Vegan community unites

DEDICATED vegan Nourah Mansour Alamro is helping to convince people to adopt a more ethical lifestyle with a series of retreats that she believes will inspire them to enjoy life without meat and dairy produce.

Her breakaway sessions under the banner of Sage are being held at a resort villa in Amwaj Islands with a team of helpers including a chef, and nutrition specialists. Yoga-style classes called ‘meditation with movement’ are also staged.

Nourah, 26, who lives in Tala Island with her pet dog, Oliver, has been vegan for three years, following eight years as a vegetarian, after deciding as a teenager that she didn’t want to eat animals anymore because of her love for them.

“I come from a traditional Saudi family where you always had to finish what was put on your plate,” said Nourah. “So when my older sister went vegetarian first, I wanted to see how she would feel before I tried it. She was absolutely fine, so that’s when I decided to go vegetarian as well!”

“I wanted to make a change because I was always feeling tired, slightly overweight and found it hard to motivate myself. I had tried different diets but nothing seemed to work.

“After I cut out dairy products it was like I discovered a whole new person inside me. Before, it was like I had the frame, but not the whole picture.

“I soon found that I had more energy, started socialising more, going to the gym and I lost weight too. My skin cleared up and I felt really amazing. It was only after I made the change that I looked into the ethical implications of food production and how some animals are treated.”

Veganism takes vegetarianism to a more extreme level, meaning that devotees avoid all animal meat, including seafood and even products that are sourced from animals such as milk, eggs, cheese and honey. Many vegans even avoid animal-derived clothes and accessories made from leather and fur.

One of the biggest goals of veganism is to eliminate cruel practices campaigners claim are carried out by industries involved in food production and to encourage others to switch to dairy alternatives, such as soya and nut products.

“When I turned vegan I felt like my karma changed, and I knew I wasn’t harming any animals anymore. It was the missing piece of my life and once I had it, I felt complete,” Nourah explained. “But it doesn’t make me hate people who aren’t vegan! I have both vegan and non-vegan friends, but it did take some work to find like-minded people here at the start.

“Nowadays, Bahrain has a growing vegan community, with more people turning to a greater understanding of what it means to live a more healthy and ethical life.”

Several dining places cater for the vegan crowd such as Plant Cafe and Raaw in Saar and the Orangery in Adliya has introduced a vegan menu.

Vegan food has its fun elements too, such as Nourah’s homemade chickpea dairy-free dark chocolatey-chip cookies which she makes for family and friends.

She has friends supporting local developing vegan businesses on social media such as @bfitbites_bh on Instagram which also sells gluten and dairy free treats and @arawbiangourmet which highlights raw vegan produce such as lemon kale chips and nut cheese dips.

Raw vegan is another branch of veganism where people not only avoid all animal products but also exclude all food cooked at a temperature above 48ºC from their diet.

Nourah, who works for Saudi oil giants ARAMCO, said her Sage retreats are growing in popularity and continue to evolve with new instructors coming in to help guests learn more about themselves. “I have the philosophy that when you have the idea for something you have to do it now, or you never will!

“I picked the name Sage because sage is traditionally used to clear negative energy, and, of course, it also means wisdom!”

You can follow Nourah on Instagram @vegan_nourah, and find information on Sage retreats at @sage.bh

Veganism is creeping into the mainstream as multiple trends converge to create the perfect conditions for people to consider a lifestyle that avoids all meat and animal products.

Global health authorities are warning against eating too much red and processed meats, environmentalists bemoan how much animal agriculture negatively contributes to climate change, and a consumer craze for different sources for protein have them considering more plant-based and cellular agriculture options.

It’s no surprise that Google searches for ‘vegan’ have risen rapidly over the last two years, far surpassing ‘vegetarian’. Critics, however, have no argument with people who adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet for health, religious, environmental or ethical reasons, but object vehemently to those who distort science or dietary advice offered to the more than 90 per cent of people who choose to consume animal foods, including poultry and red meat, in reasonable amounts.