Going vegan.?

Question

I've been vegetarian for 7 years, so giving up meat isn't a problem. I just went vegan yesterday. Any tips?

Answer 1

Yes. Go to one of these.

http://www.animalaid.org.uk

http://www.viva.org.uk

Both are veggie/vegan and offer go free vegan packs and stuff like recipies and so on. They are great sites for anyone who cares about thier health.

Answer 2

- Borrow or buy a good vegan cook book

- Learn to cook for your self and experiment with recipes and new ingredients

- Stay in contact with other vegans for moral support and recipe ideas

- Stay informed about issues and news. Subscribe to an online news letter like vegan outreach or chat with other veggers on yahoo.

- Get active in the vegan or animal welfare community, it will help keep you motivated to stick with it

- Stock up on healthy snacks, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, mushrooms, etc.

- Be prepared to read labels and check menues before you go out or order. Having a little snack before you go out helps too.

- Also find some great non dairy and egg substitutes. Soy milk, rice milk or sweet williams vegan chocolate.

- Vitamin B12 shouldn't be a problem since your body has the ability to store it for up to 5 years and it is readily available in most fortified cereals and grains.

Good on ya for making the switch good luck :)

Answer 3

Don't eat dairy.

Answer 4

The yeast with B12 that Gem is talking about is nutritional yeast. Apparently it has a cheesy flavor, but I've never tried it myself.

Here's another helpful link, a list of animal-derived ingredients:

http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-in...

Don't let it overwhelm you. I put off veganism for a long time because of all the ingredients I'd have to watch out for. Just look over the list and if you accidentally end up eating one of those ingredients, don't stress, just remember for next time.

I would also recommend picking up some cookbooks (the one I use is How it All Vegan), or using recipe sites like vegweb.com.

Answer 5

Hi there.  There's a lot about veganism that is different from ovo-lacto vegetarianism.  It's not only about not eating dairy like the first poster so dumbly answered. You also have to try to avoid products tested on animals and body/bath products that may contain animal ingredients.

Here is a list of vegan foods that you may have never known were vegan http://vegancomfortfood.blogspot.com/200...

A list of companies that do not test on animals: http://search.caringconsumer.com/search_...

And a list of those that do test: http://search.caringconsumer.com/search_...

All cosmetics and body products at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are free of animal testing and most don't have any animal ingredients, but of course check the labels.

Tryveg.com is a great resource for recipes and to brush up on some more vegan knowledge.  It says vegetarian but all their info is about veganism. http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/

Also a handy website to go to is Happy Cow.  They have international listings for health food shops and vegetarian and vegan restaurants (and some veg friendly ones) http://www.happycow.net/

When shopping for clothing, make sure to check the label for the materials used.  Often times it could be wool or silk and you wouldn't even guess.  Stay away from down blankets and pillows.  Faux fur products are not usually fake.  They are most often skinned from dogs and cats in Asia, so don't buy fur, fake or real.

Good luck to you!  You won't regret it.

Answer 6

Supplement B12 and always carry snacks!

Answer 7

B12 is the only nutrient of concern as it is caused by a bacteria which is only found in miniscule amounts on veggies. I believe that there is a special yeast (not brewers yeast) something else - its readily available in the US which you can get which contains it.

You can buy like an egg alternative for baking cakes etc if you need a binder but I tend to just use something like tahini or peanut butter. It takes a little experimenting though.

Silken tofu can be made into 'scrambled eggs' I really like this with some kikkoman soy sauce in the scrambled tofu, served with cooked tomato slices, fresh basil on some good grainy toast.



If you have trouble finding bread with no egg, there are many gluten free breads out there in health food shops which often cater to vegans who they know care about their health. We are in Australia and get SOL bread pumpkin and rice bread. It is made on a sourdough concept. Tastes a little like crumpets. You cant eat it raw though as it is hard and moist. Expensive but worth it.

Hmm wot else? Not sure what kind of vegetarian you were (eg pesko-lacto-ovo??) so its hard to advise. Make sure you get protein from 3 different veggie sources a day no matter what (to make a 'complete' protein)

Bonsoy soy milk is GREAT!!! Its from Japan. Seriously its so yummy. Yellow carton with a bit of blue stripes on it.