This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

I’m not entirely vegan, but let’s just say that my diet is increasingly veganish following the discovery last year that I had shockingly high cholesterol levels (8.1 mmol/L, which anyone who has ever been tested will know is a terrifying flashing red alert, bringing with it increased risk of heart attack).

Butter, cream, bacon, sausages, milk, most meat, have all been given the cold shoulder, though I do retain the occasional dollop of yoghurt, on account of having watched a dietary expert talking about the benefits of fermented foods.

The plus side of this is it’s brought me to a diet that is also better for the planet.

Meanwhile, my family are bacon mad. In the run up to Christmas it seemed to me there was a pan frying up rashers on the hob nearly every day. It feels like social media world is a whirl of steaks and burgers, and in the news we even have voices like RFK, recently declaring he had lost 20 pounds in 20 days on the increasingly popular ‘carnivore diet’.

If I’m honest, I’ve long been a meat minimiser, in spite of being the daughter of a farmer - which is why I was so surprised at my blood test. It has been interesting, however, to see how going this extra mile in meat and dairy-avoidance has brought down those cholesterol levels significantly.

I raise this in this Winds of Change column because what I’ve noticed is that I find it much easier, when saying 'no' to meat or 'yes' to vegan, to mention my cholesterol problem than, say, the environment, or factory farming.

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