With the rise of plant-based eating over the last couple of years, several different styles have evolved.
There’s the whole food plant-based diet, vegetarianism, pescetarianism and then, there is veganism.
join our free vegan course!
Learn how to thrive on a plant-based diet with practical tips & a 3-day meal plan!
What is veggan?
A veggan is someone who identifies themselves as a vegan but also eats eggs. Yes, eggs are not vegan because they come from an animal. Another word for veggan could be “ovo-vegetarian.”
As per definition, veganism refers to an ethical lifestyle that seeks to reduce the exploitation of animals — it doesn’t state that animal products shall never, under no circumstances, be touched.
Reasons for vegganism
Some people cannot go vegan for health reasons or due to accessibility.
Imagine someone with many allergies who can’t have soy, can’t eat bread or struggles to digest plant-based protein.
Instead of not trying to reduce their animal product intake at all, they cut out meat and fish, go dairy-free and skip the honey.
That’s already a lot of harm reduction!
Veggans usually try to choose the least exploitative eggs — while this does seem like an oxymoron to many vegans, we can all probably agree that some conditions are worse than others.
This could be backyard eggs from their neighbor or even rescuing hens and treating them like beloved pets while consuming the eggs they lay.
While this may be a slippery slope, choosing an ovo-vegetarian diet over an omnivorous diet still makes a tremendous difference in terms of animal suffering, the environment and human health.
Find the best reasons to go vegan here!
Potential downfalls
It’s pretty much impossible to find truly ethical eggs. Even in the best-case scenario where you lovingly care for a rescued hen (not bought at a hatchery!) and she lets her eggs rot in your backyard, you might still regard chickens as commodities and eggs as food.
Do you avoid all eggs if you eat out because you can’t be sure they were produced ethically?
Do you also avoid mayo, baked goods and other products from the supermarket that contain eggs?
If yes, kudos to you! Otherwise, you still support factory farming and should look into easy replacements for these foods.
How to go veggan
It can make sense to reduce animal products step-by-step when transitioning to a vegan diet and lifestyle.
We usually suggest you cut out those foods that are easiest to replace for you first; this can be swapping cow’s milk for almond milk, making black bean balls instead of meatballs or using hummus for your sandwich.
Be sure to read the labels before buying anything to see if it’s vegan-friendly!
After all, if you want to go “veggan”, you probably care about the vegan message as a whole and strive to eat as plant-based as possible.
Load up on delicious plant-based staple foods and make a grocery list with everything you want to buy to make easy plant-based meals at home!
Find meal planning and transition tips in the guides below.
We also suggest that you follow a healthy plant-based eating pattern that takes care of all nutritional needs and that you seek to reduce as many animal products in your diet as possible.
Speak with your doctor or a Registered Dietitian if you have any health issues or want to know whether a fully vegan diet is possible for you!
In the meantime, educate yourself on veganism and plant-based diets, make delicious food and stay compassionate.
More vegan guides
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out these next!
Are you veggan or did you know what this term means? Share your thoughts below and be sure to Pin this article here!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
No, this is not a typo: vegganism is similar to veganism and a type of plant-based diet. Let’s take a look at it!