Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle that seeks to avoid exploiting animals for food, clothing, product testing, and entertainment. The Veganuary campaign raises awareness of veganism and encourages people to try a vegan diet for the month of January. While vegans avoid meat and dairy, ensuring adequate intake of vitamin B12 from fortified foods or supplements is important as it is found naturally in animal products. Adopting a vegan diet can provide health benefits like reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture.

1. Veganism: A philosophy and way of living.
Veganismisawidelycontroversial wayof livingthatseekstoexclude the exploitationof animalsfor
food,clothing,testingandentertainment.Veganuaryisaglobal campaignthat launchedinthe UK in
January 2014, to helpencourage people totry becomingveganforJanuary. The campaign raises
awarenessof Veganism.Veganismnotonlyhelpstoreduce the sufferingof animalsand helpsthe
planet,butitalsoimprovespersonal health.Due tothe fact vegans donot eatanimalsor animal
basedproducts,theymustfindthe essential nutrientstheyneedfrom plant-basedsources,vegan
alternativesandfortifiedfoods.
Due to a vegan’s lifestyle of avoidingmeatanddairy,alternativelytheywill eat lotsof fruit,
vegetables,nuts, andpulses.Thismeanstheywillgetplentyof the nutrients they need. However,
vitaminB12 is a vitaminthatcan be hardfor vegansto obtainas itis foundinmeat,fish,dairy,and
eggs.Therefore,veganscanbe more susceptible toB12 deficiency. Althoughb12is addedto
fortifiedfoodssuchasbreakfastcereals,plantmilks, andsoyproducts.A supplementof B12 isvery
important,andpeople must make sure they donotlack it in theirdiet. VitaminB12isan essential
nutrientforour redbloodcells,nerve function,andis vital forDNA synthesisinourcells.
Notonlydo veganstendto be well informedof whattheirbodyneedsandwhattheirfoodcontains,
but animal-basedproductscanhelp topreventthe mostsevere diseasessuchascardiovascular
disease,obesity,type2diabetes,diverticulosisand E.coli infections. A vegandietcan alsobe more
beneficial towomenasPMS symptomsbecome lessintense ordisappearaltogether.Thisisdue to
the eliminationof dairyfromtheirdiet.
Veganismhelpsthe environmentandhelpstostopexcessgreenhousegases.Over70billionland
animalssuchas cows,pigsand chickensare bred, all of whichneedvastamountsof foodandwater,
they emitmethane andothergreenhousegasesandproduce mountainsof physical waste. These
animalsare then farmedandkilledforfoodeveryyear.Thisdoesnotinclude seacreaturesand
otheranimalsbredforfur and skintrades. In2006, the UN calculatedthatthe combinedclimate
change emissionsof animalsbredfortheirmeatwere about18% of the global total – more than
cars, planesandall otherformsof transportput together.
The meat industryhasa bigimpact onthe environmentandhow to use our natural resources.
Agriculture usesabout70 percentof the world’savailable freshwater,andone thirdof thatis used
to grow the grainfedto livestock. Ittakes2500 gallonsof waterfor1 poundof beef.70% of the
World’s grainharvestisfedto livestockwhile the other30% are usedforthe populationof the
entire world. Only50%of grain harvestcouldfeedall the starvingpeopleinthe worldif onlypeople
wouldstopeatingmeat.