Holistic Vegan

For new & budding vegans, it can be hard to get support if you find that people around you aren't interested in or worse actively oppose your new dietary & lifestyle choices.  I've found that YouTube can be a very useful place for inspiration, recipes and a bit of camaraderie, but it can also be a toxic mix of bad advice, attention seekers, hysteria and hypocrisy. I've spent a few good years sorting the wheat from the chaff, so as it's Veganuary and I know there are lots of new vegans out there looking for good resources, I'm going to share my favourite Vegan YouTube channels. Here we go, in no particular order... Happy Healthy Vegan Ryan & Anji are an adorable SoCal couple with two cats. Their videos are generally feel-good and positive, with great tips and sensible advice. Ryan also does response videos to some of the more controversial topics, and he's always well balanced and kind.  Definitely one of my faves. They're both m

It's 1st January and along with many other New Years Resolutions that seem hard or even impossible to achieve, I'm aware that lots of people - probably more than ever before are taking on the Veganuary Challenge. Now you'd think that as a vegan I'd be all for this, and one the one hand I am. But I can also see how this challenge can bit a bit too...er challenging? When I went 100% vegan in September 2012, I'd already switched to a vegetarian diet in the January before that and quit dairy shortly afterwards. Going vegan for me took some time, and I didn't have the money or desire to throw out everything that would be considered "non-vegan" as that would have been more than I could cope with or afford. So is it wise to ask people to go a full 30 days completely vegan? Well I'd say if you've had time to prepare for it, then quite possibly, yes. All the better if your significant other is already vegan, or you have vegan friends and co

The Royal Medical Academy of Belgium recently published their findings on the suitability of vegan and vegetarian diets for children on 14th May 2019. In light of the alarmist media articles in English speaking publications such as The Telegraph and the New York Times, I've taken the time to translate the press release for you. In case you were wondering, I'm a fluent French speaker and former professional translator. If you wish to peruse the original French for yourself, the original document can be found here , the full document her e, and the short version here . My Comments I am frankly very disappointed, not only with the choice of experts chosen for the commission, notably Jacques Rigo is a consultant for Nestle in respect of dairy based infant milk product preNAN. The findings are not only extremely short sighted, worded in an excessively emotive tone that I feel is inappropriate for a supposedly scientific document, and the studies they rely upon for thei