How to Eat a Vegan Diet

To eat a vegan diet, you must swear off meat, fish, and poultry. With 3% of Americans calling themselves vegetarian, it's becoming more and more popular to go vegan for health, environmental, and ethical reasons. Since vegans do not eat any animal or animal by-products, it is essential to monitor a vegan diet carefully and ensure that you get the proper amount of nutrients.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. MEAT. To eat a vegan diet, you must not eat meat, poultry, or fish.

2. BY-PRODUCTS. Vegans also avoid animal by-products. So if you want to stick to a true vegan diet, you must also not eat foods made by animals including eggs, dairy products, and even honey.

3. CALORIES. If you are converting to Veganism after eating animal fat all your life, you first need to check the amount of calories you need each day. Because a vegan diet cuts out a lot of the fat sources you are used to eating, you need to watch your caloric intake carefully to be sure you do not starve yourself. See the resource section below for a Calorie Need Calculator.

4. PROTEIN. Because a vegan diet does not include animal products, you must be sure to replace the nutrients you would normally get from eating animal fat. You can replace animal proteins by eating a variety of foods including peanut butter, soy milk, chick peas, lentils, whole wheat bread, and spinach. This list is not exhaustive: many non-animal foods are good sources of protein. To find out more about how you can get the correct amount of protein on a vegan diet, check the resources section below.

5. FAT. Protein is not the only thing you need to replace in a vegan diet. You also need to watch your fat intake. While most people think of fat as unhealthy, a balanced diet does include some unsaturated fat, which is the healthy kind of fat. Good fat sources include nut butters, avocado, oils, coconut, and raw nuts.

6. VITAMIN D. Vitamin D is very important to the human body, but it isn't found in a vegan diet. However, exposure to sunlight will help your body manufacture Vitamin D. 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure two or three times per week will help you get your recommended amount of Vitamin D.

7. CALCIUM. Another mineral essential to your body is Calcium. Most people get calcium from dairy products, but vegan sources of calcium include okra, sesame seeds, tofu, kale, and molasses. When you eat a vegan diet, your need for calcium is lower than it would be if you ate meat. However, it is still important for vegans to get calcium in their diet or eat take a calcium supplement every day.

8. IRON. Be sure you get enough iron on a vegan diet by eating beans and dark vegetables.

9. SEE A PROFESSIONAL. Before committing to a vegan diet, be sure you know how much you need of each vitamin and mineral on a daily basis. Eating vegan can be very healthy, but if you don't get the right nutrition, it can make you sick. See a nutritionist before you start eating vegan.

Tips & Warnings

• Being vegan doesn't just affect what you put in your mouth. Vegans do not use any kind of animal or animal by-product including leather, fur, silk, wool, or even products like cosmetics and soap.
• If you want to reduce your risk for many chronic diseases and cancers, a vegan diet can help you stave off these conditions. Because a vegan diet is cholesterol free and low in fat, the lifestyle makes it easy to conform to dietary recommendations that help our bodies fight disease.
• Dark green vegetables are good sources of calcium.
• There are vegan egg and dairy replacements. So if you're worried that you won't get to have some of your favorite baked goods any more, think again. Vegan cook books offer tasty alternatives to traditional favorites.
• Oxalic acid, which is found in rhubarb, spinach, and beet greens, can reduce calcium absorption. So even though these foods are calcium-rich, if you limit your calcium-rich foods to these particular items, you may not get all that you need. Get your calcium by taking a supplement or eating dark vegetables.

Resources

• The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet
• Calorie Need Calculator
• The Vegan Handbook
• The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
• How to make traditional baked goods for vegans

[Merriment]

on 3/2/2009 This is a very helpful article!

[theempire]

on 2/24/2009 Great article! The step on vitamin D is one that many people skip. During winter months it is a good idea to take vitamin D supplements if you can't spend your time in the sun.

[brantsbabe]

on 2/3/2009 I have been on a vegan diet at times of fasting, for like 21 days or 40 days at a time. I always sort of miss the way I feel afterwards. It makes me wonder if I should go ahead and stay with it all the time. Great article.

[ChrissLJ]

on 1/31/2009 I'm lacto ovo with a tendency to a vegan diet. It's AMAZING how many things have animal byproducts in them. I was looking at a dressing today that they have recently started adding in GELETIN?!?! I'm glad that my local grocery store had a large selection of organic, plant based products.

[Upon-Request]

on 1/28/2009 Good article on Vegan diets!