Veganuary started as a challenge run by the charity of the same name in the UK. This challenge’s goal was to educate people on veganism for the month of January. Obviously, you heard it in the media, by your friends, and even some companies decided to challenge their staff to reduce their meat and fish consumption.
Veganuary is obviously mainly known as a food challenge. Unfortunately, most people believe that if you are a vegan you just eat a green salad with rice. What a misconception! Today most of the products have a vegan option, you have vegan milk, vegan cheese, vegan “meat”.
This challenge is getting more and more popular. In 2020, 400 000 people signed the campaign. This number grew to 500 000 for the campaign in 2021. If 500 000 people can do it so can you! You might not understand fully why is veganuary important so let me help you with the 5 Benefits of Veganuary.
- 4 benefits of veganuary that may change your perspective.
- 10 recipes to help you in veganuary.
- 2 influencers to follow for quick easy vegan recipe.
- To be aware before going full on vegan.
4 benefits of veganuary that may change your perspective:
Lower risk of heart disease: By eating more fresh fruits and vegetables you will increase the amount of fibers which is directly linked to lower heart disease. According to health line, up to 75% of people following a vegan diet vs a normal western diet have a lower risk of high blood pressure. Obviously with more fibers in their diet vegans are known to also have a lower cholesterol level.
Help with weight: While going on a vegan diet, you will have to rely on whole food, more vegetables and fruits. While, today there is a high range of vegan fast food, the amount of calories tend to reduce while on a vegetarian or vegan diet. In fact you get fuller on fruit and vegetables instead of heavy meat or processed food. This will directly impact your diet in a positive way. You will feel healthier, you skin will improve and often you will stabilise or lose some weight.
Improve your kidney function: As said previously, vegan diet help with reduce cholesterol and blood sugar which is know to be a factor in type 2 diabetes. On a paper published in pubmed.gov, a low-fat vegan diet has been proven successful.
Environmental benefits: of course being healthy is important but do you know that actually eating meat on a daily basis is not sustainable for the planet. According to global citizen, 700 million tons of the food that is produced is actually consumed by livestock such as cows, pigs and more. While meat and fish have more calories, using the land would help grow more plant. Producing vegetables and fruit not only helps with cleaner soil and conserves water but it is also purifies the air. Of course, today’s competition in production can lead to less natural product but this practice is similar in breeding and raising living stock.
10 recipes to help you in veganuary:
Those recipes have been tried and approved! Most of those website have also a lot of other vegan recipe which you can enjoy and try.
2 influencers to follow for quick easy vegan recipe:
Veganuary can be quite impressive and you might just not know where to begin.
Max La Manna is mostly known for his quick and easy video recipes on Instagram. He, today, has a YouTube Chanel, a Tik Tok account, a Facebook group and even an amazing book about eating more plant based food and reduce your waste. Here is one recipe I absolutely love from him: Vegan Alfredo sauce. I like to add some pasta to the courgette spaghetti just to feel fuller.
Another account I like to follow for some inspiration is Sovegan. They do have a YouTube channel and they do have their app. You can find a ton of recipe on their website but my favourite so far is the the Korean cauliflower bites.
To be aware before going on a vegan diet:
Doesn’t it sound like the perfect diet? I mean you lose weight, your heart and kidney would be healthier than ever and you help the environment. Unfortunately it isn’t exactly as perfect as it sounds. In fact going into a vegan diet without the approval of your doctor can be quite risky. Too much fiber can be linked to kidney stones. Even though so many celebrities used to be vegan due to a poor diet, they decided to go back to a plant based diet: Mainly vegan but with some exceptions. Liam Hemsworth had kidney stone due to too much fibers, Samuel L. Jackson lost too much weight or even Kristen bell during her pregnancy has she felt she lacked energy.
If you do veganuary only you do not have anything to worry about. However if you plan on turning vegan for longer then I would recommend to have several check with your GP throughout the process to ensure you have the supplement you need.
What is your favourite recipe? Do you believe veganuary is too challenging?
One response to “Everything you need to know about Veganuary!”
Great content! Keep up the good work!