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Veganism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from the use or ingestion of animal products and by avoidance of products that have been tested on animals. Individuals become vegans for a number of reasons—to support animal rights, for health benefits, for moral, ethical, religious and/or spiritual reasons, for political reasons, and/or environmental concerns.

A Time/CNN poll published in Time Magazine on July 7, 2002 found that 4% of American adults consider themselves vegetarians, and 5% of self-described vegetarians consider themselves vegans. This suggests that 0.2% of American adults are vegans. A 2000 poll suggested closer to 0.9% of the adult American population may be vegan. In the UK, research showed that 0.4%, approximately 250,000 people, were vegan in 2001.

Definition

The British Vegan Society defines veganism as "the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

The word vegan pronounced /ˈviːgən/ , was originally derived from vegetarian in 1944 when Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson, frustrated that the term "vegetarianism" had come to include the eating of dairy products, founded the UK Vegan Society. " Vegan ", which they saw as "the beginning and end of vegetarian", started and ended with the first three and last two letters of vegetarian.

Since the founding of that Vegan Society, however, the term veganism has come to mean people who seek to eliminate all animal products in all areas of their lives, as opposed to those who simply avoid eating animal products. Although veganism as a secular movement is a 20th century idea, the principles date back to the 2nd millennium BC in Hinduism (ahimsa).

Animal products

The term "animal product" in a vegan context refers to material derived from non-human animals for human use or consumption. Human breast milk, for example, is acceptable when used for human babies, but by comparison, when a human being drinks a cow's milk, it is regarded as the consumption of an "animal product."

Animal products include meat (including poultry and edible marine fish and shellfish), eggs, dairy products, fur, leather, wool, pearls, mother of pearl, and byproducts such as gelatin, lanolin, rennet, and whey as well as insect products such as silk, honey, and beeswax.

Strict vegans avoid cane sugar that has been filtered with bone char and will not drink beers and wines clarified with albumen (egg white), animal blood, or isinglass, even though these are not present in the final product. They may also avoid food cooked in pans that have been used to cook non-vegan foods.

As well as avoiding animal products, most vegans refrain from supporting industries that use animals directly or indirectly, such as circuses and zoos, and from products that are tested on animals, whilst agreeing that it is very difficult to take part in society without indirectly and involuntarily supporting non-vegan activities to some degree.

Motivation

Ethics

People may become vegan for a variety of reasons, these may include a logical extension of support for animal rights issues, or addressing concerns for personal health and/or the wider environment.

The ethics of veganism is defined by the British Vegan Society as " philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

Vegans generally oppose what they see as violence and cruelty involved in the meat, , dairy, non-vegan cosmetics, clothing, and other industries. (See Draize test, LD50, Animal testing, Vivisection, and Factory farming.)

Utilitarian philosophers, such as Jeremy Bentham and Peter Singer, argue that the suffering of sentient animals is relevant to ethical decisions. Though Singer's ethical theory recognizes the suffering of sentient animals, it does not rely on the concept of rights. However, philosophers such as Tom Regan and Gary L. Francione argue that some animals are sentient, and therefore are the subjects of a life which they can value. Because they can do this, they argue, these animals have the inherent right to possess their own flesh, and they claim that it is therefore unethical to treat them as property, or as a commodity (see animal rights).

Health

Dietary vegans believe eating only fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes has health benefits . Additional health benefits may also be gained from avoiding various artificial substances such as growth hormones and antibiotics which are sometimes given to farmed animals.

The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada publicly state that "well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer some nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, no cholesterol, and no animal protein, and higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been anecdotally reported to have lower body mass indices than non-vegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease. This could also be explained by the fact that vegans in general tend to be more conscientious about diet than non-vegans. Some may argue that these statistics are due to the lifestyle of the vegetarians being more healthy in general, as opposed to the sole effects of a different diet.

Environmental considerations

Environmental veganism is the belief that the production of meat and animal products using intensive farming methods at current and future levels is environmentally unsustainable. It is thought that intensive farming methods may lead to an ecological crisis.

Sexual and feminist motives

In the 19th century a vegan movement was started by Sylvester Graham, the father of Graham crackers, which focused on the sexual urges caused by meat and milk. He claimed animal products caused lustful urges; Grahamism thus rejected meat, animal products, and alcohol to create a purer mind and body. Very popular in the 1860s-1880s, this movement rapidly lost momentum and is now remembered for its Graham crackers.

Contemporarily, some third-wave feminists reject the consumption of meat and analogize the use and objectification of animals to the use and objectification of women within society. This criticism focuses on societal construction of ties between women and the environment. See especially Carol Adams .

Vegan cuisine

The cuisines of all nations contain many dishes that are plant-based (and therefore suitable for a vegan diet) as are specific traditional ingredients, e.g. tofu, tempeh and the wheat product seitan in Asian diets. Also, according to Sturtivants Edible Plants of the World , there are 2,897 plants that may be used for food. Therefore, the variety of vegan food available can be extremely diverse, nutritious and satisfying.

Most vegans prefer to cook without reference to meat, instead preparing meals from largely unprocessed ingredients such as pulses, grains, vegetables, nuts and fruit. However, artificial "meat" products made from non-animal derived ingredients such as soya or gluten, including imitation sausages, ground beef, burgers, and chicken nuggets are widely available. Many dishes that traditionally contain animal products can be adapted by substituting vegan ingredients in most recipes, e.g. nut, grain or soy milk used to replace cow's milk; eggs replaced by substitutes such as products made from potato starch.

On one hand, vegan cuisine is not new. It has a well developed tradition that is hundreds of year old due mainly to the influence of Buddhism over societies that culturally do not use a large proportion of dairy products such as China, Japan and Taiwan. On the other, many vegans have adapted their diets to fit in with modern fast food eating patterns.

Similar diets and lifestyles

There are several diets similar to veganism, though there are significant differences, including fruitarianism, the raw food diet, the macrobiotic diet and Natural Hygiene. There are also numerous religious groups that regularly or occasionally practice a similar diet, including Jainism, some sects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and some Christian sects such as the Eastern Orthodox church and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

More recently, many young people who subscribe to the anarcho-punk or straight edge punk movements have embraced veganism (in the latter case coining the term 'Straight Veg'), and the corresponding beliefs of the animal rights movement. Straight Edge is a philosophy that rejects the use of alcohol, casual sex or recreational drugs, originating as a reaction to what some percieved as the cultural excesses of the 1980s.

A sub-set of veganism, raw veganism, advocates the consumption only of raw foods and the elimination of processed foods from the diet. A study of raw vegans found them to be slender and healthy, but noted that they had reduced essential bone mass and lower bone mineral density. The researchers said these results are "strongly associated with increased fracture risk" but noted that the raw vegans they studied had no other biological markers to indicate higher levels of osteoporosis, and that their bone turnover rates were normal.

Vegan nutrition

For many people, a properly planned vegan diet presents no significant nutritional problems. Supplementation is highly recommended; this, though, applies to non-vegans, too. Drs. Fletcher and Fairfield concluded, in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) in June 2002, that "t appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements." The British government's annual survey of nutritional content of food, McCance and Widdowson's 'The Composition of Foods,' notes that the 2002 nutritional profile of foods is seriously lacking in trace elements compared with their 1931 profiles; indeed, a steady decline over the past 60 years has been noted. There are several nutrients vegans should pay attention to. These include Vitamin B12, iron and iodine: deficiencies in these are more likely following a vegan diet, and deficiencies of these have potentially serious consequences, including anemia, pernicious anemia, cretinism and hyperthyroidism. Interestingly, B12 deficiency can be a problem for others, too; aging, for example, can lead to an inability to absorb B12 from food, and supplementation is recommended for those over fifty-five years of age.

Protein

The role of protein in the vegan diet has been the source of some dissent and misunderstanding. While all vegetable foods contain protein, few vegetable proteins contain a complete set of the essential amino acids needed by the human body, and many are deficient in one or more amino acids. It has been claimed that, since vegans do not consume "complete" animal-derived proteins such as egg, milk, meat and fish, they must perform a kind of protein combining on a daily basis to avoid suffering from protein deficiency. The most current measuring system for the "completeness" of a protein's amino acid content is called PDCAAS. A value of 1.0 is deemed complete, with 0 being completely deficient. To illustrate how certain vegetable foods complement one another, consider grain protein and bean protein.

Grain protein has a PDCAAS of about 0.4 to 0.5, limited by lysine. On the other hand, it contains more than enough methionine. White bean protein (and that of many other pulses) has a PDCAAS of 0.6 to 0.7, limited by methionine, and contains more than enough lysine. When both are eaten in roughly equal quantities in a diet, the PDCAAS of the combined constituent is 1.0, because each constituent's protein is complemented by the other. Of course, this "value" is not an objective measure, but is simply in comparison with a hen's egg, which was assigned as the "base" marker for protein, with a "value" of 1.0 decades ago. However, the body is perfectly able to assemble all the amino acids necessary to good health by maintenance of a sufficient variety of foods in one's diet.

Vegans also note the following with regard to protein intake:

• When a variety of plant foods is consumed, the PDCAAS of the total diet approaches 1, even if no conscious protein combining is performed.
• Research has shown that the body maintains amino acid pools that only need to be repleted once every few days. This means that the relevant PDCAAS is not that of any single meal, but that of two or three days' worth of food. Considering the law of large numbers, this PDCAAS will be much closer to 1 if a variety of plant proteins is consumed.
• Human protein requirements are much lower than once assumed. A suboptimal PDCAAS is thus easily overcome if more than minimum protein is consumed. Peanuts, soy and other legumes, the alga spirulina and certain grains are some of the richest sources of plant protein.
• Popular meat and milk-replacement products contain soy, which is a "complete" protein as well. Soy is also very rich in protein. Soy milk without added sugar contains almost twice as much protein per calorie as cow's milk, and about five times as much as human milk.

Iodine

Residents of the UK may find themselves iodine-deficient if they rely on local produce, since in the UK iodine is usually obtained via dairy products rather than iodized salt that is more common elsewhere. The Vegan Society says, "Iodine is typically undesirably low (about 50 micrograms/day compared to a recommended level of about 150 micrograms per day) in UK vegan diets unless supplements, iodine rich seaweeds or foods containing such seaweeds are consumed. The low iodine levels in many plant foods reflects the low iodine levels in the UK soil, due in part to the recent ice-age." This demonstrates that location may also be a factor in what deficiencies may be present in any given diet.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, a bacterial product, cannot be reliably found in plant foods, and so vegans are recommended to make sure they eat foods with B12 added (such as fortified soy milk, yeast extract, margarines, or many commercial breakfast cereals), certain brands of nutritional yeast, or take dietary supplements (a good multivitamin will likely include B12 in sufficient quantities). Tempeh, miso, and a few other fermented foods can sometimes contain B12 as well, though they can not always be considered reliable sources. Older people, vegan and non-vegan alike, may find they experience difficulties in absorbing B12 from their food, and pernicious anaemia, caused by a B12 deficiency, is not unknown amongst omnivores.

Iron

Iron is said by the Vegan Society to be present in many typically vegan foodstuffs. These include grains, nuts and green leaves, although the iron in these sources is in a less easily absorbed, non-heme form. Nevertheless, the Society quotes research to show that iron deficiency is no more prevalent in vegans than in the general population. This research did not account for the fact that many vegans take nutritional supplements that are not found in food alone, whereas other research that excludes this subset of people does indeed show a marked iron deficiency among a majority of those studied.

It is important to note that iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the general population, and many nutritionists and dieticians recommend a daily multivitamin because of this. Vitamin C is necessary to the absorption of iron, and, indeed, can double or triple the amount of iron absorbed when taken with food (i.e. a glass of orange juice with a spinach salad). Vegans typically have high levels of vitamin C in their diets, which probably accounts for the rarity of anaemia amongst them.

Calcium

Calcium may also be a concern if the vegan is not eating a variety of foods, especially leafy green vegetables (such as spinach, kale, collard greens, cabbage, etc.), almonds, oats, soy products (soy milk, tofu, etc.), sesame seeds, most beans, and dried fruits, most of which should be included in any diet. The USDA's study on calcium andosteoporosis in women began with the premise that animal proteins create sulphur in the body, which leaches out calcium from the bones. The results, though, were more complex: the vegan subjects lost bone density at the same rate as their vegetarian and non-vegetarian peers; when put on a weight-bearing exercise regimen, the vegan subjects built bone density at a significantly higher rate than the other subjects. The researchers remark, "If you have less bone formation, the result is the same as if you had an increase in bone resorption. So, even though bone resorption was the same in both groups of volunteers, the lower amount of bone formation in the omnivore women could lead to a decrease in their bone density."

DHA

One nutrient that is sometimes overlooked when analyzing the vegan diet is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA can be synthesized from alpha linolenic fatty acids; for non-vegetarians, good sources for this omega-3 fatty acid include edible marine fish and shellfish and eggs. This healthy fat can also be found in soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, and canola oil: many vegans include these specific foods in their diets. This fatty acid is very important for brain function, eye function, and for the cellular transport of valuable nutrients. "ALA", a form of algae, can also be used as a supplementary source of DHA.

Omega-3 fatty acids must be included in any diet: this is specially true for younger children and the elderly because growing and ageing brains need more of these nutritious fats. There are multiple sources of omega-3 fatty acids available to vegans: flaxseed oil (sometimes called edible linseed in the UK) and hemp oil, nuts (especially walnuts), and certain green, leafy vegetables all provide omega-3s as well.

However, it must be understood that these foods contain only short-chain omega-3s, while oil-rich fish contains long-chain omega-3s; about ten times as much short-chain omega-3s must be eaten to have the same effect as long-chain omega-3s.

Cultural aspects

Veganism has been slowly gaining greater popularity amongst African Americans since the 1960s because of the involvement of politically-oriented African-American activists, actors and musicians; a whole foods, mostly unprocessed diet is positioned as a return to ancestral African diets, an inexpensive and healthy alternative to current dietary habits, and a tool for African-American empowerment in the face of socio-economic disadvantage, especially health.

Criticism and controversy

Veganism requires a level of attention to the details of pre-manufactured packaged goods which many non-vegans view as impractical. Many dishes prepared in western culture involve at least one non-vegan element — dairy, in particular, is pervasive and some non-vegans may resent the extra effort of accommodating the vegan diet. Certain vegan substitutions for non-vegan ingredients (such as egg replacers) only superficially resemble their animal-based originals and the vegan substitutions may not work well in standard recipies. Vegans counter that it is important for everyone to pay attention to the foods they are buying in order to maintain a healthy diet. Most, though not all, dairy products can be easily substituted for. While some non-vegans may resent making extra efforts to accommodate vegans, others enjoy expanding their culinary repetoire.

Many health supplements (vitamins, minerals, herbal alternatives, etc.) are placed inside capsules made of animal-based gelatin. . Online retailers have emerged, selling vegan alternatives to such products, and vegan-friendly multivitamins and supplements can now be found in most health food stores.

Some medication and dietary supplements contain a number of ingredients that are derived from animal sources such as magnesium stearate or lactose and when the medicine itself is derived from an animal source there may not be acceptable substitute. Almost all drugs sold in the United States are the result of animal testing, as it is a requirement of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in hospitals, Catgut in sutures and non-vegan latex gloves are used. In cases such as this, vegans point to the original definition of veganism's caveat of avoiding animal products "as far as is possible and practical", which clearly shows that, unless medications and medical equipment are vegan, non-vegan versions of medications and supplies are acceptable.

Many cosmetics, toiletries, household cleaners, pesticides, and other products used around the home also contain ingredients that have been tested on animals and coloring agents like Cochineal (obtained from an insect) are used in many items. Many vegans prefer to use homemade or eco-friendly, vegan-friendly cleaning agents, cosmetics, toiletries, food colourings, and other household products, which are now available, atleast in the developed world.

Ethical criticism

While much of the literature and media used to promote veganism cites the conditions of modern factory farms, some critics of the diet note that organic and more humanely animal-derived foods are available in some areas. However, many vegans question whether it is ethical for humans to make use of products which result in the death of animals at all.

Organizations, such as the Foundation for Animal Use Education, dispute that following a non-vegan diet entails exploitation of or cruelty to animals, and instead support the concept of animal welfare. The Foundation for Animal Use Education strongly supports the responsible use of animals in food and fiber agriculture. These organizations also dispute arguments by Francione and others that animals are sentient and therefore have the inherent animal rights. Foundation for Animal Use Education states that rights are a function of being "moral agents", making moral judgments and comprehending moral duty, and that animals do not exercise responsibility as moral agents. The Foundation for Animal Use Education states "we recognize our own obligation to treat animals humanely--not because it is their right, but because it is our responsibility." Some even argue "animals lack the awareness of pain." As with many other fundamentally-opposed moral and philosophical arguments, it is unlikely that either side will be able to entirely convince the other, though individuals may well change their attitudes based on the arguments presented.

There are several other common criticisms of vegan ethics. Critics like Steven Davis, professor of animal science at Oregon State University, argues that the number of wild animals killed in crop production (such as those for food that many vegans eat) is greater than those killed in ruminant-pasture production. Wild animals such as mice, rabbits, amphibians, birds, insects, and other species are killed in the production of grain which most vegans eat anyway. On the other hand, graduate student Gaverick Matheny of Johns Hopkins University disputes Davis, and claims that vegetarianism actually kills less animals, promotes better treatment of animals, and allows more animals to exist.

Health criticism

Although the American Dietetic Association (the U.S. certifier for C.N.s) supports a well planned vegan diet in all stages of life, some nutritionists have expressed concerns about the potential dangers in the vegan diet. This is especially true for young children where the failure to achieve adequate nutrition can lead to permanent developmental deficits. In widely reported comments, Professor Lindsey Allen of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service declared: "There's absolutely no question that it's unethical for parents to bring up their children as strict vegans." She later added, "Unless those who practiced vegan diets were well-informed about how to add back missing nutrients through supplements or fortified foods," which she claims the original reporter inappropriately dropped. Prof. Allen's comments were based on research backed by the American Cattlemen's Association in which she compared two groups of severely malnourished children in rural Africa who subsisted on only three foods, though how their extremely impoverished diets can be related to western dietary models is unclear.

In very severe cases, parents practising what were sometimes described as forms of veganism have been charged with child abuse for not providing adequate nutrition. Vegan mothers who do not obtain adequate vitamin B12 in their diet while breastfeeding can cause severe and permanent neurological damage to their infants. Related studies note importance of early recognition of significant maternal vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy and lactation in vegetarians is emphasized so that appropriate supplementation can be given and irreversible neurologic damage in the infant prevented.

Non-vegan anorexics and pro-ana communities have been known to suggest using a poorly balanced vegan diets as a cover for anorexia , the eating disorders predating the adoption of a vegan diet. Although there is no evidence to suggest that eating disorders are widespread amongst vegans, some nutritionists consider that a " self-reported " vegan diet can also be a warning sign for anorexia where other symptoms exist.

See also

• Vegetarianism
• Environmentalism
• Living foods diet
• Nonviolence
• Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation
• List of vegans
• List of vegetarians
• Animal rights

References

• Davis, B et al. Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet. Tennessee: Book Publishing Company, 2000.
• C. de Haan et al. Livestock and the Environment: Finding a Balance FAO, USAID, World Bank, 1998. Provides evidence of environmental damage caused by animal farming, mainly factory farming.
• Keeton, W.T. et al. Biological Science, 5th Ed., Publishers: W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London., ISBN 0-393-96223-7 (hardback)
• Langley, G. Vegan Nutrition: a survey of research, The Vegan Society 1988, ISBN 0-907337-15-5
• Moore Lappe, F. Diet for a Small Planet. Ballantine Books, 1985.
• Moore Lappe, F. & Lappe, A. Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. Jeremy P. Tarcher Publishing, 2003.
• Smil, V. Rationalizing Animal Food Production, in Feeding the World: A Challenge for the 21st Century, MIT Press, London, 2000. This provides evidence for the amount of grain required to raise livestock.
• Torres, B. and Torres, J. Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World. Tofu Hound Press. 2005. ISBN: 0977080412 (paperback).
• Walsh, S. Plant Based Nutrition and Health, The Vegan Society 2003, ISBN 0-907337-26-0 (paperback), ISBN 0-907337-27-9 (hardback).
• Meet Your Meat a PETA-produced slaughterhouse tour narrated by Alec Baldwin
• "Non-vegan prescriptions?" by Jo Stepianak, Grassroots Veganism, retrieved October 26, 2005
• "Anger over 'pig' secret of prescribed drug by Martin Shipman, The Western Mail, December 27, 2002, retrieved October 26, 2005
• FAQ, Vegan Resource Group, retrieved October 26, 2005

External links

General

• American Vegan Society
• Vegan Society (UK)
• HappyCow's Veg*n Guide
• Vegan Website with recipes, a forum, flash animations and lots of information
• An Animal-Friendly Life Offers a wide variety of vegan links
• Essays by Joanne Stepaniak

Health/Nutrition

• The Vegan Society (UK) webpages on nutrition
• Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
• NotMilkMan

Environmental

• Mad Cowboy, Howard Lyman
• Veganism and permaculture

Ethical

• Movement for Compassionate Living (The Vegan Way)
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

• Nutrition
• Diets
• Vegetarianism
• Veganism
• Animal liberation movement