Reflecting on my educational experiences, from my BSc in Nutrition and Human Health and the master's degree in Clinical Nutrition I'm currently undertaking, each stage has helped me to appreciate the clinical knowledge concerning optimal health and nutritional status- a topic which I thoroughly wish to further develop whilst completing my masters this year.

My strong interest directed towards veganism stems from my upbringing as a lacto-vegetarian. As a result of undertaking my bachelors in the field of Nutrition, I was naturally inclined to learn about the health benefits of meat-free diets. This knowledge ultimately led me to learn about the benefits of adopting a vegan diet which was backed up by various scientific research. Not only does practicing veganism bring me a great deal of comfort (knowing that I am not contributing to or funding animal suffering) but various studies within the nutritional field have indicated the strong positive health effects of adopting a vegan lifestyle. In addition, I often aim to attend vegan conferences and network with like-minded vegan professionals.

Also, I am currently waiting to gain ethical approval for my masters dissertation, where I plan to incorporate the use of vegan diets. Specifically, I am interested in measuring the effects of meat reduction on weight loss parameters and gut hormones.

The knowledge I have acquired whilst I was working towards my undergraduate degree overlaps with the key foundation of interpreting nutritional status to provide nutritional requirements for various age groups. From studying various modules such as clinical nutrition and energy, obesity and homeostasis, it has prepared me to competently provide practical advice to patients, clients, and the general public. I believe that my understanding and interest in these topics form a solid foundation from which I can build the necessary skills and understanding in order to become a competent clinical nutritionist. In addition, during my final year, I carried out a participant-based dissertation focusing on health promotion. I set out to explore the effects of various dietary fibre sources on satiety and bowel functioning. Overall, my research gained positive trends- indicating a strong correlation between oral fibre intake and gastrointestinal health and was subsequently published within the proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2016).

Essentially, I am a highly enthusiastic, self-motivated, and hard working student; these qualities will allow me to persevere as a future clinical nutritionist. I have shown these qualities by completing training during my time at university (under a government funded health organisation) at Live Well Suffolk, which ultimately qualified me to become a volunteer healthcare champion. My main duty was to help deliver practical advice and guidance for people looking to lead a healthier lifestyle inside and outside of university. This position furthered my desire to help people within the community. This was a unique experience which helped me to understand the role of the health care professionals working for Live Well Suffolk within a community setting. It allowed me to not only appreciate the clinical aspects involved in their role, but also other backgrounds implemented through community interventions; health promotion and governance. This experience has provided me with a primary insight to the field in which I can truly envision myself being part of.

To help me reach my goals, in the past I have had positions of responsibility throughout my academic years. I truly find satisfaction through giving back to the community and so I have been a representative of our community's Hindu society. I have raised money for less able children in India and have personally been there to provide less fortunate children necessities like food and clothing. The experience has taught me the value of medicinal care, as many of the people were handicapped and appeared very weak. This charity work has now become an annual event which I find extremely emotionally rewarding.

I am a PhD student and teaching assistant in Sociology. My focus is on vegans, veganism, and the vegan experience. I am doing research on how vegans experience the everyday in terms of institutional and social contexts (services, restaurants, workplace, etc.) and how they navigate and negotiate their veganism in a non-vegan society. My MSc dissertation looked at the differences between practice and ideology of vegans and the strategies used when misperformance occurred. I also looked at motivations for veganism (ethical, health, environmental, etc.) and if this had an impact on their adherence to veganism. I also conducted a pilot study during my MSc about the views and understanding of veganism from a meat-eater/non-vegan perspective.

I have conducted qualitative interviews with vegans (and non-vegans) for my MSc research and plan to carry out qualitative interviewing for my PhD with vegans. I have carried out interviews on a face-to-face basis, via Skype, and instant messenger. I have also created and used mini survey/participant profile sheets to gather participant information, as well as using a visual method to collate all my participants’ data.

I completed my postgraduate diploma in Nutritional Therapy this year and am currently working on my dissertation for completion in September 2019 – (MSc Nutritional Therapy). Whilst completing my dissertation, I’m planning to set up a nutritional therapy practice which focuses on plant-based eating. My dissertation research topic will focus on gaining an understanding of the knowledge about vegan nutrition and dietary requirements that “new” vegans have, (i.e., those who have been vegan between six months and two years), how important nutrition is to them and where they are accessing their information. I have already done quite a lot of research on vegan dietary requirements and one of my assignments to achieve my qualification was a vegan dietary critique. I have also completed the T. Colin Campbell certificate in plant-based nutrition and, as a long-term vegan, have done a great deal of independent research.

November 2019 update:

My research interests in plant-based (later 100% plant-based/vegan) nutrition commenced when I was 14, when, besides becoming a vegetarian for ethical reasons, I also decided to be and keep healthy. ‘You are what you eat’. I commenced researching, analysing, and questioning all the nutritional information I could find and to apply the findings directly on myself, thus obtaining ‘the first person experience’ of what is working and what – less so. I switched from being vegetarian to vegan 12 years ago.

After obtaining a BSc (Hons) in clinical psychology and an MA in music more than a decade ago, I completed my PgDip in nutritional therapy at the Northern College of Acupuncture (validated by the Middlesex University) in 2016 and I have been working as a nutrition consultant since. In September 2017 I submitted my MSc ‘What is the current evidence on alpha-linolenic (ALA) to docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid conversion in adult vegans? – A systematic review’. Doing a systematic literature search, the critical appraisal, and a narrative synthesis of the findings has hugely contributed to my research and critical evaluation skills.

Besides my general interest, both personal and as a clinician, in 100% plant-based nutrition vs health, my main areas of research are the effects of vegan nutrition on mental health as well as further researching about the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (EPA and DHA) status in vegans (the latter follows my MSc thesis). Both areas require much more primary research both because of their relevance and for the lack of data.

At the moment I am also in the process of looking into opportunities for doing a PhD. I would like to continue my research into further establishing the omega-3 status in vegans (by the use of health and additional laboratory data). The next step – and even more fascinating and important one, in my opinion – would be to gather enough long-term health data from vegans with established lower-than-recommended omega-3 levels in blood in order understand if there are any mechanisms due to the vegan diet that compensate for the lower levels of omega-3 or if supplementation should be recommended. (Which at the present moment is more about 'erring on the side of safety'.)