What is Plant-Based or vegan food?
In recent years, vegan food, also known as plant-based food, has gained strength and has established itself as a way of life, not only for ethical issues, but also because of the great influence it can have on our health and the environment. But, what exactly is vegan food?
You could say that vegan food is food that excludes any ingredients of animal origin, including those that are produced by animals, such as eggs, milk and honey. Plant Based diets, as the name suggests, are made up entirely of 100% vegetable ingredients and stand out for being highly nutritious and beneficial for health if properly carried out, which is perhaps one of the reasons why more and more people are joining this trend, which is definitely here to stay.
“In 2021, the percentage of veggies in Spain grew by 34% to 13% of the population: 5 million people, of which 315 thousand are vegan” – Informe de Análisis The Green Revolution 2021”.
Why are more and more people following a Plant Based diet?
For personal health as well as for the health of the planet, vegan food has been proven to provide great benefits, Zyrcular Foods highlights the following:
- It reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.
- Increases fiber and water intake.
- It improves the level of vitamins A and C.
- Variety of options: textured pea burgers, pea protein meatballs, vegan croquettes with pea flour, or 100% vegetable cheeses are just some of the alternatives already available on the market, in addition to the well-known vegetable milk.
- Reduce environmental impact: The manufacture of animal-based foods has a much greater environmental impact, largely because more water, soil, and energy are used to produce the meat. If rich countries adopted plant-based diets, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by up to 61%. – Study published by Nature Food.