One of the questions I get asked most frequently is why I became vegan. So I thought I’d share my story here with you. Before we get started, I’d like to make it very clear though that I am not proposing that every single person on earth should adapt a vegan diet nor am I suggesting that people who eat a vegan diet are better humans. This is simply my story about my relationship with food and what the three main factors were for me personally to transition to a whole-food plant-based diet. So here it goes…

Everyone has their own story and relationship with food. Because of the way I grew up and the adversity I faced especially during childhood and adolescence, I didn’t have a good relationship with food nor with nutrition in general nor did I learn how to cook. For example, I went to a nursery after school where we received meals from the hospital. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than grateful that we had warm food on the table. However, the nutritious value of these meal wasn’t optimal to say the least. It was mostly unhealthy fats and low in nutritions. Example meals were noodles with ketchup or bread, cheese and sausages, etc. I guess you know what the standard hospital meals look like. Later in my teenage years, when I went home after school, I warmed up ready made meals such as pizza, lasagna, etc. and in the evenings we would have meals from McDonald’s or would go out to restaurants which was great at the time because as a young person I didn’t know anything about a healthy diet but it surely wasn’t a healthy option. Unfortunately we didn’t learn anything about nutrition at school - which should be a mandatory subject in my opinion.

It was only decades later in life, when I started my health journey and found out what nutrition is really about and how much a healthy, balanced diet impacts our mental and physical health. It awakened my curiosity and I read everything I could find about nutrition and slowly started to shift to a healthier and more balanced diet; meaning that I started to understand about macro and micro nutrients and how to create a balanced plate with every meal. I was so fascinated by how we fuel our body has an immense impact on our overall health so that I decided to study nutrition and became a qualified nutrition coach.

Veganism and the impact on my health, recovery and athletic performance

Veganism only got my attention a couple of years ago when I started to listen to the Rich Roll podcast and I got aware of all the scientific studies that came out showing what a great impact a whole-food plant-based diet has not only on your overall health but also on your athletic performance. Since I was deep into my triathlon and trail running training back then, I absorbed all the information and tried everything around nutrition so I would find out what would improve my recovery and performance. I wanted to see and experience for myself what actually works best for me. So I transitioned to a predominant vegan diet and let me tell you that the results came fast and were more than convincing. My recovery time and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) reduced immensely which allowed me to train on more days, also on consecutive days which in turn brought my performance to another level. I felt so much better and more energized! It opened up the door to ultra distances for me. However, I still would eat eggs, yogurt, quark and seafood back then but the rest were all delicious, wholesome foods.

Veganism and the impact on the planet

The more I experienced the health benefits myself, the more in-depth knowledge I tried to gain by reading and listening to podcasts and audiobooks about veganism. It didn’t take long until I found out what a positive impact it also has on our planet. A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce the impact on the planet. This refers not just for greenhouse gases but also to global acidification, land use and water use. Since I care deeply about nature and planet earth, it was a no-brainer for me. This was the moment when it clicked and I decided for myself from this day onwards I’ll be eating a whole-food plant-based diet.

Veganism and the impact on animal cruelty

Here’s the thing: The vast majority of people know that animals suffer and die on farms and in slaughterhouses so we can buy and eat the cheap meat. I certainly did know that while I was eating the chicken that I bought in a supermarket packed in multiple plastic layers. What I didn’t really know was the extend to how much these animals get tortured and suffer. No, let’s be real here: I refused to open my eyes and ears to this because once you know the truth, you can’t ‘unknow’ it and you need to act upon what’s true to you and your core values. The more I studied veganism, the more I read about what actually happens on those farms and slaughterhouses and I simply couldn’t justify it any more to buy and eat meat, diary or seafood and support this cruel industry.

So in a nutshell, these were the three main reasons why I became a vegan:

1. My improved recovery, athletic performance and overall health

2. The positive impact it has on the environment and the climate change

3. To end this animal cruelty

Last but not least I’d like to mention that I have not regretted the adaption of a healthy vegan diet for a single second. It has become part of my lifestyle and I feel so much more empowered and content knowing that I’m living in alignment with my values and in an authentic way.

Stay tuned for one of my next articles which will be about how I actually transitioned to a whole-food plant-based diet.