Some people think that being a vegan is advantageous to one’s health and the environment. Although adopting a vegan diet offers a number of benefits, I believe that these benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks.
One of the advantages of a vegetarian diet is a healthier lifestyle. Nowadays, many people in the world consume an extremely high amounts of processed food. This kind of food often contains too much sugar or salt in them, which are very detrimental to the health. Thus, turning to a vegan diet, a diet that only consists of fresh fruits and vegetables, is a good step towards much healthier life in which people rarely suffer from cardiovascular diseases such high blood pressure. Another upside of being a vegan is that it is a decent way of preserving biodiversity in the nature. Throughout the human history, a great number of both land and water animals have been extinct due to the reasons like overhunting and illegal activities. Today, also, many species are classified as endangered as they are frequently hunted for their meat. Therefore, adaptation of a vegan diet by most people may lead to the decline in the demand for animal meat and fish.
Despite the benefits of the vegan diet, the downsides of it are far greater. Possible lack of some nutrients should be one of the drawbacks. As I mentioned earlier, a vegan diet is mostly about consuming greenery. However, a normal diet recommended by nutritionists should include medium amounts of all the necessary ingredients, some of which can be found in animal meat, eggs or fish. If a person fails to consume those nutrients in normal amounts, they may develop some serious illnesses like bone disease that stems from a lack of calcium, a mineral found in meat. Additionally, providing enough vegetables and fruit is quite difficult task to be completed. When there is a great demand for the fresh produce, current agricultural capacities may not be able to fulfill that. Consequently, to open new farmlands, some of the world forests should be cut. So, adapting a vegan diet may be a catastrophe to our nature.
In conclusion, being a vegan may come with several advantages like a healthier lifestyle and keeping biodiversity. However, these upsides are well outweighed by the drawbacks such as developing certain illnesses because of lacking minerals and losing our precious forests to make a space for new farmlands.