The Vegan Lifestyle: Why It’s Healthier Not To Eat Animals

The History of Veganism

Donald Watson came up with the term “vegan” 76 years ago in 1944, when he co-founded the Vegan Society in the United Kingdom. In the beginning of the movement, a vegan was defined as a “non-dairy vegetarian,” and by 1945, the term meant abstinence from honey, eggs, milk, butter and cheese. From 1951, the definition of being a vegan by the Veganism Society was “the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals.”  

The idea of avoiding animal-flesh-consumption can be traced much further back though, to ancient Medierranean and Indian societies. All Buddhists, Hindus and Jainists believe that pain should not be inflicted upon other animals, nor should they be sacrificed for consumption. In 500 BCE, famous Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos promoted the idea of being kind to all species, including humans and animals. Find out which countries have the highest population of vegans in the world!