IN World Vegan Day we meet you with Yanitsa Ivanova from Vidin. She has chosen this way of eating for a year and says that she feels very well. She admits that she has not excluded animal products from her menu for a long time, but first started vegetarianism 4 years ago.
“Of course, tradition looks different for everyone. It took me less than a month to let go of my old habits and focus on the new ones…I didn’t know any vegans in my personal life until very recently. my life. It started when I was 15 years old and a contradiction arose in my mind, which was that I loved animals very much, but at the same time I consumed them, and then I actually became a vegetarian because I found that there really was no difference between a dog or a cow, the only difference is how society has tricked us into perceiving these animals – that some are for eating and others are not for eating… but in fact they are all the same because they too have a central nervous system , have a developed limbic system, that is, they can experience emotion, they can experience different shades of it, they have memory, and all this led me to the conclusion that they are some individuals who also have this emotional complexity, not at such a high level , as much as ours, but it is also inherent in them, and why if I love my cat, I cannot love other such animals in the same way…”
For Janica, the effect of veganism was extremely positive, as she previously suffered from stomach problems, but after choosing this diet, the stomach problems disappeared completely. She has also begun to process food much faster than before. She has also managed to lose the necessary pounds to achieve the physical shape she has always aspired to.
But like anything that can be positive, veganism has some negative sides and hides dangers for our organism. Tthese winters ca exclusively cepios from a medical point of view and many people enter them, without being aware of the possible consequences and how to be healthy during such a situation. The fact is that both styles of vegetarianism and veganism deprive us of essential elements such as iron, zinc, protein, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and iodine.
Janitsa confirms this and she is one of those people who did a lot of research before starting these diets:
“It’s quite hard to find, especially B12. It’s in some plant foods, but in very small amounts, so it’s good to take a supplement if you don’t have the ability to constantly monitor your blood levels, what you’re getting and what you’re not getting. But i recently had a blood test and everything was fine except i was mildly deficient in b12 and i have now taken measures and i actually consulted my GP and he said he approves of this diet but kept despite this restriction in quotes, still eating a variety and emphasizing nuts, especially for me.”
It is clear that the Bulgarian loves meat, which leads us to think that it will be difficult to give it up and animal products in general, and it is unlikely that the products that imitate them will one day replace them:
“First of all, I don’t think it’s possible for the whole world or Bulgaria to magically stop consuming all animal products, and rather my goal as a vegan is not globalism, but to make people make more informed decisions and from a place of compassion, to understand what is behind the final food product that they see and to be able to see the whole process behind it… Especially in mass industry, they look at animals in terrible conditions, stuff them with hormones, with all kinds of chemistry that then goes into us. they are raised in an extremely artificial way, unnatural for them. They far exceed their weight indicators, namely because of their constant feeding, and a large percentage, in fact, of heart disease, of diabetes, comes precisely from the consumption of meat. And with chickens – they are also injected with growth hormones so that they can grow faster and reproduce more product faster, and accordingly these hormones also enter us and these abnormalities and faster development of the human organism are obtained…”
It’s as if our society needs more time to become more tolerant of people who choose this way of eating, because we’ve all witnessed vegans being mocked more than once. This is exactly what I asked Janitsa, if she had ever been the object of ridicule:
“I run into people like that almost every day and I would say it’s harder to deal with all this unconstructive criticism than actually being vegan. I definitely don’t feel understanding from a lot of people and relatives too, still can’t used to the fact that I’m a vegetarian, even though it’s been many years now. The difference is that we vegetarians don’t judge people who are omnivores because we were like them too. Before I went vegan, I was too I was a regular meat eater… I understand where this criticism comes from, because it is so ingrained in our habits, in our traditions, and in our understanding, and it is clear to me that it cannot suddenly become easier, suddenly to to be accepted and to be accepted. But what drives all vegans forward, their causes are for a more ethical world, a more ecological one, and consequently for our individual health as well.”
However, I was interested in how many vegans I would meet in our city, and I was curious how the people of Vidin thought about veganism:
“I consume meat without restriction… I think vegans are people with a very strong will and mental capacity. It is necessary for people to know about food groups, minerals, food composition, etc. and these are people who completely obey my diet and healthy lifestyle… It’s hard for me to imagine the world without meat, to be honest, not that I eat meat every day, but from time to time it’s just necessary… Why admire them, that it’s their personal choice. In fact, I don’t trust anyone to admire me for my personal choice…”
Of course everyone has the right to choose and no one should criticize other people’s decisions because they are their own personal decisions. And for all those who want to become vegan, the recommendation is to be careful, to do it gradually. Visits to a specialist are recommended before starting this serious change for your body.
