“So, what do vegans eat?” you might ask. At least that is one question that we are being asked over and over again. When we tell people that we consume no animal products, they immediate assume that we must be struggling and are always tempted to get back to our old way of eating. Some literally tell us that we are missing out and lead an incomplete life. I am not joking. I never thought that people associated happiness and food that closely. As much as we enjoy food, I still see it only as a fuel that our bodies need in order to function. The cleaner the fuel, the better our bodies operate, the longer they can "run".
To get back to my original question, I pulled up a “vegan” food pyramid off line to show you what a normal vegan daily diet should consist of. At the base of our daily diet, or what we consume more of, we have vegetables, then grains, then fruits, legumes, nuts, oils. We do use some substitutes, such as soy milk, Toffuti sour cream and cream cheese, etc., but we use it moderately and sparingly. Our goal is not to avoid animal products and then gorge on whatever substitutes we can find on the market. There are a lot of unhealthy vegans, unfortunately. When they “quit” animal products they overcompensate with processed foods: white breads, cookies, vegan cheeses, etc., which really defeats the whole purpose of being a vegan. Our goal is to be healthy! To fully benefit from a vegan diet one must consume a whole foods diet.
To consume whole foods diet means to consume diet in which the foods have not been altered by any processes. The foods that we consume are as close to their original form as possible. That is also the reason that the foods that we eat are organic, but I will cover that in a later post. Our diet is rich in nutrition and very diverse. Because we no longer have the “crutch” of animal products we are more experimental with our foods. We try different styles, different cuisines, make dishes we had never heard of before.
So, here is the pyramid. Print it out (click on the picture to view it larger size). Put it on your fridge. Learn it by heart.
To get back to my original question, I pulled up a “vegan” food pyramid off line to show you what a normal vegan daily diet should consist of. At the base of our daily diet, or what we consume more of, we have vegetables, then grains, then fruits, legumes, nuts, oils. We do use some substitutes, such as soy milk, Toffuti sour cream and cream cheese, etc., but we use it moderately and sparingly. Our goal is not to avoid animal products and then gorge on whatever substitutes we can find on the market. There are a lot of unhealthy vegans, unfortunately. When they “quit” animal products they overcompensate with processed foods: white breads, cookies, vegan cheeses, etc., which really defeats the whole purpose of being a vegan. Our goal is to be healthy! To fully benefit from a vegan diet one must consume a whole foods diet.
To consume whole foods diet means to consume diet in which the foods have not been altered by any processes. The foods that we consume are as close to their original form as possible. That is also the reason that the foods that we eat are organic, but I will cover that in a later post. Our diet is rich in nutrition and very diverse. Because we no longer have the “crutch” of animal products we are more experimental with our foods. We try different styles, different cuisines, make dishes we had never heard of before.
So, here is the pyramid. Print it out (click on the picture to view it larger size). Put it on your fridge. Learn it by heart.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me (you will find my e-mail by clicking on my profile). And remember…. EAT HEALTHY!!! BE HAPPY!!!
