Please find below a selection of statistics about veganism and health.
Disclaimer: This is a collation of third party sources about topics connected to veganism. Some of the links are not to the original sources; we are sharing them to help journalists or researchers with their research and because they may form a helpful starting point.
Diet
- A 2023 study found that replacing meat and dairy with whole grains, beans, nuts and olive oil may significantly reduce cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, according to a major review into the impact of diet on health. Source
- In 2023, analysis by the Office of Health Economics revealed that 100% adoption of plant-based diets in England could save the NHS around £6.7 billion over a year. There could be 2.1 million fewer cases of disease and a gain of more than 170,000 quality-adjusted life years across England. Source
- When people follow a vegan diet, they often eat more fruit and vegetables and enjoy meals higher in fibre and lower in saturated fat. We work with the British Dietetic Association to show that well-planned vegan diets can support healthy living in people of all ages. Source
- A 2023 study, from Harvard University tracked the diets of over 100,000 people over 30 years and found that those who followed a sustainable diet of more plant-based foods could reduce risk of death from chronic illness by 25%. Source
- A global move to a vegan diet would avert 8.1 million premature deaths per year. Sources: [1], [2]
- In 2022, YouGov found that 70% of vegans say that their health has improved as a result of their diet. Source
- The World Health Organization's first step to healthy eating is: "Eat a nutritious diet based on a variety of foods originating mainly from plants, rather than animals". Source
- In a 2021 survey, 56% of vegans said that they had seen an improvement to their digestion since starting a vegan diet. 55% felt their sleep had improved and 53% felt like they had more energy. Plus, 52% said they were able to walk or run better or further, 34% said they have a shorter recovery time between exercise sessions and 31% said they were able to lift heavier weights. Source
- In 2020, ProVeg and SmartProtein published reports on several country's recent diet trends. In the UK, 48% of meat eaters had reduced their intake of meat and 49% reported they trusted plant-based products more than 3 years ago due to safety, accurate labelling and reliabiltiy. Source
- Plant-based diet patterns, especially when they are enriched with healthful plant-based foods, may be beneficial for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the general population. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, accounting for 32% of all global deaths in 2019. Importantly, not all plant foods are equally beneficial, but refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and oils should be avoided. Sources: [1], [2]
- Eating a vegan diet may help people who are overweight reduce body fat and promote weight loss without restricting calories. Sources: [1], [2]
VEG 1
- VEG 1 sales more than doubled between 2017 and 2020, showing the increase in popularity, as well as the increase in trusted vegan supplementation.
COVID-19
- In June 2021, the British Medical Journal published a report showing plant-based and pescatarian diets were associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19. Source
- In April 2020, during the first pandemic lockdown, The Vegan Society discovered 1 in 5 people had cut down on meat consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source
- The survey also found 15% have reduced their dairy/egg intake over the lockdown period. Source
- A repeat of this survey in May 2021, discovered 1 in 4 Brits had reduced the amount of animal products they were consuming since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Source
- A huge number of statistics relating to how people from the UK are switching to vegan food and drink products during the lockdown period can be found in our 2021 report – Changing Diets During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Source
- A Mintel study found that 25% of young British Millennials (aged 21-30) say that the COVID-19 pandemic has made a vegan diet more appealing. Source
- Another Mintel study found that a quarter of people polled said the pandemic had made eating vegan or plant-based food and drink more appealing to them. For the under-35s that figure rose to 38%. Source
- Writing in an open letter to Viva!, 15 doctors advised that going vegan is the quickest and cheapest way of fighting obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease – major risk factors for COVID-19. Source.
- The letter was signed by clinicians including Emanuel Goldman, a world-renowned professor of microbiology and consultant haematologist, Dr Shireen Kassam, nursing expert Baroness Watkins of Tavistock and Professor Richard Kock, emerging diseases specialist at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London. Source.
- As all vaccines are currently tested on animals, at this stage it is impossible to have a vaccine that has been created without animal use, including the covid-19 vaccination. Source
Medicines
- “Almost 75% of the most commonly prescribed medicines in the UK contain animal-derived products.” Source
The Vegan Society’s Guide to Ingredients
- Magnesium Stearate – Manufacture requires animal fat hydrolysis
- Steric Acid – Manufacture requires animal fat hydrolysis
- Gelatine (E441) – Extracted from animal tissues
- Lanolin (E913) – Fat extracted from sheep’s wool
- Glycoholic Acid – Bile acid derived from mammals
- Lactic Acid – Manufactured using animal sources
