GLASSELL PARK, Calif. – Tofu, vegetables, and some spices can make a homemade curry flavorful. But, it is also helping Max Behrens maintain his vegetarian lifestyle for the last year.

“After having made the switch, I do feel healthier and I don’t think that that going back to meat would be worth sacrificing that,” Behrens said.

As the thought of what the year 2020 would be like, Behrens considered taking on a vegan or plant-based diet that would remove animal and dairy products from the foods he eats.

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“I love waking up and having scrambled eggs for breakfast that’s a pretty big one and being vegan, I wouldn’t have that anymore, of course, there are alternatives,” Behrens said.

The change might come as a challenge for Behrens, at first. But he hopes his lifestyle change could bring about a healthier future. Behren’s girlfriend is also vegetarian and curious about starting a vegan lifestyle.

According to Veganuary, a UK-nonprofit hoping to inspire people around the world to forgo meat, dairy, fish, and eggs for the month of January, found that more than 250,000 people around the world pledged to take on that lifestyle in 2019.

Sharon Palmer is a plant-based registered dietitian that follows a plant-based diet herself. Palmer believes more people are looking to take on a plant-based diet during the New Year, but shares some precautions. When animal products including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and dairy products are removed from the diet, individuals will also lose a main source of vitamin B12 that could lead to health and other neurological challenges if not managed or found elsewhere.

“If you are eating a plant-based diet or an almost plant-based diet, you should take a supplement and I recommend 250 micrograms per day of vitamin B12 to meet your needs and it’s important. A lot of people think maybe it’s not that important. But, you could have neurocognitive effects if you are not getting enough B12,” Palmer said.

It’s a challenge, Behrens hopes to grow from.

“I think for a month I might be like, ‘I could really go for some scrambled eggs’ and then I think once I find a good alternative and with a little bit of time, I don’t think it would be a big deal,” Behrens said.

Behrens is hoping his newfound lifestyle and the help of his girlfriend, will lead him to make more conscious choices about the foods he eats this year and beyond.