What if I made the statement that a vegan diet is the cure for diabetes. How about it being a solution to help curb global warming! I can hear the frog march of rioters right now trying to tear down my door. It would kick off a major debate about the pros and cons of a vegan diet. Worst still the conspiracy theorist would have a field day, going all X-Files on the government.

Well, I’m not a doctor nor a scientist so can not make claim to any of these statements. So why am I writing about it then? Well. I can only reflect on my personal journey and why I’ve moved to a vegan diet.

Back in 2017, I got really sick with a chest infection. It was painful and debilitating, to the point where I was off work for 3 weeks. I went through 3 rounds of antibiotics which progressively got stronger. I did all the home remedies you can think of. I even went for a blood test and chest X-rays to check if there wasn’t anything more serious. Despite all the tests coming back clear, I just couldn’t shake the terrible cough I had. Around the same time I was also getting really tired. Whether I was at work or at home. With the family or on my own. I just felt run down and needing to rest a lot.

That’s when I decided enough was enough and I had to try something different to get better. I looked into my diet and did quite a bit of reading around diet in general and its link to health and well-being. I then decided to take the plunge and change what I was eating.

I started off on a whole food plant based diet and saw results immediately. After a few days I had lost a few kilos and my cough had almost gone away. After a week I realised that I never wanted to have any animal product in me again. Whole food plant based was a bit too far for what I could handle with my busy lifestyle. But I felt I could compromise by dropping to a vegan diet.

As well as the recovery from my infection, I started to notice other things with my body as well. Weight loss is obviously a big one and the thing that draws a lot of people to this way of eating. However I noticed things like an improvement in my skin. Better quality of sleep. More energy in the mornings and a sustained energy during the day. My gut was also better. It was an all round positive experience.

So, what next. I jumped deeper into the biomechanics of what I was doing and why it seemed to be doing so much good. I found documentaries and research paper that did world studies on diets and the relationship with diseases and the like. It’s a deep deep rabbit hole my friends. At the end of the day, there’s research that covers all facets of this from animal products and their link to illnesses, to the agriculture and manufacturing of the products that get sold and the link to global warming.

Ultimately, if you can, forget about all of these for one minute and just think about one thing. Your living in this beautiful world surrounded by friends and family that you love and that love you. Enjoy every minute of it and make it last as long as you can by taking care of yourself and those around you.