Food is essential for every living creature. It differs from person to person. Being vegan is also a dietary pattern of certain people. These days more and more people move to vegan diets. If you are a life-long meat eater and you are now going be vegan, you may doubt to know where to start. There are some things to know before going vegan.
How to get the initial step to be vegan?
If you are a meat eater so far and now you are shifting to vegan diets, it will be difficult to change immediately. You can practice it little by little. Replace some vegan food instead of meat in your diet. Then you will use to have a fully vegan diet in a few days. If you jump immediately to vegan food without any meat, it will be hard at the beginning. This is the initial thing to know before going vegan.
Consider on Protein sources.
Opinion if every dietician is, that there should contain protein in every meal. Protein considers as the building blocks of life since they break down into amino acids which promote cell growth and repair. Meat and fish contain a high amount of protein. But if you are going to be vegan, you should know about better protein sources. The best sources of vegan protein are natural soy, beans, lentils and seitan.
Supplement of Vitamin B12 and Iron
Vitamin B12 helps to keep the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy and make DNA. So Vitamin B12 can be considered as an essential nutrient for the human body. Problem with a vegan diet is, Vitamin B12 naturally occurs only in animal food. So, if you are going to be vegan, you’ll want to get plenty of B 12 fortified foods as well as a B12 supplement. If you are unable to get that you will have to face tiredness, constipation, weight loss, loss of appetite and nerve problems.
Another one is iron. There are two types of iron which as heme and non-heme iron. Heme iron contains in animal food, and it is easy to absorb our body. The vegan diet only has non-heme iron, and it is less absorbable. So you have to add more iron sourced food to your vegan diet. Legumes, dried raisins, leafy greens and sunflower seeds can consider as iron-rich food. Apart from that, Vitamin C helps to absorb iron. It is important to have vitamin c rich food such as citrus, broccoli etc.
Calcium intake
As per the NIH recommendation, adults between 19 and 50 ages should take 1000 mg of calcium per day. According to the researchers, a usually vegan person can get only 525 mg per day. You have to eat a variety of calcium sources to fulfil the requirement. Almonds, soybeans, navel oranges are a calcium-rich food. And also you can consume calcium-fortified food such as plant-based milk, cereals and tofu made with calcium sulfate.
How to respond to negative ideas of non-vegan people.
When your friend and relative knew that you are a vegan, their responses may vary. Most of the reactions will negative. So you have to overcome those while showing them about how interesting to be vegan. Cook some vegan food deliciously and serve those people. Then they also realize that you are enjoying a vegan diet, and being vegan is not a foolish thing. Response them kindly and try to educate them and make them feel easy on being vegan.
How to buy vegan food affordable?
Most people think that vegan foods are costly. And it’s hard to find vegan foods. But it’s not correct. You have to get a thorough idea of vegan food choices. There is plenty of vegan food to buy. Avoid buying food that has labelled as vegan. Don’t buy expensive food from expensive supermarkets. You can buy fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and other vegan food from anywhere at a reasonable price. And also you have an opportunity which other not-vegan people don’t have. That is, you can grow vegetables and fruits in your garden. Then there are no expenses to buy food from markets.
You can have a cheap and healthy diet by being vegan. Think about various things to know before going vegan. And if you think it on the effective way you can enjoy from that.
What should do if you want meat flavour in your vegan diet?
It’s impossible to forget about texture, taste and smell of meat if you were long term meat-eater. When you shift to a vegan diet, sometimes you may think about the taste of meat. You have not to worry. Nowadays, it is easy to recreate flavors and texture of meat in vegan foods. Imagine if you are having a vegetable burger, but you feel that you are eating a meat burger. You can get any type of meat flavors or textures into your vegan food.
Can you maintain a healthy life by being vegan?
So many people doubt whether they can stay healthy with vegan food. There is plenty of nutritious vegan food that can keep you healthy. A well planned vegan diet can provide all essential calories and vitamins to maintain daily nutrition requirements. Being vegan means that you are not in a diet. If you eat a healthy vegan diet with proper knowledge, you can live health a non-vegan person.
Read food labels.
If you are a real vegan, you have to concern more about ingredients in food. When you are buying food from supermarkets, always read the ingredients in the label. There are some animal food ingredients even though it seems like vegan food. As an example, there are some food colors like carmine (Natural Red 4) derived from dried bodies of female beetles.
There are so many things to know before going vegan since this change mainly affects your health. Plan your diet well before going to vegan.