What is Veganuary, and does it change anything?

The objection

“Veganuary’s a January fad. Everyone posts a jackfruit burger, swears they’ve never felt better, and they’re back on bacon sandwiches by February. What is one month supposed to prove?”

The answer

Veganuary is a pledge to eat vegan for the 31 days of January, run by a charity of the same name that is registered in England and Wales and launched its first pledge in January 2014 [1]. Joining is free and brings 31 daily emails of recipes, meal plans and nutrition advice [1]. Whether it changes anything depends on what you count, and the evidence comes in two kinds: the charity’s own surveys, which rely on the people who choose to answer them, and a handful of independent studies of shoppers and of what a month of vegan eating does to the body.

How many people do Veganuary?

Veganuary estimates that about 30 million people worldwide took part in 2026, up from its estimate of 25.8 million for 2025 [1][2]. Both figures come from polls rather than a count of sign-ups. The charity asks representative samples of adults in its main campaign countries whether they took part and scales the answers up by population, which for 2026 meant YouGov surveys of 13,529 adults across 11 countries and a Wakefield Research survey of 2,000 adults in the US [1]. The 2026 polling also covered one more country than 2025’s, Ireland [1][2]. Earlier campaigns counted the people who signed up for its emails, a figure it says missed the many who take part without registering [2]. By 2024 it was already polling, through YouGov in nine countries, and estimated roughly 25 million participants that year [12], so the old sign-up totals can’t be compared with the newer estimates. On its own figures Veganuary is still growing, though the estimates rest on what people tell pollsters.

Do people stay vegan after Veganuary?

Some do, though the best figures come from a survey that few people answer. Six months after January 2026, Veganuary emailed a survey to 343,459 people who had taken part through its emails, and 1,730 replied: 35% of them said they were still fully plant-based, and more than 82% said they had at least halved the animal products in their diet [3]. That is about one reply for every 200 people asked, so the figures describe the people who chose to answer, who may not be typical of everyone who took part. At the end of the month the charity’s survey of 7,319 participants also found that those who didn’t manage the whole month still ate vegan on 18 days of it, on average [4], which is a good reason to treat a slip-up as part of the process.

Does Veganuary change what shops sell?

It changes what goes on the shelves, but the evidence that it cuts meat sales is weak so far. Veganuary says at least 1,187 new vegan products and menu options were launched for its 2026 campaign [5]. Two independent studies of UK supermarkets in January 2021 found that the extra promotion did sell more vegan food. Across 154 of one retailer’s stores, sales of 101 promoted plant-based products rose by 57% during the month and were still 15% higher in February and March than they had been in November, while meat sales did not change significantly (Trewern et al., 2022) [6]. A second study, of 96 stores, found that promoted plant-based products sold more during Veganuary but that sales of plant-based foods as a whole did not rise, with no sign of a lasting change once the promotion ended and no change in meat sales (Luick et al., 2024) [7]. Both studies ran during the COVID-19 lockdowns of early 2021, when food shopping was far from normal [6][7].

What does a month of vegan eating do to your body?

A well-planned vegan diet can lower LDL cholesterol within weeks, while a poorly planned one can leave you short of vitamin B12 and iodine. In a Stanford trial, 22 pairs of identical twins were split so that one twin ate a healthy vegan diet and the other a healthy omnivorous diet for eight weeks, and the vegan twins’ LDL cholesterol fell by 13.9 mg/dL (about 0.36 mmol/L) more than their siblings’ (Landry et al., 2023) [8]. The gap was already significant at four weeks, roughly the length of Veganuary, and the vegan twins’ fasting insulin also fell further [8]. Both groups had their meals delivered for the first four weeks and were coached by health educators, so the result shows what a planned vegan diet can do [8].

A University of Nottingham study of two groups recruited in late 2019 and late 2020, who went vegan for the following January, found that omnivores who went vegan for the month cut their intake of saturated fat and cholesterol, and also of vitamin B12 and iodine (Eveleigh et al., 2023) [9]. Its authors point out that the body’s B12 stores take three to four years to run down, so one month is unlikely to do harm unless your stores were already low, but that people who carry on are at greater risk of deficiency later [9]. Anyone continuing past January needs a reliable source of B12 and of iodine, and the NHS advises fortified foods or supplements for both [10]. If you take medicine for cholesterol or diabetes, speak to your GP before changing or stopping it.

Can I do Veganuary in another month?

You can start Veganuary’s 31 days of emails at any time of year, because the sign-up form offers to begin them straight away, in seven days, on 1 January or on a date you choose [11]. The charity’s campaign for January 2027 is due to launch in December 2026 [3].