A vegan is a person who does not eat food products of animal origin. Like vegetarians, vegans do not eat meat of any kind (pork, beef, lamb, fish, chicken, etc.) but unlike dairy ovovegetarians, they also do not consume eggs, dairy or honey.
Veganism, therefore, is part of vegetarianism, which is a greater whole. A person who does not eat meat but consumes cheese, to name one possibility, is a vegetarian but not a vegan. Instead, all vegans are vegetarians. It is interesting to know that the term veganism dates back to the 1940s. And it was in 1944, when it was coined by the British Donald Watson, who also founded the Vegan Society. It is about a man who made the aforementioned veganism his philosophy of life from a very young age, when he decided that he was not going to take anything of animal origin, since he grew up on a farm.
There are many approaches or reasons that can lead a person to go vegan. Specifically, you may be doing this because you have health problems, such as allergies to certain foods; as an ethical issue, not wanting animals to suffer for anything in the world; and even for environmental reasons. By the latter we mean that you adopt this position because you consider that eating animals can lead, in different circumstances, to causing serious damage to nature. It is important to note that, to become vegan, it is advisable to consult a nutritionist so that the diet includes all the vitamins and minerals necessary to stay healthy. With proper planning, a vegan diet can be rich in vitamins C, D, and E, magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc. In fact, some argue that veganism helps reduce the risk of certain diseases. Among the foods that stand out the most in the vegan diet, we find the following: legumes, nuts, cereals, tofu, soy milk… When it comes to being able to follow a vegan diet without putting yourself on the risk of health, a series of guidelines are established, such as:
• We must provide omega 3 to the body through the consumption of flax seeds.
• Products to be given priority are fruits and vegetables.
• You have to eat a variety of foods.
• It is important to opt for the intake of a vitamin B12 food supplement. There are vegans who not only refrain from eating products derived from animals: they also reject the use of any object or article that derives from the exploitation of an animal. Thus, they condemn bullfighting, do not wear leather clothing or use cosmetic products that contain animal substances. Vegans, in general, also reject the use of animals for scientific experiments or laboratory tests. In addition to food, veganism can become a philosophy of life based on ethical criteria.
Vegan, in another sense, is the individual from La Vega (a province of the Dominican Republic).
