Nowadays, as environmental awareness grows and people start to think about switching to a more sustainable lifestyle, there is talk on how your diet plays a huge role. The words “vegetarian” and “vegan” are two extremely important terms that are considered when making such a decision, and a plant-based diet is said to be the most environmentally friendly. However, there’s another vital factor to think about: your health. Which diet optimises both health and environmental factors? Is there such a thing, or does one compromise the other?
I think the first thing we have to consider when making any decision is the information we’re relying on. One source we shouldn’t rely exclusively on is social media. To an extent, social media has some merit in raising awareness (which shouldn’t be discounted either), but there is the potential to spread lots of misinformation. Additionally, there is this idea that lifestyle changes are meant to be “trendy”, which is highly perpetuated by the media. Countless influencers online have made videos about their success with various diets, entrancing its viewers with the results supposedly yielded.
One such example is Yovana Mendoza Ayres, who, since 2013, had declared to her viewers that she was now vegan. Her results and success with such a diet inspired so many of her viewers, earning her a huge number of subscribers on her YouTube channel. But here’s where this debate gets messy - on a trip to Bali (at what she called the “plant-based paradise”), she was videoed to be eating fish, ultimately betraying her fans who trusted her. When releasing an apology video, she added that she “wasn’t ovulating”, “basically anemic” and her “thyroid levels were low”. This is suggestive of the consequences veganism could have on one’s health and the need for animal products to fulfil these requirements.
However, according to a study done by Healthline, vegan diets are more nutrient-rich, improve kidney function and can lower the risk of heart disease by over 40%. What this tells us is that while veganism can have adverse effects on others especially if they have certain nutritional requirements, it can also be beneficial.
But let’s move to the other key aspect of our discussion - the environment. It’s quite common knowledge that the amount of water, farmland and other resources that go into raising cattle (a large source of the meat consumed) so we get better quality meat is astonishing, and we could be reducing our carbon footprint so much by going vegan. According to the Global Citizen, in addition to this major benefit, going vegan could save 8 times more energy than a non-vegetarian diet, combat world hunger and even clean the soil - I hadn’t even thought about the last one. Growing plants instead of handling livestock is good for the soil and can “lead to long-term resilience”.
I also would like to add that I think one of the biggest things people tend to misunderstand about veganism is that it’s just about your diet, when in reality it’s a lifestyle. You have to take care that you don’t use any animal products whatsoever, such as in beauty products, so there needs to be a lot of consideration before making such a change.
As a vegetarian, I’ve always thought about going vegan, but I think it’s a big step I may take later on in life. Veganism is something that requires dedication and perseverance, but it’s also worth considering firstly if the diet works for you. As mentioned above, veganism isn’t a one-size-fits-all diet and sometimes you may have dietary restrictions or personal requirements that prevent you from responding well to such a change. Moreover, it’s essential to carefully consider how you characterize your diet. If you want to go vegan from being non-vegetarian it may be useful to take smaller steps first, like eliminating a couple of animal products at a time and then slowly some more. But being vegan should not be a restriction - don’t prevent yourself from sticking 100% to a vegan diet and if you have to make a few exceptions, that’s fine too. It’s definitely worth first going vegetarian, and then after a while going vegan as while the jump from meat-eater to vegetarian is difficult, vegetarian to vegan may be even harder. The final answer is to do what works for you and not to stress about whatever choices you end up making.
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