What is a Vegan Diet?

Series Summary

Vegans are sometimes referred to as being strict vegetarians as they do not eat any animals or animal products including dairy and eggs. Veganism is a lifestyle choice made primarily for concerns about animal rights, the environment and human health. It is often associated with lower risks for health problems, including colon cancer, heart attacks, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, though certain measures do have to be taken by vegans to ensure proper nutritional requirements are met.

In this free video series, our expert nutritionists will teach you all about a vegan diet. You will learn about the basics of what vegans eat, including tips for a shopping list, as well as information on the importance of healthy, raw fruits and vegetables. You will also learn about protein, carbohydrates and essential fatty acids in a vegan diet. Finally, get recipes for a vegan green smoothie, salad dressing, an almond milkshake, and vegan pasta and sauce. If you are interested in transitioning to a vegan diet, let our expert show you everything you need to know to stay healthy.

Video Transcript

"Hello, welcome. We are raw food doctors Rick and Karen Dina. We specialize in teaching the benefits of whole natural plant food nutrition from a raw food perspective. We're here today to talk to you about what is a Vegan diet. What is a Vegan diet? Interestingly, the word Vegan does not explain actually what one does eat. It simply means what you exclude or don't eat in your diet. The word Vegan means that you do not include any foods of animal origin in your diet, which means chicken, fish, beef, pork or any type of eggs or dairy products. Now, because of that, there's a wide variety of what can be constituted in a Vegan diet and there's a huge range there, ranging from the extremely healthful to the extremely unhealthful. On one end of the spectrum is a diet made from whole natural uncooked and unprocessed plant foods, also know as raw foods such as the items you see in front of you. A diet such as that is high in fiber, high in anti-oxidants, high in vitamins, minerals, Fido Nutrients and a host of other things that are very beneficial for you while simultaneously avoiding most of the harmful things found in the standard American diet such as too much fat, cholesterol and food preservatives and other unhealthful things. Many Vegans though eat an unhealthy diet made of totally processed unhealthy food and just because its Vegan, does not necessarily mean its health supporting."