October 2019: Going Vegan

The Challenge

95% vegan diet

My Story

Diet. Diet. Diet. My diet has always been a struggle. As a type-1-diabetic, I have to watch what I eat carefully. I have been a vegetarian since I was 16. For about seven years, I have been an on and off vegan.

The Turn When I really felt that a vegan diet doesn’t just serve the planet, but that it also makes me feel so much better, I went almost all the way.

A Vegan Diet Sometimes when I am out, I order a salad which has cheese on it. I try to take my own food most of the time, but sometimes life happens.

Why it Matters

Body

• Health There is countless contradictory studies about what is healthy and what isn’t. More recent research shows, that there is no one approach that works for everyone. Some people are more prone to develop insulin resistance, for them, it’s more advisable to eat a low carb diet.

Mind

• Depression We are what we eat. Our bodies and our brains are biochemical organisms. What we eat effects our biochemistry.

Umwelt

• Greenhouse Gases A study, published in October in the journal Nature, found that as a result of population growth and the continued consumption of Western diets high in red meats and processed foods, the environmental pressures of the food system could increase by up to 90% by 2050. The production of animal products generates the majority of food-related greenhouse-gas emissions, up to 78% of total agricultural emissions.
• Land Degradation All in all, livestock production occupies the vast majority of agricultural land and is the main reason why 50% of the wildlife we share our planet with has disappeared since the start of the industrial revolution.

The Challenge in Detail

Vegan, low carb. As a diabetic this works best for me. It can be a challenge to get your proteins in, when you eat a vegan diet. For me that works through eating tofu, vegan protein powders and legumes.

Sources As much as possible, I buy organic produce. As I live in Germany, in near proximity to an abundance of organic stores, it’s easy.