Overview
Whether it’s for health reasons or an ethical choice, deciding to shift to a vegan diet can feel empowering. For some of us, it is no easy feat to give up all animal products. Yet, a vegan diet can be fantastic for your health, planet earth, and the welfare of animals.
The key to success is gradually adopting a delicious and satisfying vegan diet plan that works for you. Eating a variety of colorful fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds is the healthiest diet on the planet! When you eat only a plant-based vegan diet, just be aware there are a few vitamins and minerals you need to get in supplements.
Transition to a plant-based diet slowly to ensure that you can stick to it, and to minimize the “healing crisis” as your body adjusts. Read on to learn the benefits of a vegan diet, what you should and should not eat, and how to handle the shift.
Quick Tips for Vegan Beginners
Transition slowly by giving up red meat first, then white meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. Do this over several months to ensure long-term success. Eat a rainbow of nutrient-packed vegetables and fruits, healthy oils, nuts, grains, and seeds. Become an expert label reader to avoid accidentally eating animal-based foods. To keep cravings at bay, stock healthy vegan snacks in your bag like nuts, dried fruit, and kale chips. Replace butter with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) or a plant-based buttery spread with no trans-fats. Learn to make a “flax egg” for recipes. Mix 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons water and let sit until it gels — about 15 minutes. Use instead of 1 egg in baking recipes. Stumped at restaurants? You can always ask for steamed veggies and brown rice.
What Is a Vegan Diet?
A vegan diet involves avoiding all meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and all animal-derived products, such as honey, eggs, dairy, and gelatin. Many people go vegan for health reasons.
A vegan diet differs from vegetarianism. Vegetarians avoid meat but may eat eggs and dairy. Vegans avoid foods that use animal derivatives in the production process. This includes refined sugar, which is processed with bone char, or wines that use animal proteins like casein and albumin during filtering.
Some vegans eat processed foods. However, the healthiest option is a plant-based vegan diet, which sticks to whole, natural foods. You can also try a raw vegan diet, which involves eating only uncooked plant-based foods.
What Can You Eat?
You can find plenty of satisfying vegan foods, whether vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, or fermented foods.
Vegetables
No surprise here! Veggies are a staple in a vegan diet. Make vegetables the cornerstone of your vegan diet; they are nutritional powerhouses. Make it a challenge to include multiple colors in your vegetable selection! This ensures you are getting an array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other phytonutrients. Include leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, chard, and collards. These are some of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. When it comes to vegetables, you can’t go wrong. Use this newfound eating style as an opportunity to try out recipes with vegetables you’ve never had before, such as Jerusalem artichokes, kohlrabi, or jicama. Explore the produce section, and enjoy these newfound delights.
Fruits
Fruit offers a great choice to satisfy your sweet tooth on a vegan diet while reaping the benefits of vital nutrients. Berries are great low-sugar, high-nutrient options. Many fruits are great sources of vitamin C and dietary fiber. They can also provide nutrients many people don’t get enough of, such as potassium and folate. As with vegetables, here you can explore new options, from jackfruit to cherimoya! Try making fruit smoothies or juicing for nutrient-packed and satisfying drinks.
Beans & Legumes
Plant-based proteins are not hard to find. Beans, peas, and other legumes are wonderful sources of protein that provide an abundance of fiber and nutrients such as folate, iron, and calcium. Avoid soybeans, as most are GMO and can affect hormone levels in your body. Other than that, you can make most beans and legumes a part of your diet — lentils, peas, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, navy beans, chickpeas, and more. You can find excellent plant-based protein powders, many of which use legumes and gluten-free grains.
Gluten-Free Grains
Whole, gluten-free grains pack more fiber and nutrients compared to refined grains such as white bread and white rice, which have had the bran and germ removed during processing. Gluten is a protein that many people are intolerant of. This substance disrupts digestion in many people, even those who do not have a wheat or gluten allergy. You can avoid this allergen by incorporating gluten-free foods in your vegan diet. Try these excellent, nutritious grains: brown rice, oats, quinoa, millet, as well as ancient grains like farro and amaranth.
Nuts & Seeds
Go for protein-rich almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), and sunflower seeds. Try out the many delicious foods made with seeds and nuts, such as nut butter, nut milk, hummus (from chickpeas) or tahini (ground sesame seeds). Brazil nuts are high in selenium, a trace mineral that may be lacking in a vegan diet. Eat nuts in moderation if you are watching your weight, and avoid salted and candied nuts. Raw and sprouted nuts and seeds are a great option.
Example Vegan Diet Plan
Below is an example of a 3-day meal plan you could follow on a vegan diet.
Day One
Breakfast: Superfood smoothie with pineapple and cucumber
Lunch: Black bean burrito with guacamole
Snack: Hummus with carrots or gluten-free pita wedges
Dinner: Spicy mushroom stir fry recipe with a savory twist
Day Two
Breakfast: Coconut milk yogurt with chopped nuts & fresh fruit
Lunch: 3-bean chili with a side salad
Snack: Apples with almond butter; homemade kale chips
Dinner: Homemade black bean burgers with sautéed kale and roasted potatoes
Day Three
Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, and maple syrup
Lunch: Veggie stir fry with brown rice
Snack: Mixed nuts and dried fruit
Dinner: Sweet and savory vegan Buddha bowl
Top Foods to Avoid
Gradually cut the following foods out of your diet to give your body and taste buds time to adjust to eating only plant-based foods.
Red Meat
Make red meat the first thing to remove when shifting to a vegan diet — that includes both pork and beef. Red meat is high in total and saturated fat and cholesterol, which are not heart-healthy options, anyway. Eating red meat comes with many health risks: higher rates of mortality, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.
Poultry
White meat such as chicken, turkey, and other poultry is often the second category of food to go as you gradually adopt a vegan diet. Although white meat contains less fat and cholesterol than red meat, it is still a source of saturated fat, even without the skin. You will experience better health outcomes if you eat a completely meat-free diet. Like we said, however, go slow. If you want to see success with this new lifestyle, don’t pressure yourself by feeling you have to do it perfectly. Cut back, find alternatives, and make a gradual transition plan.
Fish & Seafood
Fish and other seafood products come from animals, too, so a vegan diet will omit them. This includes fish and shellfish — lobster, crayfish, scallops, shrimp, oysters, and other shellfish. Many seafood items contain at least trace amounts of mercury. Mercury is one of the most toxic elements to human health.
Eggs & Dairy
After you’ve eliminated meat, eggs and dairy usually go next. Many vegans have ethical objections to the factory farming model, which focuses on profit and efficiency at the expense of animal welfare — or human health for that matter. Vegans can choose from alternative milks — such as almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, and oat milk, many of which are easy to make at home. You can also make homemade vegan cheese, such as that made with cashews. Try using “flax eggs” as a substitute in recipes — see the quick tips above. When you cut out dairy, add in more calcium-rich foods, like dark leafy greens, beans, and sesame seeds.
