DEBUNKED

Every Friday we bust 3 anti-vegan myths on Instagram (@ironlettuce). This page collects the original research behind every episode: short plain-English takeaways, linked straight to the sources. Bookmark it. Win your next debate.

EPISODE 1 (Myths 1 to 3)

MYTH 1: "Vegans force their opinions on everyone"

Short answer: Talking about veganism is expressing an opinion, not forcing one. Nobody is being made to do anything. The discomfort comes from having an invisible norm questioned: most of us grow up inside "carnism", the belief system that eating certain animals is normal, and confirmation bias makes any challenge to a deeply held belief feel like an attack. The only ones who truly get someone else's will forced on them are the animals.

The receipts:
- Nickerson, R. S. (1998). Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises. Review of General Psychology.
→ https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175
- Gilbert, M. & Desaulniers, E. (2014). "Carnism" in Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics (Springer). Accessible explainer: https://carnism.org

MYTH 2: "Vegans care more about animals than humans"

Short answer: Going vegan is one of the most pro-human choices you can make. Livestock farming produces a major share of global greenhouse gases and takes up around 80% of all land humans use, while the crops currently fed to animals could nourish roughly 4 billion additional people. And on the health side: the largest association of nutrition professionals in the US states that well-planned vegan diets are appropriate for every stage of life, including for athletes. Fighting for animals and fighting for humans is the same fight.

The receipts:
- Cassidy, E. S. et al. (2013). Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare. Environmental Research Letters. (open access)
→ https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034015
- Stehfest, E. et al. (2009). Climate benefits of changing diet. Climatic Change.
→ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6
- Melina, V., Craig, W. & Levin, S. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
→ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025

MYTH 3: "Veganism promotes eating disorders"

Short answer: Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with complex causes, and a plant-based diet is not one of them. In one of the largest direct comparisons to date, vegans actually scored lower on eating-disorder measures than omnivores. Research also shows that obsessive "clean eating" patterns track with health-and-appearance motives, not with the ethical motivation that drives most vegans. A diet can sometimes be used to hide an existing disorder, which is very different from causing one. And if food feels like a struggle for you personally: please reach out to a professional. You deserve support.

The receipts:
- Heiss, S., Coffino, J. A. & Hormes, J. M. (2017). Eating and health behaviors in vegans compared to omnivores: Dispelling common myths. Appetite.
→ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28780065/
- Timko, C. A., Hormes, J. M. & Chubski, J. (2012). Will the real vegetarian please stand up? An investigation of dietary restraint and eating disorder symptoms in vegetarians versus non-vegetarians. Appetite.
→ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.02.005
- Barthels, F. et al. (2020). Orthorexic eating behavior in vegans is linked to health, not to animal welfare. Eating and Weight Disorders.
→ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30968370/