Vegan or Plant-based?

felipegombossy
1 de out. de 2020
1 min de leitura

Daniel Biron, chef at Teva vegan restaurant in Rio de Janeiro

A plant-based diet, as the name already says, is a diet based predominantly on plants, fruits and vegetables. The diet also includes nuts, whole grains, oils, legumes, seeds, and beans. The definition is that the person proportionally chooses more food from plant sources. It is focused on eating fresh and minimally processed foods. However, the diet does not mean “I will not eat any sort of animal products”. Even small amounts of animal products are allowed, such as eggs, dairy and meat.

A vegan diet, on the other hand, totally excludes animal products. Some vegans are even more extreme and are completely against any sort of animal exploitation and cruelty. We are not only talking about food, but also referring to any other product from animals, such as clothing, cosmetics, and drugs.

All that said, another big difference can lay on the two diets. Vegan diet and a plant-based diet can be antagonists in terms of healthiness. Being a vegan does not mean being healthy. Potato chips are 100% vegan, although it is far from being healthy. The plant-based can be considered beneficial because processed foods are the enemy.

According to the blog “Forks Over Knives”, for marketing purposes, lots of producers started to label ultra-processed vegan foods as “plant-based”, and maybe that is the reason why some people make a mistake when they say that vegan and plant-based diets are the same diets.