Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral convictions concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns. Of particular concern are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources required for animal farming.Various polls have reported vegans to be between 0.2% and 1.3% of the U.S. population, and between 0.25% and 2.24% of the UK population.Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets, which are credited with lowering the risk of colon cancer, heart attack, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, and stroke. However, vegan diets can be low in levels of calcium, iodine, vitamin B and vitamin D. Vegans are therefore encouraged to plan their diet and take dietary supplements as appropriate.

The results of a new study indicate consumption of dairy products may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by about 20 percent or more, depending on diet and supplement use. The study, based in Hawaii and Los Angeles, examined the amount of dairy foods, calcium and vitamin D consumed by a multiethnic group of 85,903 men and 105,108 women.

A couple of days ago, an op-ed appeared in The New York Times with the incendiary title of "Death by Veganism." The piece describes an undernourished infant who died six weeks after his birth, having been fed a diet consisting solely of soy milk and apple juice by his vegan parents.

n order to be perfect for her new movie Tomb Raider, Angelina Jolie had spent a few months on a special diet. Jolie gave up cigarettes and coffee and used to eat steamed meat, vegetables and soya milk. ‘It’s an interesting test because I used to smoke and drink and I used to not eat breakfast but have a cigarette and coffee"

A new Harvard study says that women who ditch a low-fat diet for high-fat dairy foods have a better chance of ovulating better and getting pregnant.

Milk wasn't on the Stone Age menu, says a new study which suggests the vast majority of adult Europeans were lactose intolerant as recently as 7,000 years ago. While cow's milk is a mainstay in the diet of modern-day Europeans, their ancestors weren't able to digest the nutritious dairy product after childhood, according to DNA analysis.