Virat Kohli Goes Vegan - The Pros & Cons Of A Vegan Diet

Indian Cricket team skipper Virat Kohli has turned vegan. By taking this step, he has joined the league of Tennis legend Serena Williams and Football great Lionel Messi, who have been branding veganism for years.

The media reports claim that country’s fitness idol has quit consumption of animal protein like eggs and dairy products. He has been on a vegan diet, which includes protein shakes, vegetables and soy, for over four months now.

There is a primary difference between being vegetarian and vegan. Vegetarian people do not consume meat, fish or poultry, while vegans go a step further and do not take any animal products or by-products, including milk.

There are plenty of benefits of strictly following a vegan diet. Have a look:

• A vegan diet helps you in cutting down the intake of saturated fat, animal hormones and cholesterol. These unhealthy things get replaced with fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and more, eventually reducing the risk of deadly diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
• Vegan diet also helps in keeping obesity at bay.
• A research suggests that vegan diet changes more than 300 genes in only three months. It turns on genes that prevent diseases and puts off the genes that trigger heart conditions, prostate cancer and other diseases.
• Another research suggests that vegan woman have 34 per cent lower risk of breast, cervical and ovarian cancers than vegetarian or non-vegetarian woman.
• Consumption of animal protein also affects kidneys of the people who have suffered from any degree of kidney damage. Consuming limited acid-producing foods, like fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and more, helps in keeping aside any further damage to the kidneys.
• Vegan diet also provides inflammation-fighting benefits which in turn help in fighting arthritis. It reduces C-reactive protein, excess of which can cause acute and chronic inflammation leading to arthritis.
• Vegan diet is full of antioxidants which help in protecting your cells from free radicals, caused by a number of things including pollutants in the air like smoke and radiation.
• It also supports sustainable agriculture and reduces the carbon footprint associated with meat-producing operations.

If there are several benefits of a vegan diet, then there also are some obvious drawbacks of it. Check here:

• It gives you a hard time choosing something to eat when you are eating outside.
• You may also fall short of enough vitamins and minerals. There are vegan sources of most nutrients but this diet might not be able to provide you enough of them.
• Since vegans do not take meat or eggs, they may lack protein in their diet. They need to increase the amount of soy, lentils, quinoa and beans in their everyday diet to be physically strong.

Veganism is obviously a healthier alternative but requires a lot of self-control and determination. They might not sooth your taste buds as much as butter chicken or your favourite food, but will keep you healthy for a longer period of time and improve your fitness standards overall.