Are you thinking of going vegan? The vegan diet has been in the news lately because some high profile people such as ex US President Bill Clinton have gone over to it. Mr.Clinton had good reason to change his diet due to his serious heart problems.

But you don’t have to wait until you have serious health problems to change your way of eating. Change now before you get sick.

But first let’s be clear about what being a vegan is all about since there is an official definition of veganism. It isn’t just about the food you eat. This definition of veganism was agreed in 1944 by the founders of veganism:

What is a Vegan?

“the word “veganism” denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practical – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment”

I am not there yet, that is why this website is called “going vegan”. Vegans give up wearing leather and wool and we haven’t done that yet. We also eat honey and I am not sure if I will ever add honey to my restricted foods.  Though I can see that bees are exploited.

Why Go Vegan?

In the West we get nearly all our nutrients second hand via animals instead of first hand via plant foods. Most of us have been brought up to believe that you can’t be healthy without animal products. Certainly most believe that if you don’t at least drink milk and eat milk products like cheese your bones will crumble away. The “healthy” food pyramid is rarely questioned, but perhaps it should be.

Are meat, fish, dairy and eggs health giving foods or are they instead making us ill? Could we learn how to live  without these staples and be all the better for it?

Many people ask us why we changed to a plant based diet after so many years as “normals”.  What is left to eat if  such important foods are missing, they asked? Of course we couldn’t possibly explain in just a few minutes. Even if we were able to there was a risk of sounding preachy, boring or just plain crazy!  Crazy we can handle, but we don’t want to be boring or preachy!

So I decided to write this blog and then anyone who is really interested can come here and find out why we felt that going vegan was the best thing we could do for our health, for the planet and for our fellow creatures.

Our Reasons For Going Vegan

1. For our own health
2. For the health of the planet
3. Factory farming
4. About fish