The term ‘Vegan’ is floating all around us, with food manufacturers labeling their products Vegan, and influencers & actors choosing to be Vegan in their dietary or lifestyle preferences. From vegan cuisines to now even ‘vegan weddings’, there is a whole new conversation on the horizon.
Let’s take a closer look to understand the various aspects of a Vegan Diet & Lifestyle
What exactly is Vegan? What does one eat on a Vegan Diet? What must one avoid on a vegan diet? What are the benefits? Why should a person consider turning Vegan?
What Exactly Is A Vegan Diet? Or Who is a Vegan?
Vegans are people who consciously choose to eat only plant-based foods for all their nutrient needs. A Vegan Diet includes fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, & products processed from the same.
What does a Vegan Diet Include & Exclude?
When one chooses to be on a Vegan diet one must exclude or avoid dairy, dairy products like cheese, butter, cream, curd, cottage cheese, meats such as chicken, turkey, fish, red meat, or processed meats such as sausages, bacon, salami, fish stock, eggs, honey as well as animal derived ingredients such as gelatin. Any or all products that are sourced from animals aren’t consumed or eaten in any form on a Vegan Diet.
Reasons to go Vegan
A person chooses to go Vegan for many reasons the primary three reasons are:
- Compassion& Welfare of Animals – Ethical Reasons
- Conservation of Environmental Resources & Saving the Planet – Sustainability related Reasons, lastly
- One’s own health & well-being A person who is Vegan may be motivated to do so for anyone or all of the above reasons.
Why should one choose to be Vegan?
Eating a Vegan diet is good for health as plant-based foods, contain 0% Cholesterol, in other words, they are Cholesterol-Free and hence are good for the heart, unlike most animal products.
When we eat foods that are minimally processed their nutrient value is retained in its entirety ensuring one gets the maximum benefits of all the micro, macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals one is consuming.
We cannot consume meat or meat-derived products completely raw, even in Sushi we use rice & other plant-based accompaniment to make it palatable for human consumption. Plants are high in Fibre & help improve our gut health, stabilize blood pressure, lower cholesterol & improve digestion as well as our bowel movements.
Plants contain a high percentage of water content & our body is 80% water.
Since plants contain complex as well as simple carbohydrates their digestion ensures we feel full sooner, we feel full for longer, and this ensures we eat less for longer thus automatically contributing to a less calorific intake, indirectly aiding in any weight loss efforts or goals we might be working towards.
Plants do not contain saturated fats like animal products.
It is reported that Vegans have higher energy levels & are less prone to cancer compared to their meat-eating peers.
How Vegan is your Vegan Diet?
Are you consuming eggs, honey, and food products with animal-derived ingredients like gelatin? What a person eats is entirely their own choice, what is important is to ensure we are truly aware of what goes into our body as “Food is the Best Medicine”.
It is the truth not only for healing most chronic diseases but to heal the health of the planet & all other species as well. As the resources required for meat, dairy & its product-derived industries are 8-10 times that of plant-based products, the vegan diet is also environmentally friendly because it has a smaller impact on the environment than meat-based diets do. For example, it takes 14 times more water to produce one pound of beef than it does to produce one pound of wheat or potatoes. It also takes up to 10 times more energy to produce meat than plant-based food products.
How can we ensure we are truly eating a vegan diet?
First & foremost eat as much plant-based whole foods which means minimal processing. This ensures no stabilizers, binders, additives, or preservatives are presentin the food consumed. Very often, due to a lack of information or misrepresentation due to the usage of scientific names or codes on labels, people are misled & accidentally consume processed foods with ingredients that may be derived from animals.
It will take a conscious effort on the part of the consumers to demand full transparency & clean food products for consumption because if there is demand the manufacturers will automatically improve & adapt to meet the requirements.
This also requires the government to take swift action to ensure everyone in the food supply chain is maintaining the set compliances.
Eating a vegan diet isn’t difficult, it’s a matter of making a little effort to avail the alternatives readily available in the market, ensuring we read the labels & purchase/consume food that adds value to us, our family’s health & well-being, without harming the environment. We are what we eat, so what do you choose to be?
