Vegan diet · Discover the benefits
Eat colorfully, discover new favorites and choose thoughtfully. Explore the benefits of a vegan diet for your everyday life, the environment and the way you think about animals.
Five perspectives
Everyone has a different starting point. These five perspectives explore what plant-based eating can offer.
Vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds: a plant-based kitchen invites you to explore this variety in new ways.
Oats for breakfast, lentils in a curry or whole-grain bread at dinner: familiar plant foods offer useful ways to include fiber.
Choosing more plant-based and fewer animal-based foods can reduce the environmental footprint of your diet. Seasonality and food waste matter too.
How we treat animals is a personal reason to explore plant-based alternatives. Your food choices can reflect the values that matter to you.
Creamy hummus, crisp tofu, richly spiced curries: new ingredients and techniques can bring more variety and enjoyment to your kitchen.
What matters most
Food variety and reliable nutrient sources belong together.
Explore the foundationsBackground: NHS · planning a vegan diet · German Environment Agency · food and the environment (German).
A foundation for everyday life
For healthy adults, a vegan diet can support health when food choices are balanced, vitamin B12 is supplemented and potentially critical nutrient needs are met. A vegan label alone does not make a diet balanced.
Build meals around a varied selection of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
The German Nutrition Society recommends a reliable vitamin B12 supplement for a vegan diet. Other nutrients also deserve attention.
Life stage and personal circumstances matter. Qualified dietary advice is especially important for children, pregnancy, breastfeeding and older age.
Guidance: DGE position on vegan nutrition (German) · NHS · the vegan diet.
Beyond your plate
Food choices have an environmental side. A more plant-based selection can reduce the impact of a diet. Seasonal food and less food waste complement this approach.
There is also a personal question: how do you want to treat animals? That question can be a starting point for exploring plant-based alternatives.
Environmental context: German Environment Agency (German).
Put nutrition in context
Immunity, plant compounds and food safety are different subjects. Start with a brief explanation, then explore the linked articles.
Food choices and nutrient planning matter more than a label alone. The linked article introduces nutrition and the immune system; a vegan diet is not a guarantee of stronger immunity.
Read about nutrition and immunity
Antioxidants are a topic you will often encounter when reading about food and nutrition. Explore our introduction to the terminology and its context, rather than treating the word as a promise of a health effect.
Explore antioxidants
Free radicals and antioxidant processes belong to the wider topic of metabolism. The linked article offers a starting point for exploring these terms and connections.
Read about free radicals
No. A vegan label is not a test for contaminants. Unwanted substances can enter food through environmental conditions, processing or storage. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment explains how these risks are assessed.
Read the BfR explanation (German)
The Vegan Lifestyle magazine
Further reading from our nutrition and health collection. Choose a topic and take a closer look.
More ideas for your everyday vegan life.
Explore all articlesThe Vegan Lifestyle newsletter
Receive more ideas and reading from Vegan Lifestyle.
Your next step
A new meal, a thoughtful shop or an idea for your week: find practical inspiration and make your own start.
General information, not an individual nutrition or treatment plan. Seek qualified advice for your personal needs. Images are illustrative; linked articles have their own content and sources.
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