Things not to say to a vegan

Jack Monroe in the BBC Good Food Test Kitchen

For more on vegan diets, we've collaborated with BBC Future – read more below:

The health benefits of going vegan – BBC Future
Why vegan junk food might be even worse for your health – BBC Future
How a vegan diet could affect your intelligence – BBC Future
The hidden biases that drive anti-vegan hatred – BBC Future
The mystery of why there are more women vegans – BBC Future
Why the vegan diet is not always green – BBC Future
Which milk alternative should we be drinking? – BBC Future

“Veganism is expensive.”

It can be, if you want to buy all of the expensive ‘fake meat’ and cheeses on the market, but none of them really hit the spot for me, and they are quite pricey. Instead, build your diet around vegetables and pulses, two of the cheapest food groups in any supermarket. Frozen and tinned veg count, too.

Try Good Food's cheap ways to get your 5-a-day for more budget-friendly ingredients.

“Where do you get your protein?”

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The same places that cows and silverback gorillas get theirs; vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, pulses, and lentils. You only have to look up ‘vegan bodybuilders’ to see that a vegan diet can contain enough protein to sculpt phenomenally strong bodies, but for the slightly lazier herbivore, be assured we do alright on the protein front as we eat our nuts, pulses and vegetables.

Read our guide on the best vegan protein sources.

“Where do you get your B12?”

It never fails to astound me that once you confess to the v-word, every man and their internet connection is suddenly a nutritionist. Most vegans take a multivitamin supplement, but then again, so do a lot of non-vegans. There are also fortified foods like plant milks and spreads, breakfast cereals and Marmite.

Find out more about vitamin B12. It's also important to make sure you're topped up with all the other vitamins and minerals you need for a healthy diet, such as iron and vitamin D. Check out our guide to find out what a balanced diet for vegans looks like.

“You look thin, you need a steak”.

Nobody needs a steak. It’s not there on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and commenting on other people's figures is just rude.

“You’re too fat to be a real vegan”.

Again, other people's bodies are not your business to comment on, plus, my vegan diet includes chip butties, pie, Nutella, Biscoff spread, copious amounts of homemade bread dunked in oil and vinegar, cake, croissants and pasta, besides the usual greens and beans and sense of wellbeing. Veganism is not a fad diet – it’s a conscious choice not to use animal products.

Fancy indulging in some vegan comfort food? We've got all the recipes you need.

“But BACON...”

The main flavours in bacon are fat and salt and a little smoke. It can be pretty simply replicated with any thinly sliced vegetable marinated in paprika, salt, fat, and cooked on a high heat until the edges char. It may take a little experimentation to get it right, but it’s worth it – and means a hangover cure is always at hand in the vegetable drawer.