Vegan

I have really been thinking hard about if I will become vegan, most days i lean hard on the yes side and other days I get concerned about nutrition.

I know there are many vegans or former vegans on this sight.

Any advice?

i myself have been trying to decide whethor i want to become vegan. I read a book which has basically sent my taste buds unwanting meat "slaughterhouse". Anyways i have read various articles and they all* have stated that most of the vegan lifestyle gets aduequte protein along with other nutrients. Allthough my big problem to switching over is me giving up my old foods, like yogurt etc. I have tried vegan lunchmeats (tofurky). HAHA Id rather not eat.  Well not sure if this is much adive but atleast i posted a reply.

- TTYL :)

the wort thing I found about being vegan was being unable to eat with my vegetarian friends.  Everything they make has milk or eggs or both in it.  Most of the good "meat" substitutes have egg whites (except seitan, seitan saves my butt).

You have to be careful with your nutrituion, take a multivitamin, etc... but not much more so than as a vegetarian.

hi,

I am not a vegan or i dont even want to be one but i am a vegetarian,i was also deciding weather to be a vegan a couple of years ago and decided not to purley because it is too much hasle,for starters it illiminates too many foods which i love and enjoy also it will be impossible for me to illiminate all leather products and beauty products although i try hard to get "good" ones and last of all getting all the nutrients you need.

If you think you could do all these things then go for it be a vegan!

also i would find it hard going round friends houses who are meat eaters i think they might find it a bvit of a pain!

Thank you so much for the input. I have no dairy in my house at this point and last night when I made my chocolate frosty with no animal products I realized I could satisfy my sweet tooth and enjoy the foods I love without the sacrifice of an animal or mistreatment. So.... I guess at this point the vegan lifestyle is in transition. I am not going to torture myself if I slip. Like any lifestyle change it takes a while to get used to and break common habits but if I care about it I will make it eventually. Its like being vegetarian it takes getting used to but I am so happy now that I am. Thank you so much for your input and I'll definitely do my research on vitamins saroful! Although I take plenty now so it shouldn't be that much of a change!

MB... keep me posted, on whats going on with your choice and i'll keep you upto date on mine :)

Emie not really at all. My roommate is a vegetarian mostly as well as my boyfriends roommate and my boyfriend eats tofu and wheat free cookies with me (silly wheat allergy thing I have).

We all shop at whole foods and stores alike and are really pretty healthy people who pay attention to what we put into our body.

But the main issue is we all respect eachother's decisions. Like eating toffuti cuties and all of that is ok :) they are tasty! Also I find it makes the situation easier if you bring along food that you can eat. Or just say "hey guys I'm gonna pop down here and get something I can eat, i'll join you in a second". No one has ever even blinked twice about my food choices.

How old are you? If you dont mind me asking? It may have to do simply with that. When I was younger it was harder for peopel to accept things like that

I think the only thing you need to worry about is Vitamin B12.  I think modern agriculture practices have denuded it from the soil, so it's hard to get if you don't consume any animal products.  Just make sure its in your mulitivitamin or you can get just B12 as a dissolvable tablet you place under your tongue.  Your body needs very little B12 - so I wouldn't worry about it too much.  Also, you can add some spirulina to smoothies, etc., b/c it has B12.  For years I didn't take any vitamins - just ate really good healthy food - a lot of macrobiotic dishes.  I get my bloodwork done every other year or so, with my annual exam and have never been low in anything.

When I became vegan, I kept all my leather shoes and stuff - I saw no point in throwing them away.  When I needed a new pair - I would hop on over to Payless - the cheap shoes they have are often all man made materials - Bonus!  Also the big companies - e.g. Nike, Adidas, etc. all list the materials for each shoe on their website, so you can see if they are leather or not.  I don't know if this is a big deal to you - I personally don't get too worried about by-products, but I try when possible to avoid them. 

Actually vegans (and vegetarians should also) need to take B12 supplements.  The B12 in Spirulina and other algae is not adequately bioavailable.  As I've said in other posts, I recommend vegetarians, vegans, and prospective veg*ans read some of the articles on this site:
http://www.veganhealth.org

Especially the ones about Vitamin B12:
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/everyvega n/
http://www.veganhealth.org/b12/

There are other micronutrients that you might not get enough of if you're a "junk food vegan" or not eating enough of a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. If you're concerned, you should take a multivitamin.  That being said, there are a lot of micronutrients that omnivores miss out on because they treat veggies like garnish and think salad is iceberg lettuce with Kraft dressing .. oh the SAD. :)

There are a lot of foods that one can eat if they are vegan, without ever going near "meat substitutes".  IMO, they make a good transition food but are minimally better than eating meat itself in a variety of ways (mass production, preservatives, eating too much soy, etc.) .. Stock up on a variety of dried legumes like black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and lentils.  Then get a couple types of brown rice, quinoa, couscous and noodles (noodles, for me, are a treat).  Then, whenever you're doing weekly grocery shopping you only need to worry about fresh veggies and fruits because you've got all the staples at home.  And spices! Never forget to have a lot of spices!  And if you can afford it, vegetable broth/boullion.  Then, take a legume, a grain, and some fresh veggies, add some spices and you've got a different meal for every night of the week.  About once a week I also have tofu instead of legumes.  I try to limit soy products to once/day MAX because the jury is still out on whether it can increase the likelihood of breast cancer and as that runs in my family... I don't want any further risks.

I've been vegan for just over 3 years now and was vegetarian for most of my life.  There's basically nothing that I know more about; a close second being the making of granola (what I do 5 days a week for a living); and a close third being the anti-economic globalization movement (all of my college papers were based around this topic, ha) - so, point being, feel free to ask me questions I am not a doctor but I have read a LOT about the veggie lifestyle.

EDIT:  Leather isn't a by-product. A lot of things are (i.e. "Modified Milk Ingredients", "Whey powder," etc.) and would likely disappear if meat and dairy stopped being produced - which is why some veg*ans don't worry about them - but leather's not one of them.  For the most part, the cows that are raised and slaughtered for leather are done so for their hides.  Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, even claims that some leather used for shoes, bags, etc. sold in N. America comes from dogs & cats in Asia.  I haven't looked into this any further, so I don't have any sources for that... I guess I could take a look but I'm lazy right now.

Awesome, i'll jot you down in the list of resources:)  I know that I can do this. It's not too much of a change though because I started buying rice cheese a long time ago and all of my pre-made wheat free foods are also dairy free, interesting eh?

I actually panicked last night because I hate throwing away food. I can't do it and I was so nervous that the wheat free trader joe's waffles were going to have dairy in them, low and behold not a lick! I was so excited.

I take a B12 supplement now (when I remind myself) so I think I am doing alright. I am just worried about calcium now, any suggestions on where else to get that?

hey, i figured id throw my 2 cents in

ive been vegan for about 4 years...i was vegetarian for about 8 years before i made the transition to vegan.... it took me 2 years of researching and the willpower to actually make the jump.

one of the main reasons and inspirations was the "why vegan?" pamphlet which you can get at www.veganoutreach.org   this is a great resource and you can get a free vegetarian/vegan starter pack which includes tips and recepies. this site really helped me out as far as nutrition suggestions and animal compassion.

another great resource was the book "A New Diet for America"by John Robbins.  Its excellent and will change your life. It starts off about animal compassion but becomes more informational with charts and statistics between vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters...some of these studies are astounding.

i take a multi, a calcium, a b12 every morning. i try to get atleast 60 g of protien a day because that is the suggested amount for my weight and height.  vegans should also have a tablespoon or two of flax seed oil (which you can spread on toast if you like) which contains omega 3  (which you would get from your fish). this i am bad about though haha.

its obviously hard at first but like anything, once you get past that first 2 weeks, its not so bad. its easier when more people eating like you because i can relate, its def. hard when all your friends eat a certain way, but if you're friends are vegetarians, its really not that hard to make things vegan. you will feel a diffrence and you will feel healthier and happier to make such a compassionate decision.

good luck and i hope my post helped a little...

oh and as far as calcium goes...i eat lots of greens! kale and spinach are wonderful.   but if you take a calcium every morning you will get your daily amount.

anyone know about taking calcium with other vitamins?  I was told that calcium can inhibit absorbtion of other nutrients, so I always take it at other times of the day (if I take it at all).  I could be wrong here though - who knows...

I usually eat lots of dark veggies to get calcium.  Also fortified OJ is a good sorce.  Vit. C helps with calcium absorbtion.  Also, you can get fortified soy milk as well if you are concerned with other vits and don't want to take a pill (or you forget, run out etc. - in my view its really not something to get wound up about if you are eating a good diet - its a totally personal decision so do whatever you feel is best).  Fortified cereals are also an option - there are lots of places to get B12 and other vitamins without taking a pill.  I do take a multivitamin now, but as I said - didn't for years.  I moved from San Francisco to the southeast US and just didn't think I was getting as great of a diet (no more farmers markets every day - eating fresh peaches off the tree, yummy vegan organic restaurants, etc.).  I am not a fan of over supplementation, however, it just seems a little scary to consume 200% RDA of something that I know I am getting in my diet?  I don't know ... I'm just rambling I guess...

I'd be really interested to know other people's thoughts on this...

:-)

You guys have been so helpful thank you!!! After my wheat free/dairy free pancake disaster this morning I was a bit discouraged but reading this boosted me up :) One more quick question, last I promise..... Dairy free, does not mean egg free right? How do I know what is truly vegan?!

I think you just have to read the ingredients for eggs.  I don't think there is any secret code words for eggs...

One thing that I always look for is if they say mono or di-glycerides - it should say "vegetable mono- or di-glycerides" if it is vegetarian.  If the word vegetable isn't in there, the diglycerides may come from animal products - this is the kind of thing that is in lots of bread products - you may want to look for it on the pancakes.  I totally agree with your not wanting to throw food away - kind of defeats at least part of the purpose of making the diet switch.  I would suggest that you just be careful of what you buy from now on.  Alternatively, if you want to go absolute cold turkey - donate your unopened packages to the local food shelf - I am sure they will be very greatful.

The good news is that the majority of products that are dairy free - especially if you are shopping at a natural foods type store - are also egg free.  You may also want to support brands like "Amy's" that clearly mark there food as "Vegan" or "Contains eggs and dairy", etc.

sorry double post

Cheree, great advice! Yeah I shop mostly at Whole Foods and Trader joes so most of the products are very well marked. I am attempting to make my first vegan blueberry cobbler....let's see how it goes:)

i haven't posted in a while but this thread is right up my alley.  i've been a vegan for five years and a vegetarian for ten.  i went vegan slowly -- for about a year i just cut out drinking milk and eating eggs plain (i would eat them in things, like baked goods).  it was also hard for me to give up cheese.  but once i got into the idea of being a vegan, and really thought about how a vegan lifestyle causes no intentional harm to any living being, i just picked a day and made the change.

your friends will get used to the idea.  yes, they will make some fun of you and probably nickname you "veggie girl" or "beansprout", but if you are standing by your convictions and not being hypocritical or overly preachy, i'm sure they'll be impressed by your willpower.  you just have to be willing to deal with the one nasty person who really tries to drag you down.  in truth, they are just envious of your willpower and wish they had that much passion and conviction about something, too.

GOOD LUCK!

Thanx :) SO far....so good :) And my friends are really incredible. I dont know why I would have assumed an issue, they all have very healthy diets and most of them are either vegetarian or... partly veggie. My boyfriend's roomie and a good friend of mine just started dating a vegan.... that will make double dates a little easier I think :) I pretty much did exactly what you did. I just sort of randomly started cutting things out...and then just picked a day and ta...da ... I feel incredible. I am really glad I made this change and thank you everyone for your insights and suggestions, You have really helped keep me on this amazing change :)

For inspiration and motivation to stay Vegan- check out the movie "Earhthlings"

http://www.isawearthlings.com/

it's very disturbing but it's the truth about what's going on out there in the meat industry.

I too have been attempting veganism.  I've found that most junk food is not vegan, and this is my attempt at staying away from it.  If I can help an animal out in the process...hey, why not!  I'm in the transitional state, where I have been trying to make at least 2/3 of my meals vegan.  I am so thankful for having a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods as my two closest grocery stores.  However, it is really hard to stay vegan when dining out.  Does anyone have some suggestions?  I feel like a big pain when I have to ask the server for the ingredients in every dish :)