Because of their diets, vegans tend to have higher levels or vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fibers leaving many to believe veganism the healthiest diet.

Recently, more Downey High students and staff have been joining the trend of becoming vegan.

Generally people start as vegetarians then transition to veganism shortly after to get used to the big change of avoiding meat. Vegans rely on vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, and fruits as their food source to abstain from the use of animal products such as eggs, milk, or cheese.

Vegan for a year and a half now, Yeniza Piñon, 11, explains her main reason for becoming a vegan.

“I saw how the animals were being treated,” Piñon said. “At first I would start eating meat and it would like slowly start grossing me out. I used to love Chick-Fil-A and then one day I looked into the chicken and it just looked so nasty to me.”

Vegans do not just abstain from consuming animal products, but they also refrain from using clothing or accessory that contain animal products.

Learning how unhealthy meat is, Ariana Rodriguez, 12, plans on joining the vegan community to help out the animals in danger. Rodriguez has been a vegetarian for a year and a pescatarian for two years and.

“Honestly a lot of people have like health problems or things like that and they don’t even realize it’s just because it’s from what they eat all the time,” Rodriguez stated. “Most people just don’t watch their diet, so it would be easier to just become vegan, plus it is good for the animals.”

Vegans are 45% less likely to develop cancer of the blood than meat eaters and 12% of overall cancer. They are also increasing their lifespan, according to a study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal.

After two years of wanting to become vegan, now vegan Vanessa Lopez, 11, finally joins the vegan community, considering all animals as pets which then stops her from consuming meat or animal products.

“I would encourage others to become vegan to save the animals,” Lopez stated. “Also there’s a lot of health benefits to it.”

Becoming vegan has now become easier because markets now provide healthier options or other alternatives for meat to sell.