What is Veganism? And Popular Types of Veganism [2022]

Globally, veganism is the fastest-growing trend. The concept of veganism is not new to the world but it has gained its popularity slowly. You can see a great spike in turning people vegan in the last five years. But what is Veganism exactly?  What are the types of veganism? Let’s see one by one.

What is Veganism?

Just a Diet or More Than That?

Many people thought that Veganism is just a diet but it is a lifestyle that excludes all animal products particularly in the diet and attempts to limit the exploitation of animals as much as possible by rejecting the commodity status of animals. 

The vegan form of diet excludes any dairy, eggs, meat, fish, or other products of animal origin such as honey, etc. that could happen to deprive the animals of their use. 

You can see a varying degree of veganism. The exact definition of veganism differs from person to person. Few people are kept it limited to a vegan diet but for many people, veganism means a lot more than simply excluding meat and other animal products from their diet.

They don’t wear leather, fur, or anything else that came from an animal. They also oppose animal use in circus, rodeos, animal testing for cosmetics, or horse-drawn carriages, etc.

History Of Veganism

In 1944, Donald Watson, the founder of the Vegan Society has created a new term, Vegan. The term veganism was new but the concept was not new. Veganism is an extreme form of vegetarianism, you can be traced back this concept to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean societies, over 2000 years ago. 

Many followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism also follow vegetarianism. Indian philosophers such as Mahavira, Acharya Kundakunda, and the Tamil poet Valluvar, Chandragupta Maurya, and Ashoka ( The Indian emperors) are some famous early vegetarians. 

In 500 BC, the Greek Philosopher, Pythagoras promoted vegetarianism by sticking to a plant-based diet and avoiding anything made of animals. 

In 1806, Dr. William Lambe – one of the pioneers of modern dietetics and poet Percy Shelley came ahead publicly to object to the use of eggs and dairy on ethical grounds. 

Major Reasons Behind Moving People Towards Veganism

• Vegans have a strong belief that every creature has the right to life and freedom. 
• Many people choose a vegan diet for its potential health effects.
• Raising farmed animals for flesh takes tons of crops and water. If more people become vegan, every hungry person will get food and water.
• Meat production in industry produces a large amount of waste which causes an enormous amount of pollution and is thus responsible for climate change.
• Many people oppose the forceful actions taken on farmed animals for more production. Due to these types of forceful modern farming practices, animals undergo psychological stress and physical stress.

Types of Vegans and Vegan Diet

There are different types of vegans and different types of vegan diets also. We will discuss it one by one.

You will find different types of vegans categorized on the reason why people follow a vegan lifestyle. Here we are discussing 4 main types of vegans–

1. Ethical Vegans: These people choose vegan life because they are firmly against animal cruelty and they believe that animals have an equal right to live on earth.
2. Environmental Vegans: These people choose vegan life because they want to take care of the planet. As discussed earlier, mass consumption of meat and dairy puts a lot of burden on the environment by producing greenhouse gases, deforestation, pollution, etc.
3. Religious Vegans: These people choose vegan life because they have a spiritual belief in religion. In the Jainism religion, many followers consume a strict vegan diet. 
4. Health Vegans: These are large in numbers after ethical vegans. These people choose vegan life because they thought that veganism is the healthiest diet that helps to reduce the risk of heart diseases, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. 

What is a Vegan Diet?

A vegan diet includes only plants such as grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and foods made from plants.

Types of Vegan Diet

There are many types of vegan diets, here we are discussing 4 popular types of vegan diets such as-

1. Raw Vegan Diet: –

As the name suggests, this diet includes only raw food or the food that is cooked at temperatures below 118°F or 48°C. This diet includes a lot of salads and also included soaked, sprouted, and dehydrated food items.

There is another popular term “Raw Till 4,” as the name suggests, those who follow this diet will eat raw food until 4 pm, and then have a cooked meal for dinner.

2. Whole-food Vegan Diet: –

This diet includes whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. In this type of diet, processed vegan food is avoided.

3. Junk-food Vegan Diet: –

Such type of vegan diet includes lots of processed vegan foods like vegan meats, frozen dinners, and desserts like non-dairy ice cream.

4. Fruitarian Vegan Diet: –

This diet includes only fruits, nuts, and seeds. Some people only eat what has fallen naturally from the plant, some people don’t eat seeds as it is the future of the plant, some people avoid eating nuts, avocados, and coconuts, etc. as they are rich in fat.

What Is Excluded In The Vegan Diet? 

Vegans cannot eat the below list of foods:

• Meat
• Chicken
• Fish, Shellfish
• Mayonnaise
• Eggs
• Milk & other dairy products
• Honey

Animal-derived ingredients include albumin, casein, carmine, pepsin, gelatin, shellac whey, etc.

• What is Wellness

Conclusion

The transition towards veganism is chosen by the individuals for various reasons including health benefits, ethical or environmental reasons, etc.

Before choosing veganism, you should be well aware of what are your nutrient needs and which vegan foods fulfill your requirement to lead a healthy life.

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