Human beings have been eating animal products since the beginning of time, but advances in research are showing that doing so, especially often, can be detrimental to your health as well as the environment. For this reason, more people are turning to low-meat or no-meat diets, which offers a wide range of benefits.

You Could Get More Nutrients

 It may seem like cutting meat out of your diet would result in you getting fewer nutrients, but some experts believe the opposite is true. Not only does cutting out meat prevent you from eating as much saturated fat, which is detrimental to your cardiovascular system, but eating more vegetable-based meals can actually increase your intake of some of the most important nutrients. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet often increases your fiber intake. Diets that are high in fiber can regulate your digestive tract and lead to healthier bowel movements, which helps to prevent colon cancer.
 
Vegan-friendly foods are also usually higher in Vitamins C and E. Vitamin C is known to boost the immune system, keep your gums healthier, and even help bruises to heal faster. Vitamin E offers benefits for everything from your skin and eyes to your brain and heart. Some studies believe it can prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Meat-free diets are usually higher in antioxidants in general. Antioxidants not only protect against general cell damage, but may also prevent some types of cancer.
 

You Will Be Healthier Overall

 
Studies have shown that vegans and vegetarians are often healthier than their meat-eating peers, largely due to the fact that they aren’t eating energy-decreasing, artery-clogging fats. Vegans often have lower body mass indexes, and many report losing excess pounds once they changed their diets. Healthier skin, hair and nails are also common. A lack of meat in the diet can even lead to fewer migraines, fewer problems with allergies, and an easing of PMS symptoms. Perhaps the best benefit is the increased energy that most people report.
 

You Could Be Helping the Environment

 
Climate change has been proven, and with climate change comes changes in how we produce our food. As temperatures rise and more droughts occur, it becomes more difficult to sustain crops or livestock. However, even as we produce our food today, we contribute to the climate problem.
 
Factory farms, which is where most meat comes from, can make as much as 100 times more waste than the combination of every person in the United States. In many cases, that waste makes its way to your water supply. By cutting meat out of your diet, you are taking steps to ensure you aren’t contributing to the climate change problem.
 

You May Save Money

 
Many people mistakenly believe that eating vegan-friendly diets are more expensive than eating meat, but this isn’t exactly true, especially if you only purchase high-quality meats. While it is true that higher quality meats are more humane and aren’t as unhealthy as most, they are also very expensive. By cutting out meat, you will have more money to spend on local, organic produce, which is often more affordable than the meat you’re eating.
 

You May Reduce Your Exposure to Certain Diseases

 
Animal products leave you susceptible to a number of diseases that can make you very sick or even kill you. By cutting them out of your diet, you reduce your risk of being exposed to E.coli, salmonella, mad cow disease, or dangerous hormones and antibiotics. This especially important for children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, all of whom may never fully recover if they come down with illness due to bacteria contamination.
 

You Don’t Have to Cut Out Fun Foods

 
Eating vegan doesn’t mean you have to gnaw on a head of lettuce every night. More companies are recognizing the benefits of animal-free products every day. One such company, Hampton Creek, already has condiments and cookies on the market that are free of all animal products and low in cholesterol, and they have plans to release more than 40 new products this year alone, many of which will be available at a wide range of retailers across the country. Searching out vegan-friendly options can be time-consuming at first, but once you know what to look for, shopping may even become quicker.
 
While the benefits of cutting meat out of your diet are obvious, be it for your own health reasons or to protect the health of the environment, it is important to remember every body is different. You should not jump into a new eating routine without first getting the go-ahead from your medical professional.