Research for Veganuary project

Primary research

Why vegans became vegans

• Summary: the person who answered this question said that the reason they were vegan is because of care for animals.

What I can learn from this

• This answer gives me the knowledge that the aspect of animal care is very important to vegans and therefore I could use it as a central theme during my project as this is what would most likely draw the biggest audience. However I will have to be careful as this question was only answered by one person so there was a small sample size.

Why are non vegans not vegan

• Summary: the vast majority of people that answered this question said that the reason they didn’t go vegan was due to restriction of food

What I can learn from this

• With this knowledge that the main reason people don’t go vegan is the restriction that it causes them. This is useful as I could make people aware of all of the vegan alternatives that are available in my project and this may change the minds of the largest number of potential people.

What do people feel is the most important aspect of being vegan

• Summary: From the answers given I can conclude that the most popular aspect of being vegan is the positive impact it has on animals.

What I can learn from this

• With this question I can use the information that the most popular aspect of being vegan is the impact on animals to try and attract more people to the idea of being vegan. With it being so popular I should really make it clear how positively the animals are impacted in my project and therefore a large number people will be attracted to the idea of going vegan.

Where have people most commonly heard about vegans

• Summary: From this question I can learn that the way that most people found out about vegans is through the internet.

What I can learn from this

• With most people saying that they discovered the movement online it means that the most effective form of advertising of the movement would be online as this is where most people would tend to see it. This would mean that I would be getting the message across to as many people as I potentially could.

What is the most off putting thing about being vegan

• Summary: the majority of the answers were to do with the restriction of foods like cheese and meat

What I can learn from this

• From this information I can conclude that advertising the alternatives to the foods that people feel that they would miss out on would be an effective way to draw people to try becoming vegan as it would eliminate the fear that they would not be able to enjoy their favorite foods.

Would people be open to being vegan for a shot period of time

• Summary: from the answers given I can conclude that the vast majority of people would be open to being vegan for a short time

What can I learn from this

• From this question I have learned that the majority of people are open to being vegan if it is only for a short while. This means that I must emphasize the small amount of time that veganuary takes place in and more people may be open to it.

How long would people ideally want to try vegan for.

• Summary: people were most commonly attracted to the idea of being vegan for a week rather than the alternatives.

What I can learn from this

• I have learned that I may be able to attract more people to become vegan if I give them the option of only doing it for a week as this idea seems to appeal to more people.

Validation of the research• The respondents that I received for my

survey were all applicable for the questions as they all fit within the target audience and there was a mix of vegans and non vegans to create a varied set of opinions and mindsets. However the pool of people that filled in the survey were small so I was only able to get 10 respondents and if I was to redo this primary research I would have an increased number of respondents as I feel the data would be more accurate if I let more people answer so I could draw up patterns that more reliably followed the large target audience that I have for this project.

Secondary research

How does being vegan affect your cholesterol

Summary: The article showcases a study in which it is conveys that vegans are more likely to have a lower cholesterol on average than non vegans.

Tags: Vegan, cholesterol, study, February 2014

Link: : https://veganuary.com/why/health/cholesterol/

Quotes

• “it showed that the cholesterol levels in vegans were the lowest of the four groups”

• “Evidence strongly indicates that high cholesterol can increase the risk of narrowing the arteries atherosclerosis, heart attacks and stroke.” - NHS UK

• “differences in cholesterol to this degree should lead to a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease”

Validation of sources

• The source of this information is from the official veganuary website which has been assured to us as being accurate through several checks to the information. For this reason I am confident that the information is accurate at least from the date that it was first published.

How does being a vegan affect your blood pressure

Summary: The article talks of how being a vegan can reduce your blood pressure which is evident in being good for reducing the risk of disease. The article uses studies and quotes to back up its claims.

Tags: Blood pressure, high blood pressure, heart disease, diet, study

Link: https://veganuary.com/why/health/high-blood-pressure/

Quotes

• “consumption of vegetarian diets is associated with lower blood pressure. Such diets could be a useful non-pharmacological means for reducing blood pressure”- JAMA Int Med 2014

• “Most vegetarian diets are low or devoid of animal products. They’re also usually lower than non vegetarian diets in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol”- American Heart Association

Validation of sources

• The source of this information is from the official veganuary website which has been assured to us as being accurate through several checks to the information. For this reason I am confident that the information is accurate at least from the date that it was first published.

How can being vegan affect your health

Summary: this is an article form the vegan society talking about the health benefits of being vegan as compared to having different diets. It talks about several different factors of health that being vegan affects such as BMI

and cholesterol.

Tags: Vegan, vegan society, health, diets, risk, eating

Link: https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/health

Quotes

• “vegans are leaner, have lower BMIs and have lower percentages of body fat”

• “vegans tend to eat seven or more pieces of fruit or veg per day, meaning we have a 33% reduced risk of premature death compared with people who eat less than one portion”

Validation of sources

• The source of this article is the vegan society website. They are a large organisation and therefore will have a well funded research department. This leads me to believe that the information will be fairly accurate as they will have the resources to find the information they need. However this is a vegan website and tends to use words like ‘we’ when describing vegans so I cannot completely rule out any bias as this website is clearly trying to convince people to become vegan.

How does being vegan affect your sporting capabilities

Summary: this article talks about how you can still perform well as an athlete without having a diet with meat and dairy products in. it covers several points about how you are able to do this and provides links to other pages on the site to reinforce its points.

Tags: sport, vegan, diet, athlete, body, nutrients, food, fat, fiber

Link:http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/common-benefits-athletes-experience-when-switching-to-a-vegan-diet/

Quotes

• “Because a plant based diet is low in cholesterol and saturated fat, you can count on maintaining great cardiovascular health with ease”

• “leaving out the animal products also keeps your veins nice and clean so you don’t have to worry about cholesterol buildup or clogged arteries”

Validation of sources

• The source of this article is a vegan website called ‘one green planet’. I do not feel that this source is fully credible in terms of information as they have not backed up any of their claims with research or links to other articles of any kind. The language used within the article is also very informal and it therefore makes me question the credibility of the article as it seems more of a selling point than a factual post.

What are the effects of being vegan on the atmosphere

• Summary: the article lists the different ways that consuming meant products and having livestock contributes to harmful environmental effects in a 16 point list.

Tags: climate change, vegan, peta, animals, impact, planet, environment

Link: http://www.peta.org.uk/blog/how-going-vegan-helps-stop-climate-change/

Quotes

• “animal agriculture causes an estimated 18% of all greenhouse gasses”

• “Emissions for agriculture are projected to increase 80% by 2050”

• “Livestock or livestock feed covers one third of the earths ice free land”

• “Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of the destruction of the amazon rainforest.”

Validation of the source

• The source of the information is PETA which is a very large organisation that is multinational. For this reason I am inclined to trust the credibility of the source. The writer of the article has also provided links for where they got the information from if you need to double check the validity of the information. I feel this is important as this is a blog section of the PETA website and therefore the information may be slightly bias and giving the option to check defiantly increases its credibility.

Health benefits of being vegan• Summary: the article lists

around 50 health benefits for going vegan. They are catagorised by nutrition, disease prevention, physical benefits, other benefits.

Tags: Health, benefits, nutrition, diet, disease, balanced, lifestyle

Link: http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/

Quotes

• “a diet rich in grains is beneficial for your health in many ways including lowering blood pressure”

• “Diets with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables can help to prevent the onset of age related macular degeneration”

• “eliminating dairy consumption has long been connected with alleviating arthritis symptoms”

• “Eating nuts and whole grains whilst eliminating dairy products and meat will improve your cardiovascular health”

• “Several population studies show that a diet without meat leads to lower BMIs usually an indicator of healthy weight and lack of fat on the body.”

Validation of sources

• The source of this information is nursing degree.net which is a large website that aims to help educate future nurses. For this reason I believe that the information is accurate as it has been constructed for the purpose of education and uses the sources that it has got its information from to help back up its points.

Can you still be an athlete on a vegan diet?

• Summary: the article gives examples of vegan athletes and gives information about how they are on a vegan diet and yet still keep being able to perform at high levels of sport.

Tags: athlete, vegan, training, interview, tips, nutrition

Link: https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/getting-athletic

Quotes • “For optimal athletic performance, high carbohydrate,

low fat, moderate protein diets are recommended. An excess of animal protein, associated with various chronic diseases, should be avoided” Dr Holloway

• “Eat healthy carbohydrates and up to a third of your calories from healthy fats such as avocados, nut butters or seeds as this will help maintain a healthy body weight”

• “Endurance athletes need o watch their iron status. Remember to eat fruit and vegetables rich in vitamin C with your iron rich foods”

Validation of the source

• The source of this article is the vegan society website. They are a large organisation and therefore will have a well funded research department. This leads me to believe that the information will be fairly accurate as they will have the resources to find the information they need. However this is a vegan website and tends to use words like ‘we’ when describing vegans so I cannot completely rule out any bias as this website is clearly trying to convince people to become vegan.