A Beginner’s Guide to Going Vegan and Living Your Best Plant-Based Life
Once associated almost exclusively with granola-crunching hippies, the vegan diet isn’t nearly as fringe as it was, say, 30 years ago (Beyonce’s dabbled in it, for crying out loud, while Brad Pitt and Ellen Degeneres have been vegan for years!). Still, it can continue to draw some blank stares or skeptical eyebrow-raises from those who aren’t entirely familiar with what it actually means. Some people think “vegan” is an abbreviated way to say “vegetarian.” Then there are others who are convinced that being vegan means eating salads three meals a day. Let’s start clearing some things up.
What Does Being Vegan Mean?
A vegan diet focuses on plant-based foods and beverages and eliminates all animal products. Its anchoring aim is to eliminate the use and harm of living beings. While vegetarians still consume dairy and eggs, vegans remove any and all animal byproducts, or foods that involve animals in their …