Growing Veganism

In 1970 after the white revolution in India, dairy became the integral part of Indian cuisine. Indians consumes milk in various forms like milk, paneer, curd, buttermilk, butter, ghee, processed cheese, milk powder etc.

For those who need to avoid dairy products, especially vegan or lactose intolerant people, these products are neither directly observable nor noticeable in the foods, making it a real challenge.

For majority of Indians Milk and other dairy products are the major source of calcium for vegetarians. Milk has vitamin D, calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, potassium and phosphorus in it. It also has some vitmain A, vitamin B1, vitmain B6, zinc and magnesium. For vegetarians, milk is one major source of calcium.

But at the same time almost 60% of Indians are lactose intolerant. Lactose is a type of sugar found in milk. The inability to digest this sugar is called lactose intolerance.

As a kid, one's body can break down lactose but as we grow up, most people lose their ability to break lactose. Experts believe because milk is a good source of protein, calcium and immunity-boosting minerals, one must definitely consume it if they are not lactose intolerant.

There has been an ongoing debate about dairy products and their consumption, which is why many people are turning vegan.

Veganism encourages people to completely give up consuming animal products. Not just this, it is even found that dairy products are harmful for many and thus should not be consumed. As more and more people are turning vegan, an increasing number of people are forgoing dairy products.

Talking about growth, adults don't need milk once they are adults. But consuming milk and other dairy products have been a part of our lives forever now and thus feels natural to us. But as a vegan the major problem is how to avoid all those dairy products that are found in so many vegetarian dishes.