Earlier this month, UK-based bakery chain Greggs launched its much-anticipated vegan Quorn sausage roll. The “controversial” meatless sausage roll sparked backlash from “Good Morning Britain” host Piers Morgan and interest in plant-based eating nationwide. According to the BBC, an increased number of people took to Google to ask questions about the lifestyle – here are six of the most Googled.
1. Where Do Vegans Get Calcium? And 2. Where Do Vegans Get Protein?
For the top two questions, many asked how vegans get calcium and protein. “It’s been drilled into us all from a young age that calcium ‘makes your bones grow stronger’ – as a well-known advert goes,” the BBC wrote. As it turns out, it’s quite easy to get both nutrients on a planned vegan diet.
3. Are Vegans Healthier?
Another popular question was, “Are vegans healthier?” According to a growing body of medical evidence, a plant-based diet is one of the healthiest ways to eat, capable of reducing the risk of a number of health issues including heart disease, certain forms of cancer, high blood pressure, and type-2 diabetes.
4. How Do Vegans Bake a Cake?
People were curious about how vegan sweet-tooths make cake without animal ingredients, as eggs, butter, and milk are staple ingredients in baking. But, as proven in the first-ever vegan episode of the “Great British Bake-Off,” plant-based baking is not only possible, but also that the results are just as impressive.
Eggs can be replaced with flax seeds, chia seeds, or a vegan egg replacer. Butter can be swapped for vegan butter. According to Food52, soy milk is best for baking due to its high protein content.
Others asked if vegans can keep pets. The consensus was that vegans should always avoid purchasing pets from shops, but adoption is fine, as long as the pet is happy, healthy, and cared for.
5. Do Vegans Wear Wool?
The ethics of using wool was also on people’s minds. While sheep are not killed for wool, footage captured from shearing farms has uncovered that abuse is all too common. An investigative report released by international animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) revealed “farmers punching, beating, and kicking sheep.”
Many sheep are also subject to mulesing, a practice that involves cutting a portion of skin from sheep backsides to prevent flystrike. However, vegan alternatives to wool are on the rise.
6. Where Does the Word ‘Vegan’ Come From?
Last, but not least, people asked about the origin of the word “vegan.” The term was coined in the 1940s by Donald Watson, founder of The Vegan Society, in order to define vegetarians who avoided dairy.
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