Veganuary: how to go a month without meat, fish, eggs or dairy products, and overcome cravings – find motivation, enlist friends, go flexitarian if need be

Started in 2014 to get people to try veganism, Veganuary invites participants to go without consuming animal products all January, but some find this daunting

With help from a nutritionist and a chef, we look at how to improve your chances of success, which foods to eat, and the health benefits of a plant-based diet

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Eating foods like this free of all animal products for a month - are you up to the Veganuary challenge? We ask experts their tips for success. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:15pm, 31 Dec 2023Updated: 10:37am, 16 May 2024

Have you considered taking up the Veganuary challenge – dropping all animal products, including meat, fish, eggs and dairy produce, from your diet for the first month of the year?

The initiative will be a decade old this January. It was started as a non-profit endeavour by a British couple to encourage people to get a taste of veganism by trying it for a month.

In 2014, about 3,000 people joined in. Since then, more than 6 million people around the world have taken part.

This reflects a wider picture: according to GlobalData, the number of consumers in the United States who call themselves vegan increased by 600 per cent in the three years after Veganuary’s launch.

Two women enjoy a vegan meal. Veganuary, a challenge to avoid all animal products for a month, has had millions of participants since its launch in 2014. Photo: Shutterstock

In 2020, plant-based “dairy” and “meat” sales topped US$29 billion, and are projected to rise to US$162 billion by 2030.

Sandra Carvajal, a holistic nutritionist at Central & Stanley Wellness in Hong Kong, explains how to succeed in joining the Veganuary movement.