Looking to become a vegan!

robertkinneyca

Hi, I’m looking to become a vegan or Vegetarian what is the difference

concordancia

Vegans do not eat anything from animals, while vegetarians still include eggs and dairy, just not things that require you to kill the animal to consume them. A third option is pescatarian, which will include fish. It all depends on your reasons for exploring these options.

CopperGalaxy

Hi Robert

I have been vegan for the last 9 years now and can say it really changed my life, attitude and enjoyment of food. I used to have terribly irritable bowels that led to painful long term medical problems, however that has gradually improved over the years and doesn't bother me so much anymore. I used to have oily skin but now I get complimented on how young and wrinkle free my skin looks. I used to have terrible breathing problems which disappeared within a year of being vegan. I used to eat a lot of fast food and not really take my time to savour food, just shovelling it in my mouth any which way.

Because veganism requires you to really plan ahead with your meals and think about what you are consuming, I enjoy cooking a lot more now and can be quite creative with meals. My husband was not vegan when I met him but he came round by virtue of my tasty homecooked meals as he couldn't believe it was possible to eat so well as a vegan!

Veganism is the absence of any animals products from your diet. That includes dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, honey, and some vegans also do not like to consume products which, although not necessarily containing animal products as an ingredient, use animal products during production. Examples of this are is fizzy drinks which sometimes uses bone char to whiten the sugar, or use crushed beetles for colouring (as a vegan you find out some really crazy things that go into mainstream food).

The benefits of veganism are that you can eat larger volumes of food without worrying too much about over-indulging in calories, so it suits someone who does not like dieting and restricting their portions. People also have the misconception that it is very expensive - that is not the case now that vegan food options are being mass produced (economies of scale) and most supermarkets do weekly special offers on fresh fruit and veg which, if the intention is to be vegan for health, should constitute 70-80% of your diet.

Vegetarianism is almost the same as described above except they consume animal products, just not the flesh itself. There are many variations of vegetarianism - some people are ovo-lacto, which means they eat eggs and dairy; some are lacto- which means they eat dairy; some are ovo- which means they eat eggs. In some countries people even consider themselves pesca-vegetarian i.e. they eat fish but not dairy and eggs.

If you are generally in good health I would strongly suggest you try veganism so you can see that it is not as restrictive or difficult as people think; you will notice the health benefits almost immediately and nowadays there is usually a vegan option everywhere I go, even in the sticks. You may hear a lot of people say it is dangerous to go vegan as you will get deficient in certain vitamins; it is true that you have to be careful and use MyFitnessPal for example to ensure you are getting enough of the various Vitamins, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, B12 etc. There is so much information around this diet nowadays that it is not too much effort. The UN has recently advised people to go vegan to save the planet, and a lot of medical advice is leaning towards veganism being the most prosperous, sustainable diet for health. Also, it is nice eating a meal and knowing nobody suffered or died for me; it is unnecessary and even damaging to eat meat, this is becoming common knowledge thankfully.

Hope that helps, if you have any questions I'd be happy to advise based on my personal experience.

SueSueDio

As far as I'm aware, "veganism" is considered an ethical stance rather than a diet - vegans will not consume or otherwise use any animal products, including leather goods etc. A person who chooses to eat a diet completely free from animal products (for health or preference) but without the accompanying ethical viewpoint is often referred to as following a "plant-based diet" instead.

It can be harder to get enough protein on a plant-based/vegan diet, and there are also certain vitamins/minerals that the body requires and which need to be supplemented, I believe. I'm sure there are some vegans lurking somewhere who could help out here! ( @janejellyroll , @BecomingBane ? )

If you want to follow this type of diet because you'd prefer to eat that way, it would be a good idea to thoroughly research it first. If, on the other hand, you're thinking about it because it seems like the latest "trendy weight loss thing", you might want to rethink that. You don't need to cut out any foods in order to lose weight, just eat smaller amounts.