“How do you know if someone is a vegan? They will tell you…”

We have all heard this joke at least once in the past few years, I’ve laughed at it in the past and now after turning vegan myself It makes me cringe that little bit more. Yes, I am one of those people who like to talk about becoming vegan and all the benefits of it. Is that really a bad thing though?

I think the misconception about veganism is that people like to share everything they learn whilst on their journey of veganism and sometimes this gets misconstrued for others believing that the vegans and veggies think they are somewhat superior of the carnivores out there.

Before starting Veganuary I had managed to live a vegetarian lifestyle for 10 or so months. I had meat cravings time and time again and especially after a drink I couldn’t escape the fact I wanted a greasy kebab! The thought of Veganuary scared me and that’s what made me want to do it. We have been in what feels like an endless lockdown and having all this free time on furlough made it the easiest time to make the jump.

The first week all I wanted was to finish off the Christmas choccys and it was hard knowing they were there and I couldn’t touch them. But by the end of the first week these cravings had disappeared. When asked about a vegan lifestyle I think that most people are worried about giving up cheese and milk but I found this change quite easy there are so many alternative products out there to try that are vegan its just about finding the right one for you.

Personally, I get a sense of pride knowing that by swapping cows milk to one of the alternatives I am helping towards ending the mistreatment of cows in dairy farming. I do believe that more education is needed to help people make more empathetic and ethical choses when it comes to food. Yes, we know by eating meat we are killing millions of animals a year, but how many people are told about the way in which a diary cow lives its life?

Obviously, for the cow to produce milk it needs to have babies. In most cases the cows are artificially inseminated for them to become pregnant. Each cow will normally go through this around five times in their lives. The babies are then taken away from the mother within a day for them same thing to happen to them. Males on the other hand are of extraordinarily little use to the dairy industry and are usually either slaughtered or sent away to become reared for veal. The females then follow the same fate of its mother.

In Normal circumstances a cow’s life expectancy could be up to 25 years. Under these circumstances where they are constantly forcibly inseminated, under the pressures of pregnancy and constantly milked their life expectancy is decreased by more than half and they become of no use to the industry at around 4-7 years of age, then they are slaughtered.

Is it actually normal for us to be consuming high amounts of dairy products from cows? If I were to say to you lets have a glass of horse milk you would think I was insane. But what really is the difference.

So back to my original point, yes vegans do talk a lot about being vegans. But I’m pretty sure you would too if you changed your diet and saw all the benefits that vegans do. When I cut out meat to be honest with you, I did not see much of a difference. But since cutting out all animal products I have noticed a huge difference. My skin is clearer, I have lost weight, I have more energy my mood is generally much better, my sleeping pattern has hugely improved and I am yet to feel bloated even when feasting on huge amounts of foods. I do believe all these benefits to me personally have come from cutting out all the animal products not just the meat.

Don’t just do it for the animals that you’ll be helping to protect but also do it for yourself, not only will you feel better physically but also mentally and then you’ll also start to realise and understand why Vegans talk so much about their lifestyle choice.

Maybe if you knew that your diet has contributed even a small amount to stopping the cruelty of animals, unnecessary slaughter of animals and poor quality of life of animals as well as benefitting your body both mentally and physically you would also be raving about it.

Remember if you do wanna see more of my food then you can follow my instagram page @thediffveggie