All Vegans are not the Same
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J. Morris Hicks
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Welcome to the 60th edition of my new "bite-size" generation of blogs. If you want to see the other 59, see the link at the end of this one.
As you probably know, the "vegan" term can be very confusing, so here is my effort to clear things up--my definition of four kinds of vegans:
1. Ethical Vegans. Because of their love and respect for all animals, they do not eat, wear or otherwise use any product that came from an animal. But they are not necessarily eating a healthy diet.
2. Dietary Vegans. For health reasons, they do not include animal products in their diets. They may still wear leather or have leather seats in their cars. And like the first group, they are not necessarily eating a healthy diet.
3. Junk-Food Vegans. Like most people eating the S.A.D., these folks have very little whole plants in their daily eating regimens. This group includes a great many "ethical" vegans.
4. 4Leaf Vegans. They have discovered the magic of including a lot of whole plant-based foods in their diets--and are deriving over 80% of their daily calories from those healthiest of foods.
AND they eat zero animal products.
Clarification: Some 4Leaf-ers, like myself, do not describe themselves as "vegan," but by deriving over 80% of their daily calories from whole, plant-based foods, they are eating a far healthier diet than most "vegans" in the first three categories.
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80% or more of your calories from whole plants. Not necessarily vegan or vegetarian
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I have found that many vegetarians and vegans do not score very well on our 4Leaf Survey--because many of them don't eat very many whole plants.
