To eat cheese as a vegan?

Eat cheese but please don't call yourself vegan this is why people assume vegetarians eat fish because they have "a friend that's vegetarian but eats fish" so yes it IS annoying when you are given fish as a vegetarian because people aren't aware vegetarians don't eat fish

Do a Phoebe and get someone else to give up cheese for you so you can eat it.🤣
TBH I would just be vegetarian for the pregnancy then see if you fancy veganism again afterwards! It’s not really a big deal.

Mature cheddar, parmesan, swiss cheeses, stilton, brie and camembert are all very low lactose and suggested for lactose intolerant diets. Hard cheeses in the main and aged cheeses are the way to go....as a possibly lactose intolerant vegetarian (but not vegan). x

My DSis has been vegan for decades, and I said a few years ago "I would love to be vegan, but I love the post-Christmas dinner fondue night we always do, and vegan cheese just doesn't taste or smell the same." I expected her response would be to tell me off, but she was like "Fine, do that then. Be vegan except for a plateful of cheese twice a year. You would be harming far, far less animals than if you stayed an omnivore and only occasionally ate vegan." So I have been nominally vegan for 6 years but will very occasionally eat veggie. My DH eats vegan dinners nearly every night, but I can really see what she means because if he were "vegan except" for a meat meal on his birthday and Christmas and the occasional cheese plate, he would be harming far, far less animals and the planet would be better for it.

Of course, it's up to you what you eat. But remember that even vegetarians who aren't vegan won't eat many kinds of cheese owing to the use of calf rennet in its production: see "Is it vegetarian?" at https://spoonfulapp.com/products/dairylea-cheese-slices-original/OTM1MjA0MjAwMTY4NA== or https://spoonfulapp.com/products/dairylea-cheddar/OTM1MjA0MjAwMTYwOA==

Lactase persistence (the ability to digest lactose beyond the weaning stage) is genetically determined. If you express the gene for lactase, you will continue to express it. However, there might be epigenetic factors (including influence of diet) that cause fluctuations (Kuchay, 2020). It's unlikely that reduced ability to digest lactose following a period of non-consumption would persist for very long if milk is reintroduced to the diet.

Goodness, who knew vegans were so obsessed with labels. “Eat what you like but I don’t you DARE call yourself a vegan” 🚨

If you eat the cheese, nothing bad will happen (except maybe a bit of a tummy ache).

You're punishing yourself.

Nourish yourself and your baby. Enjoy your food.

Go back to super-ethical eating at a later date.

Edible vegan cheese is really the holy grail, isn't it, for some clever food inventor and marketeer.

I finally watched the Apprentice episode where the candidates made 'truffle' and 'curry' vegan cheese. The truffle one actually got some theoretical orders, which I honestly believe would not have been made in RL.

Oh no, that’s no use then sorry!

Honestly I agree that you shouldn’t get hung up on it - get the real ones, have one (or half one if you’re worried about tummy upset) - might be that’s enough for you either because you’ve scratched the itch, or you realise it wasn’t really all that after all? Then you can be vegan again tomorrow, or if not then once baby arrives.

Your body craves what it needs during pregnancy. That why people with low minerals eat coal etc. Just eat it and don't worry

@Ilovelurchers I'm vegetarian not vegan but the people that lapse or don't go fully into it but still use the "label" can make life harder for the rest of us. There was a thread a while ago where the vegetarian option was fish etc.

I'd say go for it. You can go back to being completely vegan when you feel like it. You've done a lot ethically and then can resume.

If you're comfortable to try something you've not had for a while just try it in moderation to start with. Pregnancy hormones can play haywire with digestion regardless of introducing something you've not had in years.

This isn't vegan either though.

People tend to be very all or nothing about veganism or vegetarianism, but in ethical terms, the more meat and dairy we cut out of our lives the better, so that mentality isn't necessarily helpful. Otherwise you might lapse once, think "fuck it" and go around gorging on the flesh of dead animals for the rest of your life because you feel you have failed.....

My best friend is vegan and very occasionally lapses for real cheese pizza. I don't stop thinking of him as a vegan, because that is his intention and what he is, in the main.

It's a bit like lapses in sobriety. If you start to believe that any lapse means you've fucked your sobriety totally, the impulse is to lapse and think, yay, well I've fucked up now anyway, give up, go back to vodka for breakfast, and be briefly happy, then dead.

More helpful to think, even if I have one drink after 12 months sober (or whatever), the second drink remains just as serious a choice as the first, because all that time was NOT wasted....

Does that make sense? I feel very strongly about this. Thinking in absolutely is often harmful to our resolve, counter-intuitively.

So yes, you can have your cheese triangle and still be a vegan, as far as I am concerned, anyway! We all do what we can. Perhaps you body IS telling you something that you need.....

I’d strongly recommend reintroducing animal based proteins for your pregnancy. If you’re able to source local eggs as well where the hens are kept as God intended and they’re laying them naturally, I’d include some eggs in your diet too. Your placenta and growing baby will thank you. Eat the cheese.

Cravings can be your body telling you what you need. You’re going through quite an intense period growing a person. You may well be craving the calcium.

Laughing cow do a plant based version - don’t know if it’s any good or not https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/the-laughing-cow-deliciously-plant-based-almond-spread-original-triangles-x8-128g?istCompanyId=1e096408-041f-4238-994e-a7cf46bf9413&istFeedId=689af7a8-5842-4d88-be59-1ee5688a81b5&istItemId=lmpwpamim&istBid=t&&cmpid=cpc&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20333793068&utm_content=shopping&utm_term=%257Bsku%257D&utm_custom1=&utm_custom2=759-449-0952&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw8diwBhAbEiwA7i_sJS_BBljx0BmNMApo9j3W9ffriaUvZv0iMr8y4QeBR-QdSv1OEKLAABoC-FYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Your body likely needs better nutrition now that you are pregnant. It's fine if you need to prioritise yourself and your baby. Look for some high welfare cheese and local or else organic eggs (organic hens have more space). Wild salmon and wild venison are also highly nutritious, and the animal has lived a good natural life.

Baby wants cheese 🤷‍♀️

I think if you're craving it then you should definitely eat it, it's the bodies way of telling you what it needs.

Most vegan cheese is awful but Cathedral City now make plant based cheddar which is ok. Does that help?
I’m vegetarian more than vegan so do eat some cheese but cancer treatment made me lactose intolerant so dairy is difficult for me.

I think the gist of the thread is the fact she is pregnant and wants to know whether eating cheese after such a long time of not eating cheese will cause upset tummy etc.,

I was quoting someone but the quote disappeared - sorry

Well you’ve certainly done your part morally (I say that as someone who easts meat regularly) so I say go for it. You might only do it a couple of times then you can go back to being vegan once the cravings subside. What baby wants baby gets 😜

You will upset your stomach. I was dairy free for years and then ate the smallest bit of cheese and had an horrendous stomach until I got used to it again.

You can get plant based Babybels which as a non vegan I really liked. My dd has them as she is allergic to dairy.