What is Vegan?
A vegan does not eat the flesh or product of any living animal. This means flesh, eggs, dairy or any food product with ingredients derived from animals. Vegans also do not wear any materials derived from animals such as leather. They do not use products that are derived from animals or tested on animals.
Becoming a vegan is the best thing you can do to stop your contribution to the unnecessary death and suffering of animals.
It reduces your impact on the environment as well as improving your health overall. I do not consider veganism a diet but a lifestyle. Compassion, kindness and an awareness of environmental impacts of food production are all highlighted by being a vegan.
It is easier to turn a blind eye to these things as it can seem that one person cannot make a difference.
Life is all about taking personal responsibility for how we live our lives and the impact our choices have on others and on our world.
Veganism is the fastest growing food sector in the world at the moment. One person adopting it may not make a difference. Overall it makes a huge difference when large amounts of people adopt it. Also every person that adopts a vegan diet means less animals slaughtered. That makes a difference to the animals that live with less impact on the environment.
All food production is run on a strictly supply and demand basis so if demand falls then supply will fall. The plus side of this is that as demand for healthy vegan options rise then the range of these will increase.
This is obvious in supermarkets at the moment as they are dramatically increasing their vegan ranges. I doubt it because they have suddenly become concerned about animals. Being purely profit driven they are just supplying the rising demand they see for these food products.
The major benefit of this is that it has never been easier to be a vegan.
Why be a Vegan?
This is an important part of your decision to be a vegan. It is a very personal thing and people do it for very different reasons.
Health
Some change for health reasons. Research shows that eating a plant based diet is one of the best things we can do for our health. Vegan diet is linked to lower rates of developing cancer, heart disease and better overall health. Properly balanced vegan meals provide the body with all the nutrients necessary.
Environment
It is a known fact that meat production is very harmful to the environment. Huge amounts of land are used for grazing animals which could instead be used to grow crops for humans. This produces a much larger volume of food from the same area of land using much less water.
Some become vegan as they do not want any animal to suffer or die just to provide food for them. This was my reason for veganism. I had been a vegetarian since I was fourteen. My father had driven a cattle transport lorry and I had often been to abattoirs. The animals started to panic in the lorry miles from the abattoir as they could sense where they were going.
The scenes I saw made me determined that no animal would ever suffer and die like that for me. Every advertisement for meat here focuses on the grass and rain then skips to meat close ups. They totally ignore the horrific bit in the middle. I refuse to watch scenes of animals being slaughtered as I saw it in reality.
I think it is just easier for people who eat meat not to think of these things. They totally separate meat from animals. Shaming people who eat meat with horrific videos is not something I agree with. It just makes them close their minds. I think it is better to educate them in a positive way without attacking them. They will be more open to discussion and change when they are not in defensive mode.
I was guilty of turning a blind eye myself to the realities of the dairy industry. This in spite of growing up in the countryside and seeing it all my life. I reasoned that the cows were happy in the fields and had good lives. Cows have their calves taken from them to keep them producing milk. I genuinely thought they had the calves until they were weaned.
I saw a program where a farmer said they allowed their calves to have one feed from their mothers and then separated them forever.
This horrified and upset me so I decided to become a vegan. I had heard cows crying for their calves after being separated. The thoughts of those baby calves taken from their mothers the day they were born broke my heart. I felt very ashamed that they suffered like that to provide me with dairy products.
Where to start?
I had been a vegetarian most of my life so becoming a vegan was not that difficult. If you eat meat you may find it easier to transition gradually. There is no right or wrong way to become a vegan. You need to do what feels right for you.
One thing you will need to consider is that your digestive system will need time to adapt. Bacteria digesting meat and plant digesting bacteria are different. There are different amounts of them in your digestive system depending on what you eat. After you became a vegan it will take a few weeks for your body to change the amounts of each bacteria in your digestive system to what you require in your new lifestyle.
You may feel more hungry, have some mild stomach churning and not feel full after meals. These effects will go in a few weeks and you will soon be feeling the benefits of a vegan diet. It will not be too difficult to adapt.
Whatever your motivation once you have made your decision then the main difficulty is figuring out what to eat. It is not healthy to just cut out all animal products. You have to replace animal products with additional amounts of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, etc. This is because you are removing a lot of food from your diet. You need to replace it with healthier alternatives.
Many people who become vegan rely on carbohydrates and prepacked vegan meat substitutes. Long term this is not very healthy. It can be daunting when you start as there seems to be more you can not eat then what you can eat. With a little planning it will not take you long to get yourself organised.
You cannot simply drop all animal products without replacing them with additional vegetables, fruit, nuts, pulses etc. Many traditional meals can easily be vegan and resources like Pinterest are your new best friend. Make a list of your favourite meals then research on the internet for vegan versions of them.
Eating a plant based diet is not hard but it does require some advance planning when going shopping. Plan your meals for the week in advance and make a shopping list so you know what you need when you get to the shops.
Foods labelled vegan are not always healthy so you need to eat nutrient dense and whole foods to stay in good health.
Vegan foods are not always labelled as such so take the time to read labels. I have even found surprising things such as gravy mixes that were vegan. Facebook and Instagram have people who put up lists of products which are accidentally vegan. This means they were not designed to be vegan but just are!
The main thing you will be asked is where do you get your protein?
Herbivore animals that are the ones generally consumed.
All the protein the animal needed to grow was derived from plant sources!
There are plenty of places to get your protein including: lentils, legumes, tofu, soy milk, nuts, seeds, quinoa, peas, chia seeds, peanut butter, and numerous other sources. A healthy vegan diet will easily have enough protein to supply your needs.
There is only one vitamin that is difficult to get enough of on a vegan diet. That is vitamin B12 so it is essential to supplement this in your diet.
What to avoid?
Vegans do not eat:
meat
fish or seafood
poultry
dairy
eggs
honey and beeswax
gelatin (used to set desserts)
casin, whey or milk byproducts
red food dye such as cochineal
There are vegan alternatives to most things so it is not as difficult as it may look from this list. You will also have the enjoyment of discovering a whole new world of delicious foods that you never knew existed.
I will admit that I do miss things like dairy cheeses which I adored. I have not found an exact replica. The key is to try many different products and recipes to find what you enjoy eating.
It is far from a restricted diet!
It encourages you to be creative with your cooking and view of food. I was semi-vegan for a month before I committed to it. Now I would never consider going back to vegetarian.
Making the decision to became vegan is a very personal choice and how you transition to it is personal too. Do not beat yourself up if you go back on it occasionally. I found it easier not to tell people. I did not have to listen to their opinions or judgement during my trial month. Family and friends may not be supportive. There is a huge online community who have been on the same journey and are incredibly supportive and helpful.
