Myths and facts about veganism

More of us find the diet appealing — but is it healthy?

Demontrators with their body painted as fish lay on the ground at the fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris on May 20, 2017 on the European Day of the Sea, during a demonstration organized by Vegan Impact ecologist association — GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/Getty Images

By Anjana Ahuja

Back in the 1940s, it was a lifestyle in search of a name. “Dairyban” did not quite cut it, neither did “vitan” or “benevore”. In the end, six early adherents, including Donald Watson, the British animal rights campaigner, settled on “vegan” to describe their philosophy — that animals should not be exploited for food or any other purpose — and founded the Vegan Society.

A vegan does not eat meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, dairy products, eggs or honey. Many choose to avoid animal products, such as leather and wool. The movement, once associated with hippies and flower power, is now appealing to a wider audience, including the UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn .

A 2016 survey by the Vegan Society of people aged 15 and over suggested that 542,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales were vegans, up from an estimated 150,000 in 2006. Nearly half of them were aged under 34.

Many find the vegan diet appealing because they are worried about the environment: the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that farmed livestock is responsible for around 15 per cent of man-made greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change.