The Plant-Powered Path: Exploring the Thriving World of Veganism

Posted 25 Jun 2023
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A vegan diet, often known as veganism, omits animal products from the diet. That means, in addition to not eating meat, vegans also do not consume dairy, eggs, or any other products of animal origin. In other words, it is very much a plant-based diet.

Why choose to be vegan

People choose a vegan diet for many reasons, including their health, from an ethical standpoint and from an environmental perspective. From an ethical perspective, vegans also avoid clothes and cosmetics that have come from, or been tested on, animals. They believe that animals’ milk, eggs, honey, silk, and wool are not for humans to exploit.

How Popular Is It

Being a vegan has become increasingly popular over the last decade. According to some statistics the number of people following a vegan diet has increased by 350% in the last decade.

What Is the difference between vegan and vegetarian

Ironically, the term “vegan” was chosen from the combination of the first and last letters of “vegetarian”.  In essence, a vegetarian diet is less strict in that vegetarians eat non meat animal products such as dairy products and eggs.

Can you be healthy on a vegan diet

There are many studies looking at whether a vegan diet is more healthy than other diets and the jury is still out on this due to the many factors that need to be considered.

However, if you are on a vegan diet, you may consume less of certain nutrients. 

Vegan diets tend to be low in these nutrients: 

vitamin B12; vitamin D; calcium; zinc; iodine; selenium

Speak with a healthcare professional to plan a vegan diet that will help you get the nutrients you need. People on vegan diets sometimes take supplements to provide nutrients they may not get enough of in their diet.

Do not put your children on a vegan diet without professional expert advice!

Where can I find foods that are suitable for a vegan

At first glance, a vegan diet may seem complicated or overly restrictive. In fact, there are many recipes and foods that are available to make a vegan diet interesting and nutritious.  Vegan diets are based on fresh fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, beans and legumes such as soy, nuts and seeds. There are so many more products appearing on supermarket shelves which are suitable for vegans such as fortified dairy substitutes like almond, oat or soy milk as well as plant-based yoghurt. Increasingly, manufacturers are labelling products as suitable for vegans.

To find out more visit www.mywellabee.com