Welcome to another session, where we'll take a look at the lives and professional journeys of Ms. Khushi Goyal and Ms. Astha Agarwal (Co-Founders of Vegan Ladder), brought to you by MedBound Times, a health journalism platform by MedBound. Ms. Gunjan Sooden from MedBound Times was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to have a candid conversation with Ms. Astha Agarwal (Co-Founders of Vegan Ladder). Both of them are vegan hospitality consultants and vegan educators. Both are trained in high-impact hospitality consulting from Vegan Hospitality and in plant-based culinary from The Vegan School, Goa.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: I welcome you both to this session, Ms. Khushi and Ms. Astha. Thank you so much for joining in and giving us your valuable time. Could you please give a brief introduction of yourself to our readers?

Ms. Astha Agarwal: Thank you so much for having us. I will just start with a quick introduction. My personal experience differs significantly from the one Khushi described in her story. I first heard about the name vegan or some other term for veganism in college because there was a classmate who was vegan. Before that, I didn't even know anything about it. I used to just laugh at how someone could not have dairy and all of that. I was also a meat eater back then. I come from a vegetarian family, but I used to consume meat mostly because I came from a sports background, I was a roller hockey player. My coach instilled in me the notion that chicken was essential for consuming both energy and protein. As a result, the start of my vegan journey was when I switched from a vegetarian diet to one that included chicken before eventually unlearning that notion.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: Given that you indicated you were involved in sports, do you have an example of how people who participate in sports are typically so fixated on their animal protein sources?

I was never aware of veganism until one of my teammates turned vegan for six months. She was very lean in her body culture, which was very frustrating for our coach. I remember once we had a match, and she wasn't doing so well. He stopped the match, called all of us, and he was like, Bushra, if you don't start having chicken, you are not going to play anymore. She was in the process of becoming vegan, and we had to order chicken for her after the match because our coach asked us to. So this was my story of how I never took veganism seriously and didn't really understand its importance. And in September 2021, Khushi posted a story on Instagram that said she was a feminist but not vegan. The dairy industry depends on the female reproductive system, and as a feminist, I started to seriously think about it. I messaged Khushi as I replied to the story, saying, "Yeah, be in the area, like, don't say all of the times. And then that's how Khushi and I started talking. 

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: As someone who comes from a family involved in the dairy industry, what motivated you to become vegan?

Khushi told me everything about the dairy industry. She sent me a video of the unholy cattle of India. I watched it, and I couldn't believe that something like this could happen. I just thought that someone must have made a fake video, as I come from a family with a dairy business. I sent that video to my family group, and I asked my father about it. I was very shocked, but it is also important to know that all of this happens.

The next day, my mom offered me a glass of milkshake, and I felt like I needed some help to process what I had seen in the video yesterday. I couldn't drink it. In fact, I didn't have any dairy products for the next two days because I was having flashbacks of the videos.

My father didn't reply to that message, so at night, when he came back from the shop, I asked him about the video and if this was all true, to which he responded affirmatively. Since then, I've made up my mind that I am choosing not to consume dairy anymore.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: Can you provide more details about your background and how you initially got involved with the vegan movement, including your work with Vegans of Pune?

I have a background in psychology, with honors. After lockdown, I chose not to pursue it anymore because of some personal reasons, and then I started to look for things that I could pursue. Then I started talking to Khushi, and we aligned with the same idea of doing something about veganism. So, that's what we did together. We first started with Vegans of Pune, which was like a passion project where we educated people about veganism. We thought we should start with this, and then we thought about Vegan Ladder.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: How has veganism changed your life, and what are some notable differences or improvements you've experienced as a result?

The major change that veganism has made in my life is that I have lost a lot of weight; I have lost around 15 kg of weight. During lockdown, I started gaining a lot of weight, and as a result, I got pre-diabetic. I even started getting thyroid problems, and after I turned vegan, I lost weight and got rid of these diseases as well, so it was a win-win situation for me. At last, I'm not diabetic, nor do I have a thyroid. That was something that really motivated me to keep going because I was not in a dilemma now about what actions I have to take to keep myself healthy and what I am doing right now to keep myself healthy every day because in my family we have hereditary thyroid disease and diabetes, and I didn't want that to happen to me at such a young age. That was something that really motivated me to keep going. I think that was something that even my family noticed when I started changing in a positive way. Earlier, they used to mock me a lot. But then, after I started losing weight, a lot of my relatives started asking me about what I was doing, and I told them how I started following a vegan lifestyle and it is working for me.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: One thing you just mentioned is that you have a history of thyroid disease and diabetes, right? So in the plant-based industry, now I will take a very good example of it. We went to that plant-based event, right? Most of the things were soy-based, so I will say I had soy milk ice cream for the first time in my life. I was so full, and I literally tried everything from every stall because I was so curious about how these things tasted, so whatever I had there, honestly speaking, I loved the taste of every dish. But the major thing I noticed was that if I suppose I tasted 12 items, 10 were made up of soya, which is something that is not really good to consume a lot of, at least. So when it comes to a plant-based or a Vegan diet it is in our head people start to think they should consume a lot of dals they should consume a lot of it just because they now feel to milk products are eliminated from their diets so instead of protein they tend to have a lot of beans a lot of legumes, which ultimately hinders their PCOD condition so what are your views on it like I had clients they used to visit their gynecologist she used to guide them to be on a whole plant-based diet or vegan diet but because of this misconception or might be some doctors are not aware of nutrition facts they recommend a lot of dals and soya based products when they guide their patients which leads to more triggers Do you think a plant-based, specialized education is really important when even doctors are giving such advice?

Ms. Khushi Goyal: When it comes to protein, everybody talks about soya. I don't eat soya chunks, and I rarely have tofu. I don't think there's a problem with it. Because all the Indian food that we have contains all the nutrients that we need.

Since nutritionists, dietitians, and even doctors are not trained in plant-based nutrition, they are not capable of advising their patients correctly. So they don't know what is needed, and they have a lot of misconceptions about it as well. There are many myths spread by the meat and dairy industries to make people continue consuming their products. We need to make sure that we get our nutrition information from credible sources. Even though medical professionals should study plant-based nutrition before they give advice related to plant-based nutrition, it's also important for the common man, or anyone who is interested in veganism, to understand where they can properly get their nutrition.

Another useful resource for vegans: https://www.loveholidays.com/holidays/vegan-travel-guide/

For a person who doesn't have any health issues, it is comparatively easier. But when you have a certain health issue, there are many vegan products that cannot be consumed. In fact, there are certain vegetables that shouldn't be consumed often, so you can't generalize anything. Nutrition is something that is very personal and subjective; it depends from person to person, depending on what kind of nutritional status the person is having, what health issues they have, and how their body reacts. So, nutritional advice should be given by medical professionals, but the problem is that medical professionals are also not trained in this. It's very sad and unfortunate that medical professionals are not trained in this, because then the common man is also confused. They don't get the right information either. This is why it's very important to study plant-based nutrition, and for anyone in the medical field who is interested in plant-based nutrition, this can be a great field to study. There is a lot of scope for studying this field. 

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: Do you believe that some guidance and support are essential when adopting a plant-based diet or practicing veganism?

Ms. Khushi Goyal: With the plant-based diet, the digestive issue is also something you need to take care of when you consume a lot of millets, when you consume a lot of grains, which have fiber, and especially when you don't consume it very often. Since the plant based diet is full of fiber, once you quit dairy products and have food with a lot of fiber, it can lead to bloating and gas, and your stomach and your gut bacteria need to adjust to the change. So that is why it's very important to do research about nutrition when you are transitioning to a plant-based diet, and that is why I gave myself that one month to know what I needed to do in terms of health and nutrition. So everybody who wants to go ahead with a plant-based diet, this is one piece of advice that I would like to give is that you need to do a little bit of research about nutrition according to your health; it cannot be generalized.

Ms. Gunjan Sooden: Thank you so much for such an amazing session, Ms. Astha and Ms. Khushi We look forward to connecting with both again soon. We learned a lot from you both and wish you both a great day ahead.

And best wishes for your new venture.

Ms. Khushi Goyal and Ms. Astha Agarwal: Thank you from us as well:) I wish you a great day ahead too!