11 Frequently Asked Questions About Veganism

June 2, 2024

Veganism, also known as strict vegetarianism, continues to become more popular today and is becoming more and more popular. In this article, we will try to answer the 11 most frequently asked questions about veganism. Enjoy reading.

1- What is a Vegan Diet?

A vegan or plant-based diet does not contain any animal products, including meat, dairy products, and eggs. When people follow this correctly, a vegan diet can be nutritious, reduce the risk of chronic disease, and help with weight loss.

Vegan diets tend to be rich in nutrients and low in saturated fats. Research shows that the diet can be good for heart health, protect against cancer, and reduce the risk of diabetes. However, people who consume only plant-based foods should also pay attention to the acquisition of certain nutrients, including calcium, iron, and vitamin B12, which usually come from a diet other than a plant-based diet.

A vegan diet involves eating only foods that contain plants. While veganism is a dietary choice for some individuals, it can also be a lifestyle for others. People who choose to live a vegan lifestyle may also avoid clothing, cosmetics, and other products that use or contain animal parts, such as leather and animal fur. Some adopt this lifestyle for its environmental benefits.

Vegan diets include plenty of fruits and vegetables. These foods, when consumed adequately, will provide a wide range of important vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and protein (1, 2, 3)

2- What is the Difference Between Vegan and Vegetarian?

The main difference between vegetarians and vegans is that vegetarians do not eat meat, but they can consume dairy products, eggs, or both. The vegan diet excludes all products containing animal content.

The vegan diet is more restrictive, so people need to be more meticulous in their food choices to ensure that they meet their daily dietary requirements. Otherwise, nutritional deficiencies may be inevitable (4).

3- How to Become Vegan and Vegetarian?

There are multiple reasons to adopt a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. The most common of these are environmental awareness and other ethical issues. In addition, the number of people who choose a vegetarian diet for health is also quite high. In particular, the benefits of a plant-based diet have been proven for the prevention of heart and chronic diseases. On the other hand, it is also important to know the types of vegetarian diets before starting a vegetarian diet (5, 6). Therefore, before starting a vegetarian diet, we recommend that you get support from a physician or expert after knowing the types of vegetarians. For more detailed information about different forms of vegetarianism, you can visit our article “Types of Vegetarianism”.

4- What Does 100% Vegan Mean?

The term 100% vegan is often used to describe vegan products other than food products. It means that a product does not contain ingredients made from animal fur, skin, bone or meat, and does not contain eggs or dairy products. For example, many skin cleansers contain stearic acid, which can be made from animal fatty acids. And many beauty products contain beeswax, an ingredient made by our friends, bees (7)

5- Is Veganism Healthy? Is Vegan Nutrition Harmful?

Vegetarian and vegan diets are generally healthy, but if these diets are not done carefully, some nutritional deficiency problems may occur in the body. You may need to have a detailed diet to make sure you get enough protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B12. Therefore, getting support from a physician or expert while creating a vegan diet can help you stay healthy.

If you are vegetarian, you can meet most of these nutrients in eggs and dairy products, and if you are vegan, from plant sources. However, if you need additional support, supplements can be taken with the supervision of a physician (8).

6- What is Raw Vegan?

A raw food vegan diet consists of raw vegan foods that have not been heated above 46 ° C and have not been processed. Individuals who follow this diet, called "raw food", believe that foods cooked above this temperature lose a significant amount of their enzymes and therefore their nutritional value. Uncooked foods are thought to provide live enzymes and proper nutrition (9, 10).

7- What are Peta-Approved Brands?

Peta / The Association for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is one of the largest animal rights organizations in the world with approximately 9 million members and supporters. Peta opposes speciesism, a worldview that advocates human superiority. In this context, it opposes not only the direct use of animals for human consumption, but also their use in various experiments. While Peta exposes brands that use animals for experiments, companies that produce vegan products apply to Peta to have their production approved.

Peta-approved brands are known as vegan brands that are produced using vegan alternatives instead of animal-derived materials such as leather, fur, silk, feathers and bone, and are registered by Peta for clothing, accessories, furniture, home decor, etc. For this reason, individuals who embrace this lifestyle prefer Peta-approved brands in their daily lives (11).

8- What is a Vegan Certificate?

Vegan/vegetarian certificate; It is a document given to products that are determined to meet vegan/vegetarian production standards as a result of inspections and tests conducted by an impartial, independent and accredited organization.

For a product to be vegan, it is not enough to be seen only under the vegan umbrella. It must be approved and documented by an independent and accredited organization that it meets the vegan criteria (12)

9- Does Vegan Diet Make You Lose Weight?

Vegans do not eat meat, fish, eggs or dairy products. Instead, they consume fresh fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, plant-based milks and meat alternatives.

While some people choose this lifestyle due to ethical concerns about animals, the diet itself may have some health benefits. According to recent studies, being vegan may even help you lose significant amounts of weight. Although more research is needed, it is thought that being vegan may reduce the number of high-calorie foods you consume. With a vegan diet, low-calorie, high-fiber alternative foods that keep you full for longer can help you lose weight (13).

10- When is World Vegan Day?

World Vegan Day is November 1. Vegan products are featured in events held around the world every year (14).

11- Where Can I Find Reliable Vegan Products?

It is very important for vegan/vegetarian products and vegan supplements to be safe, certified or vegan. At Bikalite, the documents belonging to the products and the manufacturing companies are meticulously examined. For this reason, you can easily find products with vegan certificates or vegan declarations at Bikalite Vegan Market and meet the daily needs of you and your loved ones.

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