Vegan Help?!
Vegan Help?
I am vegetarian and I really want to go vegan.
The only problem is that I really don't have a lot of options on what to eat since I'm at college. I have a few questions too.
Are all kinds of tofu vegan? The kind of tofu I buy I know is vegetarian, but it contains calcium carbonate (I called up the company). Is there a chance that calcium carbonate could still be made out of oyster shells? And is SIlk Soymilk completely vegan too?
I want to make sure I get enough protein and calcium. I have a bad immune system too, so I'm also looking for foods that have a lot of antioxidants. (Even though I hardly ever get sick). And I REALLY don't want to gain any weight like I did going vegetarian. :( How does that work?
No one really believes that I will be able to go vegan and I don't know of any other vegans.
Can anybody help me??
Answers:
You have made the right decision so be happy!! I'm a vegan too (after 11 years of being vegetarian)
There are many kinds and brands of tofu and safest way is always to call up the company and ask them about the ingredients if you are not sure. Once you find the right kind you can easily stick to it. But tofu isnt the only source of protein, there are about 20 different kinds of beans out there, you can replace it with on some days. (it gets boring eating only tofu, also it contains much fat)
As far as I know all kinds of soymilk that I tried, (but thats just about 3 different brands really) are suitable for vegans. Again, if you're unsure contact the company.
There are vegan sites that make good suggestions about what to eat, and what to avoid, so do some googling. :) There are vegan communities online if you dont know any other vegans, and many of them have been vegan for a long time, and will be able to answer the trickiest questions and give you many culinary/lifestyle ideas.
Dont worry if you make mistakes in the beginning with ingredients or anything else. Veganism isnt about perfection, but compassion. You will learn planty. It can be tricky at first, because you'll have to find all the new foods (like all kinds of grains) that you maybe didnt eat before, but once you learn it's really easy.
I think it's possible to gain weight (although it didnt happen to me) because of the propaganda that vegans are not eating healthy or not getting the right nutrition. (you can easily obtain calcium from green veggies) And then its easy to scare yourself and overeat. Also, there are many vegan/vegetarian processed foods loaded with fat and sugar, which is bad for you, even though it is veg*n. So dont have too much of that. Remember you CANT gain weight if youre eating healthy. But you cant lose it either if youre getting tons of calories without burning them.
Eat raw fruit and berries instead of vegan candy, as often as you can.
Choose whole grains instead of white flour-bread.
Choose vegetables over vegan fastfood. Raw, oven-baked or steamed or in soups.
Use organic coldpressed oils like canola and olive in food, but not too much.
Plain potato chips is vegan but not healthy.
Beans, beans, beans...
:)
I'm sending you a link of a cool vegan podcast to download, that brings up healthy eating. ("the vegan health show" is a very useful part, but its all really great and fun) I also pasted a link to some great tips about healthy veganism from Vive Le vegan.
You can always contact me if you have more questions. Im glad to help. :)
Good luck.
PS I have 2 great "books" on veganism in pdf, contact me if you're interested and I can mail them to you.
Source(s):
http://veganfreakradio.com/
http://veganfreaks.net/forum
http://vivelevegan.blogspot.com/2007/04/...
a bit of everything: http://www.vegan.com
1. Calcium Carbonate: checked Vegan Represent Forums and google'd it and it seems it can be both. So, you have to evaluate that one on a case by case basis, (Note: I thought I was safe on that but now I have to recheck some food of mine. Thanks for the heads up!)
2. Tofu: No, not all tofu is vegan, but it's generally not hard at all to find some that is.
2b. Silk is owned by a subsidiary of Dean Foods, which is a huge food conglomerate and the largest producer of dairy in the U.S, So I would stay away from it. It is vegan however:
from their website:
Are Silk products vegan?
Yes, completely! There are no animal derivatives hidden in any of the ingredients. The lactic acid and live cultures used in Silk soy yogurt come from a vegetable source. All vitamins used to fortify Silk Soymilk are derived from vegetable sources including calcium carbonate that comes from limestone.
3. Vegan nutrition is a lot easier than people make it out to be. I went straight from omni to vegan, and it after the transitional period it becomes second nature. For you it should be even easier as a veggy. Snag some literature from the local library.
4. Weight: You should be fine here. You probably gained weight as a veggy from all that cheese and eggs you were eating. Vegan diets are naturally weight friendly becuase they restrict or limit the stuff that contributes to that.
5. College: If your college isn't vegan friendly, lobby for it. Ask the cooks about ingredients and see if some stuff could be easily veganized. If that doesn't work out try to get a more independent food plan and join a local food co-op.
6. Community. See if there are any vegan groups or meetups in your area. Maybe you could start your own? Obviously, real human contact is the best but I find the vegan online communities are really supportive and helpful. Try
www.veganrepresent.com
Good Luck!
Food combining sorts out your food - Fruit is eaten alone, starch and protein is eaten at different meals. Fruit for breakfast, starch for lunch, protein for dinner works best (or you can have starch for breakfast, protein for lunch and only vegetables or fruit for dinner). Bananas are starch so have them at lunch time. You can have salad and vegetables with lunch and dinner. Beans which are the protein mainstay of a macrobiotic diet may go with lunch or dinner. Nuts and seeds go with dinner as protein and a source of essential fatty acids. Try cooking up some rice or having rice noodles for lunch otherwise cooked oats (porridge) are easy to prepare and go well with bananas. Other grains .such as millet mix well with this. Fresh fruit and vegetables with deep colours are the ones to go for if your looking for antioxidants. You may lose weight on a food combining diet if you don't eat sufficient starch. Double up on the starch meal some days. Try eating raw if you really want to get healthy and it's so convenient.
My friend is vegan
Silk is completely vegan, they haven't paid for the vegan symbol. You can get your calcium by eating green leafy vegetables, like spinach, romaine lettuce, etc.. Antioxidants are found best in blueberries, but other fruit contain them too. Honestly, you can be vegan/vegetarian and gain weight by eating empty calories. Concentrate on 80% unrefined carbohydrates, 10% fats, and 10% protein in your diet (don't worry about being exact. Tempe and Seitan are other substitutes to try besides tofu... too much soy is not a good thing. Mostly, eat your veggies, fruits, and unrefined grains.