Like many young people leaving home, Steven Walton ate very few vegetables and a lot of meat. Time starved, his diet often extended to what was quickly available. Walton decided to live like a vegan for a month to see if it improved his health. As the trend of restricting meat intake grows globally, Nadine Porter will pose the question to Walton – will he stay beef, or will he embrace the leaf?
It was November 1944, a time when wartime shortages were at their peak in the United Kingdom.
Farmers had been hit hard when tuberculosis raged through dairy cows the year before, causing 40 per cent of British cows to be culled.
On the back of the disease, British woodworker Donald Watson saw an opportunity to prove a lifestyle he promoted would protect the public from tainted food.
That lifestyle was plant-based and avoided dairy and eggs – unlike the vegetarian movement.
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Watson coined a new term for his diet: vegan.
Born in Yorkshire, Watson’s attitudes to eating animal products forever changed when he witnessed the slaughtering of a pig on his uncle’s farm.
The idyllic view he held of farming was instantly shattered. Instead, he saw the pastoral vocation as a death row for animals.
At 14, he became a committed vegetarian, but by his 30s had decided to give up dairy products as well, citing them as unethical.
His decision didn’t come without controversy.
After he announced he was a vegan and co-founded The Vegan Society, critics admonished him and claimed he could not survive on such a limited diet.
But Watson proved them wrong and went on to be considered the father of the modern vegan movement, dying at the ripe old age of 95 in 2005.
Although many people associate the vegan diet with better health outcomes, evidence has been inconsistent.
A 2021 review on the association of plant-based diet with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality did find the lifestyle could provide a risk reduction for CVD if a healthy plant-based diet was consumed.
However, a review conducted by the Cochrane Library of 38 papers, seven trial registrations and eight ongoing trials found there was insufficient information to draw conclusions about the effects of vegan dietary interventions on CVD.
Believing the vegan diet equals better health has been a claim Christchurch dietician Lea Stening was wary when advising journalist Steven Walton on his month-long vegan experiment.
Stening says the fat, salt and sugar issues that may have contributed to Walton’s weight gain that elevated the risks of heart disease and cancerstill need to be considered when replacing meat and dairy foods with vegan alternatives.
“Just because that dark chocolate, yoghurt, cheese or cake has coconut oil instead of cream, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s lower in energy, saturated fat or sugar.”
Stening’s point is best illustrated by using coconut milk as a replacement for cow’s milk. Standard cow’s milk has about 8.75g of protein per 250ml cup – more than twice the 4g in coconut milk.
But the real difference came in fat and calcium levels with coconut milk having 40.2g of fat per cup as opposed to about 8.75g in standard cow’s milk.
Needed to build healthy and strong bones, calcium is 305mg per cup in standard cow’s milk, but just 10.2mg in the plant alternative.
However, sodium is lower in coconut milk at 51mg per cup compared to 98mg.
Anyone changing to a vegan diet needs to consider and plan for the essential nutrients they may lack including protein, iron and zinc from dropping meat plus vitamin B12 and calcium from eradicating dairy, Stening says.
And then there’s the booming meat replacement industry with king hitters like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and New Zealand’s own Sunfed chicken jockeying for a place in a fast-rising market.
Some meat alternatives have proven to be high in sodium with Sunfed at 530mg per 100g, although it has a high iron content of 9mg and high protein levels at 36g.
Chicken has just 41mg of sodium per 100g, but has lower protein and iron levels at 22.3g and 0.4mg respectively.
Ideally, Stening believes we should all try to reduce our intake of processed meats – whether real or man-made – to reduce our intake of preservatives and sodium.
“Being able to read and understand food labels will become an increasingly important life skill.”
First vegan steps
Disconcerting best describes Steven Walton’s first week foray into becoming a vegan.
With only minimal cooking skills and no knowledge of the definition of what his lifestyle allows him to eat, he has struggled to adapt.
Long work hours, coupled with learning to cook Green Dinner Box recipes saw him eat some dour meals that were overcooked, or under seasoned.
It was not a great start.
On one night he doesn’t eat dinner until near midnight after working late.
Then there’s the breakfast and lunch dilemma. What will he replace dairy milk with? And when he goes to make a sandwich he can’t use butter, he doesn’t have the right cheese, and he certainly can’t use ham.
Initially, Walton does go against his dietician’s advice and skips some breakfast and lunch meals purely because he can’t find a quick option.
But by the end of the week he begins to get into the groove – learning to prepare his meals ahead of time.
Soy milk becomes a new go-to, and he’s researching labels. All of it, however, has clearly shown the challenge in front of the young journalist.
Walton’s not alone in trying to go cold turkey on meat and dairy, with the president of the Christchurch Vegan Society, Yolanda Soryl, doing the same 32 years ago.
In her 20s, Soryl’s move from living in a family of freezing workers, where meat was always on the table, was surprising.
But her love of animals began to make her question her food choices in both their welfare and the planetary impact of producing meat.
Although uncomfortable, Soryl didn’t immediately change.
“I would say I was the world’s most reluctant vegan.”
Eventually though, her conscience pushed her to try veganism for a week.
After the seven days, Soryl was, as she puts it, “still alive” – so she tried another week.
That quickly became a month, and before she knew it she had been a vegan for a year.
“In the end, what drove me to it was really that peace of mind of living in a way that aligns with your values,” she said.
When Soryl began living as a vegan in 1989, the world was a different place and choices were far more limited than they are today.
“Nobody knew what a vegan was,” Soryl recalls. “People couldn’t say the word correctly.”
Supermarkets looked different and vegan products like plant-based milk were only just becoming available. “I stopped eating cereal because there was no milk.”
But for all the complexities of turning vegan in a predominantly meat-eating New Zealand society, she never thought her decision was challenging.
Living her values, feeling healthy and being part of an international community of vegans has been positive, she believes.
“Vegans are very helpful, and they’ll go a long way to help other vegans.”
Dispelling some myths around veganism, Soryl says she never lacks energy and has protein with every meal.
“You can’t just have a dinner full of vegetables.”
She urges people like Walton to join a vegan community when they make the change, for advice and also to share frustrations or concerns.
“The hardest thing about being vegan is always dealing with non-vegans saying stupid things.”
Soryl also advises anyone embarking on a vegan diet to be prepared.
Now she has myriad go-to meals including vegan nachos, burritos, lasagne, burgers, pizza, and favourite salt and pepper tofu, which she has several times a week.
“People think of being vegan as going without, but I see vegan as adding so much to my life.”
RYAN ANDERSON/STUFF
Reporter Josephine Franks went along to the 2019 vegan pie awards to see how the judges were getting on. (First published November 1, 2019)
A changing diet
A 2020 survey by Colmar Brunton shows New Zealanders’ diets have been changing substantially in recent years.
The poll found 15 per cent of Kiwis aged 18 and over always, or mostly, ate plant-based meals – a50 per cent increase on 2019.
Data also showed 49 per cent of Kiwis agreed they needed to change their diet to save the environment.
Foodstuffs corporate affairs manager Emma Wooster has seen the growing trend towards plant-based foods, saying it’s “showing no signs of slowing down”.
The company owns supermarket giants Pak ’n Save and New World and Wooster says as many as one in three New Zealanders are now limiting meat consumption for a range of reasons.
Figures for 2021 show sales of chilled vegetarian products rose 4 per cent at New World’s North Island stores. The most popular product was tofu.
Demand has led budget brand Pams to recently launch a vegan range with 15 different products, Wooster says.
In the frozen foods section, pea protein has been a popular new vegan-alternative food but soy-based products “remain the staple”.
Wooster expects falafel, tofu, vegan patties and sausages to be among the most popular this summer, especially at barbecues.
A Countdown spokeswoman says they are also seeing more customers adopt planet-friendly diets, particularly in milks, yoghurts and meat alternatives.
Demand for vegan and vegetarian chilled foods, such as veggie burgers and falafel, has increased by more than 30 per cent in the past year, the spokesperson says.
The supermarket intends to continue growing its vegan options, she says, adding there are presently 45 meat-alternative products available at their stores.
Soryl sees the change in Kiwi diets as a positive. “It’s great for the animals and the environment.”
Steven’s week one vegan diet challenges:
Weight: 91.8 kilograms
Trying to learn what can be eaten on a vegan diet
Learning to be prepared with food
Having to cook more which can be challenging
Sometimes skipping meals because there isn’t an easy option available
Read Part Three on Tuesday: The animal question. As Steven Walton enters week two of his four-week vegan diet we look at our growing discomfort with meat.