A girl in my journalism class decided to go vegan to see what it was like and write a piece about her experience for our school’s paper. She inspired me to finally satisfy my curiosity as well, so I went vegan for seven days to form my own opinion about the current fad of veganism. Veganism has rapidly caught on in the past few years, and it appears to be sticking for some. Celebrities such as Liam Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, and Woody Harrelson have all publicly announced their vegan lifestyle choice. Whether it’s because of health reasons, an intense love of animals and the environment, or another personal reason, going vegan is challenging no matter your motive. Vegans don’t eat anything that comes from an animal, which means avoiding eggs, dairy, and obviously, meat. This cuts out most foods we find on our plates daily, disqualifying everything from your cheese omelet breakfast to your grilled chicken and buttered potatoes dinner. You have to think about the ingredients in every piece of food you eat, even the less obvious ones containing a dairy or egg base. I tried to be a strict vegan for only a week, and here’s what I noticed.
1. It's Not As Easy As It Sounds.
"Just don’t eat anything that comes from an animal." It sounds easy, right? I thought I’d just order a salad instead of chicken at dinner, but it wasn’t that simple. I had to think about everything that would be in a meal. I couldn’t eat certain salads because its dressing is ranch, and ranch is made with milk. I couldn’t order vegetable soup because it’s made with chicken broth nor a vegetarian sandwich because it has cheese in it. Even honey isn’t considered vegan because it comes from bees.
2. It Was More An Inconvenience Than Anything Else.
Even though I didn’t miss a lot of the foods that I thought I would, I won’t lie; it was pretty annoying passing up a glazed doughnut or Ippolito’s garlic roll when with friends. While I found myself actually liking a lot of vegan dishes, it irritated me having to be constantly on guard about every inconspicuous ingredient. While I found eating at home to be a lot less stressful than finding a vegan order at a restaurant, it still took a lot of effort and attention to remain purely vegan.
To my knowledge, I only messed up once. I put some red sauce on my plain pasta, thinking it would only contain tomatoes and some spices, not noticing the finely-ground meat in it until halfway through the meal.3. It Reminded Me Of Being Lactose Intolerant.
Although eating whatever kinds of foods I want has not always been the norm for me, I have gotten very comfortable with it. I’m lactose intolerant, meaning I have acid reflux whenever I eat dairy. I couldn’t go out for regular ice cream as a kid or drink real milk until about sixth grade when we finally found AloeCure, a medicine that reliably controlled it. I had to take my lunch to school and watch what ingredients were in foods at my friends’ houses. I still have to drink some AloeCure every other morning, but other than that, I don’t really notice when I eat dairy anymore. The conscientious nature vegans are required to have reminded me of when I had to notice every hidden dairy product in meals; it's very time-consuming and slows down the regular restaurant ordering process a lot.
4. Some Regular Brands Of Foods Are Accidentally Vegan.
A lot of foods, mainly snacks and candies, which are very heavily or entirely artificially produced accidentally contain no animal byproducts. Therefore, not a lot of people know these products are suitable for the vegan diet because there is no label, seeing as it wasn't originally made for vegans. These sweet coincidences allow even the strictest of vegans to enjoy classics such as Swedish Fish, Oreos, Fruit by the Foot, Duncan Hines Double Fudge Decadent Brownie Mix, classic and barbecue flavored Pringles and Lay’s, Sour Patch Kids, Wheat Thins, and disconcertingly, Hershey’s Syrup, just to name a few.
5. I Actually Enjoyed A Lot Of Vegan Foods.
While a lot of my school lunches consisted of plain pita bread with oil and vinegar, fruit, and carrots from the salad bar, a lot of my dinners were meals I’ll definitely eat again. One of my favorites was zucchini pasta topped with tree nut cheese, olive oil, and spices paired with half a toasted vegan bagel spread with Smart Balance butter, which my family always used to use without knowing it's vegan. It was delectable and satisfying, which were not two words I was expecting to use to describe my vegan experiment.
While I don’t think I’ll become a die-hard vegan anytime soon, I did genuinely enjoy a lot of vegan meals. It wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be, but I surprised myself and discovered some new, natural foods that I probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise. I also have a high newly-found respect for strict vegans who have passionate beliefs about animal rights and are consistent in their beliefs and lifestyle. They are mentally and physically committed and are very impressive because following a strictly plant-based diet can be tricky. For anyone who’s curious about the vegan lifestyle, I would recommend reading up on it, thoroughly informing yourself about people's reasons for going vegan, and then trying it for a week or two. Even if you don’t decide to stick with it, it’s still a very educational experience that helps to broaden your mind and palate whilst helping you understand some other people’s lifestyles and choices. We should all strive to communicate with people who live differently, listen to their stories, and respectfully share our own because that's the only way we are going to understand, improve, and expand our worldviews. Keep exploring, and don't be afraid to try something new.
