Why I Like YouTuber “Unnatural Vegan”

Swayze Foster, also known as Unnatural Vegan, promotes a vegan lifestyle mainly for animal rights and environmental reasons. But unlike many other vegans who have joined the natural health movement, Swayze has not. In fact, she frequently criticizes this lifestyle on her YouTube channel.

I have been firmly planted in the natural health lifestyle for decades so it might seem odd that I follow someone like Swayze. She doesn’t believe there is any benefit to eating organic. She’s not overly concerned about GMOs or additives. She doesn’t like essential oils!! 😳

 I also disagree with one of her core beliefs that most people in the western world can thrive on a well-planned vegan diet (barring issues such as food deserts and food intolerances). My personal view is that some people do well on a vegan diet and some do not – even if they don’t live in a food dessert or have obvious food intolerances. So with all these disagreements, why do I subscribe to her channel?

Here are seven reasons why I like her and why I would recommend her channel to anyone interested in veganism.

1. She exposes vegan YouTubers promoting diets that are nutritionally incomplete.

A lot of vegan YouTubers promote diets with insufficient protein and fat. Children are sometimes shown eating these insufficient diets and this is very concerning to Swayze. Some influencers even suggest that supplementing with vitamin B-12 is unnecessary. Swayze often runs these YouTubers’ daily meals through chronometer which measures all the nutrients. She then points out the various deficiencies.

Not only do these influencers put people at risk of malnutrition, Swayze believes they are a detriment to animal advocacy. She feels that veganism’s inherent dietary restrictions already make it difficult to follow and that adding additional restrictions makes it even harder. This in turn can dissuade people from sticking with it, which is counter to the goals of vegan advocacy. Those that do stick with it can end up with health problems. Sometimes people end up unjustly blaming veganism for their ill health, when it was the extreme version of it that was responsible.

Even though I’m not vegan, I support the diet as an option for people who want to try it, and I know people who have done well on it. I like that Swayze is out there to help her fellow vegans by exposing Youtubers who are promoting diets that are nutritionally incomplete.

Below is one of her earlier videos analyzing the diets of six vegan YouTubers. Some are barely meeting their protein needs and others are deficient. Most of them are not getting enough of the amino acid lysine. Swayze shows how easily they could remedy this issue by adding a couple of servings of legumes.

2. She doesn’t think meat eaters are evil.

The Internet is full of of vegans who paint meat eaters as horrible monsters who just don’t care about animals. Although Swayze advocates for animal rights, she believes that meat eaters are just doing what they and most of society have always done and there is no evil intention. I once saw a video by a popular YouTuber suggesting that meat eaters shouldn’t be allowed to continue living (she lost many subscribers after that). Swayze believes that such extreme attitudes actually harm animal advocacy. After all, who would consider joining a movement full of extreme hateful people?

3. She doesn’t take an “all or nothing” approach to veganism.

Some vegans today get caught up in vegan “purity” – meaning they give people a hard time for being “almost vegan”. An “almost vegan” may do things like eat something non-vegan when at a restaurant with friends or not scrutinize labels looking for small amounts of non-vegan ingredients. Swayze prefers to look at the bigger picture. Someone who is “almost vegan” is still doing a lot for the animals even if they aren’t perfect all the time. Giving them a hard time can lead them to give up, which defeats the actual goals of veganism. Even people who are lacto-ovo vegetarian or semi-vegetarian are doing more for the movement than if they didn’t make any dietary changes whatsoever.

4. She doesn’t think a plant-based diet is healthier than an omnivorous diet.

The Internet currently has many food “tribes” (vegan, paleo, keto, etc.) who argue with each other about whose diet is the healthiest and most appropriate for the human species. Swayze on the other hand, thinks a well-planned vegan diet is healthy and complete, but not necessarily healthier than other diets, including omnivorous ones. In her view, vegan advocacy is about the animals and the environment, not about proving it’s healthier.

I agree with her 100% on this. A well-planned vegan diet that does not include junk foods will likely be healthier than an omnivorous diet with lots of junk foods. However, omnivorous diets such as Mediterranean, paleo, keto, etc. can be just as healthy as a vegan diet provided they are a good fit for a person’s specific needs. Conversely, a vegan diet full of plant-based junk foods will be less healthy than an omnivorous diet with no junk foods.

5. She acknowledges that some people can’t be vegan.

Sadly, many in the online vegan community don’t accept that some people can’t be vegan due to medical issues. Sometimes these medical issues can be quite severe and yet . . . some vegans will still submit comments suggesting the person suffering should have tried harder to find a vegan solution to their health problem. They also offer suggestions that are simply not realistic. Swayze exposes these people and calls for compassion. I may disagree with Swayze about how many people cannot be vegan, but at least she is willing to broach the subject with some really excellent videos.

Food deserts and poverty are other barriers to veganism and some vegans have unrealistic ideas on how people facing those issues can still be vegan. In her video “This is What Vegan Privilege Looks Like” Swayze criticizes a video that purports to have a vegan solution for food deserts. 

6. She provides reviews of vegan foods such as mock meats, vegan cheeses, ice cream and many other products.

Swayze admits being a somewhat picky eater, and there are many vegan foods she does not like. So when she she gives something a thumbs up, it’s a pretty good bet that it will taste awesome. Her food reviews can be very helpful for new vegans transitioning away from animal products. That said, Swayze doesn’t see these foods as only good for transitioning. She believes they are also great for every-day use. Here is a video of her reviewing a unique ice cream made with real dairy – but still vegan because it’s created via an in-vitro process:

You can check out the full video on Swayze’s channel at this link.

7. She is honest, humble and down-to-earth.

Swayze presents herself as an ordinary flawed human being instead of someone with the perfect “Martha Stewart” life. When she does a video showing what vegan foods she has in her fridge or pantry, she doesn’t clean or organize first; she shows what things look like on an average day. Her cabinets have bags of bulk foods haphazardly strewn in; she has the odd container of leftovers in her fridge that were forgotten about, etc. It takes courage to show parts of her life as they really are instead of hiding them. The humour in her videos is often about poking fun at her own flaws. This makes her relatable and probably helps boost the popularity of her channel.

In today’s day and age people get stuck in echo chambers and then can’t tolerate differing views – and it’s not just in the political sphere. I see it in the diet sphere as well. So even though I don’t agree with all Swayze’s points of view, I very much enjoy her videos and remain subscribed to her channel.

If you are  vegan, considering a vegan diet or just someone who is interested in YouTube diet culture, check out her channel and feel free to leave a comment below.🍏