Health-related beliefs and dietary practices among vegetarians and vegans: a qualitative study

Abstract

A SNOWBALL sampling technique was used to con tact 76 self-defined vegetarians between October 1987 and February 1989. Respondents were ques tioned in the course of loosely-structured interviews on such topics as the type of vegetarianism they practised, the process of conversion, and nutritional attitudes. The interviews were taped and fully tran scribed, the transcripts being subjected to detailed qualitative analysis. The present paper sets out those findings which relate specifically to health concerns and motives. The findings suggest that while health motives are not necessarily the dom inant ones for the majority of this group of respondents, for many of those interviewed the per ceived health advantages represent significant ad ditional benefits of vegetarianism, benefits which complement and confirm their ethical stance.

Dietary intakes and lifestyle factors of a vegan population in Germany: results from the German Vegan Study

“…The mean time of duration that the vegan diet was practised was longer in SV than in MV. These findings agree with the experience that each vegan has his/her own career that usually progressively moves along the vegetarian (vegan) scale, from a more moderate to a stricter vegetarian or vegan form, respectively (Beardsworth & Keil, 1991). Compared to the average population, vegetarians practise a healthier lifestyle.…”

Portraits of Veganism: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of a Second-Order Subculture

“…One may even say that Danzig's self-characterization as a "plant-based athlete" and accompanying narrative provides a competing discourse that intersects with sport and gender (see also [52]), thereby discursively constructing a counter-hegemonic cultural object that positions veganism as more culturally masculine than non-veganism. This counter-hegemonic discourse may run contrary to existing studies that have regarded vegan identity as wholly feminine (e.g., [35,53]), but positioning veganism as masculine may serve to redress existing gender disparities in the adoption of a vegan identity, particularly in light of the fact that vegans are disproportionally women [16,17,22,[25][26][27][28][29]. Overall, the film's inclusion of this statement illustrates its attempt to address negative cultural perceptions of vegans.…”

“…This scene critiques the gendered view of dietary habits in the Western world, most notably, the feminization of veganism (often noted in previous research) [17,22,24,31]. Esselstyn's statement directly challenges the idea that eating meat means being masculine, and contrastingly argues that eating plants is masculine.…”

“…While most vegans may not eliminate all of the processed foods Fulkerson lists, the exclusion of animal products and byproducts, as well as the strict inclusion of plant foods directly reflects literal definitions of the vegan diet [4,6,21,22,34].…”

The Civilised Burger: Meat Alternatives as a Conversion Aid and Social Instrument for Australian Vegetarians and Vegans

“…This theory is to some extent supported by studies of meat abstention across disciplines. They indicate that for vegetarians and vegans, food and eating practices are often an extension of personally developed ideas about social justice and ethical perspectives about how humanity should develop as a species (Allen et al 1405;Beardsworth and Keil;Kalof et al;McDonald;Stiles 217). Elias could not, of course, have foreseen the success of Iron Chef, or a number of other forms of culinary entertainment that champion themes that feature the whole animal such as 'paddock to plate', 'nose to tail' and 'farm to fork', all of which celebrate nature, and reject waste and other perceived vagaries of the processed food age.…”