The biggest hurdle to adopting a vegan lifestyle is an unsupportive social circle, new research has found.
The findings come from a data analysis of the dating app Veggly’s 700,000 users. More than half (51.4 percent) said that lack of support from family and friends makes transitioning to veganism tough.
Giving up cheese and eggs was the second biggest stumbling block. More than 40 percent cited this as a reason against turning vegan. Quitting meat was the toughest challenge for just 8.4 percent of platform users.
Many reasons are commonly cited for choosing not to transition to veganism. Among them are cost, meat-eating traditions, and health concerns. Despite evidence that athletic performance is not hindered by a balanced vegan nutrition plan, ongoing concerns surrounding protein intake prevail as well.
But these worries are not as common as panic about being ostracized by family and friends.
“We always suspected this,” Alex Felipelli, founder of Veggly said in a press statement. “The main reason most people struggle to go vegan is not that they can’t give up meat. It’s because they don’t have the right people around them.”
“Having a supportive group of friends and family, including your partner or partners, will greatly increase your motivation and ability to switch to a vegan lifestyle.”
Finding vegan support online
Veggly reports that over a fifth (21.5 percent) of its members claim to have widened their friendship circles and support networks. It comes as a result of using the app, despite it being primarily geared towards facilitating romantic connections.
Felipelli connected: “The Veggly team and I are always excited about helping create any new relationship, whether that’s a romantic relationship or a friendship – the more the merrier! Together, we can help build a more vegan world that is kinder to animals and kinder to our planet.”
Virtual vegan communities are increasingly gaining traction. Dating apps and social media platforms, such as abillion, help people find support outside their existing networks.
Vegan dating app Grazer includes a BFF friend-finding service on its platform. It was reported to have outperformed Bumble’s comparable function, with 20 percent of users searching for meat-free compadres compared to just 3 percent of Bumble users looking for non-romantic connections.
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That’s what I ALWAYS say.
Switching the food is increasingly easy these days, animal-free dairy is already better than it was, and will continue to improve, especially with precision fermentation, JUST egg works great for eggs, and cell cultivated eggs are coming too.
But… the hardest remaining part of going vegan is the people that won’t change. All your rosy feelings of the majority of humans being good kind compassionate beings, GONE. All your good opinion of everyone you know, GONE. Every hero you ever looked up to, GONE. EITHER YOU ARE WRONG OR EVERYONE ELSE IS COMMITING THE MOST EVIL THINGS IMAGINABLE, while acting like it’s no big deal. Coming to face that amount of evil reality is COMPLETELY traumatic to say the least. Personally, I already knew everyone was evil, so that helped.
On the brighter side, I argued with both my sisters when they went vegetarian, now I’m vegan.
I believe that it can be difficult for someone transitioning from the SAD diet to a vegan or plant-based lifestyle. It becomes extremely time consuming when trying to cook for varied lifestyles. Not everyone is ready to make a change at the same time. As a community health educator, I know that not everyone can jump into the water, some need to dip their toe.
That is why I composed a cookbook, titled, “The House United – How to easily cook WFPB with simple adjustments for meat eaters”, that offers recipes that are whole food plant-based (PB) that can easily have meat, poultry or seafood added.
The intent is to make it easier for the Vegan/PB transitioner to stay true to him/her/them self/selves, while keeping the family happy. At the same time the vegan/PB, can make subtle changes to the family’s diet by reducing or eliminating oil, eggs and dairy. The premise is that eventually, the SAD eaters will reduce or decide they don’t need the meat to enjoy food. The book is sold on Amazon.com. Type in “A House United Cookbook”.