Is the vegan lifestyle extreme?

Although extreme means : going to the utmost or very great lengths in action, habit, opinion, etc. There is often a bad connotation associated with the word. There are many extreme diets and lifestyles. There’s extreme anorexia, extreme gluttony, but eating a diet of purely fruit and vegetables is not one of those extreme ideas. The standard American diet is far more extreme than any plant-based diet.

The most extreme things about the standard American diet

1.)    Genetically modified foods (GMOS) are foods that have literally been made in a lab. They have had changes introduced into their DNA to allow them to become resistant to pathogens and herbicides. Major cash crops such as corn, canola, and soy are almost always genetically modified and have been proven to cause harm to the human body.  These engineered foods make up a large portion of the standard American diet and are consumed readily, given to children as well as people who are sick without a thought.

2.)     Meat has also been known to cause heart disease and even now The World Health Organization is planning to declare and list bacon and other processed meats as cancer causing ingredients. Although they will be listed in the same category as cigarettes you will still find people eating it on a daily basis.

3.)    Thousands and thousands of people are diagnosed with heart disease and some even have to spend top dollar to have surgeries that cut them open to replace arteries that have been so clogged by S.A.D. foods. Even though these major surgeries happen every day, it is still considered normal and healthy to consume the food causing the trouble in the first place.

 Societal norms such as eating genetically modified foods, pigging out on food that are known carcinogens, and having major surgeries that can be prevented are  now scarily accepted as the norm while a vegan lifestyle is shunned.  These foods and practices are a regular part of the S.A.D. diet and are sadly apart of western culture in general. On the other hand a lifestyle of consuming natural foods that grow readily for human consumption and that have been proven to cure and heal are looked at as extreme.  Eating as humanely as possible for others and for your very own well being should be considered a very normal, routine and positive practice. So if eating engineered food like products or food that causes cancer is the norm then I’ll always choose to be “extreme’.