What should vegans look for in their medication?
How can you tell if your medication is vegan-friendly?
Deciding to become vegan is a big choice, which is why many people research everything they need to know about all things veganism before they take the plunge.
One thing you may consider if you’re a vegan or vegan-to-be is your medication and whether or not you can take your usual remedies when you’re following a vegan diet.
Well, today, we’re going to illuminate the situation a bit so you can make the best choices for you and your body.
What is a vegan diet?
A vegan diet is when you avoid using or eating any products which are derived from animals. For example, vegans don’t eat meat or any foods that come from animals, such as milk, eggs, or honey.
Vegans will often avoid wearing clothes made out of animal products, such as wool, and will avoid cosmetics which are tested on animals and use ingredients which come from animals.
What is the difference between vegans and vegetarians?
The difference between vegans and vegetarians is that most vegetarians eat products which come from animals, such as eggs and dairy products. However, this can differ from person to person, as some vegetarians choose to avoid eggs but still eat dairy or the other way around.
If you have a vegetarian or vegan friend and you’re not sure what they choose to eat, just ask them!
A friendly, open conversation can go a long way when it comes to understanding vegan or vegetarian lifestyles, and your friend isn't going to bite your head off - they're vegan, after all!
Is my medication vegan?
More medications are using vegan ingredients in this day and age, and that’s a wonderful thing!
However, whether or not you view your medication as vegan may differ from person to person; even if your medication uses vegan ingredients, you may not personally consider it vegan because of animal testing.
All medications which are licensed in the UK are tested on animals before they are deemed safe for humans. This kind of testing is often necessary for a product to obtain a license, which sadly means that it’s unavoidable.
You should keep this in mind when using any medication, as although the ingredients in your medication may be vegan, animal testing is currently a sad fact of life that may affect how you personally view medication as a whole.
What should I do if my medication isn’t vegan?
If your medication isn’t vegan and your doctor or pharmacist can’t recommend a vegan alternative, then the best thing you can do is take the medication your body needs.
If your doctor prescribes a medication, you should take it as they suggest, even if there is no vegan alternative. Sometimes, veganism isn’t black and white, and exceptions have to be made for the good of your own health.
This may not be what some of you want to hear, but until the pharmaceutical industry becomes more vegan-friendly as a whole, there’s not much else we can say.
If you take the medication you need, you don’t make yourself a “bad vegan”; it simply means that you’re taking responsibility for your own health and caring for yourself properly, and that’s a good thing!
Is there a list of vegan-friendly medications?
Fortunately, the list of medications using vegan ingredients is growing, and The Vegan Society has a great list of over-the-counter medications for a variety of ailments.
However, you should always remember that lists of ingredients in medication change all the time, so the only way to be absolutely sure that a medication is vegan is to ask your doctor or pharmacist or speak directly to the manufacturer.
You should also seek medical advice before taking any medication if necessary. A medical professional is the only person who can advise you on which medications to take and why, so you should trust them over anything you can read on the internet.
Additionally, in this list, we can only vouch for vegan-safe ingredients, not whether the process is vegan. With that warning in mind, let’s examine some ailments and which vegan-friendly medications are available at the time of this writing.
Vegan cold medicine
Cold medicines which use vegan ingredients are easier to find than you might think!
For starters, Beechams Flu Plus Caplets and Beechams Cold and Flu Hot Drinks use vegan ingredients.
Another option is Olbas Oil, which is a popular herbal remedy for congestion.
Vegan cough medicine
Our vegan cough medicine of choice has a name that should have told us it would be plant-friendly in the first place—Buttercup! Yes, the ingredients in Buttercup Syrup are vegan-friendly, as it uses herbal ingredients to soothe your cough based on traditional use.
Vegan headache medication
If you’ve got a headache or are looking for vegan-friendly pain relief, you’ll be glad to know that there are lots of different options! These include Panadol Extra and Panadol ActiFast, which are paracetamol-based painkillers.
If you’re looking for pain relief medication for your little one, lots of Calpol medicines use vegan-friendly ingredients. This includes Calpol Infant Suspension and its sugar-free version, Calpol Six Plus Sugar-Free Suspension, and Calpol Six Plus Fast Melts.
However, consult your doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any medication to ensure its safety.
Which ingredients should I look for in my medication?
If you’re choosing a medication and aren’t sure whether the product you want to use has vegan-friendly ingredients, the best thing you can do is ask your doctor, pharmacist, or the manufacturer for advice.
However, there are a couple of common ingredients you can look out for that are derived from animals and will tell you pretty quickly whether or not you’ve got a vegan-friendly product on your hands. These are:
- Lactose, which is derived from milk
- Gelatin (E441), which is derived from animal tissues
- Lanolin (E913), which is extracted from sheep’s wool
- Glycocholic acid, which is bile acid derived from mammals
If you see any of those ingredients on your list, then your product doesn’t use vegan-friendly ingredients.
You should also be aware of a few more ingredients, as they can be derived from animals or plants and will require a little more investigation…
- Stearic acid, which can be derived from fats from animal or plant sources
- Magnesium stearate, which is produced using stearic acid
- Lactic acid, which can be manufactured from animal or plant sources
If you see any of those in your list of ingredients, then your best bet is to ring the manufacturer of your medication. They’ll be able to let you know whether the ingredient was derived from animals or plants.
However, remember that you should not change any medication you are taking without seeking advice from your doctor or pharmacist first, even if the ingredients do not turn out to be vegan.
Now you know everything there is to know about medication and what you can do to ensure that your medications are as vegan-friendly as possible.
Remember, you should always check the ingredients of your medication with your doctor, pharmacist or the product’s manufacturer before you use it to be sure that the current formulation uses vegan ingredients, even if the product has been vegan in the past.
Always check with your doctor or Chemist4U pharmacist if you need medical advice or aren’t sure whether a medicine is right for you. They’re the ones with the medical know-how, after all!
