Year of the vegan

Editor's note

A well-balanced vegan diet may have major health benefits and is better for the environment – emitting a third of the carbon emissions of a meaty one. Along with animal welfare concerns, more people than ever before are opting for a diet based on plants. According to the Vegan Society, the number of vegans in the UK has increased by 350% since 2008. Some even consider it for their dogs (possible, with the right nutrition), and babies (risky, and not recommended).

You might think that more people adopting a more humane, planet-friendly diet would only attract plaudits, but you’d be wrong. The rise in veganism has been blamed for everything from the collapse of local pie and mash shops to rising malnutrition in developed countries. And even then, deciding what to eat as a vegan can be fraught – avocados and almonds might not be as vegan as you might think.

(Vegan) food for thought.

All the best.

Clint Witchalls

Health + Medicine Editor

Vegan diet: how your body changes from day one

Sophie Medlin, King's College London

More and more people are trying veganism, but how does the human body respond to losing animal products from its diet?

Should vegans avoid avocados and almonds?

Dominic Wilkinson, University of Oxford

You have to draw an ethical line somewhere so if you were vegan, would you still eat avocados?

Gentrification, vegans, and the death of historic London pie shops

Ronald Ranta, Kingston University

The closure of a London pie shop raises questions regarding the relationship between food and identity.

Vegans: why they inspire fear and loathing among meat eaters

Kate Stewart, Nottingham Trent University; Matthew Cole, The Open University

No matter the time of the year, it's always open season on veganism.

Vegan diets are adding to malnutrition in wealthy countries

Chris Elliott, Chen Situ and Claire McEvoy, Queen's University Belfast

Does the West need bio-fortification programmes to prevent an epidemic of hidden hunger caused by a rise in veganism?

Why vegan diets for babies come with significant risks

Shirley Hinde, Cardiff Metropolitan University; Ruth Fairchild, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Vegan diets can come with significant risks for babies if not planned and supplemented very carefully.

Five ways to encourage people to reduce their meat intake – without them even realising

Filippo Bianchi, University of Oxford

Eating meat damages the environment and has been linked with higher risk of disease, but you don't have to go vegan to make a difference to your health and the planet.

Vegan dogs: should canines go meat free?

Wanda McCormick, Anglia Ruskin University

As omnivores, dogs should be able to adapt well and manage on well prepared commercially available vegetarian diets as long as the essential nutrients they would normally get from meat are present.

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