Are You Going Vegetarian or Vegan for the Right Reasons?

People decide to go vegetarian or vegan for many reasons, but are they the right ones? While these can be perfectly healthy ways of eating, these dietary patterns can get wrapped up in diet mentality and disordered eating. Read this post to see if you are going vegetarian or vegan for helpful reasons.

When I was in middle school, I went vegetarian for about three years. I made this decision for two very important reasons: First, my best friend became a vegetarian, and I thought she was really cool (still do). Second, I read somewhere that Drew Barrymore was a vegetarian, and I also thought she was really cool (still do as well). Clearly, this was a well thought out, values based decision.

As I would have said in middle school....NOT!

My “vegetarianism” lasted a few years. I use quotations because I wasn’t quite vegetarian. As you might imagine, someone making the decision for such flippant reasons was not exactly strict with her diet. I would often sneak downstairs at night, stealing leftover bits of sesame chicken from the fridge, trying to see how much I could get away with eating without anyone noticing.

Now that I'm an adult, I do still eat a lot of vegetarian meals. It’s for many reasons, but mostly because I enjoy a lot of vegetarian dishes. However, I also love things like roasted chicken, spicy sausage and peppers, and anything with prosciutto. So, I meat too. Today, I don’t label my diet, or follow any food rules. I’ve learned that I can best honor my taste preferences, values/ethics, nutrition needs, and time availability by making food choices decision-by-decision rather than setting a rule for myself.

Vegetarian or vegan meals can look a lot of different ways! Here’s a go-to meatless meal of ours: white rice, crispy pan-fried tofu, veggies and teriyaki sauce

Of course, that’s what feels best for me. There is NOTHING wrong with being vegetarian or vegan, and this post is definitely not meant to be a takedown of vegan/vegetarianism. It’s simply to provide some space to do deeper thinking about whether it’s a helpful way to care of your body and mind.

What are Reasons for Going Vegetarian or Vegan?

When I ask clients about their reasons for going or considering going vegetarian or vegan, I hear two main things. Interestingly, my best friend and Drew Barrymore are not among them.

Some are concerned about the ethics of eating meat, in particular, animal welfare and the environmental impact. The other is health - the idea that removing meat and other animal foods from their diet will make them healthier. For most, it's a combination of ethics and health that drives their decision.

I think these reasons are both really valid. Animals are living creatures and while there are a lot of regulations around animal welfare, that doesn’t mean that disturbing things don’t happen on farms (both large and small). There is no doubt that there are systemic issues around animal welfare in agriculture. For many people, the idea of killing an animal at all doesn’t align with their ethics, and that is not something I would ever debate - we are all entitled to make our own personal, ethical decisions. As far as environmental impact goes, there are undeniable benefits to more people eating less meat. Meat production takes quite a bit of energy, land, and water, so on a population level, eating less meat helps conserve resources.

Research has also shown there can be health benefits to eating less meat. Vegetarian and vegan eating patterns have been linked to a reduced incidence of certain types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

A yummy veggie plate from a Southern restaurant, since the sides are always my fave. Pickled cukes, greens, mac and cheese, and fried green tomatoes - plus some big ‘ole biscuits on the side!

On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with going vegetarian or vegan for health or ethical reasons. Where I see these diets becoming dangerous is when these reasons are used as a cover for other, less helpful motivations, like weight loss or feeling a sense of control over ones eating. I see this a lot with my clients in eating disorder recovery. Some of the most adamant ethical vegetarians/vegans often look back as they are further along in recovery and can recognize that their decision to cut out meat was wrapped up in their eating disorder. While they may have had some ethical concerns, or even legit health motivations, they can also name that it was much more about having a “socially acceptable” restriction.

The Potential Risks of Going Vegetarian or Vegan

As I mentioned earlier, there are benefits associated with vegetarian/vegan diets, and with eating less meat in general. There can also be risks. With nutrition, there is rarely good or bad.

One of the biggest potential risks with going vegan or vegetarian comes when someone is using it as a weight loss diet, or as a cover to feel control over eating. In that case, vegetarianism/veganism takes on all the same risks and side effects of any other diet - binge eating, weight cycling, hormonal issues, gastrointestinal upset, fatigue, lowered self worth, etc. Research has even shown going meatless for weight loss versus other reasons puts you at a much higher risk for developing an eating disorder or disordered eating.

Gotta love a carb heavy vegan meal! Curried tempeh and potatoes with rice and some naan on the side.

Outside of the risks associated with dieting and disordered eating, going vegetarian or vegan isn’t inherently healthier. There are beneficial nutrients in animal foods, including B12, vitamin D, omega 3 fats, and iron. My non-diet dietitian and vegan friend Taylor Wolfram has written a great post about nutrients vegans may be short on. While it certainly can be a perfectly healthy way to eat, without proper planning, one can be at risk for nutrient deficiencies. Also, there are individual differences in ones nutrition needs, and some people may feel better eating some or a little more animal foods. At the end of the day, no matter how healthy a diet is supposed to be, if you don’t feel good doing it (physically or mentally), then it’s not healthy for you.

We rarely make decisions based on one single motivation, so it can be hard to know if you’re actually going vegetarian or vegan for helpful reasons. This is especially true for people who have struggled with disordered eating, who may have some very real ethical or health concerns motivating a desire to cut out meat. What if diet mentality is 25% of your motivation, and ethics is the other 75%? Does that mean you should or shouldn’t go vegetarian/vegan? I can’t answer that for you, but here’s a couple things to think about in making your decision.

Feeling deprived is a big sign that you're going meatless for the wrong reasons. It's totally normal to struggle at first knowing how to plan satisfying meatless meals, or to even find yourself getting overly hungry at times as you're figuring out vegetarian/vegan meals that satisfy. You might even feel a bit deprived going out to eat and having less options. But are you constantly hungry, both physically and emotionally? Do you feel resentful for having to give up meat? Do you find yourself compensating for being meatless in other areas, like by eating more sweets, because you "deserve" it? If so, it might be smart to reconsider your decision.

Are — Its’ nice to have some meatless fast casual options. This mediterranean platter with falafel is a favorite!

Another thing to ask yourself is if you knew for certain that you wouldn’t lose weight by cutting out animal foods, would you still do it? This is a really helpful clarifying question I often ask my clients when they are considering food or exercise changes. Again, if the answer is no, it might be smart to reconsider your decision.

The Grey Area

In making a decision to go vegetarian or vegan, I hope you’ll consider another option that’s available to you. You don’t have to follow the rules of a predetermined diet pattern (i.e. vegan/vegetarian). Instead, you can eat with the intention of consuming less animal products, and make individual food choices holding that intention alongside your other food needs. You can hold the values that inform your choice to eat less meat alongside other values/factors that might also be important for you, like convenience, taste preferences, and flexibility.

Someone who is making food choices with the intention to eat less meat might make the following choices:*

Picking up tofu instead of chicken to throw into stir fry.
Eating spaghetti with meat sauce at a friends house because that’s what was prepared, and they know plain pasta and garlic bread wouldn’t be very satisfying.
Knowing some go-to vegetarian fast food options for when they’re traveling, like an Impossible Whopper at Burger King, Taco Bell a crunchwrap supreme with black beans, or the plant-based breakfast sandwich at Starbucks.
Deciding they feel OK purchasing chicken and eggs from a local farm that has strong animal welfare standards.

*Obviously these are examples, and may or may not line up with what flexibility looks like for you.

I’m a huge fan of products like Impossible Burger and Beyond Beef for meatless meals. This was a bowl of bulgogi “beef” (using Omsom’s starter sauce), rice, sauteed cabbage, and cukes.

It is usually possible to practice flexibility, and still live in line with your values. While there are environmental benefits to eating less meat, you are also one person, and your decisions won’t save or destroy the world (unless you’re a billionaire, which in that case I might have some thoughts for you!). If you are concerned about animal welfare, there are very likely ways you can consume animal products in a way that feels good to you by researching small, local farms and their practice (or perhaps even larger farms, which often have pretty stringent animal welfare standards too!). If you are concerned with your health, we know that a flexitarian eating pattern has benefits too.

At the end of the day, you know more than any diet what's right for you, and should feel free to make decisions in line with that. That said, if you’re struggling to navigate whether cutting out meat is right for your, or are following a vegetarian or vegan diet and need support in meeting your nutrition needs, we work with clients throughout the US virtually, and out of our Columbia, SC office. Read out our practice philosophy and reach out if you’d like more information.

This blog post was originally published Feb 2017. It has been updated to give you the best possible content.