A new study has found that one in ten Britons have once pretended to be vegan and a quarter of Britons have admitted to once pretending to be vegetarian. It was uncovered that the main reason they lied about their dietary choice was because they were trying to impress a potential love interest.

Would you lie about being vegan?

With an increasing amount of people choosing to be vegetarian or vegan, it has been found that some Britons lie about their diet to impress, stand out and even gain social media popularity.

What’s more, of those who have lied about being vegan or vegetarian, just 1 in 3 revealed they would actually consider making the change.

The research was carried out by www.MoneySavingHeroes.co.uk as part of an ongoing study into the social attitudes of British people. 2,409 Britons over the age of 18 were quizzed for the purpose of the study.

Initially, all respondents were asked “Have you ever pretended to be vegan?” with 10% of respondents admitting ‘yes’ they have done so before at least once. However, more respondents admitted to pretending to be vegetarian at least once before (26%).

Respondents who stated they have pretended to be vegetarian or vegan were asked why they had done so. When given a list of possible reasons and asked to select which most applied to them, the following emerged as the top five:

“Trying to impress a love interest” – 32%

“I wanted to stand out” – 22%

“To gain social media popularity” – 19%

“To impress friends” – 17%

“I felt pressured to lie” – 6%

These respondents were asked in what circumstances they faked their eating habits, when able to provide as many answers as appropriate, 31% said they had pretended to be vegan or vegetarian at a public function, 30% said they had done so whilst out for dinner and 13% said they had fibbed about their diet whilst out for drinks at a bar. When asked if they would fake dietary restrictions again in the future, 42% said they ‘likely would’.

Finally, of the respondents who have lied about being vegan or vegetarian before, 1 in 3 (34%) said they would consider actually making the change to their diet. The remaining 66% said they would not, with reasons cited including ‘I like meat too much’ (27%), ‘It seems too hard’ (24%), and ‘It’s more expensive than my usual diet’ (19%).

George Charles, spokesperson from www.moneysavingheroes.co.uk commented:

“The amount of vegetarians and vegans in this country is expanding year on year and it shows no signs of slowing down. It has gotten to a point now where people are willing to lie about whether their diet just to impress other which is honestly quite a shock.

"If you want to be vegan or vegetarian you should commit to it and not live a lie, especially as many made this change for good reasons like animal welfare. It’s also important to note that being vegetarian or vegan does not necessarily mean it’ll be more expensive to eat. There are definitely cheap options out there for non-meat eaters!”

by Katie Haseldine for www.femalefirst.co.uk

