Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday issued a clarification that he is a vegetarian and not vegan after he drew criticism for revealing that he consumes eggs in his diet during an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Instagram few days back.
“I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained I’m vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies,” Kohli tweeted.
I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained I’m vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies (if you want 😉)💪😂✌️
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) June 1, 2021
Kohli, who is currently quarantined in a hotel in Mumbai with team India, held an ‘AMA’ (ask me anything) session on Instagram. One fan asked him about his diet. In that, he revealed he eats lots of vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of coffee, daal, quinoa, spinach and dosas, but all in controlled quantity.
However, Kohli’s explosive claim that he continues to consume eggs despite being a self-avowed vegetarian and vegan did not sit well with a host of social media users, who called out the cricketer for his contradictory claims.
Kohli’s claim that he is a vegetarian does not hold water, given that strict vegetarianism does not entail the consumption of eggs. A vegetarian diet does not include any meat, poultry, or seafood. It is a meal plan made up of foods that come mostly from plants. Since eggs are a product of poultry, they are not considered a part of vegetarianism. Of late, many vegetarians have taken to consuming eggs. However, they are referred to as, in popular parlance, eggetarians.
Virat Kohli had earlier claimed he had turned vegan for health reasons
Additionally, Kohli claimed in his tweet that he has never claimed to be a vegan. However, a report published in the Times of India in 2018 asserted that the prolific Indian cricketer had indeed turned vegan. Veganism is a practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A vegan diet also excludes milk and eggs, which are both obtained from animals.
Kohli had earlier claimed that he had turned completely vegan, adding that his wife, Anushka Sharma, who is a vegan, had played a crucial role in bringing about this dietary transformation in his life. Recently, in 2020, Kohli reiterated being a vegan and mentioned a few health reasons for being the same during an Instagram chat with former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen.
“I had a cervical spine issue which resulted in a tingling sensation in my little finger, making it difficult for me to bat. It happened around the Centurion Test in South Africa in 2018. Moreover, my stomach became a bit acidic, my uric acid went high and my stomach started pulling calcium from the bones which actually resulted in the spine issue. Hence, I had to cut down on meat and now I feel better than ever,” Kohli had said during the chat.