Recent events and fervor surrounding food and dietary habits have become a gateway for new trends and practices in food.
Among the plethora of new food trends gaining ground in India is Veganism. It is a tougher, more explicit form of vegetarianism.
It is slowly and steadily growing and gaining immense popularity amongst the people of India, for various reasons.
WHAT IS VEGANISM?
Veganism is a dietary choice which deals with a more extreme form of vegetarianism. It consists of a dairy and meat free diet which consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, gluten only. People are taking to veganism for a number of reasons.
IS VEGANISM LIMITED TO FOOD?
Contrary to popular belief, veganism does not just finish at being a vegan through diet. It means discarding everything tangible made of animal products. Right from leather to silk to fur. Expanding its area of influence, Veganism also spreads itself within the realm of vegan cosmetics and products like toothpaste which might have bone powder.
WHY ARE INDIANS GETTING DRAWN TO THE CONCEPT?
Religion
Perhaps religion plays an important role in this inclination towards veganism. Hinduism consists of the notion of the ‘holy cow’ which automatically eliminates the animal from becoming a part of the ‘north Indian food diet’.
This paves the way for further experiments with vegetarianism, ultimately leading to veganism.
Health Benefits
It has been unquestionably established that veganism has its fair share of health benefits. A study from Harvard University has noted that converting to veganism reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
It even contributes to the risk reduction of obesity, heart disease and cholesterol.
Apart from being an ‘eco-friendly’ food practice, veganism helps save animals and humans alike as it cuts down on the consumption of the former and cleanses the toxicity in an average person’s diet.
Also Read: Did You Know About The Non-Vegetarian Foods Of Gujarat?
Weight Loss
A lot of people are getting drawn to veganism as it supposedly leads to weight loss. Being plant and fruit centric, it automatically bars the intake of dairy products like cheese, ghee, butter which are inherently fattening and become invincible if coupled with carbohydrates.
Hence people seeking weight loss, often lean towards veganism.
The Fad
Apart from weight loss and health benefits, lot of people are taking to veganism as it is becoming a ‘fad’. It’s cool to be vegan as it is still an emerging concept with a bit of mystery to it. This set of people is perhaps only joining the food practice to become part of the ‘vegan cult’.
Veganism in popular Indian culture
There are a number of vegan restaurants all over India that are promoting the concept. Getafix in Delhi, Dario’s in Pune etc.
Many brands are too spreading the vegan cause by selling products like soy milk, dairy free ice cream etc. Delhi’s White Club ice cream is one such brand.
VegaLyfe is India’s largest vegan grocery store which has a massive following.
Additionally, there are vegan recipes available online and vegan alternatives to food are coming up. Using Zucchini to replace noodles, mushroom for meat and coconut cream for regular cream among others.
Many celebrities like Richa Chadha, Jaqueline Fernandez, Sonam Kapoor, regularly advocate veganism which ultimately leads to an expansion of its area of influence.
Sources: Vegan First, Forbes India, Media India
Image Source: Google Images
Also Read:
Ajinomoto Is Not Toxic, Non-Veg And Doesn’t Cause Heart Attacks
VEGanism is not a dietary choice
The dietary choice which eliminates animal derived products is called “plant based lifestyle”
Veganims is an ethical stance, along with meat and dairy, silk, pearl, wool and original leather too are not used. Zoos, circuses, animal rides, habitat destruction all are against veganism. Also the “holy cow” thing is entirely wrong, because vegans dont take cows as their mother hence do not drink her milk.
There is no religious inclination if one goes by definition, there are many muslims and there are vegans in pakistan too, there are vegans all over the world. Using animals to propagate religious believes is against veganims as it objectifies the animals.
Agree with above commenter. This article is all over the place with damaging language. Calling it a “Cult”, “extreme” and anything to do with a “diet” and not a way of life is missing the mark entirely. It’s like when people use the word “militant” to describe veganism, because not killing animals is just so err militant. Then people lose their minds when abuse happens to cats or dogs because we’ve been brainwashed from an early age into not seeing them as food (at least in the West). It’s about not being a hypocrite and respecting all animals, not just cats or dogs, the health benefits should be a bolt-on (though sadly compassion isn’t always top of the list). It may help to speak to some actual vegans before you post stuff like this. This just feels very click-baity (hey, it worked).