Is being vegan healthy? Not necessarily and here's why...

Being vegan is increasing in popularity in the UK and beyond. An Ipsos MORI poll conducted in 2016 in the UK reported that 542,000 people aged 15 or over – just over 1% of the population – had adopted a vegan diet/lifestyle compared to just 150,000 ten years earlier.

It was in 1944 that Donald Watson, The Vegan Society founder, produced the first copy of Vegan news and in those days he probably had a very small readership. These days with the proliferation of social media channels and the reach of the internet, social media celebrity vegans can reach hundreds of thousands of people in seconds just by clicking a button.

"Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose". The Vegan Society.

 I don't have an issue with the choice of any individual to choose to not eat animals or animal by-product. And there is no doubt that we would all benefit from eating more plants. The threat to health as I see it is the intervention of the food manufacturing and health industries. In the westernised world we are incredibly vulnerable to the power and dominance of the media and commercialised industries and the food manufacturing and health food industries will be jumping on this trend to make money from it.

Vegan Processed Foods.

The growing interest in veganism appears to be accompanied by a growing fascination with alternative meat and dairy products. This growing interest is rousing the food manufacturing industry. 15 years ago it was virtually impossible to find vegan processed foods in the supermarkets, now it is quite a different story. I am quite sure that there are food labs all over the country racing to come up with the next genetically modified, synthesised compound that will replicate the taste and texture of meat. I believe this is something we should be seriously concerned about.

Veganism and health claims

There are also many claims around that going vegan can help with weightloss and support disease prevention over the long term. But I would suggest caution with these claims.

The principles of veganism are rooted in heartfelt ethics and the decision to follow a plant based diet should, on the face of it, be a healthy one. If you know a little bit about food and are happy to spend time in the kitchen, you can follow an incredibly healthy, tasty, whole food, plant based diet. However, if you are still yearning for food that mimics meat and animal products, or want the convenience of off-the-shelf food products, then it is arguably no healthier than any other diet.

How to be a healthy vegan

If you are vegan or considering becoming vegan I encourage you to give some consideration to these things:

• If you are going to buy processed food products, check the labels for scary ingredients. I am no expert, but things like: Genetically modified soy, Xanthan gum, Hydrolyzed Protein (look up Hexane which is used in the production of this), vegetable oils like canola or soy, and Methylcellulose can potentially damage your health.
• If you can’t give up dairy products, check what the natural alternatives are. The obvious ones are a nut milks and coconut cream, but check for added fats and emulsifiers. Try to avoid off the shelf egg products with scary ingredients and instead make your own Aquafaba or use flaxseed liquid.
• If you do have to give in to mock meat products and copy-cat cheese, check the ingredients here too, if you can’t pronounce the words, the chances are it’s not going to be beneficial to your health.

• Challenge yourself to get in the kitchen and learn some new recipes that use wholefoods and natural ingredients. You can create some great tasting, truly healthy, plant based meals with just a little effort – we cook quite a few in the Nourish and Social Cooking Club.
• If you are going to use processed products, do the homework on the companies producing them. Try and see through the marketing and look a little deeper into their production values and whether they actually care about your health.