Veganism

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irishhh
irishhh Posts: 11
in Motivation and Support
Hello. I am currently a vegetarian on my way to veganism! I am looking for support from others who have transcended. I'd also like to find out about the daily intake for like... protein, carbs, etc. for vegans or what other vegans go by. I've been doing a great deal of research and made charts, but as far as daily intake of specific nutrition, I haven't found anything. I seem to find most information to be about how many servings and what a serving size is. I'm still learning, but as far as recording food on this website, I think I'd like to adjust it to my personal goals rather than the majorities goals, as most are probably not geared toward a vegan diet.

Any tips?

Replies

  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    A good vegan diet should be in similar proportions of carbs, protein etc as a meat-containing diet. You need to find substitutes for non-vegan foods that make sure your nutrition is still solid. ie make sure you get plenty of protein - tofu, lentils, beans, pulses. Also don't forget to include calcium containing foods like fortified soy drink or fortified rice milk. If you are planning this as a long term thing (not that I'm saying veganism should be a short term thing by any means but for some, that is their intention) then check into any nutrient supplements you might need. For example vitamin B12 is near impossible to get from food for a vegan.
  • irishhh
    irishhh Posts: 11
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    Thanks! I actually already am doing the protein/soy milk and vitamin b/c of being a vegetarian, but I'll keep in mind that you said to keep things in similar proportions.

    I don't think I can go on eating products from animals when I KNOW what happens to them. I just can't! I think it'll be really hard to stay away from products that are manufactured like leather and that type of thing just b/c it's not something I think about as much as food b/c food is a daily thing for me and shopping is not lol

    Anyway, I also have some illnesses that are not easily controlled (narcolepsy for one) and I am hoping that controlling my diet and exercise may help me with it. It certainly won't hurt to cut out more preservatives and unnecessary hormones. My body already feels a bazillion times better just from being a vegetarian. I had no idea how good I'd feel from that. I've been for a few years so it's almost hard to remember how I used to feel.
  • irishhh
    irishhh Posts: 11
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    Also, how do I get people off my back about how I'm not healthy b/c of the way I eat?? Obviously, they don't really know what they're talking about. I live in the states where everything is always about meat and sugary products.
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    hahaha can't answer that one! People can be very judgemental! I'm not a vegan, just a dietitian who knows you can have a perfectly healthy diet whether vegan, vegetarian or meat-eating :)
  • irishhh
    irishhh Posts: 11
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    lol well thank you anyway :)
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    B12 is easy ... fortified cereal or nutritional yeast flakes.

    I think the default MFP values should work fine for you.
  • Alleghany
    Alleghany Posts: 200
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    Hi! I don't consider myself quite a vegan but I'm close. I try to stay away from dairy (which was very difficult at first but I'm over it now) and meat but I do have a piece of salmon a few times a year. I just wanted to let you know I discovered a wonderful "cheese" that you might want to try if you are ever reallllly jonesing for nachos, grilled cheese, etc. It's called Daiya. It's not so great if it's not melted but once it is, it's the closest vegan alternative out there (& I've tried ALL of them!). Also, if anyone ever gives you a problem about veganism not being good or healthy, have them read The China Study. I got my meat and potatoes dad to finally read it and now he's pretty close to a vegan. Please read it if you haven't already. Good luck!
  • irishhh
    irishhh Posts: 11
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    Thanks! I have heard about Daiya, but I haven't found it anywhere to buy. Well, I did find it online, but it was trying to make me by $30 worth! I'm like... No, no, I don't really need that much haha...

    I want to read the china study. I'll read that after I finish the kind diet :)
  • asltiffm
    asltiffm Posts: 521 Member
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    I'm not vegan or even vegetarian but 90%+ of my diet is raw/living foods. I eat a cooked meal once a week (twice when my husband has his way) and it generally, though not always, has very minimal meat because it's never a good thing to eat something that takes 3 days to go through the digestive system when everything else I eat zips right through, unless something's in the way. Not a good feeling! I also still drink milk becasue I haven't figured out how to get enough protien otherwise...plus I just love milk. Carbs & iron are way easy to get enough of but protien is still hard for me to reach and I assume that I need to work on B12?
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    I assume that I need to work on B12?

    Look up Nutritional Yeast Flakes.
  • Dom_m
    Dom_m Posts: 337 Member
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    I just bought a book called "Becoming Vegan" through amazon. I've been vegan for about 10 years, but I find it helpful to remind myself why I do it occasionally, because sometimes I find myself getting a bit lazy about it. This book has an excellent section on how to deal with the general population, the standard set of questions you always get and how to deal with them.

    It also goes through the major issues that a vegan needs to be aware of, explains things like protein in a vegan diet, how much fat should we have, what kind of fat, what kind of carbs, etc. Its an excellent book and easy to read.

    If you want to have a look at my food diary, just for ideas, send me a message with your email address and I'll email it to you (I don't make it public, but I do export it to excel so I can graph things more efficiently, and I don't mind sending that).
  • beccasetsfire
    beccasetsfire Posts: 135
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    Thanks! I have heard about Daiya, but I haven't found it anywhere to buy. Well, I did find it online, but it was trying to make me by $30 worth! I'm like... No, no, I don't really need that much haha...

    I want to read the china study. I'll read that after I finish the kind diet :)

    Veganessentials.com sells smaller bags of Daiya I think the smallest is .5lbs... I think its the same size as the retail packs... I love Daiya...

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