Deficient Vegans

In this episode, we talk about signs of progress in vegan advocacy across food, institutions, policy, and culture.

New news

• https://foe.org/news/ca-budget-invests-healthy-school-meals/
• https://bryantresearch.co.uk/insight-items/uk-consumers-understand-that-meat-free-products-do-not-contain-meat/
• https://mercyforanimals.org/mcmissing/patty-battles/
• https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/mcdonalds-mcplantus-vegan-friendly-burger-chains-ranking-plant-based/

Chapters
0:02 Vegan Progress Check
1:28 School Food Gets Plant-Based
4:11 Label Confusion Survey
5:33 Burger Chains Ranked
12:41 Measuring Vegan Progress
16:40 Grocery Store Expansion
25:30 The End of Surcharges
29:57 Happy Cow Changes Everything
34:21 Vegan Numbers Hold Steady
38:55 Veganuary's Growing Reach
45:59 Hospitals Choose Plants
50:02 Hospital Meals Go Plant-Based
53:39 Vegan Options Change Menus
59:22 Progress in Cosmetics and Media
1:07:30 Shifting Views on Animals
1:19:01 Welfare Wins and Bans
1:25:32 Helping Vegan Progress Continue
1:29:59 Warm Up the Right Way
1:34:03 Book Club and Wrap-Up

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

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Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
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Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

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This week we discuss what to do if someone cares about animals but cannot go fully vegan yet due to family, health, or practical limits. 

New news

• Those Vegan Cowboys' animal-free casein sports nutrition project (Nutrition Insight)
• 2026 VegNews Restaurant Awards winners
• WalletHub's 10 best US cities for vegans and vegetarians (VegNews)

Mentioned in the episode

• Animal slaughter numbers (Our World in Data)
• The Vegan Society's definition of veganism
• The Vegan Society's guidance on medications
• What the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act changed for non-dairy milk in schools (Green Queen)
• Animal Advocacy Careers (skills-based volunteering and jobs)
• The Humane League
• The Impactful Vegan by Robert Cheeke

Chapters
0:05 Welcome
0:30 Precision Fermentation News
1:21 Vegan Awards Roundup
3:40 Best Vegan Cities
5:17 What If You Can’t Go Vegan?
10:34 Medication Exceptions
11:33 Food Constraints
16:21 Holidays and Family Meals
19:15 Health Diet Limits
20:49 Beyond Food Choices
23:13 Vegan Personal Care
25:25 Supporting Animal Alternatives
31:25 Vegan Business Support
33:50 Advocating at Work
37:31 Spreading Vegan Media
42:55 Supporting Vegan Community
48:54 Food Access and Donations
55:09 School and Dissection Choices
58:28 Workplace Advocacy Matters
1:01:05 Research, Testing, and Ethics
1:03:05 How to Donate Effectively
1:10:40 Small Steps, Big Impact
1:15:16 Protein Myths Explained
1:19:22 New Recipes and Book Club

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

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• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
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Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
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This week we discuss why ex-vegan stories get so much attention and define different kinds of former vegans. 

Chapters
0:02 Podcast Kickoff
0:32 Animal Testing Reform
2:40 Cottage Cheese Update
4:31 Olympia Vegan Athlete
6:05 Ex-Vegan Debate
11:21 Vegan Vs Plant-Based
17:29 The Ex-Vegan Study
24:25 Why People Quit
31:44 Leaving And Belief Shifts
36:35 Meat Reduction Results
39:54 What Makes People Quit
47:20 Health Diets And Identity
54:49 Plant-Based To Vegan
56:28 Veganuary Success Stories
58:30 Why People Stay Vegan
1:03:18 Ego In Activism
1:06:54 Viral Ex-Vegan Videos
1:12:50 Infighting And Public Perception
1:15:39 What Ex-Vegans Reveal
1:19:47 Anti-Vegan Communities
1:22:42 Fixing Vegan Dropout
1:26:37 Long-Term Support Matters
1:34:45 Coaching And Breakfast Sausage
1:41:46 Book Club And Wrap-Up

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

This week we discuss the differences between the perception of veganism based on online conversations versus the (fairly boring) reality of being a vegan in day to day life.

Chapters
0:06 Vegan Online vs Real Life
0:18 EU Label Ban News
1:48 Otter Comeback Story
3:08 Fall Flavor Season
4:30 Online Vegan Reality
11:38 Algorithm Rewards Drama
13:41 Backlash to Vegan Advice
20:52 Reducing Harm Matters
26:39 Different Vegans, Same Space
29:49 Policing the Vegan Police
36:26 Purity Tests Everywhere
37:35 Shame and Perfect Vegans
43:31 Deficient Vegans Explained
47:58 Vegan Basics Are Easier
50:52 Vegan Basics and Hidden Ingredients
56:14 Online Judgment and New Vegans
1:02:45 Why Vegans Quit
1:12:00 Social Media’s Double-Edged Sword
1:25:44 Cable Machine Attachment Tips
1:32:32 Pancake Obsession and Breakfast Ideas
1:36:10 Book Club and Closing Notes

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

This week we cover the discussion around whether or not fish is "meat". We tackle this from multiple angles like the history, the emotions and connections around fish, pain response in fish, intelligence/sentience and more.

Chapters
0:06 Fish, Meat, and Myth
2:48 Daring’s New Meals
4:08 Beans Beat Beyond
5:57 Beyond’s Protein Pivot
8:03 Fish Are Not Dolphins
11:55 Lent, Loopholes, and Fish
16:50 Government Splits Seafood
19:13 Words About Vegetarians
20:50 Pescatarians and Labels
27:11 Fishing Versus Hunting
32:22 Catch, Release, and Death
37:46 Fish Feel Pain
43:23 Fish Are Smarter
47:23 Tool-Using Fish
48:29 Fish Farming Numbers
55:18 Why Fish Aren't Meat
1:03:46 Summer Bodies Debate
1:08:39 Black Bean Brownies

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

The episode covers information about leather like its status as a by-product, environmental concerns, human rights concerns, and what vegans do with their old leather from before they were vegan.

Versa Gripps affiliate link (includes link to 10% discount)

Chapters
0:02 Leather and Tofu News
6:17 Why Leather Matters
9:54 Byproduct or Co-Product?
20:25 Deforestation and Tanning
30:35 Vegan Leather Options
34:11 Leather Alternatives Emerge
39:04 What To Do With Old Leather
42:45 Should Vegans Buy Secondhand Leather?
46:05 Why Fur Feels Worse
51:04 Leather, Ethics, and Impacts
53:19 When To Use Lifting Straps
1:02:07 Book Club And Recipe Updates

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

This week we do a second round of rapid fire vegan myth busting as a continuation of the previous episode. 

Chapters

0:06 Myth-Busting Round Two
0:26 Dominion Study News
3:49 Testing Alternatives Advance
4:30 Venus Williams Returns
5:27 Protein Digestibility Myth
8:18 Almonds, Avocados, and Environment
10:19 Grass-Fed Beef Truth
11:48 Livestock Feed Reality
15:23 Monocropping Misconceptions
18:13 Manure and Vegan Crops
20:48 Harmlessness and Hypocrisy
22:09 Farm Animals and Extinction
24:46 Loving Animals, Killing Them
28:10 Cage-Free Egg Labels
29:57 Excess Animal Products
33:59 Ants Versus Humans
35:30 Pets and Vegan Ethics
36:45 Human Rights and Animals
39:56 Humane Killing Debate
41:14 Veganism Beyond Cities
43:05 Vegan Food Myth
45:35 Processed Food Confusion
47:07 Buying Vegan From Big Brands
52:40 Factory Farms and Farmers
57:04 Veganism Is More Than Diet
58:06 Fitness Q&A and Updates

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

The episode reviews vegan myths on nutrition, health, and cost, plus vegan news on emissions, water pollution, Huel, athletic results, and a coaching Q&A.

Myth-busting Sources

• Vegans can't get enough protein 
• Plant protein is incomplete
• Soy lowers testosterone
• Can't be vegan with soy or gluten allergies
• Can't be vegan without a ton of supplements
• Can't build muscle on a vegan diet
• All vegans are skinny
• Vegans just eat salads
• Children can't safely be vegan
• Vegan diets automatically improve health and help weight loss
• Humans are natural carnivores who evolved eating mostly meat
• Eating vegan is privileged and expensive
• Vegan diets kill more animals because crop deaths
• Soy is destroying the rainforest / veganism is bad for the environment
• Dairy and eggs are byproducts, nobody is harmed
• Fish don't feel pain
• If veganism isn't perfect, it's pointless

Chapters
00:02 Podcast Kickoff
02:15 Protein Pollution News
03:04 Vegan Athlete Wins
04:42 Myth Busting Begins
04:50 Protein Myth
06:46 Plant Protein Myth
10:58 Soy Hormone Myth
13:02 Allergy Limits
16:00 Supplement Myths
19:40 Muscle Building Myth
20:59 Vegan Salad Myth
22:47 Vegan Kids Safe?
24:54 Health and Weight Loss
26:54 Human Carnivore Myth
29:54 Nature Isn’t Ethics
31:31 Veganism and Cost
33:45 Crop Death Myth
35:22 Soy and Rainforest
36:30 Small Farms Ethical?
38:55 Dairy and Eggs
40:52 Vegan Land Use
44:03 Leather vs Pleather
48:05 Fish Feel Pain
52:13 Imperfect Veganism Matters
57:08 Veganism and Necessities
58:34 Vegans Keep Talking
1:01:47 Vegan Supplement Basics
1:04:48 Book Club Update

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

In this episode we talk about ethical vegetarians, and information that may be a blind spot. This includes an overview of dairy and egg production and the ethical concerns involved in those processes. We also briefly discuss protein timing in our bite sized coaching segment.

New News

• https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/myoglobin-heme-protein-plant-molecular-farming-tobacco-lettuce-meat-study/
• https://vegancuts.com/collections/specialty-vegan-boxes-a-la-carte/products/vegancuts-protein-600-box

References for episode claims and stats

• https://thehumaneleague.org/article/how-cows-make-milk-and-why-humans-exploit-them
• https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-catfish/veal-farm-table
• https://thehumaneleague.org/article/how-many-eggs-does-a-chicken-lay-a-day
• https://avinews.com/en/osteoporosis-in-laying-hens/
• https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/10/25/the-hidden-cost-of-eggs-health-issues-for-laying-hens/
• https://kb.rspca.org.au/categories/farmed-animals/poultry/layer-hens/what-happens-with-male-chicks-in-the-egg-industry

Chapters
00:06 Intro and News
01:01 Heme in Lettuce
02:35 Protein Box Rant
07:14 Chobani Oat Milk
08:22 Vegetarian Blind Spots
21:45 Why They Miss It
27:48 Milk Production Truth
38:15 Male Calves and Veal Fate
40:12 Egg Industry Secrets
43:46 Laying Takes a Toll
48:30 Chick Culling Explained
54:53 Small Farms, Big Questions
56:00 Backyard Eggs Ethics
58:30 Dairy and Egg Myths
1:05:14 Vegan Swaps and Staples
1:10:45 Protein and Label Tips
1:12:38 Ethics and Support
1:14:29 Workout Protein Timing

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

This week is a replay of one of our most popular episodes. Is veganism actually a privilege? We dig into the five most common versions of that argument (cost, access, time, culture, and nutrition) and check each one against the data. Spoiler: the cheapest thousand calories you can buy in almost every country on Earth are plant-based. 

Chapters
00:00 Replay Introduction
01:09 Cost of Vegan Eating
04:17 Whole Foods Save Money
08:05 Budget Vegan Strategies
15:23 Food Access Barriers
19:59 Surviving Food Deserts
27:24 Time and Labor Costs
32:34 Fast Vegan Meal Prep
36:35 Meal Prep for Busy Days
40:14 Culture and Family Barriers
54:03 The Nutrition Debate
1:06:39 Veganism Is More Accessible

Sources

• Kahleova et al. JAMA Netw Open 2023
• Kahleova et al. JAMA New Open 2024
• Goldman & Nagra 2026 global cost review
• BLS CPI, meat/poultry/fish/eggs
• USDA Food Access Research Atlas
• SNAP supermarket study, Health Affairs 2020
• Notre Dame SNAP/DGA study 2023
• SNAP eligible items
• Double Up Food Bucks
• Pew Research, India vegetarianism
• Indigenous American crops
• USDA NAL Three Sisters
• Factory farming history
• Livestock production trends, Royal Society

How to Get In Touch

• ⭐️ Deficient Vegans Discord ⭐️

Deficient Vegans

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Deficient Vegans Sub-reddit

Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition

• Online Coaching
• Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes

• Recipe Blog
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok