help me! i need ideas - gluten free vegan diet

I am in the process of becoming a vegetarian.   I just recently discovered that I am lactose intolerant and can't eat bread (I can eat whole grain pasta type stuff and oats, just no yeast/gluten type stuff).   I might have an "egg intolerance"--although I'm not sure.  I also need to lose about 100 pounds and trying to overcome a caffeine addiction.

Any ideas or suggestions on how to get all the vitamins I need without dairy, meat, bread, or eggs?

You've got quite the combination of food sensitivities, but you're not alone. It is completely possible to be a healthy gluten-free veg*n.

If you're leaping into this all at once, going from a processed, meaty, wheaty food life into veg*nism, you're probably going to suffer some headaches, digestive issues, and so on for a week or two before your body settles into its healthy eating habit. But it is worth the inconveniences to get into the good habits!

Something I will suggest as you start out is to not try to substitute  one-for one. For example, don't switch from pork bacon to faux bacon - you're probably going to compare them and you'll dislike the differences. Just cut out the bacon and focus on recipes that don't have things you need to substitute in them.

Protein, which is so often a concern for new vegetarians, is easily sourced in beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains (in your case non-gluten ones like buckwheat and spelt), brown rice, tofu and other soy products, and in vegetables themselves. Protein is actually easy!

Fats will come from cooking oils, nuts and seeds.

Starches switch from an emphasis on wheat and gluten bearing grain to other grains. Rice, polenta/grits, corn tortillas. Beans are an excellent low-GI source of starchiness.

One difficult thing for veg*ns is cheese. There really aren't any good substitutes for cheese. Tofu can be used in place in some recipes but you can't cut it up and serve it with crackers. Mourn your cheese-eating days, if you need to, and move forward in the interest of your health.

As a gluten-free veg*n you will end up doing a lot of your cooking and eating at home. Cookbooks can be inspiring, so a trip to the library or bookstore will give you some ideas about what you can enjoy at your table.

Don't use Tritamyl flour. I know the brand we get here in Ireland contains egg albumin, but it's technically labelled vegan due to technicalities.

I'm coeliac and allergic to eggs too :) Not a vegan or a veggie though1

I'm usually a gluten-free vegan - lately I've been been technically a lacto-vegetarian because whey protein supplements are the only way I can easily increase calories without huge sugar loads; I have serious problems digesting fats and can't have more than 10-15g a day, so nuts, oils, seeds, etc. have to be eliminated or consumed in only the tiniest amounts.

The thing with very restrictive diets like this is that you have to maximize what you CAN eat and get as much variety in it as possible - especially on low calorie counts. 5+ fruits and vegetables daily - try to make them all different if possible. Fresh is best, and raw when possible; otherwise, frozen is okay, steaming is the best way to cook (although if you boil for a soup it's not too bad; a few vitamins are destroyed and a little leak into the water, but if you're eating/drinking the water too, it's less of an issue.) Canned works in a pinch. Vary your grains and beans, too.

Corn, rice (brown or brown/wild mixes are better than white), and potatoes are safe carb foods that are easy to find and not expensive. Beans and legumes have some carbs, and protein - check the labels, and pick ones that you like that have good nutrient profiles that suit your needs. Pintos, black beans, navy beans, lentils, dried peas, chick peas, etc. For more variety, look for less common grains and beans; your local natural foods store, if there's one close by, should have some choices, and if not, you might be able to order over the Internet. Dry grains and beans won't spoil in transit.

It's best not to waste many calories on things like dressings, flavorings, and sweets, since those are calories that can't be used for something with more nutrients; those should be fairly rare treats. If you need fats, half a serving of nuts on a salad with very low-cal dressing will be better for you than a full-fat dressing, all other things being equal. You'll probably want to take a multivitamin just to cover your bases, and there are natural food supplements you can try. Nutritional yeast for B vitamins might not work for you, but if you do use sugars and like the taste, very dark molasses has a good amount of some minerals. I take a little bit every day like a tasty medicine, or put it in a beverage; 45 calories, 20% USRDA for iron.

I was very disappointed to find that most of the superfood "green drinks" like Kyo-Green have wheat, barley, or both in them and thus are definitely not gluten-free. I liked those before I was diagnosed with celiac, but they're now forbidden. I don't know if there are gluten-free alternatives, other than individual-ingredient supplements like chlorella. In either case, they're really expensive, so maybe it's just as well.

I, personally, am not gluten-intolerant.  However, this website seems to do a great job of addressing eating under these restrictions: Gluten Free Goddess.

She has tips and tricks for eating without gluten, as well as some fabulous-looking recipes, many of which are vegan.  Hopefully it can help you out.

also there's a gluten free section on www.fatfreevegan.com

Most raw vegans are 100% gluten-free with no problems.  I'm not 100% vegan, but I eat vegan-ly about 90% of the time -- and I never eat wheat, oats, rye, or any other glutenous grain, at all.

And no, I don't crave it.  Not bread, not anything.  Raw foods taste way better than paste.  :)

I'm not able to do milk at all, either.  But who cares?  I can eat homemade ice cream for breakfast every day if I want, because it's made of fresh coconut or almonds or something.

You will easily release a lot of that weight when you go gluten-free.  Gluten is a slow-digesting protein that comes packaged with other digestion-slowing compounds (fiber and starch, not to mention addictive exorphins), giving grains the slowest transit time through your system.  That means your body picks up the most calories from grains, so not only are they highly caloric, you're getting every single one of those calories. 

Contrast that with fresh foods like fruits and vegetables, which have the fastest transit times and are the least dense in calories -- and yet result in high satiety -- and you can easily see why most people who go raw release a lot of weight completely effortlessly.

So if you're looking for ideas and inspiration about food, check out GoneRaw, a website dedicated to raw recipes of all shapes and sizes.  There are thousands of recipes now; you're sure to find a few that will replace your gluten-, milk-, and egg-based comfort foods -- and probably taste way better anyway!

One difficult thing for veg*ns is cheese. There really aren't any good substitutes for cheese. Tofu can be used in place in some recipes but you can't cut it up and serve it with crackers. Mourn your cheese-eating days, if you need to, and move forward in the interest of your health.

Lies!  :-D

I eat raw nut-based cheese on a regular basis.  It's most often made from cashews and sunflower seeds, though I've had great success fermenting pine nuts and pecans too.  Oh, and fresh coconut will readily ferment into a really great yogurt.

If there's anything you can take from your switch to vegan-ness, it's that MILK ISN'T SPECIAL.  It's just a combination of protein, fat, and sugar.  You can make cheese and yogurt from anything with same profile.

Venix - are there any online instructions for making nut cheese? that sounds good.

The basic recipe for sunflower seed cheese (fermented) -- you can use this procedure with dozens of different ingredients.  Cashews are tastiest, in my opinion, but they're hard and expensive to get raw.  Sunflower and sesame seeds are pretty universally cheap (and easy to find raw). 

If you don't want to use rejuvelac (I don't!), you can use a non-dairy yogurt starter or even a good quality probiotic pill -- just break open the pill and empty it into the mixture.  (This is also a great test to find out just how active your probiotic supplement is!)

Another tactic for getting a cheese-like product from nuts and seeds is to skip the fermentation and use a recipe that calls for vinegar or lemon juice.  Here's a very good recipe for almond-sunflower seed cheese.

Let me know if you try it and what kind of results you get.

thanks everyone for the replies; you've been helpful!