Yep, 11 excuses is what they are…

What (excuses) spring to mind when you think about the ‘vegan’ diet?

Do vegans only eat kale and twigs?

Vegans are preachy and annoying?

Maybe that you can’t get the protein you need?

It’s expensive?

Plant’s feel pain too?

We were meant to eat meat because the cave men did?

You need to drink milk for strong teeth and bones?

There are a TON of misconceptions out there surrounding the vegan diet.

I’m sorry to say that we’ve all been lead on a merry garden path in the last fifty years.

The meat and dairy companies have used some twisted marketing spells on us and it worked.

Thankfully the truth is starting to come out, BIG TIME.

1. You Can’t Get Enough Protein From A Vegan Plant-Based Diet

This is the biggest mis-conception. Agreed, meat has become synonymous with protein, but it’s not the ONLY SOURCE.

It is entirely possible to get more than enough protein from a well balanced whole foods diet.

The animals that humans eat such as cows, chickens and sheep all eat a plant-based diet. By cutting out eating animals, you’re just going to straight to the source.

Some of the strongest animals on the planet all eat a plant-based diet, such as rhinos, elephants and gorillas.

You can achieve ample protein per meal by including whole foods lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, beans, nuts and seeds. These are excellent sources of protein that break down easily in your body.

Check out this article on more details on Where Vegans Get Their Protein From for more plant-based protein info.

2. A Plant Based Vegan Diet is Expensive

Plant-based foods are either equal to or cheaper than the cost of eating an animal product based diet.

Some secret weapons of plant-based eating include stocking up in having a variety of herbs and spices, as well a different nuts/seeds if you don’t already have them already. To buy these initially can carry a small bill, but once you have them eating a plant-based diet can be done on a budget.

Items such as fruits, veggies, legumes and other cupboard essentials can be bought cheaply. As with any diet, bulk buying natural foods (not processed/pre-packaged), can help save you a pretty penny or two.

Meat itself can be the most expensive item in your shopping trolley, most plant-based eaters found that their overall weekly food bills did not increase by switching to plants.

Why not head to the local farmer’s market and see what bargains await?

3. Plant-Based Vegan Food Is Boring, Vegans Only Eat Salad

There are so many different kinds of plants available and recipes for ideas. Eateries and restaurants are waking up to the plant-based movement and many offer menus.

Plant-based food is the bomb!

Have you tried a vegan Shepherd’s pie or a berry smoothie bowl?

Healthy food or junk food, whichever your preference, there are ample options available and the list of vegan food is currently growing RAPIDLY. From pastas to pizzas, burgers to wraps, shepherds pie to chocolate brownies, the list is endless.

4. A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet Is No Healthier Than One With Animal Products

A whole foods plant-based diet is only type of diet someone can eat that offers such wide variety of health benefits.

But don’t just take my word for it.

The world’s leading researchers, universities, health authorities and nutrition organizations are all saying that this is the way to go!

The World Health Organization (WHO), recommends a WFPB diet, featuring minimally processed foods, meat or dairy.

The Academy of Nutrition of Dietetics says that a WFPB vegan diet is healthful for all natural stages of the lifecycle, from pregnancy to infancy, adolescence adulthood, into old age, including athletes and reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and diseases.

5. Vegans A Preachy A**holes

Vegans are MAGNETS for hate, but even after asking around, I struggle to see why.

Vegans are trying to do what’s best for personal health, the animals and the environment.

I put my hands up, I started a blog so that I could ‘preach’ to people lol. Well, not preach, I see it as just giving information really so that readers can make an informed decision on what to eat. I would have LOVED to have all of the information that’s out there now earlier than I did (four years ago).

BUT it’s still a myth that vegans are preachy.

I’ve avoided dinner occasions before because I don’t want to deal with all of the questions on why I don’t eat meat.

The truth is, it’s awkward.

An old friend handed me a birthday card a few years ago with a joke on the front. It said “How do you know if someone is vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.” I love my friend and I didn’t take it personally. But the truth is I would never bring it up unless I was asked.

Some would just rather not hear it.

Also, often they are sat eating their dinner, that’s probably meat, so why would I bring up how bad it is at that moment.

Maybe vegans are regarded as preachy as the perception on vegans is that they think they are superior.

I’d say it’s the opposite, vegans do not think they’re superior, especially to animals.

Vegans regard animals as equals and sentient beings that deserve a chance.

6. You Won’t Get Enough Vitamins, Calcium Or Other Nutrients From A Vegan Plant Based Diet

Collectively, Americans are overweight, sick and struggling with health issues.

Most of the problems are preventable through dietary changes.

The hospitals are not full of plant-based eaters, they are full of those who eat an animal product based diet.

Plant foods are the MOST nutrient dense foods available.

Because they are comprised of mainly fruits and vegetables, you are getting more vitamins and minerals than an animal product based diet.

All of the campaigns about needing dairy for strong teeth and bones was just marketing out out there by the dairy industry, nothing more.

That’s why, in 2019 Canada removed dairy from its nutritional guidelines food pyramid, because of its harmful effects.

The Academy of Nutrition of Dietetics says vegan diet is healthful for ALL natural stages of the lifecycle. Including pregnancy, infancy, adolescence, adulthood and old age. This also includes athletes and reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and diseases.

The world experts universities and health authorities, they are all recognising plant-based is the way to go and starting to publicly align with the vegan diet.

A side note is that those eating a plant-based vegan diet should take a B12 supplement. B12 used to be naturally found in soil, but the ground has been so sanitized by humans its no longer there.

Those eating animal products don’t need to take them as the animals are injected and supplemented themselves.

By taking a B12 supplement you are going straight to the source and cutting out the middle man.

7. Plants Feel Pain

Have you ever heard a plant make noise from being in pain?

Animals have a central nervous system, pain receptors and brains, they are sentient beings.

Plants do not have a central nervous system, pain receptors or brains.

While plants are reactionary from stimuli in terms of their surroundings, such as growth from sunlight, they do not feel emotions or pain.

8. Veganism Is For Hippies

Vegans historically have been super health conscious and hippies. Creating a perception that they are one of the same.

However, things are evolving at lightning speed.

The explosion of the internet and online streaming services has given access to the informative documentaries and undeniable science.

Adopting a vegan or flexitarian diet isn’t about growing your hair into dreadlocks, mastering the yoga tree pose or drinking kombucha every morning.

It’s about doing something positive for your health, the environment and the animals. Which is a viewpoint that you don’t need to be a hippy to appreciate.

The vegan whole foods plant-based diet is going mainstream.

Those eating more plant-based foods can be body builders, oil field workers, farmers OR a yoga instructor.

9. But The Cavemen Ate Meat, So It Seems Natural That We Would Too

Yes, yes they did.

But, what they didn’t do was create a scaled-up industry within a 50 year period where 56 billion land animals per year were sent to slaughter for human consumption.

They also didn’t pump the animals they ate full of growth supplements, antibiotics, keep them in sheds, artificially inseminate them or take their babies from them at birth.

Fair play to those in the stone age, they had to be self-sufficient through hunting, gathering and fishing. You can only respect their way of life. But cavemen didn’t have access to the nutritional science or tools we have now.

How about flash forwarding to the future…

According to National Geographic, in 2050 it’s predicted globally we’ll need to feed 2 billion more people in addition to our 7.5 now in 2019.

A diet that revolves around meat and dairy, a way of eating that’s on the rise throughout the developing world, will take a greater toll on the world’s resources than one that revolves around unrefined grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

10. Eating Soy Increases Your Risk Of Breast Cancer And/Or Makes A Male Body More Feminine

Livestock animals are raised on predominately soy products. So by eating a whole foods plant-based diet, you are cutting out the soy consumed indirectly.

A whole foods plant based diet looks to minimalize processed foods, this includes soy.

Instead you can choose another protein source such as legumes, grains, nuts and seeds.

That aside.

There is no evidence to say that soy is bad for the human body.

According to the American Association of Paediatrics…”There is no conclusive evidence from animal, adult human, or infant populations that dietary soy isoflavones may adversely affect human development, reproduction or endocrine function”.

There’s also no evidence that soy causes an increased risk of breast cancer, another common claim.

The American Cancer Society, for instance, states: “In fact, in human studies, the oestrogen effects of soy seem to either reduce breast cancer risk, or have no effect at all. This might be because the isoflavones can actually block the more potent natural oestrogen in the blood.”

As with any diet, vegan or otherwise, it’s advised just to eat a varied diet.

11. Most Plant-Based Vegan Meals Are Eaten By Vegans

I love this one.

Many vegan meals or snacks are eaten frequently, either accidentally or intentionally. If you love smoothies with almond milk, these are vegan. If you love a a quinoa salad, chances are, this is vegan.

In a report released in February 2019, marketing insight company Kantar, they claim that 92% of plant-based meals consumed in the United Kingdom in 2018 were consumed by non-vegans. According to them, plant-based meal ‘occasions’ i.e. dinner parties have increased by 37% in the last four years.

Party on!

The Bottom Line

Eating animal products is an indulgence, not a necessity.

The misinformation out there on the vegan diet is contributing towards serious health implications, environmental ramifications and the mistreatment of animals. 

The truth is many who make the switch say that they eat a more delicious and varied diet than they did when eating meat.

When you make the switch, you might find that your friends and family start asking questions from the above myths. It gets the conversation about a vegan diet going and them thinking, which can only be a good thing!

Despite the array of myths, a vegan whole foods plant based diet is the healthiest kind of diet a human can consume.

Maybe the vegans are on to something!

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