Questions????
1. WHAT IS VEGANISM?
Answer : Veganism is abstaining from all animal products in diet and lifestyle. Foods avoided in a vegan diet include: meat (including fish and poultry), eggs, dairy, and honey.
Outside of their diets, vegans also avoid (as far as possible and practical):
• products tested on animals
• animal derived fabrics such as silk or wool
• leather, suede, down, and fur
• personal care products containing animal ingredients (beeswax, keratin, lanolin, etc.)
• animals as entertainment (circuses, rodeos, etc.)
2. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VEGANISM AND PLANT-BASED DIETS?
Answer: Veganism is exactly what I outlined above, the key being that vegans abstain from animal products in both their diets AND lifestyles.
Veganism doesn’t automatically = healthy.
Vegans don’t necessarily abstain from unhealthy animal-free foods and can consume highly processed foods and ingredients. The vegan’s concern is typically “Does this contain any animal products?” instead of “Is this a health food?”. The term “plant-based” typically refers to a diet of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, whole grains, healthy fats, etc.) which excludes animal products (meat, eggs, dairy, etc.) Typically the choice to abstain from animal products in diet won’t apply to a plant-based dieters overall lifestyle. Someone adhering to a plant-based diet might eat similarly to a vegan but they may use products tested on animals, or wear animal-derived fabrics. Plant-based diets tend to have a focus on healthier foods, also excluding highly refined ingredients (like refined sugars, flours, and oils.) What about plant-based vegans? It’s a safe bet to assume that they are vegan (in diet and lifestyle) and choose to eat mainly whole foods and avoid excess refined ingredients. Essentially, they’re “healthy vegans.”
3. WHAT ABOUT ADD-ON LABELS LIKE OIL-FREE, HCLF, 80/10/10, AND RAW?
Answer: Be weary, below is list of explanations: Oil-free: Consumes no refined oils but does eat unrefined fats like avocados, nuts, and whole-foods. HCLF (High Carb-Low Fat): Restricts fat intake and relies heavily on carbs for fuel. They may eat plenty of fruit (probably a lot of bananas), potatoes, rice, etc. 80/10/10: These number refers to the ratio of macro nutrients they strive for: 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, 10% carbs. Raw: Raw vegans don’t consume foods heated about 48 °C (118 °F), stemming from the belief that heating foods above these temperatures destroys macro-nutrients. Raw till 4: Someone who eats a primarily raw diet but eats a cooked dinner (They eat “raw” until 4pm and then allow cooked foods.)
4. HOW DO I KNOW IF A PARTICULAR FOOD IS VEGAN?
Answer: If the food is completely unprocessed, any fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, bean, or legume is vegan. If it’s a packaged food, read the ingredients list. There are many by-products derived from animals which can cause some confusion at first, for example; whey powder, casein, and modified milk ingredients are all dairy products. If you’re considering adopting a vegan diet, don’t let that scare you! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you learn what ingredients to avoid, it’s nothing to sweat over, you’ll learn it all in time! A simple tip for quickly scanning ingredients lists: look at the very bottom of the ingredients list for the information on allergens. If the product contains milk ingredients, eggs, or shellfish it will plainly say, “Contains milk, eggs, shellfish”. This doesn’t work so well for meat products, but it really helps when scanning for dairy and eggs.
Answer : Veganism is abstaining from all animal products in diet and lifestyle. Foods avoided in a vegan diet include: meat (including fish and poultry), eggs, dairy, and honey.
Outside of their diets, vegans also avoid (as far as possible and practical):
• products tested on animals
• animal derived fabrics such as silk or wool
• leather, suede, down, and fur
• personal care products containing animal ingredients (beeswax, keratin, lanolin, etc.)
• animals as entertainment (circuses, rodeos, etc.)
2. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VEGANISM AND PLANT-BASED DIETS?
Answer: Veganism is exactly what I outlined above, the key being that vegans abstain from animal products in both their diets AND lifestyles.
Veganism doesn’t automatically = healthy.
Vegans don’t necessarily abstain from unhealthy animal-free foods and can consume highly processed foods and ingredients. The vegan’s concern is typically “Does this contain any animal products?” instead of “Is this a health food?”. The term “plant-based” typically refers to a diet of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, whole grains, healthy fats, etc.) which excludes animal products (meat, eggs, dairy, etc.) Typically the choice to abstain from animal products in diet won’t apply to a plant-based dieters overall lifestyle. Someone adhering to a plant-based diet might eat similarly to a vegan but they may use products tested on animals, or wear animal-derived fabrics. Plant-based diets tend to have a focus on healthier foods, also excluding highly refined ingredients (like refined sugars, flours, and oils.) What about plant-based vegans? It’s a safe bet to assume that they are vegan (in diet and lifestyle) and choose to eat mainly whole foods and avoid excess refined ingredients. Essentially, they’re “healthy vegans.”
3. WHAT ABOUT ADD-ON LABELS LIKE OIL-FREE, HCLF, 80/10/10, AND RAW?
Answer: Be weary, below is list of explanations: Oil-free: Consumes no refined oils but does eat unrefined fats like avocados, nuts, and whole-foods. HCLF (High Carb-Low Fat): Restricts fat intake and relies heavily on carbs for fuel. They may eat plenty of fruit (probably a lot of bananas), potatoes, rice, etc. 80/10/10: These number refers to the ratio of macro nutrients they strive for: 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, 10% carbs. Raw: Raw vegans don’t consume foods heated about 48 °C (118 °F), stemming from the belief that heating foods above these temperatures destroys macro-nutrients. Raw till 4: Someone who eats a primarily raw diet but eats a cooked dinner (They eat “raw” until 4pm and then allow cooked foods.)
4. HOW DO I KNOW IF A PARTICULAR FOOD IS VEGAN?
Answer: If the food is completely unprocessed, any fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, bean, or legume is vegan. If it’s a packaged food, read the ingredients list. There are many by-products derived from animals which can cause some confusion at first, for example; whey powder, casein, and modified milk ingredients are all dairy products. If you’re considering adopting a vegan diet, don’t let that scare you! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you learn what ingredients to avoid, it’s nothing to sweat over, you’ll learn it all in time! A simple tip for quickly scanning ingredients lists: look at the very bottom of the ingredients list for the information on allergens. If the product contains milk ingredients, eggs, or shellfish it will plainly say, “Contains milk, eggs, shellfish”. This doesn’t work so well for meat products, but it really helps when scanning for dairy and eggs.
1. 5. IS EATING VEGAN EXPENSIVE? I NEED TO STICK TO A
BUDGET!
Answer: Just like any
other diet, you can choose to eat an extravagant vegan diet, or a more budget
conscious one. In my experience so far, I spend a considerable amount less to
eat healthy and vegan than I did when I was eating healthy and vegetarian.
Veganism is no joke! Alot of these things I wasn't aware of. Wow!
ReplyDeleteIt is serious business...complete lifestyle change. But very much worth it! I will be posting more questions here soon, so don't forget to check back!
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