With a new year and new decade, there is bound to be new resolutions set by people. One of them is a campaign called Veganuary, which is advocating for people to turn down meat as their resolution for the new year and instead adopt a vegan diet. According to the campaign, more than 300,000 people in January 2020 have pledged to the campaign with a bigger number expected, especially for people who did not sign up officially.

In 2019 alone, more than 800,000 people gave up animal products for the first time according to research by Veganuary, and it was estimated that the total volume of that reduction in animals products was at 4,452,603kg. This new and increasing trend of a vegan lifestyle is driven in part by health concerns relating to meat as well as worries about the cost of meat. Beyond that, the new year also prompts people to begin considering alternative lifestyles or changes to their current lifestyle. Veganism has promised many benefits and improvements to its practitioners ranging from gut health, mental well-being, skin, and also being more energetic and less exhausted.

However, researchers urge people following this lifestyle to pay attention to certain shortcomings of this diet. A vegan diet is short in Vitamin B12, which is commonly found in meat products and is essential to life, hence requiring supplementation. Veganism has been proven, despite its benefits, not to be a magic bullet to solve all lifestyle problems. While it certainly has its advantages, people should also take into account all the facts before attempting such a demanding lifestyle.