Donald Watson started it all. He is the inventor of the word vegan. Vegan taken from the word vegetarian. The word was decided together with his wife by taking the first three letters and last two letters of 'vegetarian'
His story begun when he was young at the farm of his uncle. When he witness and responded to the harshness and brutality which he observe in the industrial and farming community. He was surrounded by interesting animals and finding out the purpose of each one. And when he saw a pig slaughtered he realize what purpose the pigs served and his life changed. At the age of 14 he bacame vegetarian as a new years resulotion.
Being a vegan then is the one that does not consume or use of animal products. People bacame vegans because they have concern for animal rights and environments and also perceived health benefits, and spiritual concerns.
As far as I know, vegans avoids consuming animal products from ingredients to by-products. Some avoid food cooked with the equipment thats has been used to cook non-vegan foods. Another thing was that they avoid toothpaste with pcalcium] extracted from animal bones, if they are aware of it. Being vegan requires hardwork and determination.
According to American Diet Association vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C, vitamin E and phytochemicals. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says that one small scale study has observed that a vegan diet can reduce blood cholesterol in people with, and significantly reduce the complications of Type 2 diabetes. Likewise properly planned vegan diet presents no significant nutritional problems. But they are potentially at risk for being deficient in nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids and this is mostly taken from animals.