What health issues must I consider when I go vegan for a month?!

Here's an interesting idea by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) for trying out veganism for like a month.......

http://21daykickstart.org/

Its a good website and they have tips!!

From my experience, there are no health issues with going vegan. It can be really healthy if you eat a well planned diet. All the vitamins and minerals we need can be found in plant foods. If you plan on going long term, it would be a good idea to supplement B12 or eat fortified foods.

Some people like to point out...if a vegan diet is so healthful, why is it lacking in vitamin B12? The animals get their B12 from the plants and water they ingest, this is the reason animal products have B12. B12 is a bacteria constantly being produced in the environment, If we were living in the wild like our ancestors we will too be getting plenty of vitamin B12 from the plants and water. Now days, we have to sanitized everything because it just isn't safe. The soil is sprayed with so much toxins that is devoid-ed of B12.

Good Luck!!!

1. Take a daily multivitamin. While there are some Vegans who are good enough cooks to get all of their nutrients, as a 1 month experimenter, chances are, you'll need to take a robust multivitamin daily... make sure it includes B12, and calcium.

2. Protein: Nuts, Soy, Wheat glutten, Beans. There are a lot of good sources of protein out there, you just have to make sure to get some protein every day.

"If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth -- beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals -- would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?" George Bernard Shaw

-zinc
-b12
-calcium

B12 is not available from any plant sources except fortified foods and nutritional yeast. Most vegans take a supplement.

Zinc is found in some nuts, seeds, and legumes. I started tracking some nutrients on sparkpeople recently, and this is the only one I have to work to get.

Calcium is found in a lot of plant sources, but you need to know how to eat to get it. Broccoli, almonds, leafy greens, calcium-fortified orange juice or plant milks, calcium-set tofu, or blackstrap molasses are some options.
Vitamin D is hard to get without sunlight no matter what diet you are on, unless you eat a lot of oily fish. D2 (ergocalciferol) is vegan, but d3 (cholecalciferol) is from fish/lanolin. So unless you get sunlight (ust 10-20 min a day is good), I recommend a d2 supplement or fortified foods, because if its the winter where you are you probably don't get a ton of sun.

I eat mostly vegan

There are no nutrients that are unique to animal products.
If your main source of calcium is milk,
and you'll no longer be eating milk,
the point is to eat OTHER foods with high amounts of calcium,
(the obvious choice being soy milk, many brands of which contain TWICE the calcium of dairy)
not live off pills.

The same goes for any other nutrients.

~vegan, 4 years~

There are plenty of good calcium sources other than second hand grass (dairy) that has been stolen from a calf.
B12 is the usual concern for vegans but that takes much longer than a month to be a worry. Just remember no honey either.

http://www.calciuminfo.com/calciumcalula…

Spinach and citrus fruits are good sources of calcium. Some more are listed below:


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article…

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article…