Nowadays, more and more people are opting for vegan diets around the globe. In my opinion, the drawbacks of this trend completely outweigh the benefits as even though eschewing eating animals satisfies people’s moral values and increases the amount of vegetables they consume, a deficit in protein in diets leads to a decline in public health and deprives many people of their livelihood.
On the one hand, many people feel guilty about consuming meat due to their beliefs. They are told that every form of life is precious and that we should be preserving these lives. This notion is ubiquitous in many Asian culture, such as India, where they have many gods who present themselves as animals. As a result, they feel morally wrong to eat animals and thus rely on vegan diets, which does not arouse a sense of guilt in them. Another benefit people get from following a vegetarian diet is the increased consumption of vegetables, which provide them with many vitamins as well as fiber to aid their digestion.
On the other hand, not eating meat or animal-based products in general means throwing away our most abundant source of protein. As we all know, protein is a crucial component that makes up our muscles, so lacking protein means no muscle growth and worse health overall. To illustrate, you can search the whole bodybuilding industry and will never ever find a bodybuilder who is following a vegan diet. Another drawback of following a vegan diet is the decreased income for people like pastoralists and butchers, who are earning a livelihood from animal-based products. Without earning enough, their children might not be able to get access to quality education, which is necessary for their future.
In conclusion, while following a vegetarian diet helps people satisfy their moral values and consume more vegetables, these positive impacts are outweighed by the decline in public health as well as the dangers for the animal-based products industry.