstream. Our immune system will be activated to attack these foreign substances and cause specific issues. In some cases, our immune system could overact and attacking our own protein due to mis-identification. This will cause various auto-immune disorders that can be quite challenging. Diabetes is also a type of auto-immune disorder that complex enough that it deserves a special mention. Dairy products we consume could also encourage the incidence of diabetes. They contain foreign animal proteins that are similar to proteins found in pancreas. Our immune system could attack both dairy-derived proteins and native proteins in our pancrease, causing permanent damages on our pancreas. This will disrupt the insulin production and symptoms of diabetes will eventually emerge.