How to be a proper vegan?

Question

ok im thinking about becoming a vegan...

but the thing is i have a verrrrry weak immune system which means that when i dont get proper nutrition i get all types of sicknesses and alot of the time... plus im also anemic, which really doesnt help my situation..

well anyway, i wanna know how to be a proper vegan and still get enough nutrition?

I remember once looking at the ingredients of toast and neither milk nor eggs were mentioned.. does that mean i can eat toast? also if your a vegan would you please just tell me the kinds of food u eat on a regular basis, and something thats easy to find please :)

Answer 1

Ummmm, please don't take an iron supplement without being supervised by a physician... more than 45mg/day is pushing it, and iron toxicity can be fatal.

To be a happy healthy vegan, just eat a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and a moderate amount of soy foods (if you're so inclined) and take a 1000 mcg B12 tablet weekly.  Eat a large bunch of greens each day, limit processed and junk foods, and you're set.  :-)

Get yourself a great vegan cookbook... my favorites are "Vegan With A Vengeance" and "Veganomicon."  It'll be immensely helpful in learning to cook without animal products.

You're awesome for striving to become vegan, by the way.  Kudos!

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Your best bet would be to visit with a registered dietitian and plan an optimal vegan diet for yourself.

Barring that, I highly recommend reading "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.  It's a great resource for making sure you know where you're getting all your nutrients from.

If you already tend to iron deficiency, you'll likely want to take an iron supplement.  Vegetarians and vegans are not more likely to be anemic than the general population, but since you already are, you need to take that into account.

You're going to be looking for ingredients other than just "milk" or "eggs."  Both milk and eggs are separated out into their component parts and added to foods as well.  Albumin, for example, is an egg product.  Whey and casein are milk products.  Bread is sometimes challenging because lots of commercial brands have whey added (watch out, it's everywhere, I swear they must pay food manufacturers to put this stuff in their products!)  But if you read enough packages, you'll find bread that suits your needs.

I try to stick mostly to a whole foods diet.  This means I eat mostly fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and oils and cook with whole ingredients rather than relying on prepackaged convenience foods.  I like knowing exactly what I'm eating and not having to read ingredient lists that are as long as my arm, but it means I have to cook a lot.  A couple of good vegan cookbooks come in really handy; I LOVE Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Answer 3

As far as your iron goes, find this pill.  It's called Ferrous Sulfate 325 mg.  MAKE SURE it's 325 mg.  Take it once or twice a day, depending on how anemic you are.  It'll handle your anemia problem no sweat.

As for your weakened immune system, try to locate something called Spirulina.  It's great for the immune system.

This is my basic day:

In the morning I have some toast.  You can eat toast as a vegan.  Just make sure to check the ingredients of the bread you buy.  There is some bread that has whey and/or honey in it.  I have toast with either vegan butter or all-natural peanut or almond butter.

About two hours before lunchtime I try to have a piece of fruit.

For lunch I usually have soup.  Vegetable or tomato or anything that's vegan.  Again, check the ingredients.

In the afternoon I usually have a snack of vegan cheese and crackers.

For dinner I have either some stir fry or spaghetti or veggieburgers, it varies.  And sometimes I have vegan ice cream for dessert.