Veganism

What is Veganism?

I believe everybody is familiar with the concept of veganism: Someone who doesn’t consume any animal products and chooses not to contribute to animal cruelty. This includes not eating animal products, not wearing products made from animals (e.g. leather, wool, silk) and not using products with animal ingredients in them (e.g. some beauty products). It also means not using any products that were tested on animals.

For most people this would seems like too much of a hassle but not to me. I was intrigued with the concept of veganism. In 2016 I spend months researching everything I can about this topic: The pros, the cons, what I should include in my diet, what not to include, what supplements I should take, good protein sources and so much more.

Basically there are 3 reasons (or a combination of the 3) why people decide to go vegan:

• The Health Benefits
• Because it’s ethical towards animals
• It’s better for the environment

Why I went vegan:

In 2016, after many months of research, I decided to vegan for the health benefits of the diet. Becoming vegan was something very personal and I didn’t necessarily want to have a conversation about why I was vegan. I didn’t like it when everybody would make such a “big deal” about it. People usually think that you have to be a vegan activist in order to be vegan but I wasn’t like that. Veganism didn’t define or change who I was as a person, just what I chose to eat.

Why I stopped being vegan:

I don’t regret ever going vegan in the first place. At the time it was the right thing to do for my health but after a year and a half of being vegan I decided to start eating meat again. So what changed? Why did I decide not to be vegan anymore? Well there are a few reasons:

• Social

I think the hardest part was the social aspect of being vegan. I couldn’t go to a restaurant without checking the menu beforehand to make sure there was something for me to eat. A lot of the times I would be the only one not eating just because there weren’t anything available. Each time I did order I had to double check that there weren’t any animal products in the dish. I would also feel like such a burden when visiting friends because most people don’t really know how to cater for vegans.

• Iron deficiency

Ever since I was in high school I have struggled with an iron deficiency but it wasn’t until I went vegan my deficiency became serious. I had to be on an iron supplement for months. I bruised extremely easy, my nails became very brittle and my hands and a constant orange undertone. I can honestly say that ever since I have been eating meat again my deficiency has gotten a lot better

• Money

It’s obvious that a vegan diet is quite expensive. When I was vegan I was still studying, and living off a student budget whilst being vegan is NOT easy. I’m not saying it’s impossible, yes you can live off potatoes, beans and bananas for the rest of your life, (which are all fairly cheap), but I didn’t consider that to be a healthy diet, which leads me straight into my next point…

• Protein

No matter what vegans will tell you, it’s EXTREMELY difficult to get enough protein into your diet. On the other hand, a vegan diet is abundant in Carbs and eating high volumes of carbs doesn’t work for everyone, especially not me. My body thrives of a higher fat and protein diet, and that’s something I only realized through my vegan experience.

Conclusion:

If you want to go vegan due to ethical reasons, then by all means, go for it. If it’s purely for health reasons, I would suggest doing some research of your own first. I don’t believe veganism was the best diet for me, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be effective for someone else. Everything I mentioned above was just my opinion and should not be considered as facts. I really hope you liked this post and I will definitely be posting again about veganism in the future!