Vegan Diet
Vegan Diet questions and answers
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Q: vegan diet?
is a vegan diet right for everyone? i have a lot of problems with my immune system (i'm a vegetarian and have been for almost 5 years.). i've been looking into going vegan, but i was wondering if a vegan diet was right for everyone?
A: I think it can work for anyone if done properly and if they're committed to it. In some autoimmune disorders, a vegan diet has been shown to help. Check out these sites for nutritional info.
Q: How healthy is a Vegan diet? How can you make it more fattening?
I have a 15 month old that is allergic to milk, eggs, chicken, PEANUTS, nuts, and peas. So, I kind of have to put her on a vegan diet. For those who were vegans since babies, did you drink soy milk? That's all I can give her and I know a lot of vegan recipes have soy in them. The reason that I am concerned is that I keep reading and seeing everywhere that soy is bad for you. This makes me upset because I can't help that she can only drink soy milk. I forgot to mention that I can't give her rice milk or coconut milk. Is there anyone that's been drinking soy milk and eating foods made with soy for many years? Let me know that you are healthy, so I can have some kind of peace of mind? Also, she is underweight from not being able to eat so many things. Any suggestions on how to fatten up her diet? Please help I can't seem to get a real straight answer out of anyone else.
A: im a 24 year old and have been vegetarian nearly all my life, through fussiness when i was a child (my mother used to cry because i wouldnt eat meat or take milk) and have flitted between vegetarianism and veganism for many years. i have always eaten soya, even in the 80's when food was in such a bad state that it may as well have been eaten off the floor! what im saying is that i have never had any problems in my life in anyway, not with my oestrogen levels (which is one of the things they try to say can be altered by soya) nor with any form of breast cancer scares (touch wood) or any other minor or major health problems. i find that chocolate soy milk is terribly high calorie and also some of the chilled soya milks are high calorie so if you give them to your child they may help give her a little push towards the fat we girls need to have. my mother has also turned vegetarian in the last few years and always tells me about any new scares, but i would agree that a lot of it is media frenzy to push out us veggies. the one thing i would say is that soya growth destroys land and it cannot be used to grow in after soy has been harvested, but that is a problem for the GM crowd.. try to stick to organic soya products, in the UK cauldron do some good organic tofu's and things.
all in all to answer the question, ive had soya in my diet for twenty years at least, in the eighties when it would defiantly have been gm and bad news. today it will be so much better, and im completely fine, on every level. i am female so i can also maybe help by telling you this as it tends to be women they target with threats of breast and ovarian cancer. im sure if these were going to happen unnaturally they would be happening to me about now.
Q: How could a vegan diet be safe and practical for infants and small children?
This girl was put on a strict vegan diet, and ended up with a degenerative bone disease that left her with the spine of an 80 year old:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article4087977.ece
I understand the philosophy of veganism, and I am interested, BUT people do come first. How could this girl's diet have been structured safely and still be considered vegan?
A: She didn't end up with rickets because she was vegan, she ended up with rickets because her parents didn't bother to see to her vitamin D intake. There's a big difference.
The American Dietitic Association and the Dietitians of Canada agree that a properly planned vegan diet is appropriate for ALL life stages, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence.
It's the reponsibility of all parents to make sure that their children are getting the nutrition they need, regardless of the diet they've chosen for their families. A few isolated cases of malnutrition splashed all over the media should not constitute an indictment for a dietary plan that nutrition experts approve of. What the general public never hears about is the thousands of perfectly healthy vegan kids. I know four vegan kids personally ranging from 3-14; their parents are informed and responsible and the kids are happy, healthy and thriving.
I don't know all of the details of this particular case so I don't know if there were deficiencies beyond vitamin D, but that's all that was covered in the story. In that case, since she lived in Glasgow, which is too far north to get the necessary sunshine to form vitamin D most of the year, her parents could have added fortified foods or a supplement to her diet. Note that dairy products do NOT naturally have vitamin D. Rickets used to be a common problem. Vitamin D and calcium work best in conjunction and government officials needed a vehicle for getting sufficient vitamin D into children's diet, so they chose milk because it already had the calcium and most children drink it regularly. There's no reason, knowing those facts, that a vegan child drinking fortified plant milk would be any different than an omnivore child drinking fortified animal milk.
Q: When on a vegan diet, do you need to count calories to loose weight?
I heard that vegans stay naturally thin without counting calories because they dont have lots of tokins or bad foods (cause most non animal product foods are healthy).
So, if Im trying to loose weight on a vegan diet, do I really need to count calories? (If so, how many should I have daily?)
Thanks :]
PS) *Im not going vegan strictly too loose weight, Im going for animal rights and general health reasons, weight loss is just an added bonus!
A: Yes, you still need to count calories. There's plenty of ways to be vegan and still consume empty calories, and even too much of a good thing can make you gain weight. The good news is that if you're eating vegetables, it'll take a lot more food to get up to your daily calorie quota than if you were eating meat and dairy, so you'll be able to eat more and still lose weight.
You should look up how many calories you need based on your gender, height, weight, activity level, and how much you want to lose.
Here's a link to the Mayo Clinic's calorie calculator:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598
Hope that helps!
Q: What is the perfect Vegan diet that provides all of the amino acids, vitamins and minerals without using soy?
I am trying to find a vegan/raw food diet that provides all of the essential amino acids, 40-50 grams of protein, the majority of vitamins and minerals, without the use of soy since it has been proven to contain dangerous substances. Please advise.
A: Just use this the vegan food pyramid and food guide. You only need cut out the soy milk and use an alternative like rice, almond, hemp, or oat milk. Soy products made from mock meat can easily be eliminated by using any other types of beans in recipes along with a grain in order to make another meal. Just make sure to get vitamins B,, D,and folic acid through fortified cereals, plant-based milks, fortified nutriotional yeast flakes, fortified tempeh, Kombuca or something like that.
http://www.nutrispeak.com/veganfoodguide.htm
http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=recipecategories/
Q: Is a Raw Vegan Diet healthful for diabetes and high blood pressure?
Is a raw vegan diet healthful over a long period of time, especially with diabetes and high blood pressure? I am trying to switch to a raw vegan diet, but my dietitian insists it is not healthful. Has anybody here tried it long-term, or know anybody who has? I'm wanting to lose a lot of weight, and I've been making a lot of salads, with cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, green bell peppers, celery, onions, carrots ... and then I pour on a bunch of vinegar and lemon juice. It's tasty, nutritious, and very low-calorie. It seems to be working for me, but my dietitian isn't happy. And I didn't even tell you what my primary care physician thinks about my decision to quit all my diabetes and blood pressure medications and just rely on a raw vegan diet instead of the meds ... except that I'm going to have to find another primary care physician.
A: I have heard of people curing diabetes and high blood pressure with a raw food diet. I am not raw myself (though I have played with recipes, and incorporated some things like green smoothies into my daily life), but I have met several long-term raw foodists who have overcome illnesses including diabetes, allergies, eczema, and even one who beat cancer - and all are very healthy now and off of all medications. One book I would highly suggest is 'Eat to Live' by Joel Fuhrman - it is primarily raw food, and addresses the issues of diabetes and high blood pressure. He also has articles about this and many other topics on his website, and he is available for consultations if you want him to create a plan for you to get off your medications. (but I wouldn't just go cold turkey on your medications - your body will need time to adjust and gradually wean yourself off of them). check out these links:
http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx (click on the 'reverse disease' link for info on diabetes)
http://www.rawfamily.com/
http://creativehealthinstitute.com/ - the creative health institute has a fairly inexpensive two-week residential program that teaches you all aspects of how to live and eat raw. I know people who have done this program and had great experiences with it.
good luck!
Q: What do you think about the vegan diet?
I've been an omnivore most of my life but am considering the vegan diet after finding out how good it is for your health. I've started it already, but I'm already missing salt on my food or having dairy. Anybody else gone through this? What do you think of the vegan approach to eating?
A: I think if you actually know how to cook, there is nothing wrong with a vegan diet. You can't beat grilled veggies drizzled in olive oil even if you're an omnivore as I am. But you need to make sure it is also nutritionally balanced. I had a friend who became vegan, she didn't eat nutritionally balanced meals and her hair started falling out.
Unfortunately, most of the vegan food I've tried has consisted of pasty, tasteless casseroles that I wouldn't feed to my worst enemy.
Apparently, there are too many people who become vegan out of guilt. They have the idea that eating meat means killing Bambi for food. I think their guilt crosses over in their cooking style and they want guiltless food that is totally devoid of any flavor or pleasure.
Please! Vegan doesn't have to be tasteless slop! There is no rule against food having rich colors, great textures and great flavor. If you are going to be vegan, please learn how to cook and keep the intergrity of the foods you prepare.
Sorry for the rant, but it annoys me when people think vegan automatically means yucky food.
Q: How can a vegan diet help you to lose weight?
Can a vegan diet help you to lose weight and even tone up? What are the best vegan foods to help you to lean out?
A: A well balanced vegan diet can help you lose weight because...
It's based on vegetables, and grains. Perfect foods for losing weight.
A balanced vegan diet is high is vegetable protein, reasonable carbs, lots of fiber, and very little to none saturated or trans fats.
BUT...
An unblanaced vegan diet (a junk food vegan) will gain weight from the tons of carbs that they eat from all the junk food that is out there.
If you are going vegan I recommended that you look at the NEW Vegan Food Pyramid.
The old one had grains as a base, the new one has vegetables as a base.
Here's a link to the new one: http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/
Q: What country could better accomodate a vegan diet?
I have the option to go to either Sweden or France as an exchange student. My only minor setback is my vegan diet. Which country (or a host family) could better suit my diet. Depending on grocery stores and things of that nature.
A: Definitely Sweden. Sweden is very open to vegetarianism/veganism but in France I have heard people say they have chicken and fish on the vegetarian menus and they have cheese, butter, or other dairy in practically every dish.
Take a vegan passport with you so you can clear up any confusion about what you can eat. Vegan passport: http://www.vegetarianguides.co.uk/products/veganpassport.shtml
Q: What are the damaging effects of a long term vegan diet?
I have a niece who is on a vegan diet and she has stopped menstruating. I told her that it was her vegan diet and that she needed to see a doctor. She has also become very anemic. Is the damage she is doing to her body irreversible?
A: Foxie, you must be related to or know every vegetarian/vegan on the planet. Seems like every time we turn around, you're posting something about someone you know who just "happens" to be a vegetarian or a vegan.
This time, it's your niece who, coincidentally, is a vegan. Last time it was, what, a neighbor? Someone you work with? I lost count at 128, I think it was.
I'd sure love to know where you live. The place must be heaven on earth for vegetarians (well, with one minor exception, anyway), since so many of them congregate around you. No wonder you act so paranoid. . .you're just plain surrounded by 'em!
Oh, and BTW -- your 'niece' could have stopped menstruating and become anemic for many other reasons besides her alleged vegan diet. She needs to see a doctor for a thorough checkup.
Q: When is it okay to start a vegan diet?
Ive been thinking about it for a long time,and I have officially decided to become a vegan.I know that if I were to just start a vegan diet,I would get sick and lose a lot of weight,so I went vegetarian first.
And I've only been on a vegetarian diet for about two weeks now.
I was just wondering when would be a good time to start a vegan diet.
without getting sick.
A: Well I would very gradually give up animal products. You could maybe wait a few months of being vegetarian to gradually give up milk, then cheese, then eggs, or whatever plan you like best. Gradually usually equals more successfully.
You DON'T have to wait until you're at a specific point in your life. The American Dietetic Association states that a well-balanced vegan diet is appropriate for all stages of life, including infancy and pregnancy.
Q: Where can I shop for a vegan diet in Milwaukee?
I live in Milwaukee and my husband and I are transitioning to a vegan diet. Where can we shop in the area? I went to Outpost, and found it incredibly expensive, and lacking many options for vegans.
A: Whole Foods Market
2305 N. Prospect Ave
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211
Phone: (414) 223-1500
Q: how to start a vegan diet for a teen?
I want to start a vegan diet.I'm a vegetarian and have been one for a couple of weeks.My questions is how do ease into a vegan diet?Any tips or any thing u think I should need to know.I'm 17 years old.thanks:)
A: peat2.com has lots of info and recipes it's my favorite website.here's the link:http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-recipe.asp
Q: How do people get their rda of calcium from a vegan diet?
Ok so I recently become vegetarian and vegan just wandering how other vegans get their rda of calcium as it's in shortage? Aside from dairy products/fish etc as far as I'm aware. Do people manage to get enough from a vegan diet or do they use a supplement? Thanks in advance!
A: James, have a look at http://veganhealth.org/ which is a website from Vegan Outreach with advice on specific nutrients from a vegan registered dietitian. There is plenty of calcium available from plant-based foods. Milk is not a natural human food. It's made by a cow for her babies just like human mothers produce breast milk for their babies. So no one can argue that milk from another species is a necessary food for humans. It's really crazy when you think about it. We don't even need our own mothers' breast milk after we're babies.
Vitamin D is also extremely important in your body. Here's an article from that website which talks about vitamin D and calcium. http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/bones
Foods like collards and broccoli are great sources of calcium. Some foods and beverages like orange juice are fortified with calcium.
Q: How long does it take to see results from a raw vegan diet?
I am going to be starting a raw vegan diet for 2/3 meals a day and cut portions of cooked meals. I was wondering how long it takes to see results. I want to lose weight and become healthier.
Im not doing it to lose weight. Just to live healthier. Though weightloss is a benefit
A: You should never eat vegans raw.
They should be served at least medium well. Don'f forget to serve red wine.