Veganism is the practice of
abstaining from the use of animal
products, particularly in diet, as well as an associated philosophy
that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is
known as a vegan.
Distinctions are sometimes made between
different types of vegans and veganism. Dietary
vegans (or strict vegetarians)
eliminate animal products from their diet (not only meat and fish, but also
dairy products, eggs and often honey, as well as other animal-derived
substances). The term ethical
vegan is often applied to
those who not only follow a vegan diet, but extend the vegan philosophy into
other areas of their lives. Another term used is environmental veganism, which refers to
the rejection of animal products on the premise that industrial farming of
animals is environmentally damaging and unsustainable.
The term vegan was coined in England in 1944 by Donald Watson,
co-founder of the British Vegan Society,
to mean "non-dairy vegetarian"; the society also opposed the
consumption of eggs. In 1951 the society extended the definition of veganism to mean "the doctrine that man
should live without exploiting animals," and in 1960 H. Jay Dinshah started the American Vegan Society, linking veganism
to the Jain concept of ahimsa, the
avoidance of violence against living things.
Veganism is a small but growing movement. In
many countries the number of vegan restaurants is increasing, and some of the
top athletes in certain endurance sports – for instance, the Ironman
triathlon and the ultramarathon – practise veganism, including raw veganism.
Well-planned vegan diets have been
found to offer protection against certain degenerative conditions, including
heart disease, and are regarded
by the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada as appropriate
for all stages of the life-cycle. Vegan diets tend to be higher in
dietary fibre, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and
phytochemicals, and lower in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12. Because uncontaminated plant foods do
not provide vitamin B12 (which is produced by microorganisms such as bacteria),
researchers agree that vegans should eat foods fortified with B12 or take a daily
supplement.
Surveys in the United States suggest that
between 0.5 and three percent in that country (between one and six million) are
vegan. In 1996 three percent said they did not use animals for any purpose, a
2006 Harris Interactive poll suggested that 1.4 percent were dietary vegans, a
2008 survey for the Vegetarian Resource Group reported 0.5 percent, and a 2012
Gallup poll reported two percent. In
the UK in 2005 The Times estimated that there were 250,000
vegans there, in 2006 The
Independent estimated 600,000,
and a 2007 British government survey identified two percent as vegan. The Netherlands Association for
Veganism estimated there were 16,000 vegans in the Netherlands as of 2007,
around 0.1 percent of the population.
Ethical vegans entirely reject the commodification of animals. The Vegan Society in the
UK will only certify a product as vegan if it is free of animal involvement as
far as possible and practical, including animal
testing.
An animal product is any material derived
from animals, including meat, poultry, seafood, eggs,
dairy products, honey, fur, leather, wool, and silk. Other commonly used, but
perhaps less well-known, animal products are beeswax, bone char, bone china, carmine, casein, cochineal,gelatin, isinglass, lanolin, lard, rennet, shellac, tallow, whey, and yellow grease.
Many of these may not be identified in the list of ingredients in the finished
product. The detailed reasons vegans may not use a specific animal product are
varied. In the case of wool for example, Merino sheep have been bred to have wrinkly
skin and extra-thick wool that can lead to heat exhaustion in summer and maggot
infestations, which leads to the practice of mulesing.
Ethical vegans will not use animal products
for clothing, toiletries, or any other reason, and will try to avoid
ingredients that have been tested on animals. They will not buy fur coats, cars
with leather in them, leather shoes, belts, bags, wallets, woollen jumpers,
silk scarves, camera film, and will not use certain vaccines. Depending on
their economic circumstances, they may donate such items to charity when they
become vegan, or use them until they wear out. Clothing made without animal
products is widely available in stores and online. Alternatives to wool include
cotton, hemp, rayon, and polyester. Some vegan clothes, in particular shoes,
are made of petroleum-based products, which has triggered criticism because of
the environmental damage associated with production.
One of the main differences between a vegan
and a typical vegetarian diet is the avoidance of eggs and dairy
products such as milk, cheese, butter and yogurt. Ethical vegans state that the
production of eggs and dairy causes animal suffering and premature death. In battery cage and free-range
egg production,
unwanted male chicks are
culled or discarded at
birth during the process of securing a further generation of egg-laying hens. To produce milk from dairy cattle female calves are separated from their
mothers soon after birth and fed milk replacer, so that the cow's milk is
retained for human consumption. Unwanted male calves are either slaughtered at
birth or sent for veal production. To prolong lactation,
dairy cows are kept almost permanently pregnant through artificial insemination. After about five years, once the cow's
milk production has dropped, they are considered "spent" and sent to
slaughter for hamburger meat and their hides. A dairy cow's natural life
expectancy is about twenty years.
There is disagreement among vegan groups
about the extent to which products from insects must be avoided. Some vegans
view the consumption of honey as cruel and exploitative with modern beekeeping a form of enslavement. Once the honey
is harvested, it is common practice to substitute the bees natural food store
(honey) with sugar or corn syrup to maintain the colony over winter.
Neither the Vegan Society nor the American Vegan Society considers the use of
honey, silk, or other insect products to be suitable for vegans, while Vegan
Action and Vegan Outreach regard it as a matter of personal choice.
Common vegan dishes include ratatouille, falafel, hummus, veggie burritos, rice and
beans, veggie stir-fry and pasta
primavera. Ingredients such as tofu, tempeh and seitan are widely used in vegan cuisine. Plant cream and plant milk,
such as almond milk, grain milk or soy milk,
are used instead of cows' or goats' milk. Vegan recipes will often replace
chickens' eggs in recipes with apple sauce, ground flax seeds, mashed potatoes,
soft or silken tofu, bananas, or commercial starch-based egg substitutes.[42]
Meat
analogues, or "mock meats," made of soy or gluten – including vegetarian sausage, vegetarian mince, and veggie
burgers – are widely
available, and are often vegan. Cheese
analogues made from
soy, nuts and tapioca are commonly used. Vegan cheeses like Chreese, Daiya, Teese and Tofutti can replace the taste and meltability
of dairy cheese in various dishes. Joanne Stepaniak writes that cheese
substitutes can be made at home, using recipes from Vegan Vittles, The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook,
and The Uncheese Cookbook
.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine recommends
what they call the "Four New Food Groups." They suggest that vegans
and vegetarians eat at least three servings of vegetables a day, including
dark-green, leafy vegetables such as broccoli, and dark-yellow and orange such
as carrots, five servings of whole grains (bread, rice, pasta), three servings
of fruit, and two of legumes (beans, peas, lentils).
There is growing scientific consensus that a
plant-based diet reduces the risk of a number of degenerative diseases,
including coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, kidney
disease and dementia. Winston
Craig, chair of the department of nutrition at Andrews University, writes that vegan diets
tend to be higher in dietary fibre,magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron and phytochemicals,
and lower in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol,
long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, zinc andvitamin B12.
He writes that vegans tend to be thinner, with lower serum cholesterol and
lower blood pressure. He adds that eliminating all animal products increases
the risk of nutritional deficiencies; of particular concern are vitamins B12
and D, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids. He advises vegans to eat foods
fortified with these nutrients or to take supplements, and writes that iron and
zinc may also be problematic because of limited bioavailability.
The American Dietetic Association and
Dietitians of Canada said in 2003 that properly planned vegan diets were
nutritionally adequate for all stages of life, including pregnancy and
lactation. People avoiding meat are reported to have lower body mass
index; from this follows lower death rates from ischemic heart
disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and fewer
incidences of type 2 diabetes, prostate and colon cancers. A group of prominent physicians in the
United States – John A.
McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, Neal D.
Barnard, Dean Ornishand Michael
Greger – together with T. Colin
Campbell, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry, argue that
diets based on animal fat and animal protein, such as the standard American diet, are detrimental to
health, and that a low-fat vegan diet can not only prevent, but may even
reverse, certain diseases. The
Swiss Federal Nutrition Commission and the German Society for Nutrition do not
recommend a vegan diet, and caution against it for children, the pregnant and
the elderly.
Between 1980 and 1984 the Oxford Vegetarian
Study recruited 11,000 subjects (6000 vegetarians and a control group of 5000
non-vegetarians) and followed up after 12 years. The study indicated that
vegans had lower total- and LDL-cholesterol concentrations than the meat-eaters,
and that death rates were lower in the non-meat eaters. The authors wrote that
mortality from ischemic heart disease was positively associated with higher dietary
cholesterol levels and the consumption of animal fat. They also wrote that the
non-meat-eaters had half the risk of the meat eaters of requiring an emergency
appendectomy, and that vegans in the UK may be prone to iodine deficiency.
A 1999 meta-analysis of five studies comparing mortality
rates in Western countries found that mortality from ischemic heart disease was
26 percent lower in vegans than in regular meat-eaters. This was compared to 20
percent lower in occasional meat eaters, 34 percent lower in pescetarians (those who ate fish but no other
meat), and 34 percent lower in ovo-lacto vegetarians (those who ate no meat,
but did consume animal milk and eggs). The lower rate of protection for vegans
compared to pescetarians or ovo-lacto vegetarians is believed to be linked to
higher levels of homocysteine,
caused by insufficient vitamin B12; it is believed that vegans who consume
sufficient B12 should show even lower risk of ischemic heart disease than
ovo-lacto vegetarians. No significant difference in mortality was found from
other causes.[49]
The American Dietetic Association indicated
in 2003 that vegetarian diets may be more common among adolescents with eating
disorders, but that the evidence suggests the adoption of a vegetarian diet may
serve to camouflage an existing disorder, rather than causing one.
Text source: www.wikipedia.com
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