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If you have talked to me for more than two minutes, you know that I am vegan.
Within those two minutes, I probably spewed out random facts, informed you that I’ll be a nutritional sciences major at Cornell University in the fall and answered your question “But where do you get protein from?”
On a more serious note, how many of you actually know why I made the choice to give up all animal products?
For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from chronic migraines. Despite the fact that I lived a very healthy and active childhood, my headaches persisted. Years went on, and I always wondered what I was doing wrong but never took serious action.
It wasn’t until eighth grade, when I began to drastically change my diet, that I realized there was a causal relationship between the food I ate and the frequency and intensity of my headaches.
From eighth grade to sophomore year I attempted to eat healthier but never put effort into research to find exactly what would minimize my migraines. Without much knowledge on the subject, I turned to a neurologist.
I was put on several medications, including the antidepressant, Nortriptyline. I recall sitting in the neurologist’s office not being able to understand why I was being put on an antidepressant to treat my migraines.
“For some reason, antidepressants help with migraines. Just call me if you have suicidal thoughts,” the neurologist said.
I walked out of the neurologist’s office extremely confused but still not at the point to completely take control of everything that went into my body.
After being on this medication for more than a year, the frequency of my headaches did decrease, but when I got a headache, the same debilitating pain was present. Attempting to solve this problem, my doctors would just increase my dosage. I would feel fine for a month but then the same pain would return.
Every night when I went to grab the pill bottle I could not help but be reminded that I was not seeing the results I wanted to see. I hated the side effects and was very open to other options. I remembered the causal relationship I identified in the eighth grade and began to look further into nutrition’s link with the body.
I came across the documentary Forks Over Knives and was captivated. Of course, the shocking facts and statistics regarding our environment and the government’s role in meat and dairy subsidizing were fascinating, but it was the health aspect that truly caught my attention. There was one doctor in particular, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, who I thought was interesting. I spent hours reading about his work; every night I read about his studies and the concrete evidence he has gathered through research funded by the National Institute for Health. All of the research he has conducted proves a plant-based diet has the ability to treat various diseases. Not only does he encourage this lifestyle as a treatment option, but he has spent years organizing research projects that consistently prove that there is a very strong, positive correlation between animal protein consumption and cancer rates. After finding out this information, I was shocked and angry. I could not believe I had never been informed that not only did my current diet facilitate my migraines, but I was also living a lifestyle that led me on a fast track to acquiring some form of cancer.
Not only does he encourage this lifestyle as a treatment option, but he has spent years organizing research projects that consistently prove that there is a very strong, positive correlation between animal protein consumption and cancer rates.
The more I informed myself, the harder it became to willfully neglect what would be best for my long-term health. When my dad became the test subject for my gateway thesis paper and had to go vegan, I decided it was time for me to transition as well.
I saw the results immediately. In my endeavors to follow a healing lifestyle, I stopped taking all my medications. As I slowly came off the medications, the withdrawal symptoms I experienced proved to me just how damaging the chemicals were to my body. I could go on and on explaining how amazing I feel, from decreased bloating and better digestion to higher energy levels, but to sum it up: I now rarely experience a headache and have not had a single migraine in my seven months of being vegan.
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