I refer to the article ‘Vegan diet may be linked to eating disorders’ (June 30).
NGO Vegan Malta promotes the ethical, environmental and health principles that a vegan lifestyle entails by abstaining from the consumption and use of any animal products. We are an organisation formed to aid in the education of this lifestyle while supporting vegans in any struggles they may face.

We feel that the unsupported opinions provided in the article are unnecessarily damaging the positive cause we are promoting in favour of animals, the environment and public health.

The article implies that the apparent correlations between eating disorders and vegetarianism equal to veganism being unhealthy. The mistake here is that the studies used to back up the claims made in the article deal with vegetarianism, which is not correlated to veganism. The article, in fact, uses the terms vegan and vegetarian interchangeably.

In addition, the article, which deals exclusively with diet, is misusing the term vegan in yet another way. It is generally accepted that the word vegan implies a philosophy of environmentalism, sustainability and animal rights advocacy and not simply consuming a plant-based diet.

That being said, the aspect of health – both physical and psychological – is an integral part of the vegan movement and a prime aim of Vegan Malta. Therefore, particular concern arises from the fact that the article implies that veganism supports the opposite.

Several studies prove the health benefits gained from this lifestyle, including ‘Forks over knives’ and ‘Eat to live’ by Jeol Fuhrman. Moreover, many prior eating disorder sufferers have shared their stories on finding veganism as their road to recovery. This is because a healthy lifestyle choice, in contrast to unhealthy fad diets, has helped people to ground themselves and give more care to their well-being and that of others, including animals.