To eat cheese as a vegan?

[Sparksi]

I’ve been vegan for 5 years. I’m 8 weeks pregnant and craving cheese triangles. There isn’t a vegan equivalent anywhere. Vegan cheese is not the same. I haven’t had any dairy for years and read somewhere you can develop a bit of an intolerance to it if you’ve not had it for a while - if this is true it would be silly to succumb to the craving if it’s only going to upset my stomach.

I do feel a bit icky if I think about the morals as to why I have been vegan for so long, and definitely wouldn’t be making any permanent changes. I am wondering if it’s my body telling me I need something, though!

WIBU to have it or should I find something else?

Eat the cheese, nobody is gunna know !

I was vegan for 8 years before going back to vegetarian. No stomach problems at all from reintroducing dairy.

If you're pregnant and vegan I'd definitely speak to a dietitian tbh (I am ex vegan).
There can be issues for the baby if you're not getting things right.

My personal experience is that you can eat as much cheese as you want. I was vegan for 6 years and switched back to omnivore diet with zero intolerance issues

If it helps I'll stop eating cheese for the next 7 months and you can fill your boots.

It's definitely your body telling you something! (Disclaimer - I'm not a medical professional at all.)

But what I wanted to say is that this lactose free soft cheese is lovely: www.arlafoods.co.uk/products-overview/arla-lactofree-soft-cheese-200g-625/ even if it doesn't come in triangles.

I'm sure you'll be ok, the vegan police don't have to know about it. I would suggest if you're craving it your body / baby needs it.

😂😂😂

I don't think it's a given that you'll be intolerant. I discovered during pregnancy that changes to lactose tolerance in pregnancy are a thing! I read about a lady who was normally lactose intolerant, but was fine during pregnancy. Afterwards she went back to being intolerant again.

I was the opposite. Normally fine, but during pregnancy I couldn't tolerate milk, cream or ice cream. Cheese was still ok. After birth I've never had the issues again.

Call yourself whatever you want after all if you had a penis you could call yourself a woman so why not be a vegan who occasionally eats cheese?

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

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.

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 😜

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Tried it and sadly they’re vile!

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.

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.

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.....

This isn't vegan either though.

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.

@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.