A vegan diet can reduce not only the risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer, but also the susceptibility to viruses. I certainly get sick less than I used to, likely because I eat more immune-boosting foods.
"It should come as no surprise that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than do meat-eaters," the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine explains. "Studies of white blood cell samples from vegetarians have shown them to have more than double the cancer-cell-destroying ability of their nonvegetarian counterparts. The immune-boosting power of vegetarian diets is partly due to their vitamin content, their low fat content, and perhaps other contributors, such as reduced exposure to toxic chemicals and animal proteins." I'll take it!