Veganism

Veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude the use and consumption of animal products — be it the leather in your shoes, the cashmere goat wool in your sweater, or the cheese on your pizza.
A big aspect of veganism is the diet, which excludes products from any and all animal sources, as far as possible.
The word veganism may refer to such a diet, but very often it is used as a synonym for what could more narrowly be described as ethical veganism. Here, people embrace a vegan diet for certain ethical considerations (most notably, Animal rights), and consequently apply the same exclusion principle to other areas, too: they boycott animal resources like fur, leather and wool, preferring substitutes (which may be less environmentally friendly than their authentic counterparts); they oppose the use of animals for entertainment, i.e. in circuses, zoos and marine parks; and many are against animal testing. In an even broader sense, veganism may refer to a set of philosophical considerations which are key thoughts of ethical veganism.
There is some dispute on what to call vegan. For example, honey is consumed by a considerable number of people who also regard themselves as vegans, although it comes from bees, which are animals. For outsiders, such discussions, in their seeming vanity, might bear resemblance to OS Wars. Given that these discussions often focus solely on the semantics of the word “vegan” — and not on the more important ethics — this seems somewhat legit.
 is a practice with close ties to veganism. Freegans hold the same ethical principles as vegans, but are okay with eating animal products that were in some way "free" - that is, the consumption of said products does not increase their demand. An example would be if someone were about to throw perfectly edible meat in the trash.
Vegans usually make a distinction between complex animals and less complex living beings who might not even feel painhttps://askentomologists.com/2016/08/29/do-insects-feel-pain/https://relaximanentomologist.tumblr.com/post/51301520453/do-insects-feel-pain and thus do not as a rule consider important that they may be eating extra animal protein in the form of insects and other minute arthropods in organic food vs. conventional food.Emily Main. "The Grossest Bugs You Don’t Know You’re Eating: Find out which foods contain the most bugs and how to avoid eating them.", Rodale's Organic Life, Apr 10, 2012.FDA: The Food Defect Action Levels Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans, May 1995. Note that, although the term "organic" tends to be loosely associated with veganism, a vegan diet does not necessarily imply the exclusive consumption of organic food.https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/25/18127863/vegan-beyond-impossible-burger
==Diet==
There are many health benefits of removing animal products from one's diet. These include reversing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other ailments. The scientific literature substantiates these claims, such as the reversal of coronary artery diseaseEsselstyn CB Jr, Ellis SG, Medendorp SV, Crowe TD. "A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice", US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, Dec 1995. and increasing insulin sensitivity"The effects of a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention on body weight, metabolism, and insulin sensitivity" through the adoption of a vegan diet alone. Some studies that have been published on the topic — particularly by vegan proponents like Caldwell Esselstyn and Dean Ornish — have received criticisms of methodology by a blogger.Harriet Hall, MD. "Bill Clinton’s Diet"", Science-Based Medicine, Nov 23, 2010. But an increasing number of studies shows that the fewer animal products we consume the healthier we are in terms (at least) of type 2 diabetes, even healthier than a non-westernized omnivore diet with low meat and fish intake and after accounting for various confounders and risk factors (e.g., age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, sweetened beverages).Tina H. T. Chiu, Hui-Ya Huang, Yen-Feng Chiu, Wen-Harn Pan, Hui-Yi Kao, Jason P. C. Chiu, Ming-Nan Lin, Chin-Lon Lin. "Taiwanese Vegetarians and Omnivores: Dietary Composition, Prevalence of Diabetes and IFG", Feb 11, 2014. But a vegetarian diet will not benefit type 2 diabetes if it is rich in simple carbohydrates.Castro, Dr. Regina. Vegetarian diet: Can it help me control my diabetes?, The Mayo Clinic, Sept. 23, 2015.
Some animal-derived foods may pose greater risks to health. Meta-analyses tend to show a mild to moderate increased risk of all-cause mortality with consumption of red — and, especially, processed — meat.Larsson SC, Orsini N. "Red meat and processed meat consumption and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis.", Feb 01, 2014.An Pan, PhD, Qi Sun, MD, ScD, Adam M. Bernstein, MD, ScD, Matthias B. Schulze, DrPH, JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH, Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH, and Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD. "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality: Results from Two Prospective Cohort Studies", Mar 12, 2012.Sabine RohrmannEmail, Kim Overvad, H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Marianne U Jakobsen, Rikke Egeberg, Anne Tjønneland, Laura Nailler, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, Vittorio Krogh, Domenico Palli, Salvatore Panico, Rosario Tumino, Fulvio Ricceri, Manuela M Bergmann, Heiner Boeing, Kuanrong Li, Rudolf Kaaks, Kay-Tee Khaw, Nicholas J Wareham, Francesca L Crowe, Timothy J Key, Androniki Naska, Antonia Trichopoulou, Dimitirios Trichopoulos, Max Leenders, Petra HM Peeters, Dagrun Engeset, Christine L Parr, Guri Skeie, Paula Jakszyn, María-José Sánchez, José M Huerta, M Luisa Redondo, Aurelio Barricarte, Pilar Amiano, Isabel Drake, Emily Sonestedt, Göran Hallmans, Ingegerd Johansson, Veronika Fedirko, Isabelle Romieux, Pietro Ferrari, Teresa Norat, Anne C Vergnaud, Elio Riboli and Jakob Linseisen. "Meat consumption and mortality — results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition", Mar 07, 2013.Rashmi Sinha, Amanda J. Cross, Barry I. Graubard, Michael F. Leitzmann, and Arthur Schatzkin. "Meat intake and mortality: a prospective study of over half a million people", Mar 23, 2009. Red and processed meat may, most notably, increase risk of prostate,Mandair, Rossi, Pericleous, Whyand, Caplin. "Prostate cancer and the influence of dietary factors and supplements: a systematic review.", Jun 16, 2014."Cancer and food", Better Health Channel. colon,Pham NM, Mizoue T, Tanaka K, Tsuji I, Tamakoshi A, Matsuo K, Wakai K, Nagata C, Inoue M, Tsugane S, Sasazuki S; Research Group for the Development and Evaluation of Cancer Prevention Strategies in Japan. "Meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk: an evaluation based on a systematic review of epidemiologic evidence among the Japanese population.", Jul 2014.Woo HD, Park S, Oh K, Kim HJ, Shin HR, Moon HK, Kim J. "Diet and cancer risk in the Korean population: a meta-analysis.", 2014.Raphaëlle L. Santarelli, Fabrice Pierre, and Denis E. Corpet. "Processed meat and colorectal cancer: a review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence.", Mar 27, 2009."Diet and cancer", Medline Plus. thyroid,Choi WJ, Kim J. "Dietary factors and the risk of thyroid cancer: a review.", Jul 2014. esophageal, Choi Y, Song S, Song Y, Lee JE. "Consumption of red and processed meat and esophageal cancer risk: meta-analysis.", Feb 21, 2013.Zhu HC, Yang X, Xu LP, Zhao LJ, Tao GZ, Zhang C, Qin Q, Cai J, Ma JX, Mao WD, Zhang XZ, Cheng HY, Sun XC. "Meat consumption is associated with esophageal cancer risk in a meat- and cancer-histological-type dependent manner.", Mar 2014.Salehi M, Moradi-Lakeh M, Salehi MH, Nojomi M, Kolahdooz F. "Meat, fish, and esophageal cancer risk: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.", May 2013.Huang W, Han Y, Xu J, Zhu W, Li Z. "Red and processed meat intake and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma: a meta-analysis of observational studies.", Jan 2013. breast,Namiranian N, Moradi-Lakeh M, Razavi-Ratki SK, Doayie M, Nojomi M. "Risk factors of breast cancer in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis.", 2014. and other forms of cancer."Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk", National Cancer Institute, Oct 19, 2015. In particular, meat cooked at high temperatures may produce an additional number of carcinogens. Higher meat consumption, particularly processed meat, may also promote a higher risk of diabetes,Pan A, Sun Q, Bernstein AM, Schulze MB, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. "Red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis.", Oct 2011. cardiovascular disease,Micha R, Michas G, Mozaffarian D. "Unprocessed red and processed meats and risk of coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes — an updated review of the evidence.", Dec 2012.Chen GC, Lv DB, Pang Z, Liu QF. "Red and processed meat consumption and risk of stroke: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.", Jan 2013.Micha R, Wallace SK, Mozaffarian D. "Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.", Jun 2010. and obesity.Rouhani MH, Salehi-Abargouei A, Surkan PJ, Azadbakht L. "Is there a relationship between red or processed meat intake and obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.", Sep 2014.Vergnaud AC, Norat T, Romaguera D, Mouw T, May AM, Travier N, Luan J, Wareham N, Slimani N, Rinaldi S, Couto E, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Cottet V, Palli D, Agnoli C, Panico S, Tumino R, Vineis P, Agudo A, Rodriguez L, Sanchez MJ, Amiano P, Barricarte A, Huerta JM, Key TJ, Spencer EA, Bueno-de-Mesquita B, Büchner FL, Orfanos P, Naska A, Trichopoulou A, Rohrmann S, Hermann S, Boeing H, Buijsse B, Johansson I, Hellstrom V, Manjer J, Wirfält E, Jakobsen MU, Overvad K, Tjonneland A, Halkjaer J, Lund E, Braaten T, Engeset D, Odysseos A, Riboli E, Peeters PH. "Meat consumption and prospective weight change in participants of the EPIC-PANACEA study.", Aug 2010Harrison Wein, Ph.D. "Risk in Red Meat?", National Institute of Health, Mar 26, 2012. Dairy and eggs are generally more controversial but there may be some benefits to excluding them such as reduced risk of breast cancer.Harald zur Hausen, Ethel-Michel de Villiers. "Dairy cattle serum and milk factors contributing to the risk of colon and breast cancers.", Internation Journal of Cancer, Feb 20, 2015.
Conversely, higher consumption of certain plant-derived foods such as fruits, nuts, and vegetables have shown to have had a generally positive effect on health with reduced risks of the same diseases.Aune D, Chan DS, Vieira AR, Rosenblatt DA, Vieira R, Greenwood DC, Norat T. " Fruits, vegetables and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.", Jul 2012.Hu FB, Stampfer MJ. "Nut consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: a review of epidemiologic evidence.", Nov 1999. This may partially explain the generally lower incidences of cardiovascular disease,Francesca L Crowe, Paul N Appleby, Ruth C Travis, and Timothy J Key. "Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study", The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2013. diabetes, cancer,Huang T, Yang B, Zheng J, Li G, Wahlqvist ML, Li D. "Cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer incidence in vegetarians: a meta-analysis and systematic review.", 2012. obesity, and other diseases among vegans and vegetarians.Dr. Michael J. Orlich, MD, Dr. Pramil N Singh, DrPH, Dr. Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH, Dr. KarenJaceldo-Siegl, DrPH, Ms. Jing Fan, MS, Dr. Synnove Knutsen, MD, PhD, Dr. W. LawrenceBeeson, DrPH, and Dr. Gary E. Fraser, MBchB, PhD. "Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2", Jul 08, 2013. Moreover, for vegans as well as non-vegans, consideration must be given to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 in the case of vegans, because of its absence from non-fortified plant foods, though it's present in some yeasts.
An evolutionary argument for a plant-based diet can be done, to contrast "paleo" fad diets, that the early human diet was plant-based. The diets of human ancestors were primarily based upon plants for much of their evolutionary history (Australopithecus and early Homo species)David G. Popovich, David J. A. Jenkins, Cyril W. C. Kendall, Ellen S. Dierenfeld, Richard W. Carroll, Nauman Tariq and Edward Vidgen. "The Western Lowland Gorilla Diet Has Implications for the Health of Humans and Other Hominoids", The Journal of Nutrition, Oct 01, 1997. although diets varied across regions, with some populations consuming more animals than others. A study of strontium/calcium ratios in skeletonsAndrew Sillen, Grant Hall, Richard Armstrong. "Strontium calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and strontium isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of Australopithecus robustus and Homo sp. from Swartkrans", Journal of Human Evolution, Mar, 1995. shows that the niche of early Homo species may have included exploitation of underground plant resources such as starchy roots and tubers, contradictory to the prevailing belief that meat was a universally present component of the diet. Although physiological comparisons of humans and other hominid species suggest that there is an increased adaptation to the digestion of meat (e.g. longer small intestine) in humans, these adaptations are not large enough to support a large consumption of meat, and dairy products were entirely absent from the adult human diet for a large part of its evolution until recently, with the domestication of cattle and other animals.
==Benefits==
*Fewer complex animals were harmed in the making of your meals, clothes, etc. The avoidable suffering of animals, while not completely prevented, is minimised. However, some less complex animals will still have their habitats destroyed or will directly die in the making of other food or clothes (such as insects and other small animals).
*Much lower in saturated fat and a lack of dietary cholesterol, which may be a benefit if the so-called lipid hypothesis holds true.
*Plant foods require less water to produce than animal foods (liters of water used in production/kilogram of food). 
*Plant crops produce more food per acre than livestock animals (pounds of food/acre of arable land). It is claimed that if everybody switched to a vegan diet it could free up 75% of global farmland for other uses such as nature and prevent the destruction of pristine environments for farming.
*Some estimates place the contribution of livestock to greenhouse gas emissions at 51%.Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang. "Livestock and Climate Change", World Watch Magazine, Nov/Dec 2009. (This includes the CO2 contribution from mechanized farming and transport of the livestock.) It is claimed that switching to a vegan diet reduces the carbon footprint of your food by up to 73%.Veganism is 'single biggest way' to reduce our environmental impact on planet, study finds, The Independent, 1 June 2018
*Some vegans are motivated to consume only plant-based products for ethical reasons, and view their lack of engagement with the factory farming system present in modern husbandry as a strong benefit.
==Criticisms==
Criticisms of veganism can often be applied to non-vegans as well. While it is accepted that vegan diets can have some health benefits, vegans can be at risk for certain nutritional deficiencies even though these deficiencies are shared with non-vegans (except vitamin B12, which contemporary humans mostly get from animal products — seafood, meat, milk, eggs — in a purely 'natural' diet).Vitamin B12: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements Furthermore, the latter have 5 more deficiencies: fiber, folate, magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin E.P. Appleby, A. Roddam, N. Allen, and T. Key. Comparative fracture risk in vegetarians and nonvegetarians in epic-oxford. Eur J Clin Nutr, 61(12):1400-1406, 2007.] Vegan and non-vegan deficiency risks are:
* Vitamin B12 deficiency, leading to anemia and/or neurological problems.Eric D. West and Frey R. Ellis. "The electroencephalogram in veganism, vegetarianism, vitamin B12 deficiency, and in controls", 1966.
* Iodine deficiency, leading to thyroid problems.Helen J. Lightowler and G. Jill Davies. "Iodine intake and iodine deficiency in vegans", British Journal of Nutrition, Jul 14, 1998. In the developed world, this is not often an issue due to the iodization of table salt.
* Calcium deficiency, leading to bone fracture risk.P Appleby, A Roddam, N Allen and T Key. "Comparative fracture risk in vegetarians and nonvegetarians in EPIC-Oxford", European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Feb 07, 2007. Kale is a decent source of calcium in plants, though it contains less per serving than dairy. Most, but not all, plant milk is fortified with calcium to a similar level as dairy milk.The white stuff: Which plant milk the most nutritious?, Vegan Food and Living
* Omega-3 deficiency, leading to neurological problems in children of pregnant mothers.Sheila M. Innis. "Dietary omega 3 fatty acids and the developing brain", "Brain Research", Volume 1237, 27 October 2008, Pages 35-43.
===Vitamin B12===
It is essential that vegans include a vitamin B12 supplement or B12-fortified foods in their diets (e.g. most plant-based milk brands, many breakfast cereals, or B12-fortified nutritional yeast), or the algae Chlorella pyrenoidosaNutritional Supplementation with Chlorella pyrenoidosa Lowers Serum Methylmalonic Acid in Vegans and Vegetarians with a Suspected Vitamin B12 Deficiency by R. E. Merchant et al. J. Med. Food. 2015 Dec;18(12):1357-62. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2015.0056. Epub 2015 Oct 20. to prevent deficiency.The Vegan Society: What Every Vegan Should Know About Vitamin B12, Oct 2001. This is particularly true for women in early pregnancy because B12 deficiency is known to increase the likelihood of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, by fivefold in babies.Jennifer Warner. Birth Defects Linked to Low Vitamin B12: Study Shows B12 Deficiency May Raise Risk of Spina Bifida and Other Neural Tube Defects, WebMD, Mar 02, 2009.
In 1926, Minot and Murphy found that a man was cured of pernicious anaemia with liver extracts, a discovery for which they received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1934. Ricke and Smith isolated crystalline vitamin B12 in liver extracts in 1948. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a vitamin that is synthesized in nature only by microorganisms. Bacteria that produce it often grow in the roots of plants eaten by herbivores, which are then eaten by omnivores and carnivores. These bacteria are then propagated in the gut of herbivores becoming the source of B12 when they are eaten. Thus meat is generally the principal dietary source of B12 but other animal products such as eggs also contain B12. It is necessary for animals and is present in every animal tissue at very low concentrations (1 ppm in the liver). A B12 deficiency causes pernicious anaemia, which as the name suggests has a gradual onset that steadily destroys several parts of your body and will kill you if untreated; even if subsequently reversed it can result in permanent organ and nerve damage, and significantly elevates future risk for stomach cancer. The need for vitamin B12 in some animals is covered by taking or absorption of vitamin B12 produced by gut microorganisms. But humans only get vitamin B12 from food or supplements, since vitamin B12 synthesized by microorganisms in the intestine cannot be assimilated.
However, if a vegan has no problem with the eating of genetically modified food, it is great to know that certain bacteria do produce vitamin B12 automatically. While B12 producing genetically modified plants as of yet don't exist, the existence of bacteria such as these could make it possible in the near future.https://stijnbruers.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/waarom-de-milieubeweging-het-ggo-dossier-mag-loslaten/ This criticism might thus only hold against those that oppose GMOs.
There are claims that vitamin B12 needs can be met from non-animal foods, including fermented products (tempeh, fermented black tea, some beers, and yeast spread) and some seaweeds. However, studies have found that the level is typically not high and can vary considerably, particularly in fermented foods where B12-producing microorganisms may not be present or may exist only as contaminants.B12 in Plant Foods, Vegan Health, Jack Norris Nutritional yeast, a common flavoring used in vegan cooking, does not naturally contain B12 although it is often fortified with the vitamin.Vitamin B12: Vegan Sources, veganhealth.org Marmite, which is made from brewer's yeast, a byproduct of fermenting beer, Marmite FAQ also does not naturally contain B12 for the same reason, but likewise is fortified with B12 and other vitamins. Marmite nutritional information Hence the (British) Vegan Society still recommends all vegans take B12 supplements either as pills or in fortified food.
===Vegan death===
No, we're not talking about the latest heavy metal band.Baby Green by Vegan Death Unfortunately, there are a few vegans who, insisting they can survive on only kale and sunlight, give the rest a bad name. There have been several court cases regarding vegan parents killing or seriously sickening their children through their diets. Many of these are also fruititarians or otherwise neglectful of their children. 
*In 2001, Garabet and Hazmik Manuelyan, fruititarians from Surrey, England were placed under a 3-year community rehabilitation order (though they could have potentially faced prison) for the death of their undernourished 9-month old daughter. The daughter had been fed a fruit-based diet and died from a chest infection brought on by malnutrition. The parents were vegans but switched to a diet of raw vegetables, fruit and nuts in 1996.Baby death parents spared jail (Friday, 14 September, 2001, 17:34 GMT 18:34) BBC.
*In 2002, Roby Jan Moorhead and Deborah Anne Moorhead from New Zealand were sentenced to 5 years in jail for the death of their infant son. The son died from bronchopneumonia associated with anaemia and brain damage, which was brought on from vitamin B12 deficiency.Adventist sect parents jailed for manslaughter (Thursday 13 June 2002 20.43 EDT) The Guardian.
*In 2011, Joel and Sergine Le Moaligou of Amiens, France were sentenced to 5 years in jail for the death of their undernourished 11-month old daughter. The daughter, who was fed only on breast milk, was suffering from pneumonia, but the parents refused to take her to the hospital despite a doctor's advice; the parents only used alternative medicine. An autopsy revealed severe deficiencies of albumin, protein and vitamins A and B12, which led to susceptibility to bronchial infection.Joel and Sergine Le Moaligou convicted of causing child's death: French couple who refused to take their sick and undernourished daughter to hospital were sentenced to five years in jail by Kim Willsher (Friday 1 April 2011 16.11 EDT) The Guardian.
*In 2011, Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas of Atlanta, Georgia were sentenced to life in prison for the death of their 6-week old son, Crown Shakur. The baby died from extreme malnourishment from being fed only soy milk (not modern soy-based infant formula, which is safeSafety of soya-based infant formulas in children by Y. Vandenplas, Br. J. Nutr. 2014 Apr 28;111(8):1340-60. doi: 10.1017/S0007114513003942. Epub 2014 Feb 10.) and apple juice. The parents did not seek medical attention as the baby wasted away.Atlanta Couple Gets Life for Starving 6-Week-Old Son by Katie Moisse (September 13, 2011) ABC News.
*In 2019, Jennifer and Jeromie Clark of Canada were sentenced to 32 months in prison for the death of their 14-month old son in 2013 from a treatable Staphylococcus infection that was brought about by malnutrition. The 'radical Christian' family followed a strict vegan diet and shunned medical attention.Toddler dies from malnutrition caused by radical Christian parents’ faith-based vegan diet by David Ferguson (19 Dec 2014 at 11:54 ET) Raw Story.Jennifer and Jeromie Clark to stand trial in Calgary toddler's starving death: Judge rules Calgary couple can be ID'd in son's death from staph infection and malnutrition by Meghan Grant (Nov 17, 2015 11:05 AM MT) CBC.Calgary couple Jennifer and Jeromie Clark sentenced 32 months in toddler’s infection death by Lauren Krugel (Jun 5, 2019) Global News.
*In 2015, Sean and Maria Hosannah of Canada were sentenced to 30 months in jail for the 2011 death of their daughter who died from "chronic malnutrition from a vegan diet devoid of Vitamin D, B12" and sufficient protein.Parents of toddler whose vegan diet led to death sentenced to 30 months by Michele Mandel (First posted: Friday, April 10, 2015 12:44 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, April 10, 2015 01:04 PM EDT) Ottawa Sun.
*In 2016, Elizabeth Hawk faced criminal charges over the malnutrition of her 11-month old son. Hawk allegedly only fed her son fruits and nuts, and the son suffered from a severe rash as well as loss of control of his motor skills.A mom fed her 11-month-old only fruit and nuts. Now she faces child endangerment charges by Ben Guarino (October 7, 2016) Washington Post.
*In 2017 in Belgium, 7-month old Lucas died from malnutrition after his parents Peter S. and Sandrina V. fed him "oat milk, rice milk, buckwheat milk, semolina milk, [and] quinoa milk. All products which they also sell in their store."Baby fed 'alternative' diet weighed less than 10lbs when he died with a totally empty stomach. Mother and father tried to give baby son products like quinoa milk despite warnings it was unsuitable by May Bulman (17 May 2017 11:14) The Independent.
Besides death, a B12-deficient diet in mothers and/or their infants can cause in infants "a cluster of neurological symptoms, including irritability, failure to thrive, apathy, anorexia, and developmental regression."Effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on neurodevelopment in infants: current knowledge and possible mechanisms by D.K. Dror & L. H. Allen, Nutr. Rev. 2008 May;66(5):250-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00031.x.
===Harm no animals===
There is also a more background criticism of the "try to harm no animals" claim of vegans. The very world we live in, with cars, computers, 2.2 kids, and specifically the requirements of many vegans and non-vegans for out of season fruits and vegetables, as well as more exotic grains, places great stress on the natural environment as we cut down forests and kill off natural habitats in favor of farms, orchards, and of course mines, oil fields, etc. For example, starting around 2011, ongoing debates over quinoa, "Are we harming subsistence farmers?" "Is the meat industry worse than the quinoa industry?" "We are destroying precious land for the latest grain fad!" have popped up, each side happy to blame the other for everything from starving farmers to global warming. Many who make these arguments fail to realize cattle are fed on those same grains.Mimi Bekhechi. "Eating quinoa may harm Bolivian farmers, but eating meat harms us all", The Guardian, Jan 22, 2013.Joanna Blythman. "Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa?"The Guardian, Jan 16, 2013.
But maybe the idea of living without exploiting animals like bees falls down when you consider the role of many animals in pollinating crops. Farmed bees are commonly used in industrial agriculture to pollinate fruit trees and nut trees such as almonds; oil crops such as rape and borage also depend on bees.Pollination of crops, Bee Farmers Association (UK) Industrially-reared honey bees may be brought in at pollination time, rather than relying on wild bees; someone concerned about cruelty to commercially-farmed bees would have to know how their plants were pollinated. But the critics fail to explain the need of cruelty. Bats pollinate tropical fruits such as mangos, durians, and guavas, and agave plants used for tequila and vegan honey substitute, although few people would suggest this is unfair exploitation of bats. 
Ethical vegans often respond to these criticisms by referencing the Vegan Society definition of veganism, which is "Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to animals for food, clothing or any other purpose".https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism Vegans explain the wording of "as far as is possible and practicable" is here because of these issues, and that the point of veganism is to reduce as much as possible one's effect on animals; it is not about personal purity.http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/its-almost-impossible-to-avoid-using-all-animal-products-if-youre-still-causing-animal-suffering-without-realizing-it-whats-the-point/
It could, however, be argued that, if vegans do not eat farmed animal products, farmers (especially in poorer countries) will often use animals for other purposes such as transport (horses, donkeys, etc) or labor/working fields (horses, oxen, wildebeests). Vegans would logically be opposed to this (PETA is even critical of pet-keepingPets, PETA website), but although many countries have laws on animal welfare and/or labelling schemes for good practice, it's almost impossible to purchase foodstuffs that are guaranteed not to involve animal labor. The counterargument is, again, that veganism is about excluding cruelty only as far as it is possible, and that animal labor is a more ethical alternative to keeping animals in appalling conditions before slaughtering them. An additional counterargument is that animals grown for meat require, themselves, that a significant percentage of produce from crops be redirected to feeding them until they are slaughtered - therefore, abstaining from eating meat would actually translate to fewer crops and, logically, fewer cases of animal exploitation in agriculture. 
It also might be good to note that most of the vegetables (and meat) in US commercial agriculture use migrant labor.UC Davis — Labor: US Fruits and Vegetables, Rural Migration News, Jan 2011.Eduardo González, Jr. "Migrant Farm Workers: Our Nation's Invisible Population", Oct 05, 2015. Who are often paid under the table at much lower rates than legally allowed, not protected by labor laws, and deported if they complain.Paul Harris. Undocumented workers' grim reality: speak out on abuse and risk deportation, The Guardian, Mar 28, 2013. And imported foods aren't any better in terms of labor conditions and pesticide use. So it would be good to be careful about the source of one's food if abuse of sentient beings is a major priority. 
Perhaps the best answer is: harm as few animals and humans as is reasonably possible, which is the actual definition of veganism according The Vegan Society.https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism Or, y'know, Soylent Green.
====Vegans harming animals====
Some vegans take their diet as far as imposing it on their pets. Vegan diets are especially harmful to cats, which are obligate carnivores who cannot digest carbohydrates. Attempting to place a cat on a purely plant-based diet may kill the cat.Why a Vegan diet will Kill Your Cat (and Sicken Your Dog), Why Animals Do The Thing, Dec. 17, 2016. Vegans are also lobbying to put the dogs in Los Angeles animal shelters on a vegan diet. Though dogs are capable of digesting plant matter, they are primarily carnivorous, and a vegan diet would make it difficult for the dogs to get the necessary nutrition they need and cause digestive problems.Carroll, Rory. Health mutt: proposal to put shelter dogs on vegan diet divides Los Angeles. The Guardian, Dec. 29, 2017.Solon, Olivia. The owners putting pets on vegan diets: 'We feed our animals without exploiting others' The Guardian, Feb. 2, 2018Kitten Nearly Dies On Vegan Diet, Gets Healed With Meat. Huffington Post, July 24, 2013.Khuky, Patti. One Vet's Advice: Don't Force Your Pet to Be Vegan. Vetstreet, July 15, 2014.
What can be said for sure is that strong claims coming from either side about vegan or non-vegan nutrition might be wrong and are not supported by facts. For now people who want to feed their pets vegan should be careful. They have to use complete and balanced commercial food and go to a veterinarian on a regular basis.Whittaker, Domínguez-Oliva, Mota-Rojas. Are vegan pet diets as unhealthy as they’re claimed to be? Here’s what the evidence says. The Conversation, Jan. 12, 2023
===Exaggeration===
Many vegans, such as YouTuber Vegan Gains, webcomic artist Priya Cynthia Kishna, and the creators of the documentary Forks Over Knives, often exaggerate the benefits of a vegan diet. Claims include "meat is the biggest cause of all preventable diseases". Whilst there are many benefits to a vegan diet, these exaggerations are dangerous, as they can mislead people into thinking that they can't get ill, so that they end up not getting treatments for said illnesses, opting to treat themselves through diet alone.
Fortunately, there are others in the vegan community who criticize such exaggerations and call for objectivity; these include Unnatural Vegan, dietician Ginny Messina, and the founders of .
====Dairy====
An example of exaggeration found in the vegan community can be found on the topic of dairy products, cancer and IGF-1. Various vegan websites claim that all dairy products greatly increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer and this is due to their high levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dairy-and-cancer/https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/health-concerns-about-dairyhttps://www.vegancanada.org/news/article/2019/08/03/review-dairy-health-risks.htmlhttps://viva.org.uk/health/healthy-vegan-diet/why-veganism-is-healthy/diet-and-cancer/igf-1-diet-and-cancerhttps://www.veganlifestylecoach.com/news/2017/5/27/dairy-igf-1-insulin-like-growth-factor-1 Whilst milk does have a higher IGF-1 concentration the idea that all dairy products have high levels is not true as fermentation and other dairy processes destroy IGF-1 concentrationshttps://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(06)72104-X/pdfhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096637417300370https://www.onehealthjournal.org/Vol.7/No.2/14.pdf, this means that most cheeses are low in IGF-1, which studies have found.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31089868/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-022-02954-4 Also not mentioned by vegans is that wholegrain intake is associated with higher circulating concentrations of IGF-1.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561421002132
The consensus view from cancer experts such as the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund is that there is limited but suggestive evidence that dairy products increase risk of breast and prostate cancer, whilst there is strong consistent evidence that dairy decreases the risk of colorectal cancer.https://www.wcrf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Meat-fish-and-dairy-products.pdfhttps://www.aicr.org/research/the-continuous-update-project/meat-fish-dairy/ Vegan websites cherry-pick their information and do not mention that dairy products decrease risk of colorectal cancer. It is also worth noting that the increased risk of prostate cancer has been found usually with whole or skimmed milk, not other dairy products and the data is inconsistent from observational studies.https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-016-0210-9https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18000020/https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/143/2/189/4615253https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8255404/https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00062/fullhttps://web.archive.org/web/20230102203808/http://211.76.170.15/server/APJCN/16/3/467.pdf Although the data is suggestive it does not show causality, as much more research needs to be done.
In 2018, the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) issued a statement after evaluating recent data on dietary IGF-1, concluding that overall "on the basis of the available evidence, IGF-1 from foodstuffs in the diet is not expected to increase the risk of cancer in consumers."https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803092/COC_2018_S01_IGF-1_Non-technical_summary.pdf It has been noted that IGF-1 is likely to be broken down in the gut and not absorbed to any significant extent.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803090/COC_2018_S01_IGF-1_COC_Statement.pdf The IGF-1 in human plasma is found at concentrations that are 10.5 to 77 times greater than that in bovine milk.https://dairy.osu.edu/newsletter/buckeye-dairy-news/volume-10-issue-2/safety-insulin-growth-factor-i-igf-i It is therefore unlikely that IGF-1 from dairy is associated with cancer risk. Despite this, vegan websites continue to make unsupported statements such as "IGF-1 is a potent prostate cancer stimulus and also contributes to premature puberty in children".https://nutritionstudies.org/is-raw-milk-better-for-you-what-about-goat-milk
Some plant-based doctors such as John A. McDougall have said that vegans should also give up consuming soy products because soy protein raises IGF-1 concentrations.https://vegsource.com/dr-mcdougall-and-insulin-like-growth-factor-1/ However, only large amounts of soy protein (>25 g/day) modestly increase IGF-1 levels.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28434035/https://sniglobal.org/soy-protein-does-not-lower-testosterone-or-raise-igf-1-levels-in-men/ It is unlikely that most vegans will be consuming over 25g of soy protein a day.
==Other vegan products==
Although veganism is most closely associated with food, many vegans will shy off using other animal products where possible or convenient. One of the most common examples is a refusal to wear leather and other animal fibers such as wool. However, while food is labelled with ingredients so that it's fairly simple to see what it contains (once you know the code), there is no requirement for many products to indicate whether they contain ingredients derived from animals.
Whole industries are heavily dependent on what vegans would call animal abuse and exploitation. Many glues (e.g. "hide glue"), resins, varnishes, etc, use gelatine (aka gelatin, derived from cows, pigs, horses, rabbits, and other animals) and other chemicals of an animal origin. Hence a lot of footwear even if made from non-leather products may still contain animal products.Which Shoes Are Vegan? LaBante's Guide to Ethical Footwear, LaBante Traditional (analog) photography was based on film and photographic paper that included gelatine, although digital photography avoids that problem. Gelatine is used in some cosmetics, under the name "hydrolyzed collagen". The pharmaceutical industry not only tests on animals, but has historically used gelatin to coat pills, although vegan alternatives exist. In the drinks industry, animal ingredients such as gelatin, egg white, milk, and fish products are often used to clarify wines though may not be listed on ingredients (none or almost none is present in the final product); however vegan alternatives exist.Does Your Wine Contain Eggs, Milk Or Fish?, Huffington Post, 2015 There are many similar applications in biotechnology and industry involving colloids, filtration, coatings, etc, that may also use gelatine.
Hence in practice it is very hard for vegans to avoid using some products with animal ingredients, and most will focus on trying to minimize the suffering they cause, while writing stern letters asking for more research into vegan products.
==Radical vegan and animal rights jack-assery==
Some vegans can be the most sanctimonious and fanatical holier-than-thou pricks you will ever meet outside of a church or mosque. A few self-proclaimed vegan organizations, particularly PETA, are a perfect mirror of the anti-abortion cult. Like "pro-lifers", these people do not see themselves as being above bullying, censorship, deceit, or even violence in furtherance of their crusade. Some vegans are capable of great cruelty to ex-vegans and others they perceive as apostates or backsliders.Abuse, intimidation, death threats: the vicious backlash facing former vegans. Ellie Abraham, The Guardian Dec. 4, 2021
Radical vegans bullied a San Francisco butcher shop into hanging an animal-rights poster denigrating the owner's business.Levin, Sam. Vegan activists force California butcher to hang animal rights sign in window. The Guardian, Aug. 3, 2017. Similarly, radical supporters of animal-rights threatened violence against the Guggenheim art museum for displaying videos by Chinese artists featuring animals.Haas, Benjamin. Guggenheim Museum pulls three artworks featuring animals after threats of violence. The Guardian, Sept. 26, 2017. These individuals are not above mounting campaigns of online harassment, even against meat-eaters who are trying to find ways to do so sustainably.Leigh, Meredith. Vegan Bullying and the New World, Nov. 14, 2016. In some areas, vegans have adopted the tactic of barging into restaurants and shouting slogans.Vegan Cringe Compilation Threats orchestrated by vegan extremists forced a restaurant and petting zoo in rural Victoria, Australia, to close; the proprietors feared for their own and their employees' safety.Chris Hook, Country cafe closes after 'vile' threats and harassment' by vegan activists. 7news.com, Apr. 6, 2019. Vegan rhetoric is often casually offensive; activists like Joey Carbstrong have compared pigs, cows, and chickens to Jews in the Holocaust,Hayley Dixon and Jonathan Pearlman, 'Peaceful vegan activist' Joey Carbstrong compared dairy farmers to Hitler and told them to kill themselves. The Telegraph, 9 February 2018. or slaves in the antebellum United States. These vegans don't see a problem with that.Karlsten, Stian. Is it offensive to compare the holocaust with the meat industry?. The Ethical Vegan. However, the vegan who has been the most vocal and prominent in using Holocaust language to describe the plight of animals is activist Gary Yourofsky, who is himself Jewish, Naomi Darom, Is vegan superstar Gary Yourofsky an animal savior or a mad militant? Haaretz (archive) Deni Kirkova, Gary Yourofsky ‘turned 8% of Israel vegan’ after comparing slaughterhouses to the Holocaust Metro and takes this intentionally provocative approach to highlight alleged problems with factory farming. The casual racism of these vegans extends to harassing First Nations people for engaging in traditional hunting and crafts promised to them by treaty.Pat Mullen, Review: ‘Angry Inuk’ POV Magazine, May 11, 2016.
==See also==
*Vegetarianism
*Raw foodism
*Dietary cholesterol
*Jainism, a religion for people who really don't want to harm insects
*Carnivore diet, the opposite
*Essay:Why You Shouldn't Eat Meat
==External links==
*The Vegan Society website
*Evidence-based nutrition information for vegans 
*Footwear brands that don't use any animal-derived materials or ingredients 
*Position statement on vegetarian diets from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
*Health Benefits of Veganism — Vegan 2000: Life style of the millennium
* Need some cooking lessons? Let Vegan Black Metal Chef show you how it's done. Warning: hilarious, and may be offensive to godbotherers and Satanic panic types.
*Ecologos — What happens when a vegan moves sharply into pseudoscience territory.
*Veganism from a scientist's perspective
*The Weird World of Vegan YouTube Stars Is Imploding: Rawvana, Bonny Rebecca and Stella Rae are eating animal products, triggering outrage and an identity crisis.
==References==
Category:Alternative medicine
Category:Animal rights
Category:Plants
Category:Philosophy