vegans › Forums › Excuses Nonvegans Have › Vegan can be unhealthy, so I don’t use the word
Tagged: Health
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Vegan Linked.
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December 28, 2024 at 9:38 am #6769
Vegan Linked
KeymasterVegan is the perfect word. It essentially means I don’t want to be violent. And of course that’s a healthy way of being. There is nothing unhealthy about veganism. A corporation making an unhealthy product, a person who is vegan but doesn’t live healthfully, those things do not define veganism.
My work, as well as the majority of other influencers that I know, consistently promotes whole vegan foods as the most ideal way of eating. The idea that vegan is somehow unhealthy isn’t a consistent or logic really in any way. I almost always explain this whenever the idea is presented. So I felt the need to vent on it here.
The most vegan foods are always going to be the healthiest for several reasons. Humans are animals, and therefore part of the animal kingdom that veganism seeks to protect. Veganism seeks not to exploit animals. When corporations make processed foods and label them vegan, that isn’t veganism, that’s exploitation and therefore inconsistent with veganism. As a functional and practical person though I still give in to the product being vegan for reasons too. Not everyone wants to eat healthy all the time and these products may help people move in this direction.
The healthiest foods tend to be the least processed foods. This is a proposition that is always being tested, but I assume we generally agree that this is the case. These foods require the least amount of resources and packaging. Consequently these vegan foods are the least invasive to the environment including animals and therefore again the most vegan.
The healthiest foods create the best influencers. They are the most attractive in every way influencing more people to go vegan in the most powerful way from sustaining veganism, demonstrating a sustainable approach that others can emulate, and exponentially this creates more vegans and therefore the most vegan disposition to maintain.
Healthy vegans put stats in our favor. Statistics are the backbone to progress in this direction. If it wasn’t healthy we couldn’t expect others to abolish animal agriculture we could only expect welfarism. It is because the science is in our favor that I became an advocate and can ask others to change. Because the vegan movement is moving in the healthiest direction it may even be possible to eventually demand change. This will most likely become the case for many reasons such as the moral obligation driving the ethics, human health affecting health care costs and national security, and food security because it is also the most sustainable due to the second law of thermodynamics.
For these reasons and more, the idea that veganism is synonymous with unhealthy is not consistent. Sure, there are those who implement this way of eating dysfunctionally. Because, like with any other way of eating, even nutritarians have to learn how to eat this way. If a person is inclined to eat unhealthy then it doesn’t matter what way of eating is suggested. If someone wants to be healthy they will need to learn how no matter what it’s called.
So they can become a nutritarian, an NHA no SOS’r, follow Kaiser’s whole food vegan diet recommendations, PCRM’s plan, the Daily Dozen, US News and World Health Mediterranean veganized, Hippocrates, etc… or just eat legumes, greens, grains, fruits, veggies, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, herbs & spices, a variety of each, supplement B12 and move on with inspiring others. And the latter is what most long time vegans I have interviewed over the years do. They “eat veggies” some would simply say, “and get on with it”.
So vegan is the perfect word. It’s become well known over the years and is widely used in culture and science. It may be vague because someone may or may not want to be a healthy vegan. That’s a personal choice because there’s no victim involved beyond the individual. For all these reasons, the default way of eating for veganism is healthy.
Some people don’t like using the word because it may have a negative connotation. Everything has that potential though. We just need to muscle through and debunk the myths. This would be required no matter what it is called. At least we have significantly progress in the direction of vegan. Some people even eat whole food plant based excluding animal but don’t want to be called vegan. So, are they essentially saying they don’t eat animals yet they don’t mind animals being exploited and harmed? Just use the word every chance you get. This will desensitize people. If someone has a problem with the word perhaps that’s a sign and opportunity regarding something they need to work through. We don’t need to start over with a different word or string of words.
The closest alternative is whole food plant based. Based however leaves this open for all kinds of problematic interpretation. This is why plant based products may actually contain animal or secretions. Vegan is just perfect.
Right now I’m editing an interview I did with Freya Dinshah several years ago. At one point she mentions a book called “Why Kill for Food” that was written in 1957. In that book they recommended vegetarians eating beans and pulses instead of dairy and eggs. This book was written by Geoffrey Rudd of the Vegetarian Society. She also mentioned a booklet from around that time called “First Hand First Rate”. This booklet by the Vegan Society recommends growing our own food because it’s best for the environment. They talk about B12, Protein, Fat, Sugar, how to grow, balanced protein, starches, offer recipes that are basically all whole food except for the oil. They suggest using Tastex as a salt substitute and B12 source. Clearly from the beginning veganism was about the animals, environment, and human health. They were even already talking about raising children vegan. And that’s the main topic of focus moving forward on my channel. It’s wild to think about the history of it all and how people were thinking and talking about the same things long before us. In this interview Freya also says “you always think things began when you first heard about it”. We’ve been thinking and talking about this for too long, now is the time to go vegan and raise your children vegan!
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