How do I start? I want to become it for healthy reasons, not because I'm an animal fanatic. How can I do this? What are some foods with hidden animal products? Thanks.
2006-10-01 07:36:04 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
Make sure you're consuming enough vitamin B-12 when you become a vegan, especially when you are pregnant. It's a good idea to learn about good vegan diets.
2006-10-01 08:25:04 · answer #1 · answered by Robert B 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why not Google "vegan diet"? I'm sure there's a ton of information out there. Two thoughts:
1. If you are merely concerned about your health, you can buy organic meats from natural food stores or a farmer or farmers' market near you. And remember, your body only needs 4 oz. of protein a day, in any form. That's a serving of meat about the size of a deck of cards. You don't need to give up milk, eggs or cheese to stay healthy; in fact, milk and eggs are healthy sources of protein. I'm not 100% vegetarian, but I rarely eat even 4 oz. of meat a day. I'll cut up half a chicken breast into a big stir-fry and get 4 meals out of it!
2. If you embark on this diet, you will need to take care that you get enough protein and B vitamins from sources other than meat, and this takes careful planning. All vegetables have some amino acids but only meat has a COMPLETE range. However, you can combine certain vegetables with complementary amino acids (e.g. corn and beans) to yield a complete protein. You'll need to do some research to find out how.
Bottom line: you don't need to be completely free of animal products to maintain vibrant health. Do the research and use common sense so that you don't end up destroying your health!
P.S. The book "Diet for A Small Planet" has some excellent advice, examples and recipes.
2006-10-01 14:49:35 · answer #2 · answered by keepsondancing 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are a lot of hidden animal ingredents. There is a book called Animal products A-Z... I think that is the name. Also, if you start taking one product, like cheese, out of your diet at a time, it is a lot easier to stick with it.
I am vegan and I take a multivitamin, b-12, calcium, iron and vitamin c (but I don't eat a lot of balance meals because I am a busy person). I love it, I feel so much more healthy. I find it isn't as hard as everyone thinks. Good luck!!!
2006-10-01 16:47:38 · answer #3 · answered by Sarah 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you want to be healthy, you really do need help. A purely vegan diet is not nutritionally sufficient. You are more interested in an idea than in what your body actually needs.
If you insist on following a bad diet not intended for human beings, go to PETA who will be happy to have another delusional convert. If on the other hand you want to be healthy, follow a vegetarian diet that meets nutrional needs and has a healthy number of calories and balanced nutrients.
Ask yourself why, if vegan diet is supposedly the "healthiest" it requires supplementation to survive on it.
2006-10-01 18:31:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations on your desire to become a vegan! You are making a fantastic choice not only for your health but also for the planet. Virtually any recipe that has meat in it can easily become a vegan delight. All you really have to do is replace the meat with textured vegetable protein (TVP that you can buy in health food stores and progressive supermarkets), tempeh and especially tofu. I replaced all my recipes with tofu years ago and they all taste wonderful. For example, if you would like to make a "chicken" stew, all you have to do is dry marinade diced hard tofu in vegan chicken spice/flavoring for 24 hours in a closed container in the refrigerator. This marinading process will allow the tofu to absorb the "chicken" flavoring. Right before you are finished cooking your vegetables for this stew (carrots, potatoes, celery, etc.) add the "chicken" flavored tofu. Simmer an additional 5 minutes until all the stew ingredients are bubbly. Voila! You have a delicious "chicken" stew with NO animal products in it. We live in San Antonio, Texas...everyone here LOVES all meat Tex-Mex faves like chorizo tacos and carne guisada. Guess what? I have successfully fashioned my diced tofu into wonderful NO animal products chorizo and carne guisada foods. They all taste fantastic and they are healthy...you simply look for recipes for the meat versions and replace the meat with diced tofu...use the same spices and oils...as long as they don't have any animal products in them.
You will have a great time with your experiments in cooking non-meat delicious foods and you will gain excellent health. Good luck!!!
2006-10-01 19:06:47 · answer #5 · answered by bjorktwin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This has what worked for lots of people I know, including myself:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/qt/HowtogoVeg.htm
2006-10-01 22:51:20 · answer #6 · answered by StarStar 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
always look in the ingreedinantsZ!!!!!!!and have meat evry once ina wile like when u go to falilys house or friends so you dont hurt thare feelings and so you dont KILL yourself!
2006-10-01 14:39:19 · answer #7 · answered by Morgy 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
nearly evrything has milk, eggs, animal fat etc. I hope you are wealthy.
2006-10-01 14:38:13 · answer #8 · answered by Shayna 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
just eat vegtables you can have pasta
2006-10-01 15:00:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋