Veganism vs. Whole-Food Plant-Based

Sometimes the terms “vegan” and “plant-based” are used interchangeably and that can cause some confusion.

Veganism is an ethical choice to not partake in any animal products which includes things like leather and beeswax in addition to edible animal products like milk and meat. It’s not, by itself, a health or nutrition-based way to eat.

It is quite possible to be a vegan and eat highly processed food for every meal and experience the chronic health problems that are a result of lifestyle choices. Whole-food plant-based (WFPB), on the other hand, is a way of eating that is based on the most recent scientific evidence that eating mostly whole, unprocessed plants provides far-reaching health-benefits. People who eat WFPB are not necessarily vegan. They could be both vegan and WFPB, but not necessarily. My husband and kids eat mostly plant-based. At home, they eat only plants but at restaurants or at other people’s homes, they eat a little dairy and even meat from time to time. Our overall focus is to make whole, unprocessed plants the focus of our meals, and dairy and meat an accompaniment or a very small proportion of our diet.

I try to avoid animal products all the time because I’ve always had a hard time feeling comfortable eating animals and animal products when I know very well what the dairy and meat industries are actually like. I’m also deeply concerned about climate change and like feeling as if my food choices might actually reduce my carbon footprint. I feel better, ethically, when I’m minimizing animal products all the time. Occasionally, when away from home, I’ll have a little dairy or even fish if I'm stuck with nothing else to eat so that I don’t have to be too rigid with my diet. I have history of some disordered eating and becoming too unforgiving with my food choices usually increases those kinds of patterns in my brain.

I also occasionally have processed food! I shoot for lightly processed (short lists of ingredients easily recognizable as food) but I live in the real world, with the time constraints that come along with it and I turn to packaged foods sometimes for convenience.

So I’m not 100% vegan and I’m not 100% whole-food plant-based. And you don’t have to be 100% anything either. In fact, if you have any history with an eating disorder or even disordered eating behaviors, I’d recommend you don’t explicitly ban any foods.

My family and I try to focus on more whole plants in our diet and less of all the other stuff. It feels like the right choice for us for both health reasons and environmental reasons.

I hope this helps make the difference between vegan and WFPB a little more clear.