My 15-year-old daughter and I are ready to take the important step from vegetarian to vegan eating. If you have any words of advice, I would surely appreciate it. I know our food options will narrow, but sacrificing so little to help save an animal is worth it.
2007-09-04 17:02:04 · 5 answers · asked by gentle understanding 4 in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
You're not just helping animals. Eliminating animal proteins from your diet could save YOUR life and the life of your daughter. The best motivation I can think of for you both is to read a book called THE CHINA STUDY. You will never regret your decision after reading that book and any time you get a dairy or egg craving you will instantly think of how much less chance you have of getting cancer and heart disease and you will have NO DESIRE to touch the stuff. I also think all new vegans should get a book called BECOMING VEGAN. It's sort of a primer on important things you need to know about changing your diet. It really is so important to do it right! It's easy to mess up and end up hating it if you don't prepare and educate yourselves.
You're doing a WONDERFUL thing! You will get used to the changes in no time. Your body (and sweet dairy cows and poor defenseless chickens) will thank you!
2007-09-04 18:22:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Good for both of you. Read labels and watch for casein (a dairy protein) in so-called nondairy products. There are plenty of brands of soy milk out there; you will have to find the one that works for you. There are also several brands of soy ice cream and soy yogurt. I was never a cheese fan so converting to veganism wasn't so hard for me.
I don't know what concerns you have, besides a slight narrowing of food options, but I do want to give you both my wholehearted support. And if you need a few shopping sites that offer vegan stuff, email me and I'll give you some tips.
2007-09-05 09:32:44 · answer #2 · answered by VeggieTart -- Let's Go Caps! 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You will totally crave cheese for a couple of weeks, but if you stick with it they will go away and you'll never miss it again.
I don't like any of the vegan cheeses that try to imitate hard cheese so I just don't use them. I do like Soymage Parmesan which tastes pretty much like any powdered parmesan cheese. Road's End Organics Mac and ChReese is great too. The best soymilk in my opinion is Silk Vanilla and it's also one of the cheapest. Lots of luck!
2007-09-05 00:21:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Make sure you are both getting all your b vitamins, iodine, iron, calcium, and omega fatty acids.
Some vegan sources for those things are salt, flax seeds, olive oil, grape seed oil, smart balance peanut butter, most all cereals, and fortified orange juice.
2007-09-06 01:28:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just make sure that you are somehow supplying yourself with protein, which you must be if you're still healthy while being a vegetarian. But things like eggs and milk are also giving you a lot of nutrients. Vitamin and nutrient supplements are a really good idea if you are even mildly picky eaters.
2007-09-05 00:11:30 · answer #5 · answered by Linnea 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋