Vegan Diets: What's The Most Important Component?

The biggest part of a vegan diet is the exclusion of all animal products, including meat, eggs, and dairy. People who follow a vegan diet typically eat plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds.

Whole-food vegans: eating a diet rich in whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds

Whole-food vegans favour a diet rich in whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. This means eating foods that are not heavily processed, and are as close to their natural form as possible.

A whole-food, plant-based diet is a great way to improve your health, boost energy levels, and prevent chronic diseases. It can also be beneficial for the planet, as it places much less stress on the environment.

• Fruits: berries, citrus fruits, pears, peaches, pineapple, bananas, apples, grapes, strawberries, etc.
• Vegetables: kale, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, peppers, etc.
• Whole grains: brown rice, rolled oats, farro, quinoa, brown rice pasta, barley, whole wheat, etc.
• Legumes: peas, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, black beans, beans, pulses, etc.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, natural nut butters, tahini, etc.
• Healthy fats: avocados, olive oil, unsweetened coconut, etc.

When following a whole-food, plant-based diet, it's important to minimise or avoid animal products and highly processed foods. Some foods to avoid include:

• Fast food: French fries, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.
• Added sugars and sweets: table sugar, soda, juice, pastries, cookies, candy, etc.
• Refined grains: white rice, white pasta, white bread, bagels, etc.
• Processed vegan-friendly foods: plant-based meats, faux cheeses, vegan butters, etc.
• Processed animal products: bacon, lunch meats, sausage, beef jerky, etc.

A whole-food, plant-based diet is a great way to improve your health and help the environment. It focuses on eating whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients that are plant-based and free of animal ingredients.

Raw-food vegans: consuming only raw or lightly cooked foods

Raw-food vegans eat only raw or lightly cooked foods, usually consuming a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, and legumes. Foods are typically consumed completely raw or heated at temperatures below 104–118 °F (40–48 °C). The belief is that cooking destroys nutrients, although this is not always the case.

Raw-food vegans tend to be motivated by health reasons, although there can be some crossover with animal rights and sustainability ethics. They believe that raw and minimally heated foods are more nutritious than cooked ones, and that a raw vegan diet provides all the nutrients humans need. Alternative meal preparation methods, such as juicing, blending, soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating, are used instead of cooking.

A raw vegan diet is thought to be effective in helping people lose weight and keep it off. It may also reduce the risk of diabetes and improve digestion and heart health.

However, a raw vegan diet may also be nutritionally unbalanced. It is often discouraged on a raw vegan diet to take supplements, which can increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies. A raw vegan diet may also weaken muscles and bones, promote tooth decay, and reduce fertility.

Some foods that raw-food vegans can eat include:

• Fresh, dried, juiced, or dehydrated fruits
• Raw or juiced vegetables
• Uncooked grains and legumes (sprouted or soaked)
• Fermented foods like miso, kimchi, and sauerkraut
• Some sweeteners, such as pure maple syrup and unprocessed raw cacao powder
• Condiments, including vinegars and unpasteurized raw soy sauce

Some foods that should be avoided include:

• Cooked fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes
• Roasted nuts and seeds
• Refined sugars and flours
• Processed foods and snacks, such as chips and pastries

Dietary vegans: avoiding animal products in their diet but continuing to use them in clothing and cosmetics

Dietary vegans, also known as plant-based eaters, are those who avoid animal products in their diet but continue to use them in other products, such as clothing and cosmetics.

Vegans do not eat any animal foods, including meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and honey. This is because vegans often believe that all creatures have a right to life and freedom, and view animals as conscious beings that wish to avoid pain and suffering.

A vegan diet is based on plants, including vegetables, grains, nuts, fruits, beans, and seeds. A well-planned vegan diet can provide all the nutrients you need to be healthy. For example, vegans can get calcium, usually obtained from dairy, from green, leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and okra, and dried fruit, such as raisins, prunes, figs, and dried apricots.

It is important to note that not all vegan foods are healthy. Vegan junk food, for example, often contains just as much added sugar and fat as non-vegan junk food.

Overall, a vegan diet can be a healthy choice and may even help to lower the risk of certain diseases.

Ethical vegans: excluding animal exploitation or cruelty in all aspects of their lives, including food, clothing, and cosmetics

Ethical vegans strive to exclude animal exploitation and cruelty in all aspects of their lives, including their diet, clothing, and cosmetics. This means that, beyond eating a plant-based diet, ethical vegans also avoid using materials that originate from animals, such as wool and leather, and they do not use products that have been tested on animals.

The biggest part of an ethical vegan's diet is the exclusion of all animal products, including meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Ethical vegans believe that all creatures have a right to life and freedom and, therefore, choose to avoid eating animal flesh or wearing animal products. They also oppose the psychological and physical stress that animals may endure as a result of modern farming practices, such as the small pens or cages that animals are typically housed in.

In addition to their diet, ethical vegans also extend their beliefs to the clothing and cosmetics they use. They avoid purchasing clothing made from animal materials, such as leather, fur, silk, wool, and down. Instead, they opt for vegan clothing brands that use alternative materials, such as synthetic leather alternatives, hemp, organic cotton, or recycled materials. Ethical vegans also choose cosmetics that have not been tested on animals and are free from animal-derived ingredients.

By adopting these practices, ethical vegans aim to minimise animal exploitation and cruelty in all areas of their lives, ensuring that their choices align with their values and beliefs. It is important to note that being an ethical vegan goes beyond diet and encompasses a range of lifestyle choices that exclude animal products and promote alternatives that do not cause harm to animals.

Environmental vegans: avoiding animal products to reduce environmental impact

Veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible, all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty. Vegans avoid animal products for ethical, health, or environmental reasons, or a combination of the three.

Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to human-made greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, water pollution, and air pollution. A vegan diet is probably the single most effective way to reduce your impact on the planet, not just in terms of greenhouse gases, but also global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use.

The Impact of Animal Agriculture

Meat and dairy production creates 56-58% of agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions while only providing 18% of calories and 37% of protein. Animal agriculture contributes a minimum of 16.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

Fishing is also implicated in climate change. Commercial fishing that uses bottom trawling disturbs carbon stores in the ocean floor and significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and ocean acidification.

The Benefits of a Vegan Diet

A vegan diet has the most potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It could reduce global agricultural emissions by 84-86%, and the reduction in air pollution would prevent approximately 236,000 premature deaths per year.

If animal agriculture were phased out over 15 years, greenhouse gas emissions could be stabilised for 30 years, offsetting 68% of carbon dioxide emissions through the remainder of this century.

Smaller shifts towards a plant-based diet can also have large impacts on the environment. Globally, replacing 50% of animal-sourced foods with plant-based alternatives would reduce agricultural and land-based emissions by 31% by 2050, while also increasing food security.

The Environmental Impact of Plant-Based Foods

It's important to note that not all plant-based foods have a small environmental footprint. Some plant-based foods that are commonly consumed by vegans can have a disproportionate impact on the environment.

For example, delicate fruits like blueberries and strawberries are often imported by air to fill gaps when local fruits are out of season. Asparagus eaten in the UK has the highest carbon footprint compared to any other vegetable, with 5.3kg of carbon dioxide produced for every kilogram of asparagus, mainly due to air transport from Peru.

Avocados are another water-intensive crop, requiring an estimated 140-272 litres of water to grow a single avocado. In some areas, the growing demand for avocados has led to illegal extraction from rivers and has been blamed for increasing water shortages.

Other plant-based foods with a high environmental impact include mangoes, plums, mushrooms, cocoa, almonds, and cashew nuts.

Tips for a More Sustainable Vegan Diet

• Choose locally produced fruit and vegetables that are in season.
• Avoid heated greenhouse-grown fruit and vegetables.
• Avoid air-freighted produce.
• Choose plant-based milk alternatives with lower carbon emissions, land use, and water use, such as soy or oat milk.
• Opt for Fairtrade or Equal Exchange-certified avocados.
• Consume food alternatives to avocados that provide similar nutritional benefits, such as sunflower seeds, broccoli, cabbage, and extra virgin olive oil.

Frequently asked questions