What Can You Learn From Four Years of a Vegan Diet?
For most of my life I was a serious carnivore, eating lots of meat and animal products. Yet in late 2019 I experimented with eating a partially vegan diet. This turned out so well that in March 2020 I switched to eating solely plant-based foods and have done so for the following four years. Veganism works very well for me on multiple levels and I’ll keep doing it.
I made the switch for two reasons. First, as I was (and still am) researching climate change and finding a consensus that humans should eat less meat and fewer animals products, I thought I would learn about that change through doing it in my life. Second, I was concerned about my health. In 2019 I weighed over 255 pounds and was concerned about carrying that much weight into older ages. Eating vegan answered both of those challenges. I’ve learned a great deal more about food systems and cultures, as well as experiencing (albeit with an n of 1) the transition from lots of meat to none at all.
What’s it like in 2024? My health has improved, with my weight down to the 210s, even with thrice-weekly weight lifting. I feel better in my body, which I hadn’t expected. Staff at the clinic I see admire my results, and one doctor asked me what my secret was. My life has changed in some other ways.
Excerpted from Bryan Alexander
