What is Veganism | Vegetarianism in India
Veganism: Vegetarian and vegan diets may provide health benefits, including reduced body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, vegetarians and vegans need to ensure that they are meeting all of their nutritional requirements. For example, plants do not naturally contain vitamin B-12, so vegans and vegetarians may need to consume fortified foods or take dietary supplements to get enough vitamin B-12.
Author: Riya Kashyap
Keywords- Vegetarian, vegan, diet, nutrition
It can be noticed that we are in a crisis. Humanity is depleting the planet’s finite resources at a rapid rate, the environment is undergoing drastic, unnecessary, and unpredictable changes, and people suffer from several diseases linked to their diets.
Veganism is the philosophy and way of living which seeks to avoid as far as possible and practicable all forms of exploitation and cruelty towards animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Through extension, it promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives, eventually with the motive to benefit and protect animals, humans, and the environment. In dietary terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing with products obtained wholly or partially from animals.
The term was coined by Dorothy Morgan and Donald Watson in November 1944 when they co-founded the vegan society. From 1951, it was defined as the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals.
There are several ways to embrace the vegan lifestyle, the most common is a plant-based diet avoiding all animal foods such as meat, fish eggs, dairy, and honey. Also avoiding animal-derived materials, products tested on animals, and places that use animals for entertainment.
Both veganism and vegetarianism are growing in popularity. However, some people may find the differences between these two diets a little confusing, particularly as there are several variations of vegetarianism. Veganism is a stricter form of vegetarianism.
Vegetarians typically consume a range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and pulses, as well as “meat substitutes” that derive from these food types. Vegetarianism is generally less strict than veganism, so there are several well-known variations of the vegetarian diet. These include:
- Lacto-ovo-vegetarian. People who follow this diet avoid all types of meat and fish but do consume dairy products and eggs.
- Lacto-vegetarian. People on this diet do not eat any meat, fish, or eggs but do consume dairy products.
- Ovo-vegetarian. Individuals following this diet do not eat any meat, fish, or dairy products but do consume eggs.
- Pescatarian. Those who follow this diet avoid all meats except fish and other types of seafood. However, this does not meet the traditional definition of vegetarianism, and many people refer to the pescatarian diet as being semi-vegetarian or flexitarian.
Both vegetarian and vegan diets may provide health benefits, including reduced body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, vegetarians and vegans need to ensure that they are meeting all of their nutritional requirements. For example, plants do not naturally contain vitamin B-12, so vegans and vegetarians may need to consume fortified foods or take dietary supplements to get enough vitamin B-12.
It can be noticed that we are in a crisis. Humanity is depleting the planet’s finite resources at a rapid rate, the environment is undergoing drastic, unnecessary, and unpredictable changes, and people suffer from several diseases linked to their diets. Although it cannot be all fixed just by embracing veganism, we can try to become a part of the solution.
Each day, more people are embracing veganism, or a plant-based, diet. According to a 2019 article in The Economist, 25% of 25- to 34-year-old Americans say they are vegans or vegetarians. And interest in veganism hit an all-time high in 2020, according to a report by the food-focused website Chef’s Pencil. For some people. cutting on dairy, meat and other animal products may seem like an extreme sacrifice. For others, the personal and societal benefits associated with a vegan diet make the choice a no-brainer; for instance, many people care deeply about the welfare of animals. The potential health benefits alone inspire many to switch. Research has shown that a vegan diet has the following benefits-
- Promotes weight loss
- Reduces the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels
- Lower your chances of getting certain types of cancer, such as colon cancer
- Manage diabetes by lowering A1C levels
To have a healthy diet of any kind, you need important nutrients. While many of these may have been plentiful when you ate dairy and meat, you’ll need to find new ways to incorporate them into your diet as a vegan.
- Protein: Animals aren’t the only sources of protein. Soy products (e.g., tofu and edamame) are also packed with protein. Other good sources include seitan (made from gluten), chickpeas, lentils, and nutritional yeast.
- Vitamin B12: A lack of vitamin B12 can make you feel tired and weak. Getting enough vitamin B12, though, can be challenging for vegans because it can’t be found in plants. To get your portion, feed upon fortified cereals, fortified rice, and soy drinks, or take a supplement. The recommended daily amount for most adults is about 2.4 milligrams.
- Essential fatty acids: A lack of essential fatty acids has been associated with problems related to brain health, such as cognitive impairment and depression. To get your essential fatty acids, pile up the whole grains and leafy green vegetables e.g., kale, spinach. And try snacking on a small handful of unsalted nuts, like almonds, walnuts, or pistachios
- Iron: Red meat and egg yolks reign as the richest sources of iron. But they also are high in cholesterol. Good plant sources of iron include black-eyed peas, tofu, and dried fruits, fresh fruit also includes iron but you just get more iron from dried fruit because you eat them more.
- Vitamin D: Ten to 15 minutes of sunlight exposure a day can give you a vitamin D boost, as can be fortified orange juice and soy.
Veganism does not mean to be all or nothing, the key lies in good planning of diet. It requires creating your roadmap and being realistic about what you want to achieve, you will be more satisfied with making the change. Social media has a profound impact on all social and political issues. How veganism has been left behind, social media has played a prominent role in portraying the cruelty of animals in the dairy and meat industries. This has been one of the strong reasons behind the quick uptake of the veganism
India has the highest vegetarianism in the world, and the distinction is slowly being evolved into something we all know as veganism. A survey in 2019 found that 63% of Indians were willing to replace meat with plant-based options. That is a big market in a country of over a billion people. Indian businesses and scientists have immense potential to be at the center of this development towards plant-based foods, driving affordability and sensory experiences as well as cultural appeal in transformative plant-based foods.
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