The plant based diet has become very popular in recent years … and with good reason. The main drivers have been concerns over the environment along with healthy eating. But there is some confusion around what constitutes plant based and questions like ‘can you eat eggs on a plant based diet?’ are quite common …
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Can You Eat Eggs On a Plant Based Diet?
Yes, you can eat eggs on a plant based diet, if you want to. Before you start shouting at your screen, hear me out because it all depends on your level of commitment. To avoid confusion though, only those following a 100% PBD need to eliminate eggs altogether…
It’s easy to get mixed up between plant based and vegan but they are not the same thing. Veganism is an ethical standpoint; a line in the sand. The plant based diet revolution is concerned purely with the foodstuffs you consume. Ethics figure for some but animal rights concerns are not really on the radar.
For vegans, eggs are definitely off the menu because they are produced through the exploitation of chickens. I won’t go into the gory details here … there’s YouTube for that! Twitter is another excellent source of information if you want to know the barbaric truth behind the egg industry.
But plant based is different and it all depends on how strict you want to be.
Plant Based & Vegan Have Become Synonymous
One of the problems causing the confusion and the seemingly obvious questions around plant based diets is the fact that a vegan diet is essentially a 100% plant based diet.
Since vegans don’t eat eggs, many have taken this to mean those on plant based diets cannot eat eggs.
But is this true?
Maybe the clue is in the ‘based’ part of the name. For example, when we read a book which is ‘based on’ a true story we take that to mean the events in the book don’t necessarily reflect the true facts of the story. There may be embellishments and omissions.
So when you decide to embark on a diet which is ‘based on’ plants then you will focus mostly on plant based foods but you may also have the odd transgression. Maybe you will eat eggs once a week or have a little bit of cow cheese on your Friday night pizza.
… and if you’re plant based that shouldn’t trouble you.
You may also like: The Difference Between a Plant Based and a Vegan Diet
Is Going Plant Based An Ethical Decision?
Again, the boundaries are blurred here because for some, ethics play a large part in the reasoning behind deciding to follow a plant based diet. For others it is purely down to wanting to live a healthier life.
Then there is another group who learn that a plant based diet is very effective when weight loss is the main driver. So we can see there are many reasons driving this ever more popular dietary choice.
Some are moved by their conscience and their morals while for others it is solely utilitarian or you could even say, selfish. Nothing wrong with being selfish in this regard, by the way! We all need to look out for number 1, after all 🙂
So this being the case, you will find a group of people who follow a plant based diet for most of the week but will allow themselves the odd boiled egg or even a bacon sandwich. In their mind, 99% plant based is much better than not doing anything.
… and they would be right!
100% Plant Based Diets Do Not Include Eggs
If you decide you want to be 100% plant based for whatever reason (the ever warming climate is as good as any) then you will need to accept that eggs and any other animal based foodstuffs are to be eliminated.
Focusing on the climate for a minute, it’s well established through endless research papers that animal agriculture is responsible for a large percentage of the environmental problems we now face as a species. Let’s just say, we get through a lot of eggs!
Worldwide, it’s estimated that 7 billion unwanted male chicks are killed every year, often at just hours old. They are the unlucky ones since the males don’t lay eggs and they are not suitable for meat production.
A common method of destruction is maceration – yes, these poor unfortunate souls are ground up while still alive. This is why vegans do not eat eggs; along with the fact that the female chickens generally spend a tortuous life laying way more eggs than is natural.
Often these chickens cannot support their own body weight due to the selective breeding and wholly unnatural conditions in which they exist. In a word, it’s gruesome! These animals are not the lucky ones either!
Apologies, I did say I wouldn’t get into the gory details but what can I say? I’m vegan. I just can’t help myself 🙂
It All Comes Down To Personal Choice
Since a plant based diet is not as strict as a vegan diet, if you want to eat eggs then you can. You just won’t be following a 100% plant based regime. But you will still be making a positive change.
It’s up to you of course.
From a vegan’s point of view, I’d urge you to consider giving up the eggs, dairy and meat altogether. Cooking with plants is so easy and you’re minimising your impact on the environment as well as saving lots of animals from slaughter and misery.
But then I would say that wouldn’t I?
Every human on this planet has a personal choice to make in these topsy-turvy times we find ourselves living through. Science is providing us with ever more answers in so many aspects of our lives; we’re more informed than ever before in history.
Some of us have taken the information on board and chosen to use our wallets to drive change. If you don’t buy it, you’re not creating demand. Simple as that.
Eggs, Cheese, Milk & Meat: Old Traditions Are Changing
The popularity of plant based eating is growing and spreading like wildfire. According to Finder.com the UK could start 2023 with over 16 million people adopting a meat-free diet.
That’s huge!
Of those people, a significant proportion will go vegan. Although it’s estimated that still only 2-3% of the UK population is vegan … so we have a long way to go.
The boundaries are becoming less defined between plant based and vegan though. We do risk diluting the vegan message when lumping it in with the plant based revolution.
The diets are very similar but the ethos is very different.
Veganism is all about animal rights and doing what we can to minimise the abhorrent suffering inflicted on our beautiful sentient animal friends every single hour of the day.
We’re rejecting the ‘norm’ … a norm that thinks it’s fine to kill 80 billion land animals for food on a yearly basis. Just stop for a moment and try to imagine that huge number of lost souls.
Truth is we’re engaged in an animal holocaust which is more than 10 times the magnitude of the entire 4 year Nazi killing machine … every hour of every day!
Almost impossible to imagine.
This is why I end my article with a request that you consider adopting a vegan way of life. It’s time to stand up and be part of the change. I believe our species’ survival depends on it!
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Thanks for reading and have a compassionate day!
Rohan.