Chapter 1
Vegan Eating Defined
In This Chapter
Exploring veganism and how it differs from vegetarianism
Discovering just how much nutrition a vegan diet can provide
Moving the whole family to a vegan diet
A vegan diet is clearly gaining in popularity these days, and for very good reasons! You have probably overheard a friend talking about going vegan. Or maybe you saw a story on the news about a celebrity or famous athlete giving up meat and dairy. Perhaps you’ve realized that your health isn’t what it used to be, or you’re having a hard time losing weight with the traditional diet you grew up with. Or else you’ve read that raising animals for human consumption is bad for the environment, and that the animals aren’t treated well.
In this chapter, you discover the health benefits of a vegan diet, the differences between different types of vegans, and how to get started making this diet a whole lifestyle. Don’t be scared — more and more resources, restaurants, stores, online support groups, and premade products are available every day.
Pinpointing What Vegan Really Means
Vegans go beyond what ordinary vegetarians eat and buy in their lifestyle. A vegan diet and lifestyle avoid all animal products — all of them. The following sections point out what vegans really are and how they differ from vegetarians.
Eyeing the differences between vegans and vegetarians
Vegans are sometimes called strict vegetarians. No, vegans won’t slap your hands with a ruler if you mispronounce seitan (for the record, it’s say-tan), although some hardcore vegans may want to throw a bucket of red paint on you if you’re wearing a fur coat.
Vegans are stricter than vegetarians because vegans don’t eat any animal products. Vegans avoid eating, drinking, wearing, using, or consuming in any way anything that contains animal ingredients. Although many vegetarians can happily note that no animals are directly killed to provide them with food, a vegetarian diet still indirectly contributes to animal abuses, as well as health concerns and environmental degradation. Vegans even go as far as avoiding health and beauty aids that have been tested on animals.
A vegan diet contains everything except eggs, milk, cheese, butter, all other dairy, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, or honey. You can find different kinds of vegetarians, all of which still consume some type of animal foods. Here are the main types:
Lacto: No meat, fish, poultry, or eggs, but does include dairy like milk, butter and cheese.
Ovo: No meat, fish, poultry, or dairy, but does include eggs.
Lacto-ovo: No meat, fish, or poultry, but does include dairy and eggs.
And then you find the kinds of vegetarians who still eat turkey on Thanksgiving, or fish when they want to. These folks sometimes call themselves flexitarians. There’s truly a rainbow of diversity in this alternative diet world!
Separate but not equal
Even among vegans, you can find different categories. The vegan lifestyle actually has three different subheadings, and some people are very solidly in one camp or another. Some people, like me, go back and forth among the three, integrating the best of the options available.
The cool thing about these three styles of eating is that they all offer amazing ways to heal the body from disease and imbalance. Start reading up on all three, and you may find yourself attracted to one and decide to dive in! Here are the three and what they entail.
Macrobiotics
The macrobiotics dietary school is based on traditional Japanese foods. The term was created from the Greek words for “macro,” meaning large, and “bios,” meaning life. The diet is mainly composed of unprocessed vegan ingredients and integrates recommendations for eating slowly, chewing well, and using seasonal, local ingredients as a way to live a long and healthy life. This diet includes whole grains (especially brown rice), beans, sea vegetables, veggies, fresh pickles, grain-based sweeteners, and small amounts of cooked fruit and has been used to cure many people of obesity, arthritis, skin disorders, and cancer.
Many macrobiotics include fish in their diets but no other animal products. But a good percentage of them avoid all animal foods and live a vegan lifestyle. As time goes on, some macrobiotic chefs and counselors have started to expand the foods they use and eat to include more seasonal and local ingredients, as well as fruit. Check out Macrobiotics For Dummies by Verne Varona (Wiley) if you want more in-depth information about this lifestyle.
Raw
Raw foodists choose to eat a plant-based diet that is prepared in certain ways to avoid heating it and damaging the nutrients and enzymes in the food. A raw diet sometimes includes raw fish, eggs, or meat, but as with macrobiotics (see the preceding section), a very large number of raw diets are vegan. A raw food vegan diet has been shown to reverse heart disease, cure cancer, and solve digestive problems and depression.
This diet eats uncooked, naturally pickled, or slightly prepared fruit, vegetables, sea veggies, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Raw practitioners typically soak and sprout grains and beans first to make them easier to digest and activate their health-promoting enzymes. Raw foodists use special dehydrators to create flaxseed crackers, nut cheeses, kale chips, and fruit leather. They also use powerful blenders to create delicious desserts and smoothies.
Ayurveda
This traditional diet and school of medicine began in India more than 5,000 years ago. Based on traditional Indian herbs, spices, foods, and natural cleansing techniques, this diet has become more popular in the West due to the rise in fame of Dr. Deepak Chopra.
Ayurveda states that everyone has one of the following three body types:
Vatta: This person usually has a thin body type, and has a tendency to be more “airy” and creative in temperament. These people often develop nervous system and colon imbalances, and often feel cold in their extremities.
Pitta: These “hot” people are usually very athletic in build and fiery in temperament. Common disorders for pitta types are migraines, inflammation, and acid reflux.
Kapha: A combination of water and earth elements, these types are stable, strong, and relaxed when balanced with a supportive diet. When unbalanced, these people can become overweight, depressed, and develop high cholesterol.
No matter whether you’re vatta, pitta, or kapha, you can find foods to balance your energy and health. Although many recipes in ayurveda include milk, yogurt, and ghee, or clarified butter, many vegans adjust the food to be animal-free.
What Does a Vegan Eat, Anyway?
So now you’re going to venture into a world free of dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, butter, and cheese. If you’re like the average person, you’re asking “Well, what can I eat?” The surprising answer: everything else! Vegans don’t eat animals, but they do eat a huge range of plant foods. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sea vegetables, soy foods, beans, sprouts, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, and snacks are all there for the taking.
If you’re just starting to explore vegan eating, you may worry that you won’t get enough calories, iron, calcium, protein, or whatever else. Can you get all the nutrition you need from this diet? You bet! Protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin B-12 are the nutrients you need to be aware of when you’re first starting your vegan diet. But these vitamins and minerals are readily available in a varied diet of whole grains, beans, fruits, veggies, and sea veggies. In fact, many scientific and health organizations and government bodies have stated that a well-planned vegan diet can provide everything a human needs for good health. Both the American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that a vegan diet can satisfy a human body’s nutritional requirements.
The secret bonus of these plant foods is that they provide a lot more than protein, iron, and calcium. Vegans get more fiber, vitamins, healing phytochemicals (plant chemicals), and antioxidants than most omnivores (those who also eat meat) do because plant foods are filled with them. Chapter 2 covers more information on recommended daily intakes for these and other nutrients.
The great thing about eating vegan food is that it can be just as delicious as anything you grew up eating with meat or dairy. Healthy cooking techniques have come a long way since the beige and lumpy days of the ’60s and ’70s, when vegetarian cooking first became popular. From savory, rich appetizers and entrees to decadent, sweet desserts, the recipes in this book and other vegan cookbooks show you how plant-based cooking can satisfy any craving.
Countless vegan foods are available to you after you know what you’re looking for. The chapters in Part III give you a plethora of recipes you can try to introduce yourself to vegan cooking. With more than 500 vegan cookbooks on the market, you’ll never be at a loss for inspiration when you get comfortable cooking for yourself.
Noting the Health Benefits of a Vegan Diet
The health and food connection is finally coming to the attention of the media and the public at large. The bottom line is that if you want a healthy, vibrant body, you should eat food that is healthy and vibrant! If you fill your tank with garbage food, you’ll feel like garbage. That’s where a vegan diet comes into play. Eating a vegan diet can prevent diseases and simplify weight loss. The following sections examine these advantages in more depth.
Keeping away from the killer diseases
The great news about a vegan diet is that it can help protect you from the most dangerous illnesses affecting people in the Western world. Vegans have healthier blood pressure levels, consume no cholesterol, and have a lower risk for heart disease.
Check out The China Study (Benbella Books) by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II for more about the different rates of diseases for vegans and omnivores. This well-documented book uses evidence spanning the globe and presents compelling data to show that veganism protects your health.
The whole, plant-based meals you enjoy as a vegan are lower in saturated fat and higher in potassium, which both help to lower blood pressure. Meat and dairy foods are high in fat, salt, and artery-clogging cholesterol. These are fantastic reasons to move to a vegan diet — and to make vegan meals to share with anyone in your life who is at risk for heart disease!
Cancer may soon eclipse heart disease as the number one killer of Americans and Canadians. Eating a whole, plant-based, vegan diet shows a lot of promise in both preventing and even curing some cancers. Breast and ovarian cancers seem to be influenced by the amount of animal protein and dairy in a woman’s diet. Incidents of intestinal and colon cancers are also higher in populations that eat more meat and dairy.
Weight loss simplified
Eating vegan also makes maintaining a healthy weight easier. Plant eaters generally consume much less fat and a lot less saturated fat than meat and dairy eaters. Overweight and obese people who want to shed pounds can find a vegan diet really useful because they naturally consume fewer calories if they focus on whole, unrefined vegan foods.
Vegan foods such as nuts, seeds, veggies, fruits, beans, and whole grains are also high in fiber. A fiber-rich diet fills you up more quickly than one based on refined, low-fiber foods, and feeling fuller sooner causes you to eat fewer calories. The added bonus of fiber rich foods is that they help your body move waste out through your intestines better, which maintains your body’s ability to absorb nutrients properly. Smooth move, vegans!
Especially if you’re going vegan for weight loss, you need to watch what you eat because you can be a junk-food vegan! Living on fried veggies, refined bread products, and sugary treats that just happen to be vegan isn’t a healthy choice. Avoid the pitfalls of the standard American diet when you go vegan — just move away from the processed junk foods entirely.
Raising Vegan Kids and Facing Family Challenges
Whether you’re raising kids vegan from day one, transitioning your entire family to a plant-based diet together, or trying to support one curious teenager at home, be assured that this diet can and does provide everything kids need to stay healthy. You may encounter some challenges, depending on how old your kids are, how rebellious they are, and how much they care about animals and their own health.
Most kids are naturally finicky — whether it’s engrained in their DNA or they see that it pushes Mom’s buttons, they just want the food they want. Slowly transitioning from your standard diet to one filled with vegan meals is probably best to help the kids from feeling overwhelmed. The following sections show you how to make sure your vegan kids get the nutrition they need in foods they won’t try to feed to the dog and offers suggestions on getting everyone on board with this new plan.
Getting kids to eat foods that pack a punch
To provide optimal nutrition for all the children in your home, choose nutrient-dense foods like avocado, nut and seed butters, enriched grain products, hemp, flaxseeds, and enriched plant milks. Kids need a good variety of protein, iron, calcium, and healthy-fat foods, plus all the other minerals and vitamins that adults need. Because kids have smaller stomachs than adults, they can more easily fill up on fiber-rich foods like fruit, pasta, and grains.
Your child’s tastes will change — sometimes daily. Here are some tips for enticing little ones to eat healthy foods without driving you crazy:
Make most meals family-style, with a variety of healthy foods that kids can choose from. Don’t get into the habit of making a different dinner for each person — you’re not a short-order cook. Studies have shown that kids make healthy meals for themselves if offered an array of healthy options.
Studies suggest that a kid will reject a new food up to 12 to 15 times before accepting it. Keep introducing healthy stuff that you like, and eventually they’ll eat it, too. Many adults balk at new foods as well; if you’re not sure about a new vegetable on the first try, keep at it! You may end up loving it after a few tries.
Get your kids involved in the kitchen. Have them pick out recipes and help with the shopping list. Take them to the grocery store to pick out a new veggie and enlist their help in creating the table setting. Even a 3-year-old can help mix waffle mix or stir a bowl of ingredients with some assistance.
Be a good example. Mirror, mirror, on the wall — who likes eating their veggies? You do! Show your kids that you love your healthy meals and set an example by enjoying a variety of good options.
Don’t force it. Making a fuss out of your kid not eating can create tension and a power dynamic that’s tough to stop. As long as she has access to only healthy foods throughout the day, she’s likely to get what she needs.
Tweens and teens may resist changes to their diet more than the little ones. Have a family meeting about why you feel changing the family menus is important. If animal welfare issues play a big part, watch some age-appropriate videos about how animals are treated in factory farms. Most kids are natural animal lovers. With your help, they’ll connect their food choices with the suffering of animals. If health concerns influence your decision, be honest with the family about your thinking. They’ll learn from your logic, and the family can grow together with the same morals and ideas.
If you’re worried your kids will freak out at the idea of eating seaweed and tofu at every meal, reassure them that some of the foods they already know and love are in fact vegan. Here’s a sample list of kid-friendly vegan meals to calm their fears:
Whole-wheat noodles with lentils and spaghetti sauce
Baked sweet potatoes with steamed green beans drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with nutritional yeast flakes
Oatmeal with apples, cinnamon, and freshly ground flaxseeds
Pancakes spread with sunflower seed butter or almond butter and drizzled with pure maple syrup
Rice and beans wrapped in a tortilla with sides of salsa, guacamole, and tofu sour cream
Rice crackers, carrot sticks, red bell pepper slices, and cucumber slices with Cashew “Cheese” Spread from Chapter 10
Toasted Nori Strips from Chapter 9 with a miso soup filled with tofu, mushrooms, and green veggies
Sauteed seitan with roasted potatoes
Three-bean chili with whole-wheat rolls
Veggie pizzas with zucchini, mushrooms, and vegan cheese
Veggie burgers on whole-wheat buns with baked potato fries and fruit juice-sweetened ketchup
Quinoa and bean soup with steamed broccoli
Avoiding common nonvegan ingredients
Adopting a vegan diet for yourself and your family means avoiding animal-based ingredients in food, but if you pick up a box of food in your grocery store and read the label, the terminology listed as edible ingredients may mystify you. How can you know whether something’s vegan if you don’t know what it is?
Here is a list of some common animal ingredients you see on food labels. Check out Chapter 6 for more advice on knowing what to look for on labels.
Albumen: Made from eggs, milk, and blood from animals
Bone char: Derived from animal bone ash, used to process white sugar
Carmine or cochineal: Red pigment made from crushed beetles, found in foods, makeup, and supplements
Casein: A cow’s milk protein
Methionine: Essential amino acids made from eggs or cow’s milk
Pepsin: Made from hog stomachs
Rennet: An enzyme made from calves’ stomachs
Whey: Made from milk
