A recent study reveals men are adopting a plant-based diet after turning 40 to better their health.
There’s no denying that turning 40 marks a significant point in our lives. And whilst we can’t escape the inevitable, yearly addition of a candle upon our birthday cake, every significant milestone brings with it the opportunity to make life-changing decisions regarding our lifestyle and diet.
Less midlife crisis, more midlife breakthrough!
Health-Check
A recent study of 3,000 adults, performed by Bupa Health Clinics, reveals that men reaching the ages of 40 and 50 are drawn towards making positive, health-related decisions about their lifestyles.
Overhauling a relationship with alcohol, getting full health MOTs and signing up to participate in an extreme sporting event are some common decisions the surveyed men mentioned undertaking.
However, most important was the discovery that just under a quarter (24%) of those men surveyed indicated they were following a vegan diet in their 40s and 50s, all in the hopes of revamping their health.
This comes in light of Bupa’s research, which found that 40 is the most common age at which men choose to actively make changes in their lifestyle habits.
Jake Williams, Lifestyle Health Adviser at Bupa Health Clinics spoke to the Telegraph:
“Entering a new decade is one of many triggers that can prompt us to think about our health. In our clinics, we often see customers coming in for a general health check shortly before, or after turning, an age ending with a zero.”
No Meat is Manly
Gone are the days when we worried about the protein content of our diets, and with vegan bodybuilders and professional athletes popping up all over our social media feeds, there’s no shortage of extremely masculine vegan role models encouraging our male population to adopt a plant-based diet.
Furthermore, proven nutritional research continues to demonstrate the multitude of health benefits that follow on from becoming vegan.
Plant-based diets have been scientifically proven to help prevent and reverse the top three prolific diseases and causes of death in males: heart disease, certain cancers such as bowel and colon, and lower respiratory diseases.
Vegan diets can also help prevent and reverse common age-related diseases in the western-world such as diabetes, hypertension and osteoarthritis. From a purely health-related perspective, it’s pretty clear why more men are choosing to adopt a vegan diet.
The Ultimate Vegan Midlife Breakthrough
If there ever was to be a perfect example of a vegan midlife breakthrough, it would be Rob Masterson: vegan activist, talented cyclist, and the creator and owner of blog Man-Kind. Rob describes his journey from hospital bed to avid vegan cyclist at 44:
“My journey to a vegan diet and lifestyle was a gradual one which started in my mid-thirties after a minor health scare and ECG scan which confirmed a muscle strain in my chest. I weighed a massive 203lbs, had difficulties walking any considerable distance and a body fat percentage that I’d rather forget about. But what should I have expected from a meat-eating, fast-food loving, beer drinking, sedentary lifestyle?”
He explains:
“Whilst I was lying in my local hospital waiting to be discharged after the ECG I realised there was the only person responsible for my health and that was me. In 2013 I changed from being vegetarian to vegan overnight after seeing the movie Peaceable Kingdom. It opened my eyes to the real damage caused by the dairy industry.”
Rob has witnessed first-hand the health-affirming benefits of adopting a plant-based diet:
“The benefits of my vegan lifestyle are probably too many to mention here but for me the main ones are an increased athletic ability and reduction in recovery time between training and events. I was ready for a fifth day in the saddle after reaching Brussels from London in 4 days in 2016. Best of all – I’m much faster than my meat-eating friends!”
“I weigh 147 pounds now and proud to have a body fat percentage of around 11%. I’ve just turned 44 yet I feel fitter and healthier than I did in my twenties now I’m vegan. My only regret was not doing it sooner. It’s a no-brainer really – good for the animals, the environment and my health and fitness.”
Want to have your own midlife breakthrough? Sign up to our 31-day vegan pledge today.
THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN IN 2018
