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Veganuary 2026: Kate's Vegan Journey (Originally released 2024)
0 Playsin 19 hours
This January we are re-releasing all eighteen of our 'Going Vegan' series, to shine a spotlight on the huge variety of everyday normal folk who choose to avoid animal expoitation through choosing a vegan lifestyle.
In today's rerun, we hear from regular Falafeller Kate!
For the original shownotes for this episode, visit Episode 24 directly https://zencastr.com/z/k2UR_pEP
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Enough of the Falafel is a community of people who love keeping on top of the latest news in the world of veganism & animal rights. With our podcasts, we aim to keep listeners (& ourselves) informed & up-to-date with the latest developments that affect vegans & non-human animals; giving insight, whilst staying balanced; remaining true to our vegan ethics, whilst constantly seeking to grow & develop.
Each week we look through news stories from the past 7 days in the world of veganism & animal rights, as well as picking a 'timeless' vegan or animal rights issue, and discussing it in more depth.
If you spot any news stories that might catch our fancy, or have an idea for a discussion topic, get in touch via enoughofthefalafel@gmail.com.
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Thanks everyone for listening; give us a rating and drop us a message to say "hi"; it'll make our day!
Kate & Ant
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Enough of the Falafel Collective
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi there, this is Anthony from the Enough of the Falafel Collective. We're a group of just everyday vegans who for the last two and a half years or so have been releasing two podcasts a week bringing you vegan and animal rights news as well as philosophical discussions.
Special Veganuary Episodes
00:00:17
Speaker
And many of the contributors on the show have released a special episode in the past where they've talked about their journey of going vegan. And for Veganuary 2026, we are re-releasing all of those episodes and the episode you're about to listen to now is one of those so it's been recorded at some point in the last three years and it features one of our contributors. We really hope you enjoy it and that you continue to join for other episodes that we release over the course of 2026.
Kate's Journey into Veganism
00:00:53
Speaker
Kate, thanks so much for joining us for today's episode. Really interested to to hear your story. I've already had a little bit of a glimpse into it. You sent a news article that's been done on you. So why I know some of the answers already, but our listeners don't. Could you start off by telling us the first sort of glimpses of veganism or that first little hint that it might be something that became part of your life? Because I think very few people will wake up one day having heard nothing of veganism and sort of turn vegan in ah in a matter of hours. Normally there's a bit of build-up at least. So how did that start for you? Oh, thanks for asking me. ah It's really kind of for you to ask me to come on this podcast, Anthony. So I guess, like a lot of people, I grew up learning animals, but still eating them. And I had i had a mum actually who was quite good at doing vegetarian meals.
00:01:44
Speaker
And she'd make things with lentils and sauce mix occasionally even. Yes, we had quite a good whole food, little tiny cupboard type shop in our local town.
00:01:55
Speaker
So it it vegetarian food wasn't a million miles away. And in fact, I did have a few goes at being a vegetarian. But veganism was something I'd never heard of. And um i grew up like any, like a lot of people grew up thinking, you've got to get your protein. And if you're not going to eat meat, you're going to have to get it from cheese or eggs or milk.
00:02:19
Speaker
you know And my mum was super careful about worrying about that you were getting enough protein and all that as well. so And then one day I did actually meet ah a vegan and I don't think she was a particularly good advertisement. I just thought, you know, I think I was going through one of my vegetarian phases at that point as well. So I was thinking, well, I'm doing enough.
00:02:41
Speaker
And I think perhaps you're just a bit extreme. i had i had no idea about the dairy industry and the how the horrors of that or the egg industry or anything. I really, even though I was going vegetarian from time to time, I never really looked into it at all.
Health Challenges and Diet Exploration
00:02:59
Speaker
So it wasn't actually until I became ill myself at the age of 40. I was a teacher. I was super stressed. And I think I was i was eating the... um usual sad diet that most people in this country eat, you know, all the meat, the eggs, the cheese, ultra processed foods.
00:03:19
Speaker
And I was very, very stressed. I came down one summer, i came down with a condition called psoriatic arthritis. which is an autoimmune condition. And it's pretty much like rheumatoid arthritis. And I became so sick, I couldn't barely get out of bed. And if I did finally manage to get out of bed, I was like pinstepping really slowly. Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
it was It was pretty awful. um And i my kids were quite young at the time. i was not long divorced as well. I'm sure all the stress and everything contributed to it. And I ended up being away from teaching for a year, really. i was put on a drug called methotrexate, which you have to have your blood tested for once a month because it's very toxic.
00:04:07
Speaker
And, you know, i had to have steroid injections into my joints. And and slowly, slowly, slowly, i so the the drug started to bring my condition under some sort of control. And even though I had was taking loads of pills and painkillers and goodness knows what, I still somehow thought that maybe certain things I was eating might be triggering my joints into being even worse. I mean, it's an incredibly painful condition. But sometimes I thought maybe something I was eating, maybe I couldn't put my finger on it, was actually making it worse. So I asked my rheumatologist, does food have... And he went, food has nothing to do with it.
00:04:51
Speaker
And I was like, o I'm not entirely sure. But he was absolutely adamant. It was that was nonsense. Don't even go down that route. um Peculiar, isn't it? Like that that sounds like a really strong, strong reaction. Have you any insight as to what what might have provoked such a strong response from a health professional?
00:05:14
Speaker
Well,
Discovering Plant-Based Benefits
00:05:15
Speaker
I don't know. But i ah sadly, I think a lot of rheumatologists are still that way inclined, even though there's so much evidence out there now that a whole food plant-based diet is beneficial for health, including autoimmune diseases. But, you know the i don't know. that ah i think it must be a very exciting field to be in. you know, all the new drugs coming out, all the operations and stuff. You know, i don't know. i have no idea. I don't know why they're so opposed to it. They're very, very few. I know of one rheumatologist, and he's American, who acknowledges that a plant-based diet can be helpful. So... You know, it's depressing. It's depressing for people who are newly diagnosed. You know, they need to be given the options. But I'm ahead of myself here because. um So anyway, yeah, I saw a rheumatology nurse and she said, oh, well, you know, some people find tomatoes or chilies. They might aggravate. Why don't you try an elimination diet and see if there's any foods that might be aggravating your pain?
00:06:32
Speaker
So um you you kind of you kind of ditch loads of stuff and you end up eating things like apples and rice and that's about it. And then slowly bringing things in, you know, one thing at a time. Yeah. And I found that eggs, cheese, red meat were irritating and but oh and also stoned fruits, strangely. But the chicken, fish and things like that.
00:07:00
Speaker
They didn't seem to aggravate. But in the meantime, so this is like, I don't know, getting on 19, 18 years ago now. they We had the internet, you know, when it all went, yeah you know. Yeah.
00:07:18
Speaker
yeah And I'd sort of been trying to do a bit of research myself. And I'd come across a vegan society. And I thought, wow, is this is interesting. And I started looking and finding out what happens to animals within our food system. And it was a big dawning.
00:07:36
Speaker
I suddenly thought, ah, actually, cows, hens, you know, all the creatures in our food system and and all the, you know, it was just the beginnings of learning what happens to them. And I was like horrified. I thought, do you know what? I don't think I want anything to do with this. And look, here's the Vegan Society.
00:07:56
Speaker
You can actually be healthy as a vegan, despite what I grew up thinking, you know, despite despite everyone thinking you're going to die and your bones are going to break. um Actually, you can't you can be healthy as a vegan. So I thought, I'm going to, I'm going to do it. so Can I ask Kate, so what had led you to the vegan society? Was that looking for answers to your health condition? Or was that completely separate? Yes, it was looking for answers to my health condition. I hate to say it it was purely selfish.
00:08:27
Speaker
But you know but when when you're in low loads of pain and stuff, well, actually, I say you're open to it, but not everybody is. I'm still surprised at how many people, when they have got some terrible health condition are on loads of medications and stuff, they're still not open to even trying. I guess...
00:08:50
Speaker
I don't know. It's scary when you're when you're poorly. It's scary to change. And, you know, if your doctor's telling you one thing, i don't know. i I've always been a bit bolshy and not good at doing what i was told. yes i think that I think that actually helps to to enter into veganism, but hopefully less so as it becomes more and more of a mainstream thing. But that does seem to be a common thread, actually, to be an early adopter of veganism. You maybe have to be a bit of a rebel in in in a lot of cases, I think. Yeah, i I've never never minded kind of looking like an idiot, yeah you know, and there was a bit of that to begin with for sure. So because it was like it's getting on 18 years ago, I think now. um and i And over the years, I did actually manage to half my meds, but I still got flare ups. And i nearly lost the sight in one of my eyes before I knew what was going on. It was iritis and I had to have a steroid injection in it. I had no idea why I had the flare-ups.
00:09:55
Speaker
So, but um I mean, later on, I i did get to know. Anyway, so yeah, in the meantime, I i started my little food business.
00:10:06
Speaker
I did. um I made food for farmers markets and things because, of course, being a ah passionate vegan by this time, ethical vegan, I wanted to turn the whole world vegan. yeah And I'd come to realise that anything meat eaters and vegetarians could have vegans can have too Especially as the years went on and vegan cheese came into being, ah plant-based milk became more available. i mean, when I first went vegan, plant-based milk was only available in our town in the summer because we we're a tourist town. So...
00:10:41
Speaker
this So was, you you had to travel to get here. So things have changed a lot since then. So thankfully. Absolutely. Can I ask, so um you described there how? many people with acute health conditions, there could perhaps be a fear there of of maybe making things worse is what is what I implied from from what you were saying, that maybe that's part of their reticence for for trying something, even if it has been proven to to help their condition. there's There's a fear of, well, I'm already in a lot of pain. I don't want to make it even worse. Did did you have those concerns at
Overcoming Transition Fears
00:11:20
Speaker
that at that point? Because actually now you're able to speak with hindsight and and it's it's made a tremendous difference to your life in
00:11:27
Speaker
in the positive but at at that moment of kind of deciding right I'm going to do this I'm going to give it a but did did you have fear no strangely ah didn't I think because what I'd already been through was so bad ah nothing could have been worse than what I'd been through basically and also because my mum also had my condition she's sadly passed away now But she had, you know, like Monet with his twisted hands. She had twisted hands and her feet. So that's what what was going to happen. That's what happens. Your actual joints start degrading as well. So, you know, and you become deformed and
00:12:13
Speaker
people end up with joint replacements and things like that. So i i already knew the trajectory of my disease was. My mum ended up in a wheelchair and somehow my disease, I think, was even more aggressive. So that there was a part of me which thought it can't get any worse. And also, i don't know, it seemed pretty clear fairly quickly that yeah like I was able to half my meds so apart from the flare-ups obviously what I was doing wasn't any worse than not doing anything the of staying on a ah horrible oh horrible whoops meaty cheesy diet so you got that feedback quite quickly in in your body and in your mind that it it was making a difference Yeah, well also was really lucky then in that I had monthly blood tests and we were on this sort of shared care thing where um I had a booklet and they would write down all the blood test results. So I could actually see the levels of inflammation in my blood. Okay, so it was a month before or or a month later that I saw the results in the bloods. But i could I could actually see almost in real time what what was going on in my body as well, which was really helpful. Yeah, it must have been a great motivation. It really was. It really was. And that it was great for my phlebotomists who I saw for years. So I was on those meds for like 13 years and they became like friends, one of whom's now vegan as well. ah and Any any um relation to your experience, do you think? I i am sure. i'm positive. Yeah. She was vegetarian before. She's vegan now, though. Can I ask, was it a a very quick decision to say, right, I'm going to give this a go? Or you described that you did like an elimination diet sort of beforehand. Was that the case with your veganism, that you were sort of gradually eliminating animal products? Or was it a snap thing? It was pretty much a snap thing. And I think I probably kind of relapsed a few times like with, oh, have a piece of cake, you know, and things like that, you know. and know so Because in in those days as well, i say in those days and that dim and distant past, so many people you'd say, oh I'm vegan. And they wouldn't know, they wouldn't have a clue what it was.
00:14:43
Speaker
Absolutely no idea. And I seem to spend my entire life explaining or apologising for being difficult, you know, especially if people ask you around for a meal and they wake up, oh, well, do you eat fish?
00:14:58
Speaker
ah No. Do you eat, oh, do you eat cheese? No. You know, so i thought i think I probably slipped up a few times, but it was mainly because I felt bad for the for the per for the other person. But then in the end, it was like, no, I'm vegan, you know. So i think, you know, it was pretty much fairly soon.
00:15:18
Speaker
And then there also was really helped because my husband went vegan as well, pretty much. alongside me as well that's so helpful if you've got somebody to do it with you yes you know that is so helpful so can I ask was that was that to sort of make things easier for yourself or or were there different reasons for him Yeah, I think it was just because it was easier. i mean, he he does a bit cooking himself as well, you know, so we both learnt together. Yeah, it was it was just it was just easier. And actually, to be honest, he's not a fussy. He's never been a fussy eater. he He's always eaten anything, i have to say. You know, I hate to say it, but in France once he bought a tin of gizzards, in Greece and probably they ate them you know was disgusting but you know it is not a fussy eater but at the same time you know I think there was one incidence before I met him he was handed a bowl of oysters and he just picked them up and tipped them in the quayside because he wasn't going to eat them you know what mean so yeah You know, he's he's he loves animals, too. It's completely s soppy over them. So, you know, it's just connecting the dots, isn't it, really? Absolutely. no
00:16:41
Speaker
Can I ask when when you decided to to try veganism to go down that pathway? What what was the response of other people around you? Because that can make a big difference, can't it? Yeah, so, yeah, most people didn't have a clue or obviously thought I was. Probably my my same reaction that I had to that the woman that I met who was a vegan. Yeah, yeah. She's gone mad. Yeah, yeah. i Actually, yes, I'm sure there was an awful lot of that.
00:17:13
Speaker
She's really lost it now. Yeah. Well, I mean, 10, 20 years ago, you just didn't meet vegans, did you? No, you didn't. I mean, did the first five years of being vegan, other than my wife at the time. Like, I didn't know anyone else who was vegan. So I went vegan 13 years ago. Right.
00:17:32
Speaker
Um, so it wouldn't be until sort of, don't know, about 2012, 2013, 2014, that, that I met another vegan of my ex-wife. Um, and we went vegan together. Like you say, it makes a big difference, doesn't it? And in terms of like having to explain to people as well, what it is like, I, I,
00:17:49
Speaker
I remembered a few years ago, my God, when was the last time I had to explain to someone what veganism is? Other than the child, I work with children so that often you are the first vegan someone's met, but adults, like everyone seems to know now, but that that didn't used to be the case, did it? No, it didn't.
00:18:04
Speaker
But there was one ah one other vegan in the village. in our little town, who ah he's a lovely, lovely man. And he's, he's 80 something now. And he's been vegan for at least 20 years before me, probably a bit more.
00:18:23
Speaker
And he, he was very quiet about his veganism. But I met him through, you know, volunteering, doing volunteering things through the town, in the town, in our local town.
00:18:35
Speaker
He went vegan because he was an RSPCA inspector and he went into a slaughterhouse. He was invited to go and look into a slaughterhouse.
00:18:47
Speaker
He went vegan that day. He went he got home. Apparently his wife said he was completely grey. yeah And he just went, that's it. And he went vegan overnight. So but so though there was there was my friend John. so And he's he's vegan royalty as far as I'm concerned. so yeah Was he kind of instrumental in that that those first few months, those first few years? like did you Did you get to know him? Did you share things or or not?
00:19:16
Speaker
I didn't know him in the first few years. It was only only a bit later on that I met him, fellow vegan.
Community Support and Inspiration
00:19:24
Speaker
And um yeah, so that was fantastic. And I have since met some other vegan royalty. and ah Well, there's quite a few of us now. But there's there's some people who've been vegan a long time, animal activists, animal rights people, who they've been vegan like 40, 45 years now and you know, ah wow, all hail is all I can say, you know, amazing.
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah. Can I ask what what were the main difficulties that you you experienced in, if if we can say the first few years so for you, because I think probably um veganism was quite ah a different thing. Yes, let me have a think. So yeah, like I said, people didn't know what veganism was. So that was that was one thing. Eating out, well, you know,
00:20:11
Speaker
ah you had to ring ahead several days if not weeks in advance if you wanted to to to eat out or or you were invited out somewhere so that was quite tricky not we just didn't eat out much you know um mean it's so much easier now Most places have got vegan options, haven't they? So, you know, and even then you still had to explain sometimes to um restaurants exactly what ah veganism was. So, you know, that's changed, thankfully.
00:20:44
Speaker
Non-vegan friends and family, that family members are notoriously difficult to... if you Because when you become vegan and you realise, you want everyone to become vegan, don't you? You know, when you actually realise, and then you realise, then you think, well, it's not even just the animals, it's now, it's like the planet, it's pollution, it's it's all is biodiversity, it's everything. You know, it would just solve everything. and you want everyone to go vegan now. And why don't you get this? But so it's it's really hard when, say, friends and family ah are just not open to it. i I'm really lucky now in that most of my close family are vegan now.
00:21:32
Speaker
So I'm really, really lucky. Even my brother-in-law, dare I say it, who teased me relentlessly, has gone vegan. Oh, my word. Yeah. So it's possible. Yeah. Exactly. Never say never. That's all I can say.
00:21:47
Speaker
i mean, that that's hard. that yeah you know Would you say those things are still the things that are most that are most difficult or has the sort of most difficult list changed for you in 2024?
00:21:59
Speaker
twenty twenty four Yeah, I'd say they're still most difficult because you still want people who are not vegan to turn vegan, whether they especially if they're close to you and you think, why can't you see it Have you found ways to to to deal with that or to kind of rationalise it? I try. Well, i i i I fail all the time because i guess ah try and tell myself low lying fruit.
00:22:28
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Some people are just open and they're curious and they're like ready to hear what you've got to say and they want help And that's great. And fantastic. Spend your time helping them. Yes.
00:22:45
Speaker
But don't spend, if somebody's clearly triggered by you, they're clearly not interested. You know, i make the mistake all the time though. Yeah. I come across as way too bossy.
00:23:00
Speaker
think I've scared people away before now because I'm so bossy sometimes. But, you know, you just can't help being passionate, can you? you know Absolutely. there's ah There's a lot of things that I think a lot of us go through on the journey, isn't isn't there? And yeah particularly when it's had such an, mm I mean, particularly in your case, it's had such an emphatic effect on your life for the good,
00:23:22
Speaker
wanting to share that with others. yeah um even Even if we weren't talking about so social justice or environmental justice, like you'd still want to share it, wouldn't you? Of course, absolutely, yeah. And social justice is a big one because people, they say, oh, you only care about the animals.
00:23:39
Speaker
And absolutely not. No, we care about everybody. we care about the slaughterhouse workers. We care about the the people in you know ah countries where their land is being taken and so that you know food for cattle and what have you chickens and pigs here is grown and you know they're having their land stolen from them and you know we care and I mean ah particularly and care about people's health as well you know now that I know what I know and that we could help so many people who are spending their, you know, getting sick and, you know, only living half a life really when they're so poorly, you know. like and And so this could be an interesting point to to jump in because i am I right in saying that once you sort of made that initial transition to veganism, your learning and your understanding continued such that there was more development for you in terms of how you lived your life and and the effect it has on yourself? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I've just been to VegFest in London and it was six years ago that I went to VegFest with my daughter and we were busy stuffing all that. that There were all these different vegan cheese options and... there was It was just help yourself, all these different flavours and chocolate goodness knows what. We were busy going around trying them all. It was amazing. It was amazing. All these different products and stuff. It was just wow. And I had just started...
00:25:14
Speaker
because I was so unfit, just started trying to do a little run in the mornings with my dogs. But I couldn't run because the A, I was trying to hurt my knees and my joints and B, all the tendons were all wrong because when I'd been very sick, all my muscles had wasted away completely. And I hadn't really done, I'd done a little bit of swimming, but basically nothing.
00:25:39
Speaker
um since then and um but I just thought well while I'm out with the dogs so i'll I'll try and do a little run and it was all I could manage was like three steps at a time and then walk three steps at a time and then walk so this is what I'd been doing and I'd got up to about half a kilometer or something like this so I had kept going and got better and better but it wasn't it was more like a shuffle back to veg fest there was a vegan runner stand there and I thought, oh, vegan runners. There's a thing. Never heard of them. and And I just thought, wow. Oh, well, that's nothing to do with me. I'm not a runner.
00:26:18
Speaker
I'm never going to be a runner. But I felt myself like inextricably kind of drawn across to this woman at this stand. She was like, tidying up her bits and bobs on the thing and and she kind of hardly even looked up and went hello and I went vegan runners wow I've never heard of vegan runners I wish I could run but I can't because uh of my condition she goes well why what's wrong with you and I said well I've got psoriatic arthritis I have to be really careful of my joints you know and she went well, I used to have rheumatoid arthritis, but I went whole food vegan. And now I run marathons. And I was i went, what, really?
00:27:02
Speaker
You run marathons? She said, yeah. And I said, but you're on all your meds, aren't you, right? And she went, oh, no, I stopped taking them 10 years ago when I went whole food vegan.
00:27:13
Speaker
And I was like, absolutely gobsmacked. And I was like crying because I just thought, That's astounding. you know, I thought I was going to be on my meds for the whole of my life because I had actually tried coming off them and couldn't like the year before. i had a big flare up.
00:27:30
Speaker
So my doctor said, no, you can't. And so I thought, wow, so this woman's gone whole food vegan. What is it? So I then went home and had to do some research again with Mr. Google. And I came across Forks Over Knives, the film, and ah Michael Greger, How Not to Die.
00:27:50
Speaker
and And I sort of read those things and I just thought, gosh, That's really hard. I don't know. this is This is going from vegan to whole food vegan. So people going from from omnivore to vegan. I have huge respect, actually, because yeah any change is difficult. So, yeah, I thought, oh, no more fried onions.
00:28:14
Speaker
No more squishy cakes. I was still doing my vegan stall at this point with pie. I was making all these pies with like homemade seitan and stuff. I was like priding myself in making absolutely delicious food that was delicious.
00:28:29
Speaker
Some of it was not so healthy in that it was very high in fat, high in sugar, um stuff like that. So i thought, oh, i and ah not only that, I can't. My husband, he's got his little recipes. He's got off pat. They all start off with fried onions. i thought, I can't do it to him.
00:28:51
Speaker
and Anyway, so after about two months, I just thought, you know, ah I've been obviously wearing away in the back of my head. And I just thought, oh, dear i'm gonna have to give this a go i don't actually believe it's going to work it's just one of those strange fads i don't it can't be true it can't be true so um i said to my husband look i'm gonna try this thing i can't imagine it's gonna work but you don't have to and he went well if you're gonna do it i'm gonna do it So I thought, wow. So we did it together. yeah And like the first two weeks, things tasted, they tasted bland, you know, because i wasn't even putting salt in at this point. I was going the really, the the the kind of full full Monty, you know, no oil, no sugar, no refined white pasta or rice or anything. It was all whole grains.
00:29:49
Speaker
fruits and vegetables, ah nuts and seeds, you know, all that kind of stuff. And after two weeks, suddenly it started tasting amazing. And I and i was like using herbs and spices and things like that and and ah discovering more recipes and, you know, and realizing that actually is a ah ah diet of abundance and deliciousness. And started feeling even better I was going to say, what what was the effect on on your health, on your condition, on how you've how you felt?
00:30:21
Speaker
Well, I just started to... it took me a little while to get the courage to to start trying to drop my meds because, like I said, I had tried, like, the year before to come off my pills and almost straight...
Adopting a Whole Food Vegan Diet
00:30:36
Speaker
I dropped one pill. They're tiny, these things, tiny, tiny little pills. And I tried dropping one and immediately flared up.
00:30:45
Speaker
So with psoriasis as well this time, which is linked to psoriatic arthritis. So, and it was really painful. So i was like really a bit trepidous and thinking, oh dear. Okay. So I dropped one pill. I was fine. Okay. And then like two weeks later,
00:31:02
Speaker
another pill. like like Still all right, still all right. And then I was on like two. And then I got down to one. But when I got down to one teeny tiny little pill, I didn't dare just not take it. I chopped it into quarters and and and then took three quarters. And then two weeks later,
00:31:20
Speaker
a half and then a quarter and then like none at all i didn't take my pills and i was fine pain no flare-up or anything and um and and that was that and that is like five and a half years ago and i'm still fine so hurrah hurrah indeed like this fab fabulous story i have so many questions yeah Well, nove we've no, got time for absolutely everyone because i I think we could we could go on for hours. i I guess I guess the first thing that that pops into my head is you've obviously described how from your experience changing to that that kind of plant based diet enabled you to to reduce and ah eventually eliminate the medication you were taking.
00:32:10
Speaker
were there Were there changes that you could feel within yourself in addition to that? I'm just thinking of people listening who, lucky for them, ah and are not taking medication. Like, were there other other things you could feel? i I ask having been on that diet my myself for...
00:32:25
Speaker
for for many years off and on I would say but i I felt differences I just wondered what your experience was well I feel energized I feel happy apart apart from the state of the world which makes everybody bloody miserable but you know apart from that day to day I'm a happy person and I think it is because you're feeding your microbiome or your gut bugs and They sort of help make all the happy hormones and stuff. And i I'm sure that's partly it.
00:32:55
Speaker
I mean, ah oh I'm also running now. So I'm 60. ran my first marathon this year. congratulations thank you and uh and uh and also ah so i recover really quickly when i'm doing my running and what have you so and and i'm getting okay so i may not have put in a max effort in the past but i'm getting pbs even now okay so i didn't start when i was 19 but yeah never of mind i'm still doing really pretty well my garmin tells me i've got a fitness age of 20 as well which is not bad i'm I'm quite proud of that, really. Cheers, Carmen. Cheers, Carmen, it is gar with Yeah, it's just your wingman there in the corner cheering you on. Nice. Exactly. So, yeah, just generally just feel great in myself, really. Fantastic. Can I ask, your story, your experience sounds overwhelmingly positive. We've talked about some of the difficulties.
00:33:58
Speaker
I think that some difficulties that people experience when they're transitioning to vegan or living as as vegan are well publicised and there are resources out there, whether it's recipes or
Mental Health and Veganism
00:34:08
Speaker
things like that. But i think there are other things that people don't talk about as much or the resources aren't there.
00:34:13
Speaker
Is there anything that you think that there currently isn't much discussion around or there aren't many resources out there that that would really make a difference to people on their vegan journeys? There are resources for all kinds of stuff now in that, So for nutrition, I'd go to Plant-Based Health Professionals UK.
00:34:31
Speaker
there's There's so much stuff there. There's all the fact sheets. there's you know So there's been reports that for some vegans, women, bone health is an issue. So there's there's fact sheets for that. And I think if you're doing your resistance exercise and all that, that' that's preventative. And, um you know, tells you all the things you should eat and for maximizing your bone health.
00:34:57
Speaker
I think it's easy to perhaps, if you're particularly vulnerable, watch maybe too much horrible footage. I don't know if there's what sort of stuff there is for mental health out there.
00:35:11
Speaker
I myself try not to watch too much horrible stuff because I don't know about you, there's stuff in my head which is never going anywhere. It's there. and um And i I know one person who, especially through COVID, she she became a vegan. she's not on she hasnt She doesn't belong to Facebook or anything like that. So... where you get support, I think, from other people. So she was overdoing it. And I said, look, it's not for you.
00:35:39
Speaker
if if you if it's not you know if it's if it's making you feel really bad, it's not for you. It's for people who are not there yet. really so just to to to guard against that i think maybe we need some more stuff mental health stuff i don't know because there's also climate anxiety as well isn't there maybe more stuff for environmentalists i'm not listen to klaus's talk you know where all the vegan environmentalists we meet need more stuff out there sorry was this a support question you Everything you're saying is is brilliant. Everything you're saying is brilliant. that That's fabulous. I mean, could could you go on to say you've mentioned some some resources, like what would be your top resources for people just starting to dip their toe into veganism or maybe they're a few months down the line? Well, Viva, for a start, I think, you know, they've got so much covered there. They've got health there. They've got things to do with animals. I find i love PETA, but I find their stuff very hardcore, very, very hardcore, and it's not for everybody. Viva, yeah, their stuff's tough, but maybe slightly easier for some people.
00:36:54
Speaker
Can I ask for you personally, if your vegan transition began now in 2024, how do you think it would have been different to to what it
Reflecting on Vegan Support Evolution
00:37:02
Speaker
actually was? There's so much support out there. You've got Veganuary, what an amazing resource. So much positivity. You've got ah some amazing role models out there. People diss celebrities, but I'd I love celebrities that are vegan and out there and, you know, giving it their all. Yeah. So a few flip by the wayside. Well, hey, never mind. Yeah, gosh, the food. So much amazing food out there. And actually, although i am whole food vegan, transition foods are great. Just swap the the burgers for the veggie burgers, that the...
00:37:45
Speaker
the kind of mints for the for the plant-based mints all those ones just swap them just veganize your ordinary meals just make it easy to begin with and then go from there you know because we know that plant-based meats are much healthier than actual shall we say traditionally harvested as they like to say meat so you know um you know horrible term isn't it Yeah, it sounded like you've been recruited by the meat industry there with with that PR. Yes, I'll just try it.
00:38:21
Speaker
we We covered a story on on Vegan Week and in November where um chickens were called barn members. Oh, yes, I heard that. What are you talking about, barn members? Hey, are you a barn member? Oh, me too. Fancy meeting you here. Yeah.
00:38:39
Speaker
yeah yeah No, that's cool. and And just one final question. If you could go back to when your vegan journey started and do it all again, there anything you'd do differently?
Advice to New Vegans
00:38:50
Speaker
Tell myself that I'm doing the right blooming thing. And don't listen to all the people telling me that it's unhealthy, you know, weird, you know, all the rest of it. Just know that I'm doing the right thing for so many reasons. Like I said, for, you know, the the health of the planet, for my own health, for the animals, everything. So what's not to like?
00:39:18
Speaker
Just pat on the back. Get on with it. Absolutely. Absolutely. In fact, fight final, final question. What would you say to the ah original American small framed vegan that you met that you thought was a bit weird? Would you say anything to them? I would say, well done, but you need to eat more.
00:39:38
Speaker
what Because that is a mistake, actually, that some people, I don't know, people who are trying to watch their weight. I suppose they they're eating fairly small meals. Some, some you know, fruits and vegetables, they're full of fibre. They're not so calorie dense, are they? So you need to eat more.
00:39:59
Speaker
Just yeah eat more. Absolutely. That's awesome. Kate, thank you very much indeed. Oh, thank you. It's been great.
00:40:16
Speaker
This has been an Enough of the Falafel production. We're just a normal bunch of everyday vegans putting our voices out there. The show is hosted by Zencaster. We use music and special effects by zapsplap.com.
00:40:30
Speaker
And sometimes, if you're lucky, at the end of an episode, you'll hear a poem by Mr Dominic Berry. Thanks all for listening and see you next time.
00:40:57
Speaker
This episode may have come to an end, but did you know we've got a whole archive containing all our shows dating back to September 2023? twenty twenty three That is right, Dominic. There's over 100 episodes on there featuring our brilliant range of different guests, people's stories of going vegan, philosophical debates, moral quandaries, and of course...
00:41:18
Speaker
around a dozen news items from around the world each week so check back on your podcast player to hear previous episodes and remember to get an alert for each new episode simply click like or follow and also subscribe to the show thanks for your ongoing support wherever you listen to us from