How to balance a vegan diet?

Question

What is the proper way to combine foods to get complete proteins? Except soy, what are good substitutes of dairy products? Are supplements absolutely necessary for a healthy vegan diet?

Answer 1

Animal protein isn't as special as many would have you believe.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/prot...

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

It may help you if you see proof that vegan people have the same potential as anyone else.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.macdanzig.net/bio.php

http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php

If you need meat or dairy during any stage of your life or to live any certain lifestyle, why does the American Dietetic Association say otherwise?

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...

Answer 2

You don't need to combine proteins.  That theory was debunked some time ago.  You just need to eat proteins from a variety of sources throughout the day/week and you're good.  Soy and quinoa are complete proteins and you can find protein in beans and other legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables.  Eat a variety of each vegan food group and you're pretty well set.

There are lots of plant milks to choose from and everyone has their own opinions on which ones are best.  I use soy for cooking and baking and unsweetened chocolate almond for drinking.  There's also oat milk, hemp milk, rice milk, and a variety of nut milks.

The only nutrient that is not reliably available on a vegan diet is vitamin B12.  You'll want to include fortified foods and/or a supplement in your diet.  But the rest of what humans need to thrive is avialable in plant form.  I take a vegan multi because I know I'm not perfect and I like the insurance policy but, hey, meat eaters do the same thing (most of the vitamins you see on the shelves aren't even suitable for vegans, let alone marketed to us.)

Your best bet is to get yourself a good resource on vegan nutrition.  I recommend "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.  Both are registered dietitians and the book is really thorough.

Answer 3

For information on vegan nutrition check out:

http://veganpeace.blogspot.com/2008/02/v...

Just get your nutrients and eat a balanced variety of foods!

Answer 4

As far as good substitutes of dairy products that aren't soy, you can make "cheese" from nuts (like cashews) and it tastes great. You can also make "cheese" sauce by combining vegan butter, some type of non-soy milk (rice milk, etc.), flour and nutritional yeast.

As far as getting vitamins and protein, I highly recommend purchasing a good blender. Then you can combine either spinach or kale (both highly nutrient rich) with some fruit and protein powder (soy, vegetable...there are all kinds) to get a nice meal replacement.