Image description: Veganuary logo, which is the word “VEGANUARY” in block letters of a variety of fonts, and a little “v” up in the top right corner that looks like a heart.
I’ve blogged about Veganuary before, and in the six years since then the Veganuary web resources have just gotten better and better. If you want to take the January challenge, it’s certainly not too late to sign up. But you don’t have to sign up to gain access to all that the Veganuary website has to offer. It’s not just for vegans or even just for people who want to try it for the month of January. It’s really a wealth of resources for anyone with some curiosity.
Maybe you just want access to some recipes. The website has that, broken down into categories (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and sweet treats). It gives you some tips for getting started. And it has a really great blog with more recipes, articles recommending great vegan books to read, how to survive Christmas or Diwali (bookmark for next year) as a vegan, and even a whole post about vegan bacon alternatives (for the UK — here in Canada I can vouch for Lightlife Smart Bacon).
If you sign up, which you can do for free, you will get a daily e-mail through Veganuary, a free cookbook, a nutritional checklist, and three meal plans — low calorie, medium calorie, and high calorie).
Veganuary is a non-profit, and they’re doing good work worth supporting. So there is of course an opportunity to donate to them. They make it easy to do, but it’s not a requirement.
Whether you want to try it or not, I recommend taking a look at the website and picking at least one recipe that looks good to you. There are lots of delicious-looking recipes and I would be shocked if even the most fervent omnivore didn’t find at least one thing that looks worth making.
As someone who struggles the most with missing eggs, I’m going to try the Tofu Benedict. What do you want to try?
Image description: Head shot of two-time 400m sprint Australian champion and Olympian, Morgan Mitchell, long dark hair, smiling, wearing a running singlet, track in the background. Photo credit: https://gamechangersmovie.com/cast/#morgan-mitchell
You may have heard about the documentary called Gamechangers, streaming now on Netflix, about athletes who go against the received view that a meat-based diet is necessary, opting instead for a plant-based approach to sports nutrition. It’s produced by a group of big names in film and sport: James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, and Chris Paul. It features former UFC fighter and combatives trainer for the US military, James Wilks.
Wilks gets injured and while laid up for six months starts exploring dietary means of optimizing his recovery. He stumbles upon an astonishing research finding: the Gladiators of ancient Rome ate a mostly plant-based diet. The Gladiators! The manly men who fought to the death in the Colosseum. This blew Wilks’s mind. In his words: “This shocking discovery launched me on a five-year quest for the Truth in Nutrition, modeled after Bruce Lee’s Truth in Combat philosophy: ‘Research your own experience, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.’ Beginning with this mindset, I put every preconception I had about nutrition to the test, traveling to four continents to meet with dozens of the world’s strongest, fastest, and toughest athletes, as well as leading experts on athletics, nutrition, and anthropology.”
The film follows his quest to obtain more information about the “shocking discovery” that you can be a strong and successful athlete while eating a plant-based diet. If you can get past the extremely masculine orientation of the types of athletes and the type of athleticism represented in the film, it’s got a positive message for those of us (including me) who think that the future is vegan.
But the machismo of the film is so very present. Two female athletes make an appearance: indoor Olympic track cyclist, multiple US gold medalist, and plant-powered athlete, Dotsie Bausch, who is the oldest athlete in her sport ever to win an Olympic gold medal; and Australian sprinter, Morgan Mitchell.
Much the film follows storylines and research that appeals more to stereotypically masculine interests. We follow Patrick Baboumian, and his training to secure the title of “strongest man in the world” and Scott Jurek, ultra-runner who is conquering the Appalachian Trail. There’s Olympic weight-lifter, Kendrick Farris. We also get to hear from Arnold Schwarzenegger (I liked that part because I have liked Arnold ever since Pumping Iron, though I much preferred Pumping Iron II: The Women). And the of course there is the man at the centre of the film, James Wilks, who is trying to get back into his game. An additional story line follows his father, who has some serious cardiac issues during the filming of the documentary and also decides to give a plant-based diet a try.
We are presented with research that is designed to prove that you can get strong eating plants. That’s a good message. There is a further attempt to make the case that you can get healthier in all sorts of ways. The New York Fire Department offers some of its members a guinea pigs for a short study (I think it was six weeks) where they had a raft of medical test, then followed a plant-based diet for a few weeks, and then had the same tests and their cholesterol had improved, their weight had dropped, and they felt better. Wilks father experiences improved cardiac health. Doctors such as Dr. Dean Ornish (founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and featured in the film) and Dr. Neal Barnard (President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) not featured in the film) have maintained that a plant-based diet can reverse heart disease.
Three collegiate athletes allowed their erections to be monitored while sleeping. The night they ate a vegan burrito instead of a meat burrito they had dramatically more frequent and harder hard-ons. Their reactions to their test results make for a hilarious scene because the researcher is all business but everytime he says “penis” and “erection” the young men lose their shit and start blushing and giggling and trying to look serious.
A good portion of an NFL football team switches over to plant-based eating when one of the team members starts bringing vegan meals prepped for him by his chef wife, Charity Morgan. Soon a bunch of the guys are special ordering the same meals and she’s delivering them at lunch time.
The thing is, the film is an effective agent for change in its way. It offers a compelling narrative against a diet built around animal products, and that new narrative challenges strong contrary opinion. Since watching it, I know of at least three people, two of them men and one a woman triathlete, who have decided to give plant-based eating a try. And it’s been recommended to me multiple times by friends and acquaintances. I myself am strongly in favor of more plant-based eating, not just for health and performance reasons, but for environmental and animal cruelty and exploitation reasons. In fact, my latest project is focused entirely on veganism and making a case that you can be imperfect at it and still be considered vegan. So of course the message of the film is attractive to me.
It would have been great if there were less machismo at the core of the film because while it’s in the business of smashing stereotypes (about athletes and meat) it could’ve gone further and challenged more stereotypes about diverse forms of athleticism and also diverse athletes within male-dominated sports. For example, they could have included some women who are vegan bodybuilders like Jehina Malik. Or Australian boxer, Emily Jans. And they could have mentioned tennis superstars Venus Wiliams and Serena Williams who are both vegan. Or the surfer Tia Blanco.
They could also have done more to include evidence that the types of studies they were doing would have similar results for women. I remember learning about the way women’s health has been underrepresented in a lot of medical research because it was assumed, wrongly, that findings from research trials in which all the subjects were men would equally apply to women. This turned out not to be the case, and in some very significant areas, for example, with respect to risks for and symptoms of heart attack and stroke. So it does concern me that the “experiments” (in quotes because they weren’t full-blown studies) in the film only had men as subjects. I think we are right to wonder whether there are any relevant physical differences that yield different nutritional and performance results for different bodies.
This is not to say it’s a terrible film. I’ve seen it twice and it has its moments. But given the power and influence of the executive production team behind it, and the incredible reach Netflix enables, it would have been a great moment to change more than one game.
If you’re interested in trying plant-based eating or already do it but need new recipes, Dotsie Bausch’s website has some great recipes. You can find them here.
Image description: Upper body shot of Dotsie Bausch, Olympic track cycling champion, wearing a Nike jacket zipped up to her neck, smiling, hair tied back; in the background: indoor cycling track, stadium seating (empty), national flags from multiple countries hanging from ceiling. Photo credit: https://gamechangersmovie.com/cast/#dotsie_bausch
If you’ve watched Gamechangers I’d love to hear your impressions. I’m honestly the only person I know who had anything but a completely positive opinion of it.
Let’s say the ethical / environmental arguments for adopting a vegan lifestyle (including a plant-based diet) convince you. You’re sure that’s the way to go if you care about animals enough not to want to contribute to their suffering, which consuming factory farmed animal products most certainly will. And you’re sure it’s the way to go if you care about the planet — we’ve all heard the one about the vegan who drives a Hummer having a smaller carbon footprint than an omnivore who drives a hybrid. It outdoes local and organic. If you care about the environment then plant-based is the way to go.
But a lot of people think that you can’t get stronger on a vegan diet. They think it’s inevitable that the quality of your muscles will suffer. When Sam and I embarked on our fittest by fifty challenge five years ago on our 48th birthdays, I had a young personal trainer who kept blaming my weight plateau on my vegan food choices. It was discouraging and I ended up having to let him go.
For the past two years I’ve eaten a largely vegan diet with only minor wandering off the path very occasionally (the wandering are for entirely unprincipled reasons but hey I’m not perfect). I’ve also been working out with a new personal trainer. He has never once called my vegan diet into question. Nor has he ever expressed any skepticism about my potential to get stronger and leaner.
And guess what? I am stronger and leaner than I was two years ago. My muscles are harder and I can do all sorts of things (pull-ups! Push-ups! Vinyasa flows without having to modify on my knees) I couldn’t do it struggled with a lot two years ago. This is despite frequent travel and no structured food plan beyond sticking to a plant based diet.
I am an intuitive eater who doesn’t deprive myself of foods I want. I hit the weights twice a week unless travelling. I run three to four times a week unless traveling somewhere where I can’t. And I go to one yoga class a week when I’m in town. I’m 53 and I’m the strongest, leanest and most Fit I’ve ever been in my life (even counting my mid-twenties when I worked out for three hours a day, four to five days a week).
This isn’t to boast (though I do feel good about it because well, it feels good!!). Rather it is to say “rubbish!” to the naysayers who challenge the vegan diet for its purported inability to support strength, lean mass, and fitness.
There are quite a few vegan endurance athletes (like Rich Roll and Scott Jurek) and even a new trend in vegan body builders (again, mostly men). So it’s not as if it can’t be done. You don’t hear a lot about women, but my case shows it’s possible to engage in a moderate routine combining resistance training with cardio and balance/flexibility training on a plant-based diet and get stronger. That’s without supplements either (other than occasionally B12 and a bit of pumpkin seed protein in my smoothies).
The main thing where some give is possible is on the protein front. Athletes can get by on more carbs than is sometimes recommended. A vegan body builder gave a talk at the London Veg Fest a couple of weeks ago and he said when he backed off of protein and focused more on whole foods and carbs he broke through a plateau that had frustrated him for quite a period of time. And in any case most of us aren’t trying to be body builders. We just want to support our activities and feel strong and energetic (I’m assuming).
Here’s an article that offers some tips for women vegan athletes opting for different protein percentages (they offer a range of three choices).
Are you a vegan athlete and do you have to spend a lot of time answering questions from skeptics?
Here’s a #tbt for you from four years ago. Though I would venture that veganism is more popular now than it was then, and is gaining followers all the time, myths still abound. And one of them is that you’ll get skinny real fast if you opt to eat a thoroughly plant-based diet. You won’t necessarily lose weight at all. But that’s not a reason not to try it. Another myth is that you can’t possibly retain muscle if you’re vegan. You can! I’ll write about that sometime next month. Meanwhile, enjoy this old post. I’m vegan, but I’m neither skinny nor a bitch (or so I like to think anyway)!
Tracy
I don’t know why veganism creates such intense reactions in people. You’ve got your non-vegan folks who insist that vegans are undernourished–what the heck do they do forprotein? Then, on the other side of it, you’ve got your so-called chefs who assume that grilled veggies make a sufficiently nutritious vegan meal.
There are those who insist that animals were put on this earth for our use, so we should just eat them. Or that plants have feelings too. Or that domesticated animals don’t have it so bad anyway. See a bunch of these arguments and responses to them here.
But today I want to address one issue and one issue only: is a vegan diet healthy or unhealthy?
That’s really a silly question, akin to asking if food is healthy or unhealthy. Some is, some isn’t. Whether your vegan diet is healthy or unhealthy depends on what you eat.
James Fell’s article, “Are Vegan Diets Healthy?” gives a clue as to what gets people’s backs up. The author objects to “militant” vegans, but admits that only a small minority of vegans are militant. Being vegan, I can attest to this fact. Most of us quite frequently dine quietly alongside, even with, people who are eating food that we think comes from an industry that promotes unnecessary animal suffering.
Then there is the even less political arm of veganism, those who won’t even use the term. They defer instead to the “plant-based” diet. These are the folks most likely to be in your face not about the ethics of animal farming, but about the health benefits of eating a plant-based diet. They’re purists in a different sort of way, moralizing food choices for reasons that have nothing to do with animal ethics.
Obesity researcher, Yoni Freedhoff, is quoted in the article as saying:
There are some vegan organizations that like to tell people that this is the ticket to weight loss, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. You can have plenty of vegan calories as well. Going vegan does not necessitate a healthy weight.
I’ve blogged before about the sad truth that going vegan doesn’t produce a weight-loss miracle. And it doesn’t automatically mean you’re eating healthy foods, either. But it doesn’t mean you’re not.
Lots of people like to say that vegans can’t try properly because they can’t get enough protein. The article about vegan diet and health talks about endurance athletes who have forgone animal products with no negative impact (and sometimes, they say, a positive impact) on their athletic performance
The author goes on to say:
“Veganism is an ethical concept more than a health concept,” said Dr. Garth Davis, a weight loss surgeon in Houston, Texas and an expert in plant-based diets. “I don’t use the term ‘vegan’ with my patients. I prefer ‘plant-based.’”
Dr. Davis told me: “I think most vegans did choose it from an ethical standpoint, but it has changed and grown over time to include those who find they perform better at sports on plant-based diets.” He echoed what Lindsey Miller and Scott Jurek said that many choose it for health reasons because it makes you think more carefully about your food intake.
“You don’t have be vegan in order to be healthy, but being vegan is a very healthy way to live,” he said.
Notice the emphasis on the less political/ethical “plant-based.’ Here, the health benefits take centre stage. Sure, if you focus on whole foods in your plant-based diet, you’ll make healthy choices. That’s probably the reason why so many people slide the two together. But vegan doesn’t mean only whole, low fat foods. I made an amazing vegan spiced pumpkin cake with a chocolate glaze yesterday and I’m glad I took it to an event where I wouldn’t have to contend with leftovers. Despite containing pumpkin and being vegan, it wasn’t the healthiest thing to come out of my kitchen this weekend.
It should come as no surprise that James Fell, author of “Are Vegan Diets Healthy?” concludes:
The takeaway here is that, yes, vegan can be a very healthy diet, as long as you do the work to ensure you do vegan well, and avoid the processed vegan “food.” From a health perspective, going vegan can make it so those who struggle with healthy eating are made to take their nutrition more seriously.
Because cutting out fast food burgers in favor of more plants is a good idea.
I’m the last person to discourage anyone from opting for a vegan diet and lifestyle, but the fact is that cutting out fast food burgers in favour of all sorts of other possibilities is probably a good idea.
And it’s worth saying that as with any approach to eating, you need to do a bit of research. One thing I’ve discovered, for example, is that vegans actually do need to make a point of getting their B12 because it is a necessary vitamin and occurs naturally in only a small range of plant foods. Most non-vegans get their B12 from meat products. For a vegan, plant-based “milks” as well as cereals are usually fortified with B12, and you can also get it from B12 supplements.
That’s just one factor. We’re not born knowing what constitutes a well-rounded diet that meets all of our nutritional needs. Whether you opt to eat a vegan diet or not, the simple fact is that whether your version is healthy or unhealthy depends entirely on the specific choices you make.
It’s making the rounds again–the idea that a vegan or at least vegetarian diet is the best way to lose weight. According to this article:
Overweight and obese adults who wanted to lose weight were randomly assigned to one of five low-fat and low-glycemic index diets: vegan (no animal products), vegetarian (dairy products included), pesco-vegetarian (dairy products and seafood included), semi-vegetarian (all food included, but red meat no more than once a week and poultry no more than five times a week), or omnivorous (no restrictions on food type and frequency).
Participants were told they could eat small amounts of nuts and nut butters, avocados, seeds, and olives in their diets but were encouraged to focus on lower-fat food options. The dieters were not given goals for limiting the number of calories they ate. As the researchers put it, “participants were free to eat until they were satisfied.”
After six months, those in the vegan group had lost the most weight, an average of 7.5 pounds. The vegetarian group was not far behind, with an average loss of 6.3 pounds. Those in the other groups lost only half as much weight (an average of 3.2 pounds for the pesco-vegetarian and semi-vegetarian groups and 3.1 pounds for the omnivores). There was no significant difference in reported activity level among the five groups.
I’ve blogged before about why this kind of thing bugs me. First of all, any diet that restricts whole food groups for the purposes of losing weight is really just a fad diet that’s not likely to stick.
Not only that, and probably related, dieting to lose weight is for the vast majority of those who do it, doomed from the outset. It’s really hard to keep off all the lost weight. We’ve had lots to say about that on this blog and are basically anti-diet in our approach. See here and here and here and here for example.
Don’t get me wrong. There are all sorts of good reasons to be vegan or follow a plant-based diet. Lots of athletes do well on a diet that’s free of animal products. Like Rich Roll, an ultra-triathlete, and Scott Jurek, an ultra-runner.
I’m vegan, but I can’t say it helped me lose weight or perform better athletically. I continue with my vegan lifestyle (which goes beyond the diet) anyway because my motivation is ethical not based on health or weight loss or performance.
I don’t mind if people are convinced by articles like the one I quoted above to try this approach to eating. But I hate to make its virtues dependent on losing weight or improving athletic performance.
Not everyone is going to respond the same way to every approach to eating. For some people, there may be dramatic weight loss on this kind of diet. But for others, there may be none, or even weight gain. Especially after they learn how to cook and realize that for every amazing non-vegan food out there that tempts us, there is an equally delicious vegan alternative!
So yes, try eating a plant-based diet. It’s a perfectly legitimate and morally worthwhile way to satisfy your nutritional needs and keep your palate happy at the same time. But it’s not a miracle diet.
I’m vegan. And that’s my birthday cake (back in September) from my favorite vegan restaurant. It’s bar none the very best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. And it’s vegan. No eggs, no dairy.
You’ve probably heard by now about Beyonce’s 22-Day Vegan Challenge with her hubby, Jay Z. I heard about it when it was announced, and I’m hearing regular updates about how it’s going for them on what is often described as their “health kick.”The Daily Mail (I know) reported that one week into her vegan “health kick,” Beyonce is flashing her abs.
Everywhere I turn these days I’m reading about how losing weight is one of the big reasons to become vegan. It’s starting to drive me to distraction!
See that chocolate cake? It’s not health food. Vegan is NOT a sure fire way to drop pounds. Losing weight isn’t even the best reason to eat a vegan diet. Why? Because french fries and potato chips are vegan. That cake is vegan. Coconut milk ice cream is vegan. Vegans, no less than anyone else, don’t just eat fresh fruit and vegetables.
Now I think it’s a good thing that you can still find all sorts of indulgences and follow a vegan diet. But what that means is that you need to do a lot more to drop pounds than switch to a plant-based diet. I myself didn’t lose a single pound when I become vegan. Nothing. Nada. Rien.
So why become vegan? The two primary reasons have nothing to do with your health: 1. animal welfare reasons and (2) environmental reasons. I won’t go into all the details here, but billions of animals a year suffer unspeakably and unnecessary cruelty in industrial farming. I’m not talking about cruelty inflicted over and above the regular conditions of their lives. I’m talking about the very conditions they live in day to day. If you’d like to know more about that, read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation or Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation or even just go to the Vegan Society website.
Livestock farming is bad for the environment and the atmosphere. It’s a huge contributor to global warming. There’s that great statistic: a vegan who drives a Hummer makes a smaller carbon footprint than a meat-eater who drives a Prius. Yes, there are other variables, but there is no question that mass livestock production is hurting the planet.
And yes, there’s lots of evidence that it’s good for your health. But there are still all kinds of not-great-for-your-health choices available on a vegan diet. So there is no automatic free pass or anything like that, and some things, such as lean protein, become a bit more challenging (not impossible with some knowledge).
Back to the 22-Day Challenge that Beyonce and Jay Z are on. If the reasons for being vegan are compelling (and they are!), then being vegan for 22 days just isn’t quite “getting it.” I mean, I’m glad that Beyonce and Jay Z are bringing some good press to being vegan. They’re even saying they feel great and it’s not difficult. Lucky for vegan PR that they aren’t having a negative experience — if it was a struggle and they had an adjustment period where they felt bloated or tired what have you? Animal welfare and the environment would still matter.
But you don’t hear about animal welfare or the planet when you hear about their vegan challenge. Given the facts, it’s just irresponsible to promote veganism without even mentioning these other reasons for being vegan.
Most ethical vegans extend their vegan choices beyond their diet, making an effort to avoid animal products in other areas of their lives. You’re unlikely to find a leather couch in a vegan home, and if you look on-line you can find all sorts of vegan footwear.
Another misconception that needs clearing up and now’s as good a time as any to do it: being vegan doesn’t mean being gluten free. Gluten is from wheat; wheat is not an animal product. Therefore, you can be vegan and not be gluten free. It’s very disappointing to someone like me who loves baking to go to a bakery where all the vegan options are also gluten free. Worse yet if they’re also raw. There are raw vegans, but most vegans are okay with cooked food. Why? Because there is no animal welfare or environmental reason to go raw.
Here’s a nice article where the author promotes the idea of veganism as a lifestyle change, not a diet.
There are also successful vegan athletes like ultra-triathlete Richard Roll (author of Finding Ultra) and the no-meat athlete, Matt Frazier (author of The No-Meat Athlete). Although both emphasize “plant-strong” over “vegan” (see Sam’s posts about the difference here and here) the point is, you can be a vegan athlete.
If you’re interested in learning more about becoming vegan, in addition to the resources above that outline some of the ethical and environmental reasons, I found these books to be really helpful:
Here’s how the first installment in the Skinny Bitch series (authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin) starts:
Are you sick and tired of being fat? Good. If you can’t take one more day of self-loathing, you’re ready to get skinny...
This is not a diet. This is a way of life. A way to enjoy food. A way to feel healthy, clean, energized and pure. It’s time to reclaim your mind and body. It’s time to strut your skinny ass down the street liek you’re in an episode of Charlie’s Angels with some really cool song playing in the background. It’s time to prance around in a thong like you rule the world. It’s time to get skinny.
It sounds almost empowering. Almost.
The first red flag? If you’re full of self-loathing then…wait for it…getting skinny is the answer! If that’s not clear from the introduction, it is made super-clear on the first page of chapter one where it says: “Healthy = skinny. Unhealthy = fat.” I’m sorry, but I think that simple equation has been firmly established as utterly false.
Getting healthy is a lot more complicated and is absolutely not correlated to being skinny. Some of the least healthy people I know are really skinny. The authors seem to maintain a distinction between a “skinny bitch” and a “scrawny bitch.” That’s when they recommend against over-exercising. Despite warning against over-exercising, they promise that “you’ll soon become addicted to exercising.”
And the mixed messages don’t stop there. They are opposed to fad diets, like low-carb diets (and especially Atkins). They encourage people to eat bread and fruit. This makes it seem like a not very restrictive way of eating (a lifestyle, remember, not a diet). But they have a whole chapter that explains why “Sugar is the Devil.” That would make it thoroughly evil. I’ve posted about why food is beyond good and evil here.
On the pro side (for me, anyway) they promote a vegan diet for lots of the right reasons too. They quote Linda McCartney, who said that “if slaughterhouses had glass walls, we’d all be vegetarians.” They remind you that if you adopt a vegan diet, “you’re sparing the lives of at least ninety animals a year.” They even talk about the environmental impact of livestock farming (methane from livestock contributes a lot to global warming).
But I want to take issue with two of their fundamentals.
First, the whole bitch thing. People are annoyed enough with vegans. We are inconvenient, not just as dinner guests (“what will we feed you!?”) but as in-your-face reminders that your food choices have moral implications for other animals and for the planet. So associating veganism with being a bitch. It’s just not the kind of PR we need.
Second, the idea that being vegan will make you skinny. No. It’s just as easy not to be skinny as a vegan as it is not to be skinny as a non-vegan. There’s all sorts of vegan crap out there.
Now of course, the skinny bitch “philosophy” does not include vegan crap. Nope. A skinny bitch will embark on a regimen of “pure eating.” Remember: this is not a diet:
Never feel like or say you are “giving up” your favorite foods. Those words have a negative connotation. You are simply empowered now and able to make educated, controlled choices about what you will and won’t put into your body, your temple. Be grateful that you know the truth about the foods you used to poison yourself with…Be excited about feeling clean, pure, healthy, energized, happy, and skinny.
So let me say this. I’m vegan. Have been for over two years now. I eat a fairly “clean” diet, in the sense that I choose lots of whole foods, no animal products, I don’t drink alcohol or take any drugs, I’m more active than my peer group. But I am not skinny. I’m kind of average, really. And I was kind of average *before* I became vegan. So the magical transformation won’t come simply by becoming vegan.
That’s not to say there aren’t all sorts of good reasons. But becoming vegan is not to be approached as another diet that will get you thin. And all this “pure and cleansing” talk–getting rid of toxins and so forth–it’s just not borne out by science. See this about juicing.
That’s my myth-busting message today: Go for it! Become vegan (which is not just about food, by the way). But you don’t have to be a bitch and don’t listen to the people who promise you’ll be skinny.
Skinny isn’t even a great goal. It’s not empowering. And if you are experiencing self-loathing, try loving the body you have and treating yourself with compassion and care. We have lots of that to go around on this blog!
I thought that the plant based diet description had the advantage that it could come in degrees. You can eat a mostly plant based diet but it sounds odd, to my ear, though I do say it, that you eat a mostly vegan diet. I thought the plant based diet might also lack the vegan concern for animal welfare and focus more on human health. As Vegan Soapbox notes, plant strong folks can wear leather and engage in other practices that harm animals. It’s all about human health and what you eat.
But now just after posting, I’ve noticed a third difference. Vegans can eat junk food consistently and still follow a vegan diet. Oreos, pop tarts and Doritos are all vegan foods. Vegans for ethical reasons might not care about their own health. No animals were harmed during the making of these scary foods. They contain long lists of nasty sounding chemicals but no animal products.
But they’re not plant strong. This is the sense in which plant strong is more demanding. Thinking about it this way, there’s plant strong, on the one hand, and merely vegan, on the other. For a great discussion of this, from the plant strong perspective, read When Vegan Is Not Enough!
As a friend once said, I’m a vegan, not a health food nut, but the thought of vegan junk food rarely occurs to me since the thought of junk food rarely occurs to me. I don’t eat fast food and foods like pop tarts don’t hold any appeal. I haven’t spent time with junk food vegetarians since grad school when for some of my classmates becoming a vegetarian just really affected what went on the pizza.
Let’s say the ethical / environmental arguments for adopting a vegan lifestyle (including a plant-based diet) convince you. You’re sure that’s the way to go if you care about animals enough not to want to contribute to their suffering, which consuming factory farmed animal products most certainly will. And you’re sure it’s the way to go if you care about the planet — we’ve all heard the one about the vegan who drives a Hummer having a smaller carbon footprint than an omnivore who drives a hybrid
