YouTuber Rachel Ama – best known for her hearty, vibrant vegan recipes – is featured on the latest episode of the Plant Based News podcast.
During the interview with PBN Co-founder Robbie Lockie, Ama talked about how she came to veganism, and her consciousness around food among other topics.
The social media star, who’s been vegan for four years, also revealed her feelings around animal farming.
Ditching dairy
“I cut out dairy about 10 years ago because I struggled with a bunch of digestive problems, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong and I was really really ill,” Ama told Lockie.
“My mum studied nutrition and she was into a lot of holistic healthcare and she said ‘you know what Rachel, I think you’re lactose intolerant’.
“I was in so much pain, I would do anything at that moment to figure out what the problem was, so I cut out dairy and my health really started to change. A couple of years later I was talking to someone about veganism and we talked about how it sounds nice, but we didn’t really understand it.”
Going vegan
“I ended up going into a documentary spiral on animal farming and I was so heartbroken, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and how I’d grown up with pets – I’d always had pets – but I never made the association,” she added.
“Watching that, it was just so instant for me, that I just wanted nothing to do with it.
“The thought of eating meat or fish was not for me. So the next day I went vegan.”
You can listen to the full podcast here