The Vegan Path

Why Stop Harming Animals?

The evidence on health, the planet, and the animals, in plain language, with a source for every claim.

People who don’t eat animals are healthier

People who choose not to harm animals have the lowest measured risks of heart disease[1][2][3][4][5], type 2 diabetes[6][7][8][9], cancers[10][11][12], and obesity[13]. They also have up to about 5× higher cancer survival[14][15], better aging biomarkers[16][17][18][19][20], the lowest inflammation, and more:

Lowest risk of getting heart disease[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Only diets shown to reverse heart disease had no animal flesh[1][2][3][4][5]
Cholesterol falls on vegan diets in randomized trials, with total, LDL, and apolipoprotein B all lower[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Lowest risk of type 2 diabetes[1][2][3][4][5]
Type 2 diabetes can be completely reversed on plant-based diets[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Lowest risk of all forms of cancer[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Higher cancer survival (up to about 5× among vegans in one small trial) and slower progression[1][2][3][4][5]
Lowest risk of obesity[1][2][3]
Weight and visceral fat drop on vegan diets without calorie counting[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Same muscle and strength gains on plant protein as on animal protein[1][2][3]
Better endurance on plant-based diets[1][2][3]
Lower dementia and Alzheimer’s risk[1][2][3]
Longer telomeres, and a plant-based program is the only one shown to lengthen them[1][2][3]
Lower inflammation (CRP) on plant-based diets[1][2][3][4][5]
Slower epigenetic aging clocks on vegan diets[1][2][3]
Better odds of reaching older age without major disease[1][2][3]
Plant protein is linked with living longer; animal protein with the opposite[1][2][3][4][5]
About 28% less insulin needed in type 1 diabetes on a vegan diet[1][2]
Lowest COVID risk among the diet groups studied[1][2][3]
Lower risk of COPD[1][2][3][4]
Fewer asthma symptoms on healthier plant-based diets, much of it through body weight[1][2]
Lower risk of erectile dysfunction[1][2][3][4][5]
Lower depression risk on healthy plant-based diets, although studies of vegans alone go both ways[1][2][3][4][5][6]
About 22% lower Parkinson’s risk on the healthiest plant-based diets; frequent dairy is linked with higher risk[1][2]
Beat the Mediterranean diet head-to-head on weight and LDL cholesterol, though blood pressure fell more on the Mediterranean diet[1][2][3]
Vegan men measured higher total testosterone and lower IGF-1, with free testosterone unchanged; soy doesn’t lower male hormones[1][2][3][4]
Regular soy is linked with about 77% lower risk of hair loss[1][2][3]
Lower build-up of the PFAS “forever chemicals” that ride in on fish and meat[1][2]
Lowest blood pressure of the diet groups: 5.8% of vegan men had hypertension, against 15% of male meat eaters[1][2][3][4]
Less stroke on healthy plant-based diets and more with red meat, though vegetarians as a group show no clear difference[1][2][3][4]
Less chronic kidney disease on plant-based diets; red meat is linked with 40% more kidney failure[1][2][3]
Less fatty liver disease on healthy plant-based diets, and it regressed on a high-fibre plant-based pattern[1][2][3][4]
Rheumatoid arthritis pain and swelling eased on vegan diets in trials; vegans reported half the hyperthyroidism[1][2][3][4]
Vegan gut bacteria go with better heart and metabolic markers; red meat drives the opposite mix[1][2][3][4]
Crohn’s disease stayed in remission in 94% on a plant-based diet against 33% eating animals[1][2][3]
Type 2 diabetes risk climbs the more meat people eat[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Red and processed meat raise colorectal cancer risk, by about 18% for every 50 g of processed meat a day[1][2][3][4]
Endometriosis risk rises with red meat, by 56% above two servings a day[1][2]
Eggs are linked with more heart disease and diabetes; poultry with more heart disease too, and with more cancer deaths above 300 g a week[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Eggs are linked with 4% more breast cancer and 21% more ovarian cancer[1][2]
More cow’s milk in childhood, more type 1 diabetes[1][2]
Milk is linked with more prostate and ovarian cancer, and with more cancer death[1][2][3]

Gut

The best way to save the environment is to stop harming animals

If the world ate vegan, it would need about 75% less farmland[1]. Farm animals already take about 80% of agricultural land[2] while supplying a minority of the calories, and about 70% of freshwater withdrawals go to farms, mostly for feed. In UK data, vegan diets cut climate-heating emissions, water pollution, and land use by about 75% compared with high-meat diets[3].

Lowest land use of any diet, about 75% less than high-meat[1][2][3][4]
About 75% less farmland if the world ate vegan, from 4.1 billion hectares to about 1 billion[1][2][3][4]
Farm animals take about 80% of agricultural land for a minority of the calories[1][2][3]
Lowest water use of any diet, about 54% less than high-meat[1][2][3][4]
Lowest carbon footprint of any diet, with about 75% less climate-heating emissions than high-meat[1][2][3][4]
Lowest water pollution of any diet, about 73% less than high-meat. Farms cause about 78% of the nutrient runoff that creates dead zones[1][2][3][4]
In the US, farm-animal manure is about 13 times the solid waste of the human population[1][2][3]
Lowest antibiotic use: about 73% of antibiotics sold worldwide go to farm animals rather than people[1][2][3][4]
Most pesticide spraying is for animal feed, about 235 million pounds in the US in 2018[1][2][3][4]
About 80% of Amazon deforestation is to ranch cows[1][2][3]
94% of non-human mammal biomass is farm animals, and 6% is wildlife[1][2][3]
Lowest biodiversity damage of any diet, about 66% less than high-meat[1][2][3]
Eating vegan food from across the world still beats eating animals raised nearby[1][2]

People who eat animals needlessly harm and kill about 88 billion land animals and more than a trillion fish a year

About 88 billion land animals were slaughtered in 2024, roughly 241 million every day, and that count leaves out fish[1]. An estimated 1.1 to 2.2 trillion wild fish are killed each year[2], and farmed finfish add about 130 billion more[3]. Enjoying the taste of something does not give us the right to kill for it. We do not have to harm or eat animals at all.

About 88 billion land animals slaughtered in 2024, or about 241 million every day[1][2]
About 78.5 billion chickens, most of the land-animal total and about 215 million a day[1][2]
About 1.5 billion pigs killed in 2024, or about 4.1 million every day[1][2]
About 305 million cows killed in 2024, or about 835,000 every day[1][2]
1.1 to 2.2 trillion wild fishes caught a year; at the midpoint, that is about 4 billion every day[1][2]
About 130 billion farmed finfish a year, more than all land animals combined[1][2]
Mammals and birds have the neural basis of consciousness; there is at least a realistic possibility in all vertebrates, including fish[1][2]
Hens recognize about 100 flock-mates; day-old chicks can do simple number tasks[1][2][3]
Pigs match dogs on cognition tests, play simple video games, and use a mirror to find food[1][2][3]
A cow uses a broom as a tool; mothers and calves recognize each other’s voices[1][2]
Fish feel pain: trout have the same classes of pain receptors as mammals, and morphine reduces the pain behavior[1][2][3]
Cleaner wrasse pass the mirror test and use the reflection to check their size before a fight[1][2]
On the order of 6 billion male chicks are killed shortly after hatching because they will not lay eggs[1][2]
Meat chickens reach slaughter weight in about 47 days; a century ago it took more than 100[1]
Dairy takes the calf within hours so the milk can be sold, though mothers and calves recognize each other’s voices[1][2]

People who don’t eat animals spend less

Across 150 countries, vegan eating patterns cost about 25% less than typical diets, and up to about one third less in high-income countries[1][2]. In US trials, grocery bills fell 16–25%[3][4]. Beans and grains cost less than meat and dairy.

Across 150 countries, vegan eating patterns cost about 25% less than typical diets[1][2]
In high-income countries, vegan plates cut food costs by up to about one third[1][2]
In a US trial, grocery bills fell about 16% on a vegan diet, more than $500 a year[1]
Vegan groceries were 19% cheaper than a standard American diet and 25% cheaper than a Mediterranean diet[1]
Whole-food plants ran about $9.78 a day versus about $15.72 for a typical diet[1]
In Portugal, vegans and other plant-based shoppers spent less on food than people who eat animals[1]
Meat is mostly bland without vegan seasonings like salt, herbs, spices, and sauces[1][2][3]
Tofu is no new “fake meat”: it has been a meat alternative for more than 2,000 years[1][2]
In blind tests, the best plant meats score as well as or better than the animal versions[1][2]
Before cows, the core plate on this continent was the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash[1][2]
Cows, pigs, and chickens are not native to the Americas. They arrived with Columbus in 1493[1][2]
The grocery-store honey bee is not native to North America either. English colonists brought hives in 1622[1][2]

Prices

Taste

Indigenous

Humans are not meant to harm and kill animals

Without tools and weapons, humans have a hard time harming and killing animals[1][2]. Without cooking and vegan seasonings such as salt and other ingredients, an animal's flesh is nearly tasteless and inedible[3][4]. Our nails and teeth are flat[2]. Our jaws can grind side to side, while a carnivore's can only move up and down[2], and we sweat through our pores rather than our tongues[5]. Humans see in color, which lets us tell fruits apart from other plants[6], and our night vision is limited[8]. Carnivores have the reverse: limited color vision and good night vision[7][8]. Many herbivores have much larger canines than humans do[9][10][11][12]. Before agriculture, humans ate 150g+ of fiber a day[13]. Evidence from teeth and stool shows that some prehistoric humans, including certain Neanderthal populations, ate no meat or animal products at all[14][15].

Without tools and weapons, humans have a hard time harming and killing animals. Our nails and teeth are flat and don’t go through hide[1][2]
Our jaws grind side to side, while a carnivore’s can only go up and down[1]
We sweat from our pores, not from our tongues[1][2]
Humans see in color to tell fruit from other plants, and we see poorly at night; carnivores have it the other way around[1][2][3]
Many animals that eat plants have much larger canines than humans[1][2][3][4]
Inland brown and grizzly bears get about 80 to 90 percent of their food from plants[1][2]
Without cooking and vegan seasonings such as salt, an animal’s flesh is nearly tasteless and inedible[1][2]
Humans ate 150 grams or more of fiber a day before agriculture. Most people now eat about 15.[1][2]
Some Neanderthals left no meat in their teeth or stool — only mushrooms, pine nuts, and moss[1][2]
About 780,000 years ago, early humans were already crushing nuts, seeds, and roots from at least 55 food plants[1][2]
In Genesis, the first world is plants only. Adam and Eve, made in God’s image, were given every seed-bearing plant. Killing comes later, as a fall from the ideal.[1][2]
Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist teaching puts not harming at the center[1][2][3]
Dietitians in the US, Britain, Canada, Italy, and at WHO Europe say a planned vegan diet can meet your needs[1][2][3][4]

Miscellaneous

A 2023 systematic review of 16 studies found no major harm from vegan diets in dogs and cats, and some signs of benefit[1]. In large owner surveys, vegan-fed dogs and cats were rated as healthy as other dogs and cats, or healthier[2][3]. Bramble, a vegan collie, is widely reported to have lived to 25[4]. The food still has to be complete, with taurine, B12, and the rest. Dogs and cats do not need us to harm other animals to feed them.

A 2023 review of 16 studies found no major harm from vegan diets in dogs and cats, and some signs of benefit[1]
In 2,536 dogs, vegan diets were as good as or better than conventional meat diets[1]
In 1,369 cats, vegan-fed cats tended to be healthier[1]
Six disorders were 50 to 61 percent less common on vegan dog food[1]
The food has to be complete, with taurine, B12, and the rest[1][2]
Fortified vegan pet food is well digested and not significantly worse than meat diets[1]
Ten studies in dogs and three in cats found vegan diets as good as or better[1]
Bramble, a vegan collie, is widely reported to have lived to 25[1]

Pets