Burgers and bakes help record numbers go vegan

From foodservicefootprint.com

Plant-based launches by high street food brands helped almost half a million people go vegan last month, according to the organisers of Veganuary.

Hundreds of new vegan products and menu items were launched in January by restaurants, food-to-go chains and supermarkets.

KFC sold one million vegan burgers in the first month they were on sale, while Pizza Hut said the number of guests trying a vegan pizza had almost doubled.

The launch of Greggs’s Vegan Steak Bake was “bigger than we had originally anticipated”, according to the company which is now working on rolling the product out to all of its shops.
Deliveroo, meanwhile, said that orders of vegan dishes increased by 78% compared with January 2019 as many partners introduced new options to their menus.

Retailers also benefited from a record 400,000 people taking part in Veganuary. Sales of Hellman’s Vegan Mayo saw a growth of nearly 400% in Tesco, while M&S’ Plant Kitchen No Chicken Kiev has sold at a rate of four every minute since it launched on 2 January.

The organisers of Veganuary said growing awareness of the link between animal farming and the climate crisis had contributed towards making this year’s campaign the biggest yet.

https://www.foodservicefootprint.com/burgers-and-bakes-help-record-numbers-go-vegan/

What is a vegan diet? A guide for getting enough nutrients

From insider.com

If done right, a vegan diet can have many health benefits including a lower risk of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

Thinking about trying a vegan diet? You're not alone. An estimated 2% of Americans — or 5 million people — eat a vegan diet, according to a 2019 online survey by The Harris Poll.

Here's what you need to know about what a vegan diet is, how to eat right on a vegan diet, common nutritional deficiencies to watch for, and health benefits if you stick to it for the long haul.

A vegan diet is the most restrictive form of vegetarianism

The term vegan was coined by Donald Watson in 1944 from the first three and last two letters of vegetarian.
Vegetarian diets aren't all the same. They vary in the animal products that you can eat. The most common vegetarian diets include:

• Flexitarian: A diet that's mostly vegetarian but allows for meat and fish occasionally.
• Pescatarian: A diet that excludes all meat except fish.
• Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: A diet that allows eggs and milk.
• Lacto-vegetarian: A diet that excludes eggs but allows milk.
• Ovo-vegetarian: A diet that excludes milk but allows eggs.
• Vegan: A diet that excludes milk and eggs. Additional animal by-products such as honey may also be excluded.

The most restrictive, a vegan diet consists of vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Vegans have the same vitamin, mineral, and caloric needs as non-vegans, so a healthy vegan diet requires careful planning.
For example, a healthy, typical 2,000 calorie vegan diet should look like this:

• 2 to 4 servings of fruit will provide you with essential nutrients including antioxidants, folate, vitamin C, fibre, and potassium
• 2 to 3 servings of legumes will provide fibre, iron, protein, zinc, and magnesium
• 6 to 11 servings of whole grains will provide antioxidants, B-vitamins, fibre, iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium
• 2 to 3 servings of leafy greens will provide vitamin A, B-vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, iron, manganese, potassium
• 1 to 2 ounces of nuts will provide vitamin E, fibre, magnesium, selenium, calcium, protein, and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats 
• 1 to 3 tablespoons of seeds will provide copper, fibre, protein, phosphorus, manganese, thiamine, magnesium, and monounsaturated and omega 3, omega 6 polyunsaturated fats 
• 2 to 3 cups of fortified plant or nut milk will provide calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin E, and vitamin D
• For nutritional information on a specific food, check out the USDA's food nutrition database.

A vegan diet may lead to nutritional deficiencies if you're not careful

Consuming a vegan diet does not guarantee good health. "The vegan diet is not necessarily healthy," says Xin Ma, MD, PhD, a board-certified lifestyle medicine specialist at Baylor College of Medicine.

Highly processed foods can be part of a vegan diet and are packed with calories, fat, and sodium. Ma recommends limiting highly processed foods and instead of eating whole foods that have had no or minimal processing.
"If the vegan diet uses a lot of whole foods, then that's pretty much healthy," Ma says.

Also, people who follow a vegan diet may leave out, or consume too little of, certain types of foods, such as beans or nuts. These people, Ma says, may be missing key nutrients.
People who follow a vegan diet have been found to consume lower amounts of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 than people who eat meat and dairy. To avoid this, vegans should eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts.

It's also a good idea to include certain fortified foods like plant-based milks and whole-grain cereals so that you can get enough B12 in your diet since B12 is only present in animal products or fortified vegan-friendly foods.

Health benefits of a vegan diet

A well-planned vegan diet that is nutritionally adequate can offer health benefits and may even lower your risk for certain diseases.
A 2009 study in Diabetes Care found that vegans had a 49% lower likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes compared with meat-eaters.
A 2013 study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention showed that a vegan diet was associated with a 16% lower likelihood of developing cancer compared with a non-vegetarian diet.

Studies have also shown that vegans have healthier body weights and lower cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and rates of hypertension than meat-eaters and other vegetarians.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a vegan diet can be safe even for athletes, who may need to consume a high amount of calories, or children and adolescents, whose growing bodies demand certain nutrients for proper physical development. Pregnant or breastfeeding women can also safely consume a vegan diet.

https://www.insider.com/what-is-a-vegan-diet

How this vegan start-up business is powering growth overseas

From telegraph.co.uk/business

Investing in the right business tools was a vital step for New York-based vegan food company Daring Foods, which is officially launching into the US after a successful test in the British market

When sports enthusiast Ross Mackay became vegan in his early 20s, he did so hoping to find a tasty alternative to meat which would also provide a rich source of protein. However, now 28, the once successful tennis star (he was coached by Judy Murray and represented Scotland in the sport as a teenager) was soon left feeling very disappointed.

“I became tired of eating poor vegan meals,” he says. “I felt like I was missing out on the experience of food.” So, along with co-founder Eliot Kessas, he decided to launch a new vegan meat brand that he hoped would combine both a high level of taste with all the nutrients needed to play sport at an elite level.

Now just a year into its test market, Daring Foods’ alternative to chicken, Daring Pieces, is available in hundreds of restaurants and food outlets across the UK, and is now available in the US. “The reason we’ve grown so quickly is that a lot of our competitors have yet to close the gaps in taste and texture between their products and the real thing. We’ve accomplished this with a much more popular protein – chicken – which has enabled us to stand out from the crowd,” says Mr Mackay.

Importantly, the product isn’t just aimed at vegans, but also “flexitarians” who occasionally eat meat and fish too. The plant-based product comprises five main ingredients, including non-genetically modified soy, and is free from palm oil.

Investing for growth

Inevitably growing the business in such a short space of time has provided Daring Foods with a huge operational challenge, especially in managing more than a dozen wholesale partners and numerous product variations, known as stock keeping units (SKUs). “Until recently we were doing everything on Excel spreadsheets which was far from ideal,” says Mr Mackay.

All this changed when Daring Foods decided to reconsider the business software it was using. The company turned to Oracle NetSuite to help run the business more effectively. “It’s been a great relationship,” says Mr Mackay. “What NetSuite has enabled us to do is to really automate and centralise a lot of our key business functions, including accounting, financial reporting, stock management and customer relationship management (CRM).”

What’s more, because the solution was rolled out in just 40 days, the NetSuite solution has enabled Daring Foods to scale much faster than it would have been able to do without the technology in place. “We’re still a very small team but we are growing quickly thanks to NetSuite.”

Spreading the message

Fuelled by the latest software, Daring has ambitious plans for growth in the US, first into restaurants followed by a retail launch in early 2020 (the company’s distribution centre is in Philadelphia). There are also plans to expand into the Gulf region where veganism is growing strongly. “The demand in the GCC for plant-based alternatives has been tremendous, particularly in Dubai,” says Mr Mackay.
With the right technology now in place, Daring hopes it can scale its business even further and help spread plant-based chicken worldwide.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/unlock-potential-growth/how-a-vegan-start-up-is-powering-growth-overseas/?WT.mc_id=tmgspk_plrnlr_2829_AtwqDM4qwXcg&utm_source=tmgspk&utm_medium=plrnlr&utm_content=2829&utm_campaign=tmgspk_plrnlr_2829_AtwqDM4qwXcg&plr=1&mvpf=97d468b966a94975b133637755752536&mvpflabel=Front+page+email

How did the vegan sausage roll get so popular?

From bbc.com/worklife

A few years ago, vegan fast-food choices were limited – yet now the vegan sausage roll is a high-street staple. What’s behind its meteoric rise?

Blair Azzopardi knows his sausage rolls – those British staple snacks that are essentially sausages inside a baked pastry log. He ate his fair share of the flaky, savoury pastries as a child, which inspired him as an adult to try making them for his family. Azzopardi, a 46-year-old quantitative analyst living in the English county of Kent, has been vegan for six years. But that isn’t an obstacle to his sausage roll consumption.

Of course he’s tried the vegan sausage rolls from bakery chain Greggs, which debuted early in 2019 and caused an immediate sensation. There are plenty of other options too; off the top of his head he can name several supermarkets and cafés selling vegan sausage rolls, while his homemade version – store-bought sausages wrapped in ready-to-roll puff pastry – is simple and tasty.

It’s a far cry from Azzopardi’s early days of veganism, when choices were much more limited.

Vegetarian brand Quorn, which makes the mycoprotein used inside Greggs’ vegan products, didn’t even have vegan products in the UK until 2015. But today the vegan sausage roll has become a fixture of the British high street; early this year, coffee shop chain Caffè Nero rolled out its own version. It also contributed to a year-on-year sales increase of 13.5% for Greggs, and a subsequent windfall for both shareholders and staff.

So how did the vegan sausage roll come so far, so fast?

The vegan sausage roll has led to a 13.5% sales increase for the supermarket chain Greggs since it introduced the product last year (Credit: Alamy)

Veganising a meaty British staple
The sausage roll is a ubiquitous snack in the UK. “Kids grow up on these types of treats and a lot of young people really wanted something that works with their new ethics, so demand was there,” says Azzopardi of the market for a vegan version.
“It’s one of the staples when someone thinks of fast food,” agrees Chrysostomos Apostolidis, who researches food marketing at Northumbria University in England. It also helps, he points out, that sausage rolls tend to use low-quality meat and that nearly every vegan meat producer has a sausage product. This was ripe for veganising at low cost.

Greggs wasn’t the first UK bakery chain to trial a vegan sausage roll. According to a representative of the smaller chain Poundbakery, they started selling vegetarian sausage rolls in 2016 and a vegan version in 2018. Similarly, the Vegan Antics independent bakery in the English town of Gravesend included vegan sausage rolls on the menu when they opened in 2017.

But it was the move by Greggs – a nationwide chain with over 2,000 shops – that brought the vegan sausage roll into the national spotlight. It had apparently been mulling the idea for a while; Dawn Carr, director of vegan corporate projects at animal rights organisation Peta, says the charity first suggested in 2015 that Greggs roll out a vegan sausage roll. The chain outlined plans for a vegetarian sausage roll in 2018 but its CEO said creating a tasty vegan version with broad appeal was "more difficult to achieve". Hungry vegans responded with a petition, which was signed by over 20,000 people.

Behold, the sausage roll: a staple of British snacking. Its 'veganisation' has taken the country by storm (Credit: Getty Images)

A Greggs representative acknowledges the role of the petition but comments, “our research into the UK vegan market revealed that as few as 20% of Brits would even consider going vegan, suggesting a large majority are still undecided or resistant… Recognising that the vegan sausage roll needed to appeal to people on both sides of the dietary divide to make it, we knew we needed to position it as something much bigger than just another vegan product.”

Part of its success was down to savvy PR. Greggs launched its vegan sausage roll early in 2019, when the company knew the product would make a splash as part of "Veganuary", a UK campaign encouraging people to follow a vegan diet for the first month of the year. The PR team invited plenty of journalists to try the product, with vegan sausage rolls wrapped in faux iPhone packaging, and created a comically over-the-top promotional film.

They also received an unexpected hit of publicity from controversial TV presenter and columnist Piers Morgan, who famously tweeted: “Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns.” The backlash was fierce. Greggs’ social media team mounted a cheeky counterattack, and Morgan was heavily criticised for his overreaction. There was so much resulting goodwill for Greggs that the incident led to a conspiracy theory that Morgan had teamed up with the company to drum up attention.

Greggs’ success has led to a raft of copycats, even a foot-long version at supermarket chain Morrisons. “Leading [British] companies like Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer are tripping over themselves to release vegan sausage rolls – and global brands like Fry’s Family Food and Linda McCartney are also making the most of this in-demand product,” Peta’s Carr says. “We’ve also spotted family-owned bakeries – from Cooplands in Yorkshire to Coughlans Bakery in Surrey – taking advantage of the hype and offering their own hand-crafted versions.”

New consumers
So far, the market seems to be holding up. Vegan Antics cofounder Grace Apps believes that Greggs’ vegan line is ultimately positive, especially in locations without dedicated vegan businesses. “We personally haven’t felt negative effects of Greggs’ sausage roll launch, as our pastries are still as popular as ever, but it is a future concern as bigger companies introduce more vegan options at competitive prices,” Apps says. After all, a vegan sausage roll from Greggs or Poundbakery (which sells 2 for £1, or $1.31) could be one-third the price charged by an indie bakery.

But who exactly are the people buying these new products? After all, vegans only make up 1 to 2% of the British population, and vegetarians 7 to 10%. And while global demand for plant-based protein has risen dramatically, up from £2.9bn in 2015 to an expected £4bn in 2020, marketing lecturer Apostolidis believes vegans aren’t the only ones propelling meat substitutes in the UK. 
“The media, and probably we as a country, blow things out of proportion when we focus so much on the vegan segment,” he says. “What has grown exponentially is actually meat reducers or flexitarians."

Statistics show that 39% of British omnivores are actively reducing their meat consumption, and indeed half of meat-alternative sales are actually due to meat eaters. Apostolidis calls himself a meat reducer; he’s cut down on red meat, though he finds it hard to let go of bacon. Flexitarians like him are very attractive to food marketers. For one thing, while people over the age of 55 are more hesitant about vegetarian and vegan foods, younger consumers have been leading the change. The customer lifecycle is longer.

The majority of those limiting their meat consumption (over 80% in one study by Apostolidis and a colleague) are motivated primarily by health. This is a key difference to the reasons people go vegan or vegetarian. So while many may profess a desire to help the environment or animal welfare, when it comes to actually replacing meat, appealing to the health benefits is likely to have the biggest impact.

The paradox is that many vegan products that attract a big buzz, like Greggs’ vegan sausage roll, are far from healthy. “Consumers are quite funny,” Apostolidis comments. “Although they claim that they’re trying to reduce meat because it’s unhealthy, at the same time, they’re not willing to give up on the products they are used to or that they like. So when we say that something is meat-free, instantly, they believe that it would be healthier.”

The next big vegan thing
Meteoric though the rise of the vegan sausage roll market appears to have been, it’s not yet possible to accurately determine its size. Sales of meat-free foods in the UK rose 40% from £582m in 2014 to an estimated £816m in 2019, according to market intelligence agency Mintel. Edward Bergen, Mintel’s global food and drink analyst, says, “It’s very challenging to quantify the size of the vegan sausage roll market, because most sales are likely to be unbranded via food service outlets, such as cafés and bakeries, and their sales data is not readily available to people outside their organisations.”

And the Britishness of the sausage roll makes Apostolidis sceptical that vegan sausage rolls will take off overseas. “In the long term, what needs to happen is incorporating meat-free products in… the products that people are familiar with, rather than bringing something that is a bit of a strange product to them.”

That’s what’s happening in the UK; in 2019, 23% of new food products were labelled as vegan, an increase from 17% the year before. And new launches keep coming. “In the first week of January 2020, [café chain] Costa launched its vegan Smoky Ham & CheeZe Toastie, Greggs released a vegan steak bake, and [fast casual chain] Pret [a Manger] introduced a jammy new dairy-free croissant – to name just a few,” says Peta’s Carr.

Yet Apostolidis warns, “What I wouldn’t want to see is this becoming a bubble.” He urges companies to properly commit to meat-free products rather than jump on a bandwagon, by being strategic and devoting sufficient resources to these new items. He sees these as instrumental to Greggs’ success with its vegan sausage rolls.

This kind of strategic thinking would be a win-win-win for customers, businesses and the planet alike.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200202-how-did-the-vegan-sausage-roll-get-so-popular

23 things that shocked me when I went vegan for a month

From getsurrey.co.uk

Here are some of the things that surprised SurreyLive reporter Laura Nightingale when she did Veganuary

Vegan this, vegan that, it has certainly become a topic of conversation in both the newsroom and among my circle of friends.
With some of the UK's biggest chains launching new vegan-friendly products this year and some of my favourite Surrey restaurants bringing out plant-based alternatives, I was keen to see what all the fuss was about.

 powered by plista

So I pledged to give up animal products for one month and join the thousands of others taking part in Veganuary.

The first few days of going vegan was exciting, fun and pretty easy.
But halfway through, I hit a wall, struggled to fight off peer pressure and I had a really strange craving for eggs.
Here are some of the things that shocked me when I went vegan for 31 days.

              Laura Nightingale tests out the vegan menu at Harvester in Frimley Green

1. Eating at chain restaurants is easy

Whether they are competing against each other or simply more mindful of people with dietary requirements these days, eating out at chain restaurants was effortless.
There were plenty of options on the menu allowing me to try dishes I would never order normally such as "fish-less" fish and chips and pulled roasted jackfruit.
Wagamam, Pho and Las Iguanas were among my favourite high street chains for trying vegan food.

                                            Fiesta Ensalada at Las Iguanas in Woking

2. Eating at your local pub was not easy

However, in stark contrast finding a vegan dish on the menu down my local pub was much trickier.
You'd find one or two vegetarian dishes, normally a risotto or a brie tart, but vegan-friendly options not so much.
To get round this predicament, I would order a side of chips and a salad.
But with that said, many of the pubs I did go to were happy to adapt dishes to suit me which was fantastic.
Asking the waiter in front of other people in the pub was embarrassing though and I felt like I was being difficult.

3. There seems to be milk in everything

I learnt to read the ingredients on everything I picked up from the supermarket and I was shocked to find that milk powder was sneaked into so many foods.
Salad dressings, bread, cereal, and even ready salted crisps — why did they contain milk?!
I was pleasantly surprised, however, that some everyday foods, which I definitely thought were off the cards, were actually vegan, such as bourbon biscuits and jam doughnuts from the Co-op.

4. You feel like the odd one out

Like I said, there were occasions that I felt embarrassed when dining out.
I felt awkward asking if there was a vegan alternative or if a dish could be tweaked.
None of my friends or family joined me in the Veganuary challenge which made me feel a bit isolated.
However, I ploughed on through.

5. It's hard eating at other people's houses

This was the biggest challenge I faced.
On one occasion I went round a friend's house and she was cooking spaghetti bolognese for everyone.
She freaked out when I said I wasn't eating meat and said she had no idea what to cook me.
I was happy to make up a little bolognese for me at home using tinned lentils, chickpeas and chopped tomatoes and bring it with me, so she could serve it alongside the pasta.
Tupperware has become my new best friend.

6. My dad can't get his head around it

I don't know whether it's an age thing or if it's just because he is the biggest steak lover I know, but my dad couldn't get to grips with me doing Veganuary.
He like many others I know think vegan food tastes disgusting and consists only of lettuce leaves.
While so many more people are adopting a vegan lifestyle nowadays, it's still going to take a long time to convince the majority.

7. I don't like quinoa

I tried it about half a dozen times at restaurants over January but I just don't like it.
It may be packed full of protein, fibre and other nutrients, but for me, it just tasted bitter, grainy and nutty.

8. I now love tofu

On the other hand, I have become obsessed with tofu.
It took me a good couple of weeks experimenting with the soya product to know what to do with it, but once I knew what I was doing, I was hooked.
For a speedy supper, I threw cubes of it in a wok and stir-fried it with noodles, lots of veggies and soy sauce.
I have also discovered the amazing dish that is tofu scramble (see below).

9. I really missed eggs

I didn't think I was that fussed about eggs until I had to cut them out of my diet.
Not only is egg listed on the labels of so many foods including some breads, poachies on toast were one of our weekend staples being so quick and easy (plus cheap) to rustle up.
In a bid to cater for my odd egg craving I learnt the art of cooking tofu scramble and it has changed my life.

All you need to do it is throw some firm tofu in a frying pan, mash it up, add a pinch of black salt if you have it or just normal table salt if you don't, a pinch of black pepper, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, a splash of soya milk and 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast (available in most major supermarkets).

10. You can bake a vegan cake

I love baking and when it comes to birthdays in my family, they all call on me to make the cake.
With eight birthdays among us in January, it was a great opportunity to tweak my classic Victoria sponge recipe and make it vegan-friendly.
Now feeling smug that it can be done, I also experimented with my new favourite ingredient (tofu) and conjured up a vanilla tofu cheesecake.
You can find the recipe on Instagram @cakeontherun.

            Very healthy vanilla cheesecake by CakeOnTheRun (Image: @cakeontherun)

11. Food labelled 'vegan' is expensive

This became a bug bear of mine.
Just because it is labelled as vegan it doesn't need to be double the price.
I learnt to look out for everyday products that were naturally vegan to save me so many pennies.
Plus I kept an eye out for buy one get one free offers and 50% off deals to stock up.
After all, my wallet was pretty battered from Christmas.

12. Vegan shampoo and conditioner is lush

I attempted where I could to expand my vegan habit to my lifestyle as well as my diet.
I switched my shower gel, shampoo and conditioner to a vegan-friendly brand and I discovered Faith in Nature.

I first came across it in Holland and Barrett and later realised Oxfam in Guildford stocked it too.

It is more expensive than the other brands I used to buy, but it smells divine, lasted all month and I will be continuing to only use this from now on.
Friends, please take note for my birthday.

13. Food shopping has become fun

I don't tend to nip into Tesco Express on my way home from work as much anymore as I can't always get everything I need, plus as I plan ahead now I don't run out of things as often.
I've started shopping at some specialised shops and testing out some excitingly new (to me) products.
I've also discovered the amazing Free From aisle at my local supermarket.

14. Vegan cheese doesn't taste the same as non-vegan cheese

While there are many plant-based alternatives that taste very similar to the real thing, I am not convinced with cheese just yet.
Melting it seems to be the biggest challenge as it doesn't drip the way it normally does.
However, that said, I've never been a huge cheese fan anyway, shock horror, so I can't say I missed it in all four weeks of going vegan.

15. There is an amazing vegan-friendly café in Guildford

Tucked away behind Guildford train station is a fantastic café which is 100% vegan.
Not the easiest place to find, with it being a 15-minute walk from the town centre and The Friary, Brasil Vegano Café is inspired by Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest.
It opened at the end of last year, just in time for my vegan journey.

16. It took me a month to like soya milk

Soya milk does not taste anything like dairy milk.
I can't start my day without a hot brew at my desk so I needed to find a suitable alternative.
After a month of persisting with soya milk, I've now become acclimatised to it.
I tried rice milk and almond milk in tea but it was too weak, however, I have found oat milk to be very lovely.

17. I now like dark chocolate

Once a month I do get a monstrous craving for chocolate.
I needed to satisfy that craving.
As a huge bar of Dairy Milk was off-limits, I picked up a bar of dark chocolate instead.
Again, after a bit of persisting, I am now a big fan.
Lindt Excellence Caramel With Touch Of Sea Salt is a dream.
Plus I need far less of it to please my appetite as it is richer than the milk variety.

18. I'm now a huge fan of meal prepping

Making a vegan dish at home requires a bit of planning as it requires a bit more effort than just throwing a chicken breast in the oven and some spuds on the stove.
So on a Sunday and a Wednesday I would spend a few hours in the kitchen and get my batch cooking on.

Being that it's winter, coming home to a hearty veggie stew or cosy lentil (Shepherd's) pie that only needed heating up was the best.
I need to get myself a slow cooker.

19. There is so much support on social media

I am an Instagram addict, so naturally I started following other people who were in the same boat as me.
I learnt that thousands of others shared the same solitary feelings at a restaurant and difficulties at other people's houses.
Social media has become a place for me to share concerns, pick up recipe ideas and ask silly questions.
It made me feel connected and united with other vegans out there, so thank you, guys.

20. Linda McCartney sausages are incredible

I first found a pack of these lurking down the freezer aisle of Sainsbury's.
As they were on offer I thought I would give them a go. Wow.

The texture is nothing like a normal pork sausage, it's better.
They are soft, juicy, flavoursome and taste wonderful with a big dollop of mash, peas and a jug of gravy on the side.
They also taste awesome in a butty with ketchup.

I now always keep a couple of boxes in my freezer at home - ideal for when I want a quick dinner and need to find something to shove in the oven.
They normally cost £2 for a pack of six.

21. Being vegan doesn't mean healthy

Many people I know, my father included, assume vegan means healthy.
While it does encourage you to eat a lot more vegetables and pulses, there are plenty of vegan foods out there which are junk food.
If you only eat the vegan convenience foods on the shelf, you'll end up putting on weight.
Just because a pizza or chocolate cake is vegan doesn't mean it hasn't got any calories.

22. You won't be able to touch office snacks

No one in the SurreyLive office is vegan, so when it came to birthday snacks I had to resist the cupcakes.
Thankfully, at the start of the month, I filled my desk draw up with some sweets so I didn't get withdrawal symptoms.
It's all about planning.

23. I want to give up more animal products from now on

I had one slip up during the 31 days, after all, I'm only human.
But the little hiccup did not stop me from continuing the challenge.

I fell in love with plenty of new products - tofu, Linda's sausages and Faith in Nature toiletries to name a few - and I will be putting them in my shopping basket from now on.

I really enjoyed taking part in Veganuary and it has inspired me to consume far less animal products in future, both in my diet and lifestyle.

Now to convince the husband.

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/lifestyle/lifestyle-opinion/23-things-shocked-went-vegan-17655795

Can you build muscle on a vegan diet?

From standard.co.uk

The trend for plant-based living showing no signs of slowing down, but how sustainable is it if you work out regularly?

                                            Photo by FOODISM360 on Unsplash

We are nearing the end of January meaning a record number of people will have ditched meat and dairy in favour of a plant-based approach over the last four weeks in what is now known as veganuary.


There are plenty of reasons to quit or at least dramatically reduce your meat intake, be it ethical, environmental or health-related. One thing that stops some from committing to a plant-based diet full-time, however, is a concern that they'll miss out on vital nutrients such as protein, which is a crucial element of any diet, but considered particularly important to those who work out regularly as it helps to repair damaged muscle tissue after exercise and aids recovery.

So if you've made it thus far on the veganuary wagon and are considering a longer-term approach: is a vegan diet sustainable if you live a very active lifestyle? And can you build muscle on a plant-based diet? 

Edric Kennedy-Macfoy, a fireman-turned-fitness coach, argues you can in his new book about how he fuels his fitness regime with a plant-based diet. As a keen weight lifter, who used to take part in bodybuilding competitions, he once guzzled glasses of milk at breakfast – even though he didn't like the taste – downed whey protein shakes and piled meat and dairy products into every meal of the day because he believed it was the only way to build muscle, "a typical day might include six eggs, salmon and avocado for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch and something similar for dinner," he says.

But his approach has changed dramatically now that he follows a strict vegan diet and he says he's physically in the best shape he's ever been. In his book, The Fit Vegan, he documents how he has built muscle mass and changed his body composition while going green.

There is a growing trend among some athletes who are choosing to follow vegan diets and the recent Netflix documentary The Game Changers featured the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton and Novak Djokovic. Grand slam star Venus Williams also lives on a plant-based diet and there's now even a growing community of vegan bodybuilders. 

So what do the experts say?

                                                 (Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash)

In a 2017 study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, noting a general lack of available literature on how to manage a vegan diet for sport or athletic purposes, David Rogerson of Sheffield Hallam University set about reviewing existing papers to find out if  a vegan diet really can meet the needs of an athlete.

He found that, on the whole, vegans tend to consume less calories and their diets are usually lower in things like protein, fat, B12 (a vitamin which is predominantly found in meat, fish and dairy), iron, calcium and some fatty acids, along with other micronutrients, compared to meat eaters, but that they also tend to be higher in carbs and fibre, which is partially why it can be hard to achieve a high energy intake on a plant-based eating regime because plant-based foods typically make you feel fuller.

Rogerson also noted that some plant-based protein is less well absorbed than animal-based protein, so there could be an argument for upping your intake on a plant-based diet. But overall , he concluded that a vegan diet could meet requirements of an athlete providing special attention is paid to calorie consumption (making sure you're getting enough) and macro and micro nutrient recommendations, alongside appropriate supplementation.

Renee Mcgregor, registered dietician and sports and eating disorder specialist, says: "If you are weight training specifically and want to gain muscle mass, it's a question of being in a positive energy balance, and you are going to have to eat quite a high volume of food to get there on a vegan diet, it's not going to be as simple as it would be if you were doing it with all food groups.

"That's the first barrier I face when I'm working with vegan athletes, trying to get enough energy in – you can’t make up the energy with chickpeas and lentils because they are very low in calories naturally. Trying to give them enough variety is another thing I really struggle with, and finding enough instant sources – it's much harder," she adds. "Yes, there are more dairy free options but they don’t have the same carbs and protein, so you’re often relying on having to make your own by adding pea protein to your oat milk for example, which is just more of a faff."

The protein question

When it comes to getting sufficient protein from a vegan diet, it's important to understand that not all plant-based sources of protein are created equal when it comes to their amino acid profile, and Kennedy-Macfoy says he thinks a lack of awareness of things like this is why some people find it difficult to sustain a vegan diet.

There are 20 amino acids, also known as the building blocks of protein, of which nine are essential, meaning your body cannot make them up (like it can the other 11) and needs to consume them through food. Meat, fish and dairy products are known as complete proteins as they contain all nine essential amino acids, but only a few plant protein sources do, and they include things like quinoa, chia seeds and soy. Lentils, grains and legumes, however, do not and are known as incomplete proteins.



"It's knowing things like if you're eating legumes, you're not getting a complete profile, but if you eat grains with legumes like black beans and rice, or pasta and peas then you're covered, because together they have all nine essential amino acids." Since following a plant-based regime, he says he has cut his protein intake in half since his milk-guzzling days from 2-3g per kilo of bodyweight and now aims for around 1-1.5g per kilo, which is relatively low compared to current British Nutrition Foundation guidelines.

Mcgregor meanwhile recommends between 0.8-1g per kilo of bodyweight for the general population and between 1.6g and 2.2g per kilo for athletes, depending on requirements. "If you’re new to weight training, then your requirements are very high for your first three to four months," she adds, though this does eventually settle down, "even when it does you wouldn’t drop much below 1.4-1.6g to kilo bodyweight of protein."

The truth is, how much protein you need is a hotly debated topic in the nutrition world, and is likely to be highly personal to you and dependent on a number of things, including how you work out and how often.

The important thing is to avoid displacing one food group with another, Mcgregor warns. "That’s my biggest fear with vegans sometimes you look at a diet and it looks healthy, colourful and full of veg, but then when you look at the calorie content, the energy is so displaced because they are filling up with quite a high volume of vegetables."

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/wellness/how-to-build-muscle-on-a-vegan-diet-plant-based-eating-ditness-a4339916.html

Marks and Spencer launches affordable vegan cruelty free skincare range

From thesun.co.uk

Marks and Spencer has launched a vegan skincare range, PURE following growing demand for vegan beauty in the UK.

The skincare collection is formulated with 95% naturally derived ingredients aiming to deliver lasting and visible results to skin.

                               Marks and Spencer has launched a new Vegan skincare range

The range focuses on fewer but more effective standout ingredients such as Starflower Oil, Resveratrol and Blackcurrant Seed Oil, many of which are grown here in the UK.
The PURE range is available in store and online at marksandspencer.com now.

The Vegan and Cruelty-free range is formulated with no parabens, artificial colours, synthetic fragrances, silicones or mineral oils.
It's divided into three ranges, PURE Ultimate Cleanse, PURE Super Hydrate, and PURE Natural Radiance.

All three products designed to give you healthy, glowing skin and allowing you to be your most beautiful, natural self.
But what's included in the range?

PURE Ultimate Cleanse

A collection of daily cleansers all designed to clean, soothe and hydrate skin, the PURE Ultimate Cleanse range also features a toner to firm, smooth and refine skin for a brighter, more radiant complexion.

• Ultimate Cleanse Rose Cleansing Balm, £12
• Ultimate Cleanse Hot Cloth Cleanser, £12
• Ultimate Cleanse Gentle Face Wash, £5
• Ultimate Cleanse Micellar Water, £7
• Ultimate Cleanse Micellar Cleansing Oil, £10
• Ultimate Cleanse Glycolic Toner, £10

PURE Super Hydrate

Rejuvenate and restore dry, dehydrated or tired skin with this effective line-up of daily hydrators. Created to keep skin moisturised, supple and glowing throughout the day, the PURE Super Hydrate range features formulas that are suitable for all skin types.

• Super Hydrate Essence, £10
• Super Hydrate Day Cream SPF15, £16
• Super Hydrate Oil Treatment, £18
• Super Hydrate Serum, £18
• Super Hydrate Night Cream, £16
• Super Hydrate Eye Serum, £14

PURE Natural Radiance

When skin is feeling lifeless and lacklustre you need hardworking, effective solutions that are formulated to help rediscover your skin’s natural glow. The PURE Natural Radiance range uses naturally derived ingredients known for their ability to improve resilience and luminosity, to bring you skin that feels firmer, brighter and more glowing.

• Natural Radiance Day Cream SPF15, £16
• Natural Radiance Serum, £18
• Natural Radiance Oil Treatment, £18
• Natural Radiance Night Cream, £16
• Natural Radiance Overnight Resurfacing Mask, £14
• Natural Radiance Eye Cream, £15

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/10836627/marks-and-spencer-launch-vegan-skincare/