Veganuary. What is it and how could it improve your life?

Veganuary is a term that is becoming more and more popular each year, much like the general following of Veganism and even other forms of a meat-free lifestyle such as vegetarianism and pescatarian. The name was a simple complex, a portmanteau of "vegan" + "January”, making the catchy and marketable concept to help promote a meat free diet and consumption of goods throughout the whole of the annual opening month. This name was invented by Jane Land and Matthew Glover who created a non-profit based organisation based in the UK, of the same name. This seem of interest to you? Click the button below to see their website and what they do!

Launched in 2014, Veganuary has gone from strength to strengthen and has become more popular each year, with more than 400,000 people taking the pledge to try a vegan diet during the 2020 campaign. This concept has also been massively promoted by businesses aswell, with more than 600 brands, restaurants, and supermarkets promoting the campaign, and launched more than 1200 new vegan products and menus in the UK market alone.

Benefits of Veganism 

When it comes to altering your diet to only plant based, there are several benefits for the human body. Once of the more common beliefs is that a vegan diet is richer in certain nutrients, but this does mainly depends on what you add to your plate.

A plant based, meat free diet has also been scientifically proved to lower blood sugar levels and improve kidney function, as well as being linked to a lower risk of heart disease. This suggests that if you have a history of issues with these, whether they be you personally or hereditary and passes through your family, then it may be a good idea to explore this concept into your diet.
However, one of the biggest benefits is that removing meat from your diet can actually help you to lose excess fat, which can be attested for in the next section of this with Sir Mo Farah and a couple of professional footballers.

Nutritional Concerns

When it comes to the dietary issues of vegetarians and vegans, people often think that their body is missing out on a lot of important nutrients, and that their bodies aren’t as healthy as someone who does eat meat. This isn’t actually true though.

Vegetarians and vegans do need to find a way to replace the important nutrients that the body would be missing out on by not eating meat, but nearly every important component required has a plant based, meat free alternative. The most popular of these is Quorn, which is the direct meat replacement made up of a fermented fungus found in soil, but is highly enjoyed and promoted by some of the worlds most known athletes, such as long distance running Mo Farah. Fortunately, the food on offer for vegetarianism has come a lot way over the last few years, meaning vegans and vegetarians don’t suffer from a lack of nutritious and delicious foods, and can very easily whip up a nice meal with some Quorn and vegetables in a matter of minutes.

Veganism with Celebrities

Veganism is also growing massively within the celebrity community, with more and more participating in a meat-free lifestyle and fighting for the rights of all living things across the globe. Now although Mo Farah is not a full time devoted vegan, he does endorse the meat free alternative Quorn™ and often lives a life where to consumes no meat at all, especially in the build up for a big running event, and when weight management is extremely key.

Danny Batth and Matt Doherty, a former dynamic duo that shared a range of success at West Midland football side Wolverhampton Wanderers and both started the campaign which saw the Wolves qualify for a European campaign in the following season, are both devoted Vegans and have publically spoken out on how grateful they are for undertaking this diet to help them maintain the level of fitness required to play in the higher levels of English professional footballer. Former Wolves’ captain Batth, was thankful for his change of diet which enabled him to lose that stubborn final few pounds aswell as improving his general lifestyle, saying "I'm recovering well, sleeping better, I've lost a few pounds although there wasn't a great deal to lose.”. Danny then decided to help out fellow teammate Doherty who was struggling with his weight, weighing in at over 14 stone, introducing him to a new meat-free world. Almost four years later, and a £15 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspurs, Doherty is now in the shape of his life, which he has put massively down to cutting out meat from his diet and now lives a Pescatarian life, where the only meat he consumes is seafood.

For more information about Veganism and Vegetarianism, check out our previous article on the subject, by clicking the button below!