Vegan

The reasons for adopting Veganism are not very different from that of adopting Vegetarianism:

1. Non-violence. Indian philosophy has declared non-violence in thought, word and deed as an essential attribute of a spiritual aspirant. No spiritual progress is possible without observing non-violence. Veganism is the theory of non-violence applied to diet and clothing.
2. Mutual respect for all life. Even if one is not a spiritual aspirant, one can adopt Veganism for the beliefs in respect for all living things. As the civilization on Earth is progressing, the belief in mutual respect is also growing. There was a time when "people" were also considered "property" and were traded like any other commodity in open markets. However, with time, it has changed and the current society promotes respect for people from all castes and creed. With furthre progress in human thinking, the moral fabric of our society will tend to include animals also as first class citizens of our society.
3. Health. Most of the meat based diet is full of saturated oil and cholestrol. While it is possible to plan a healthy diet based on meat also but a vegetarian diet tends to be inherently healthy (more fruits/vegetables, less deep-frying) and less planning is required to make it healthy.
4. Environment. The animal farms tend to cause a lot of air and water pollution. Overall, if no animal farming is done, the environment will be cleaner.

Vegan diet is considered to be very healthy and nutritious. Animal fats and proteins is closely linked to different diseases including heart problems, diabetes and is considered responsible for obesity.

Vegan diet is associated with reduced risk of all these diseases.

Vegan diet includes fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, split peas  and food made from these.

It is generally advised that the Vegans should be very careful about their diet and nutrition therein. Since they don't eat most of the items that are rich in nutrients, they might suffer from malnutrition.

There are two arguments about the Nutrition value in Vegan diet. One side of the argument is that the Vegan diet is healthier because it is based on the plants and vegetables. Most of the health related problems today stem from the diet that's rich in dairy products or with meat. Vegans become immune to these problems.

However, the other side of the argument is that Vegan diet lacks in essential nutrients which are available in plenty in the meat/dairy-products based diet but are hard to find in plants and vegetables.

Overall, what it means is that while Vegan diet is healthy, a Vegan must still be careful about the diet and ensure that it also consists of those plants/vegetables which contain hard-to-find nutrients.

There are two primary differences between a Vegan and a Vegetarian:

1. Use of milk, honey and other animal products. Vegans do not consume any animal products at all while Vegetarians do. In the new varieties of Vegetarianism (specifically ovo-vegetarians), egg is also considered a vegetarian diet.
2. Diet and Lifestyle. Vegetarianism is restricted to diet itself while Veganism expands itself to overall lifestyle. It includes all wearables.

Overall, Veganism is a subset of Vegetarianism and is not very different. Different people following Veganism have their own limit on the strictness that they want to adhere to. Some people don't even pluck fruits from the trees and rely on what has falled down on its own.

There are differences even among Vegetarians:

• Semi-vegetarian: Vegetarians who consume dairy products, eggs, chicken and fish but does not consume other animal flesh
• Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian: Vegetarians who consume eggs & milk but do not consume meat, poultry, fish and seafood. Apparently this is the largest Vegetarian group
• Ovo Vegetarian: Considered Vegetarian if they do not consume Eggs
• Lacto Vegetarian: Considered Vegetarian if they do not consume milk

Majority of people who do not follow Veganism tend to criticize it. There are several arguments against the sensibility of Veganism. The arguments against Veganism are not much different than the ones against Vegetarianism.

The most significant argument that's made against Veganism is regarding nutrition. Since animal meat is rich in several nutrients which are found in less quantity in vegetable world (especially if you exclude the dairy products), a Vegan must be very careful about his/her diet so that there is no malnutrition.

Most of the other arguments are sentiments-related.

While Veganism as a concept was formalized as late as 1944, the underlying concept was already gaining momentum with some leading thinkers writing about it and adopting it. In the book "The Story of My Experiments with the Truth", Mahatama Gandhi talks about how he learnt about the pain that cows go through in dairy farms. And that led him to take a vow of never drinking cow's milk. When he was terminally ill and the doctor said nothing can save him unless he starts drinking milk, he compromised on drinking goat's milk just to stay alive.

In an another book on non-violence, he says that honey collected by making the honey-bees homeless should not be consumed. Only if the honey-bees have left the bee-hive on their own, should the honey be collected.

These incidents took place before 1944 when the term Vegan was coined.

Even in ancient India, even though there was a tradition to keep cows and drink their milk, it was done in a very reverential manner. The cow was considered an incarnation of God Himself and was kept only by the Rishis. This automatically ensured that no cruelty was shown towards cows.

So, conceptually, the spirit of Veganism has been around for thousands of years (especially in ancient India). It was formally given a name separate from Vegetarianism only lately.

There have been vegetarians or Vegans from time immemorial. Though this entire movement has started officially only in the past 150 years or so, there have been revered and noted personalities indulging in veganism with gusto. In the ancient Greek era, Aristotle, the famous philosopher was a vegan. So was the universal genius of renaissance Leonardo da vinci. Sir Isaac Newton, discoveror of gravity and famous scientist was a Vegan as well. In the recent times, politicians like Abe Lincoln & Benjamin Franklin, writers like Leo Tolstoy & George Bernard Shaw, musicians like John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, artists like Vincent Van Gogh, athletes like Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Martina Navratilova etc. all were Vegans.A brief search on famous Vegans will illustrate people from various walks of life have adopted Vegan lifestyle and have continued to contribute to the society.

The primary underlying reason has been their ethical and moral attitude towards animals. Though Health and nutrition also played a major part in them adopting a Vegan lifestyle.

**Note: This section or post by no means intends to convert meat-eaters into Vegans. Becoming Vegan is a choice and we accept and respect it as such.

What food to Vegans eat? There are loads and loads of vegan food that can be prepared.

A vegan meal means having to acquire and develop a new habit of eating vegan food. A huge number of recipes are also available to get going.

There are vegan recipes available for Vegan starters, Vegan meals, Vegan desserts (including Vegan chocolate and all its varieties). Vegan food is generally known for being fat-free or low-fat, healthy, free from animal products and rich in nutrition.

A Vegan breakfast would include cereals, oatmeal, pancakes, soy yogurtand fruits.

While a Vegan snacks could include popcorn, almonds, peanuts, chips. A Vegan dessert is anything that is non-dairy. It could be fruits like banan, appla, orange and raisings.

Desserts with Vegan Chocolate cover numerous varieties and almost everything that can be cooked for non-vegan desserts, can easily be made Vegan desserts, including cookies, pie and cakes.

A vegan lunch or dinner would include vegetarian hotdogs and sandwiches, french fries, Tomato pastas, seitan casseroles, Tofu lasagna etc.

Even though largely, being a vegan is positive, one must take caution adopting the same pertaining to your own lifestyle.

A heavily protein rich diet is recommended for body builders, which is difficult to obtain if one is a vegan. It is important to gauge if your body is getting all essentials nutrients before deciding to go veg.