Becoming vegan?

Question

Ok so, I am already a dedicated vegetarian, purely for animal rights. I do it the healthy way, take a daily liquid vitamin, eat soy products, lots of fruits and vegetables. I really want to be vegan for animal rights purposes, but my parents say it's unhealthy and won't let me. If I can be a healthy vegetarian, why can't I try to be a healthy vegan? My mom did say, however, that I could be vegan if I found my own healthy vegan recipes and cooked every night for myself. I think I'm willing to do it. Does this sound unfair? Does anyone have any good vegan recipes and food ideas? Please don't answer if you don't know anything about this topic or are only going to lecture me.

10 points best answer

Thanks to all in advance!

PS. I'm almost 16 years old if that helps

Answer 1

I think the first order of business is a great resource on vegan nutrition.  It sounds like you're doing really well as a vegetarian and there's no reason why you can't do the same as a vegan as long as you know what the potential points of concern are nutrient-wise (B12, for instance.)  I highly recommend reading "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.  It's really thorough coverage and it will help you talk with your mom about her concerns.  Plus, it will give you an idea of what foods to incorporate into your diet (via the vegan food pyramid.)

Once you've got an idea of that stuff, any good vegan cookbook will do.  You'll be able to look at each recipe and decide whether it's a healthy part of your overall diet, whether it would add what you need to a particular day's nutrition, etc.  I very highly recommend "Veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  One of its strong points is that it has a lot of good, basic information on legume, grain and vegetable cooking and a lot of mix-and-match recipes you can use to create balanced meals (like pairing a veggie-ful legume dish with a hearty grain dish.)

You should be able to check both books out of the library for starters.

Answer 2

I will not lecture you.  I am only too happy to help.  Congrats on already being a vegetarian and on wanting to become a vegan.  Shame on your mom for telling you that you can't be.  You can do whatever you want.  It is very healthy.  People who eat meat and dairy and eggs ARE NOT healthy.  It is just an ignorant comment that people who are uninformed make.  It doesn't have to be complicated at all.  Don't worry about a lot of recipes.  There are so many foods you can eat that are Vegan.  Drink soy or rice milk so that you get your daily intake of calcium.  I love rice milk.  The milk I drink has calcium, Vitamin D, and B12.  I love beans and rice and I found a vegetarian chili.  Salads, fruits, veggies, seeds, and nuts.  Some breads.  You have to read labels.  Look for animal, dairy and egg ingredients.  Whey and casein come from milk.  I would show your mom that you are serious by cooking your own meals.  You are old enough to do so.  Show her that you are serious.  Tell her to go to meat.com and watch the video on animal cruelty so that she understands where you are coming from.

Answer 3

i;m a vegetarian but being vegan is giving up to much for me. but if this is what you want to do. GO FOR IT. good luck!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

That sounds fair because there are over 12,000 vegan recipes (way more) I will give you most of the greatest sites :)

http://www.veganmeat.com/recipie.html

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/vegan

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-C... (good ratings)

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/

You can find vegan ingrediants and recipes here also -

http://www.veganchef.com/

When you buy food, read the ingredients. Watch out for -

Milk

Eggs

Gluten

Gelatin

White sugar

Volaise

Vellum

Urea

Tallow

Suet

Squalene

Squalane

Rennet

Albumen

There ingredients are either animal parts or dairy..

How to become a Vegan -

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Vegan

I hope thats enough :)

Good luck!!

Answer 5

Hey! I am a vegetarian but I went to the library for recipes for vegetarians. I found a amazing book filled with vegan recipes that are great and healthly. The book is called:

The Garden of Vegan by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer

It is the sequel to "How It All Vegan". I like the sequel better than the original however.

If you don't have access to a library or just don't want to go, I like the website http://www.vegweb.com. The recipes are veg*n so you may have to change of the ingredients. Most recipes have both a vegetarian and a vegan way to cook them. It is great!

It is (or so I heard) super easy to be a healthy vegan. And it is your body and you are 16, so you should be able to do whatever you want (when it comes to veganism). Ask them if you can go vegan for a week and try it out. Saying no and not letting you try it would be unfair, but I think they are just trying to look after you.

Hope I helped!

Answer 6

Cooking for yourself and getting recipes sounds fair to me. It would be a good idea to buy a couple vegan cookbooks too.

Answer 7

You can get as much protein with vegetables and soy products as you can with any other type of food. Unhealthy? With protein, the vegan diet is much better for your heart than eating a diet including meat or dairy products(CHOLESTEROL!). There's thousands of ways to use tofu, and I'm sure you can find many of these ways online. I'm not going to list a bunch of websites with vegan recipes, it's just a simple google search. The easiest way to become and stay vegan is to eat a wide range of cuisines. Asian and mexican cuisines have many vegan options.

You should also take a vitamin B-12 pill each day because if you are deficient in b-12, it can lead to tiredness and little resistance to infection. B-12 is only found in meat, so a pill is the only way to go.