Veganism Health Article

Definition

Veganism is a system of dietary and lifestyle practices that seeks to promote health and peace while reducing the suffering of both people and animals. Vegans (pronounced vee-guns) are vegetarians who do not eat any foods (eggs, dairy products, meat, etc.) derived from animal sources. Most vegans also do not use products that require for their production the death or suffering of animals, such as leather, fur, wool, and certain cosmetics.

Origins

The word "vegetarian" was coined in England in 1847 by the founders of the Vegetarian Society of Great Britain. "Vegetarian" has been used to describe people who do not eat meat, but do consume dairy products and eggs. The Vegan Society was founded in England in 1944 by Donald Watson and others who believed that vegetarians should strive to exist without eating or using any animal products at all. Watson stated that the crisis of World War II may have been a motivation behind his founding of the Vegan Society, because he saw so much turmoil and suffering in the world around him. The Vegan founders believed that the first step to creating a better world would be to develop a diet that did not cause the death or suffering of any living beings. The term "vegan" is derived from the Latin word vegetus, which means "full of life," which the founders hoped their system would be. "Vegan" also starts with the same three letters as "vegetarian," and ends with the last two, as its founders believed they were starting with vegetarian ideas and taking them to their logical conclusion.

The American Vegan Society (AVS) was founded in 1960 by Jay Dinshah. The same year, the AVS began to publish a journal called Ahimsa, which is a Sanskrit word that means "not causing harm" and "reverence for life." Dinshah and others conceived veganism to be a philosophy of living that has nonviolence, peace, harmony, honesty, service to the world, and knowledge as its goals. In 1974, the AVS became affiliated with the North American Vegetarian Society, which was formed to bring together all of the vegetarian groups in North America.

Since the 1970s, there has been a vast amount of research concerning nutrition and diet. It has been discovered that diets that are centered around meat and dairy products, such as the typical American diet, are high in cholesterol and saturated fat but low in fiber. These diets have been linked to many health problems, including heart disease, strokes, and diabetes, which together cause 68% of all the deaths in the United States. Thus, the interest in diets that reduce or eliminate foods that contribute to these conditions has grown considerably. In 1992, the Vegetarian Times magazine took a poll that estimated that 13 million Americans, or 5% of the population, consider themselves vegetarian. Of the vegetarians, 4% are vegans, which amounts to nearly 520,000 Americans.