ONE YEAR VEGAN | My Journey and What I Have Learnt

Instagram: @anaturalwonderland

Diet and Health

Some people say that life is for living and not worrying about being "healthy" all of the time. I am not against a cupcake now and again (if you have seen my Instagram then this will be obvious).

However.

How can you live the life you want optimally without being the fittest and healthiest person you can be. Live fast die young? Why not live life to the fullest potential and still eat great food.

I used to believe that being healthy involved restricting calories and eating low fat everything. At least that is what the diet companies wanted me to believe. Since becoming vegan my whole outlook on healthy eating has completely shifted. Screw calorie restricting. It's all about changing what you eat, not how much.

I used to eat animal products everyday. Meat, fish, cheese, milk, eggs, you name it. I was never a vegetarian, though I always wished I could have been. My excuse was "I could never give up chicken" and I loved steak pie. Then when I found out about veganism in my first year at uni I thought it was absolutely mad but also really cool that people could cut out so much from their diet and be happy about it (being the foody I am). In my second year at uni I had come across a lot more about veganism through social media and as much as I wanted to try the lifestyle, I never thought I would be able to go without cheese. The turning point for me was the ethical standpoint of veganism which I will discuss later in this post.

I now 100% believe that the worst foods for human beings are animal products. After watching the documentary Forks Over Knives, reading the Starch Solution and listening to doctors of nutrition discussing the health impacts of a non-vegan diet, I have become very aware of the link between animal products and disease. Being a science student, I understand that there are two sides of every story and data can be flawed. After finding contradictory data about how dairy is good for your health and is an essential component of the human diet, I soon realised that these studies promoting dairy where actually funded by the dairy industry. Here lies the root of our problems.

Heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the biggest killers in the western world which all have one thing in common. A large cause of these life threatening diseases stems from lifestyle factors and the biggest one being diet. Latest reports from the World Health Organisation state that processed red meat is a newly classified carcinogen and plant based diets are increasingly getting a better rep for their ability to prevent disease.

What I have learned in the past year is that a plant based (preferably whole foods) diet is the optimal diet for health and fitness. Being cautious that you are getting enough nutrients is essential with any diet, so use Cronometer or get a blood test if you are worried. I take vitamin B12 most days as I know this is difficult to get from my diet, but this is something many people are deficient in - meat eater or not. Eating a plant based diet makes me feel great. This is no word of a lie or an exaggeration. My digestion is the best it has ever been and I can eat an abundance of food without feeling like I'm in a constant food coma. I am such a foodie at heart and the thought of "restricting" myself by adopting a vegan diet put me off it completely. I was genuinely worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy food to the same extent again. I cannot believe how wrong I was.

My taste buds have dramatically adapted and I have become a lot more creative with cooking. Some days I accidentally eat 15 of my 5 a day! Saying that, there are days when I eat vegan cake and veggie burgers as well. Think vegans can't eat pizza, ice cream or doughnuts? Think again. Any non-vegan meal or snack can be made vegan and let me tell you, all these foods are bloody amazing... seriously why are we still using animal products? I have eaten vegan mac and cheese which tastes better than the dairy version, vegan chili hot dogs which were mind blowing and an absolute tonne of delicious vegan cake. I honestly don't even feel the need to call this food vegan anymore. It should be considered as normal food and shouldn't have a label on it which most people associate with being tasteless or boring. If anyone were to try a good vegan cake there is absolutely no way they would be able to tell. My main words of wisdom from my one year experience as a vegan is that eating an abundance of delicious whole plant foods with vegan treats here and there (or more frequently, you do you) is what will make you feel great. DO NOT restrict your intake of whole plant foods and eat until you are satisfied.

When I used to eat low calorie snack bars and processed "weight loss" foods I never felt satisfied and my food cravings would be very intense. I thought this was the norm until I changed my diet. I barely ever get food cravings anymore because my body is getting the nourishment it needs. Cravings are simply your brain trying to seek the nutrients and calories it needs. If you are calorie restricting and you are craving a big mac and extra fries, it is probably because your body is STARVING and wanting to replace the depleted calories with the most calorie dense foods possible. Remember, whole starchy carbs are your friends. Potatoes, rice, oats, fruit and veg are best to be prioritised over processed carbs full of refined sugar. I like eating mostly starches and fruit as they are highly satiating, stopping me going into the biscuit tin between meals!

Lets finish this section by talking about the biggest food culprit for turning people off going vegan. Cheese, AKA concentrated cow breast milk with the added bonus of pus and hormones. Deelicious. I would be lying if I told you that I never said "I couldn't go vegan because of cheese", because I did all the time before I was vegan. Initially after changing my diet, I didn't even try any of the vegan cheese alternatives. After finding out that casein (the protein found in milk) was extremely addictive, I knew that any cravings I had for cheese was just withdrawal from the addicitve component. The funny thing is I never found it appealing anyway due to my passion for the ethics. The thought of drinking or eating a baby cows growth fluid was enough for me to pack in the cheese altogether. Now I am fully submerged into the vegan lifestyle, I have tried my fair share of vegan cheeses. Some alright, some bad and some absolutely amazing. I highly recommend Vegusto no moo mild aromatic with crackers and Violife slices in toasties. So if you are thinking of going vegan or you are already vegan, don't lose hope for your Christmas cheese board. Go to vegan fairs, try a lot of samples and you will find a few you like.

Ethics

Now on to the most important point of veganism and the one which keeps the movement stronger than ever. The ethics.

Last May I watched Gary Yourofsky's Best Speech You Will Ever Here and it changed my outlook of eating meat and dairy, buying beauty products tested on animals or leather handbags and shoes. I knew after this video that I would go vegan, eventually at least. I researched veganism even further and one week later I could no longer be the hypocrite I viewed myself as.

If I love animals and if I could not kill an animal myself, then why should I pay for their slaughter or eat them. I wouldn't eat my cat or my friends dog, so why would I eat another living being?

I was shocked to find out that the dairy industry is just as bad (if not worse) as the meat industry. In order for animals to provide us with their bodily secretions we must enslave them for their whole life. I couldn't look at cheese the same way again after hearing the ongoing screams of a mother cow after her new born baby was taken away from her in order for us to have cheddar in our fridge. It disgusted me that these cows had lives as short as 4-5 years and were slaughtered as soon as they were seen as unviable objects in the dairy business. I always believed that free range hens and "happy eggs" were from animal friendly farms with perfect living conditions but this was so much further from the truth. I could go on for hours about the dairy and egg industry, but this will be discussed more another time.

I use the word ‘speciesism’ to describe the widespread discrimination that is practised by man against other species … Speciesism is discrimination, and like all discrimination it overlooks or underestimates the similarities between the discriminator and those discriminated against.

- Richard Ryder (1973)

The biggest reason I feel so passionate about veganism is that I do not believe in the suffering of any animal (including humans). I do not wish for my money to support the mass murder and torture of living, feeling beings who wish to live their lives as much as any other human does. It is human nature to care for and protect animals from pain and suffering, but unfortunately the dissociation between living animals and the food on our plates is what the meat and diary industry thrive on. I never thought I would go down the route of animal activism, but standing back and watching the world consume the animals they love (like I once did) does not sit right with me. I will never judge people for their cognitive dissonance, nor will I hate anyone for eating meat or dairy. My aim is to open people's minds to idea of a cruelty free lifestyle and challenge the hypocrisies which are common in today's society.

The most common point I hear on a daily basis is that eating meat is "natural" for humans. I don't know about anyone else, but personally I have never once looked at roadkill and thought I could devour it because I was so hungry. I do not by any means have the physical capability to kill an animal  (I have no claws or big canines) let alone throw away my compassion in order to do so. Do I salivate when I look at a lamb in a field? No. What about a chicken? No. Natural omnivores and carnivores would... so why do we lack the drive and instinct to catch living animals for our dinner? I have learnt that this is because we are natural herbivores. In the past thousands of years, humans have adapted to eating meat when food is scarce. We became capable of building tools which enabled us to catch animals and cooking meat allowed it to be edible in times when we were at risk of starvation. Eating meat has now spiraled out of control as we carry out the most unnatural methods of murder in the forms of gas chambers and slitting of animals throats using a conveyor belt. Watch the documentary Earthlings for more information. If it's not good enough for your eyes, why is it good enough for your stomach?

On to a more positive note, this year I have saved approximately 365 animals lives and I couldn't be happier with how much I have grown consciously aware of what happens behind the walls of slaughter houses. It only provides me with the passion and strength to fight for what I believe is right and educate others on the horror story behind their dinner.

Environmental

With Cowspiracy being one of the most popular documentaries on Netflix, the environmental impacts of animal agriculture is a current hot topic. I was unaware of the environmental impacts of the meat and dairy until a few months into being vegan when I eventually got around to watching the documentary. I have always been conscious of recycling, turning the tap off when I am not using it and choosing to walk rather than drive everywhere, but what amazed me was that buying animal products was the biggest issue contributing to the destruction of our planet.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.

http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

I couldn't understand why this information wasn't being shouted from the rooftops of the biggest environmental organisations in the world. Climate change and global warming is something we hear about all the time yet people have never even considered reducing their meat and dairy consumption in order to reduce their carbon footprint. I didn't consider myself an environmentalist prior to being vegan, but since learning about how much we are destroying our surroundings, I can't stop thinking about how simple changes to our diet can make a huge difference. I do not want to contribute towards species extinction, depleted oceans or the mass deforestation required to produce animal products, which I simply do not need to live a happy and healthy life.

The biggest thing I have learnt in the past year is that whilst we must move quickly as a movement in order to spread the message of a vegan lifestyle, we must also have patience and be a good example to those around us. It is hard to watch my close family and friends consume the products of animal cruelty and slaughter, but I was once in that position and I cannot forget that. There will always be a few people who claim they love contributing to the mass murder of animals (as shocking as this may seem I have heard it a few times before), but in general most people want to reduce the suffering of others. It may sound odd, but I genuinely did not associate eating meat with eating the dead flesh of the animals I claimed to love. I only wish I had gone vegan sooner and I know there are many others out their just like me who haven't made the connection yet. Moving forward I hope to meet many more like-minded vegans this year and help even more people progress towards a cruelty free way of living.