Digest This: PETA Delivers Gut Check Outside Charleston Medical Center

For Immediate Release:
May 11, 2026

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

Are West Virginians’ diets killing them? It seems that’s the case because the Mountain State ranks among the highest in the nation for digestive disease-related deaths, which is why PETA is serving up some food for thought during National Digestive Disease Awareness Month (May) in a new sky-high appeal near Charleston Area Medical Center buildings and a gastroenterology office, urging everyone to protect their gut health by going vegan.

Research shows that eating whole, healthy vegan foods—including plants that are naturally rich in fiber—is a gift to the gut, helps curb constipation, and keeps digestion regular. Animal-derived foods, on the other hand, contain zero fiber, which humans need for optimal digestion. A fiber-rich diet—built on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds—can also lower cholesterol and help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weight gain.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization classifies processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” and warns that consuming red and processed meats like bologna, bacon, and hot dogs increases the risk of colorectal cancer, while a review of 49 studies involving three million people found that animal-free eating safeguards against digestive system cancers.

“Meaty meals gum up the works, cause digestive disease, and the animals who go into them die a bad death, too,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages everyone to live healthier, longer lives by keeping animals off their plate, and we’re ready to help with free downloadable vegan starter kits.”

PETA notes that going vegan not only reduces a person’s risk of suffering from digestive diseases and other ailments but also spares animals from a lifetime of misery and a violent death. Cows develop friendships, chickens form complex social structures, and pigs show empathy for others—but in the meat, egg, and dairy industries, they’re confined in filthy, crowded conditions, trucked to slaughterhouses, and violently killed.

PETA’s billboard can be seen at 3416 MacCorkle Avenue Southeast in Charleston.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a pig is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.