Adding some Vegan meals into your diet
Nowadays, more and more people are turning vegan. This rising number can be observed in the increasing numbers of vegan products on supermarket shelves, more and more vegan restaurants and takeaways opening up and more people noting that they are vegan when asked. Now, switching to a completely vegan diet can be difficult, as it involves cutting out a number of different foods and replacing them with plant-based alternatives. This can take time in regards to learning new dishes, ensuring you still get your nutrients and generally being happy with the change. Rather than feeling that you need to dive in the deep end, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to cut everything out at once. Instead, why not start out by adding more vegan meals into your diet and seeing how you get along one step at a time?
What exactly is Veganism?
Before we get started with some tips and tricks to get you started out on the right foot, let’s take a moment to understand what exactly veganism is. This alternative lifestyle choice essentially entails a way of living that ultimately intends to exclude the use and consumption of any products that contain animals, animal matter or is tested on animals. This means that vegans don’t eat:
- Meat
- Fish
- Gelatine
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Honey
Why would I want to go Vegan?
Of course, there are always a number of different reasons for anyone to do anything. In regards to veganism, some of the most common reasons for cutting out animal products tend to include:
- Animal rights
- Environmental reasons
- Health reasons
Ensuring you still get your nutrients
Of course, the most important thing to bear in mind when following a vegan diet is to ensure that you still get all of the nutrients that your body needs. When you cut out common factors in your meals, such as meat, dairy and eggs, you need to make sure that you effectively replace the nutrients that these foods used to provide you with. There are plenty of guides out there that will show you where to get alternative, plant-based sources of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. For example, rather than sourcing protein from meat, you can get it from tofu, nuts, legumes and more. Remember that you can also always top up your diet with supplements. For example, the popular vegan protein powder VEG-PRO.
Finding Recipes
Of course, you’re likely to find that the way you cook completely changes. You’ll be using different ingredients, you may need to learn new cooking skills (such as pressing tofu) and you’re going to experience a lot of different dietary changes. The good news is that there are countless vegan recipes out there. Browse recipe books, online recipes and vegan social media accounts. These will help to make everything easier for you!
As you can see, incorporating some vegan meals into your diet isn’t all too difficult and could make a big difference to your lifestyle. You don’t have to go all-in – you can take one step at a time and see how you like it!