Yok: Why chosing vegan diet

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851, regarded within the industry as a national newspaper of record. The New York Times’s news covers wide ranges of columns to choose from. I used to read several columns from it for many years. Unfortunately, the article which I am most interested in, a vegan diet, has rarely been posted on in the health column. If I had a chance to write a column in The New York Times, I would enjoy writing about vegan diets, which fit my passion and lifestyle. I would use this column to let my readers know how they and their planet can benefit from switching to vegetarianism, and also introduce some wonderful vegan shops in Bangkok.

As I can remember, my childhood life didn't have various activities to experience. I lived in a strict family where  my mother always forced me to focus on education as the first priority. From primary school years to university career, my life was mostly spent in the academic field. When I was an adolescent, my interests seemed different from the majority of teenagers. I did not enjoy playing games or partying at night, but exercising and sports. Playing football at school was the best activity for me. After I finished high school in 2013, I had decided to hit the gym for the first time. Eventually, exercise has become my daily habit. Our diet is the key factor to achieve every exercise goal and to enhance performance. I started to pay attention to what I eat, and researched on macronutrients and micronutrients. The most reliable result is that a plant based diet is the most effective way to maintain a healthy and balanced diet. This turning point made me switch to a mainly vegan diet and it has become seventy percent of my daily diet.

My column in The New York Times would explain why plant based diets are an extremely healthy option, and clarify the popular belief about the low amount of proteins and minerals that are received from eating plants. In fact, not only is a vegan diet nutrient-rich, providing all macronutrients and micronutrients needed, it also has very low calories compared to any other diet. For example, broccoli contains fibers, fatty acids, vitamins and even some protein and it has been proved by scientific research to help reduce bad cholesterol. This superiority of a vegan diet beyond a meat diet can let us live longer and healthier by preventing disease like cancer, stroke and diabetes. I think that this content can be very important to readers as poor diet is the number one cause of premature death.

A related issue I could explore in my column is to mention another aspect of plant based diet’s benefits. It is a resolution to solve top the global challenges facing humanity. Shifting from meat diets to vegetarian ones will lower significant levels of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from domestic livestock. These greenhouse gases are directly attributable to climate change, which continues to increase unprecedentedly. Moreover, a vegan diet is also a viable solution for water scarcity. Cultivation of vegetables and grains is far less water intensive than production of meat. From this evidence, switching to vegetarianism would dramatically reduce the amount of water consumption by agriculture, which accounts for seventy percent of global consumption.

The last issue is that I would like to use this area to help readers experience vegan diets more comfortably. I know that it is very hard, especially in Thailand, to change our routine diets to plant based diets  due to our tradition and culture. The toughest issue would undoubtedly be its taste. Fortunately, Bangkok has a large community of vegetarians, and there are a wide range of vegetarian restaurants and cafes available to try. I think it is a good idea to recommend some vegetarian hot spots to readers, so that they could get inspiration and probably change their views toward vegetarians. To start, Broccoli Revolution, Vistro cafe, and Plantiful are places where I want you to experience the new versions of vegetarianism. They are popular hangout places for vegans and their staff can provide very useful information to help you start to eat plants effectively and happily. 

I enjoy eating a vegan diet very much as it makes me become healthier, happier and fitter than ever before. I want to share my positive influences with readers, if I have a chance to write a column in the New York Times. This is a very useful principle to both readers and their planet. You will definitely get pleasure from the tasty foods which are good for your health.