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Thread: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

  1. #1
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    What's the best advice we can give about nutrition to new/potential vegans?

  2. #2
    Pilaf
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    I'd start them off with the knowledge that a properly balanced vegan diet, like any properly balanced diet, revolves around the breads food group, and that sufficient complex carbohydrates are essential to good health.

    They should learn about the protein issue, and why it's important to remember to eat some good quality plant protein even though deficiency is rare. They should also be aware of the b-12 issues and the vegan solutions to that.

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    Goddess foxytina_69's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    i would say to not be careless like i was. dont assume that just because youre vegan, youre healthy. pay attention to your diet, and especially to your protein. i think on a vegan diet you have to eat more to get enough protein. (more as in a healthy whole foods balanced diet with adequate intake of food) dont just grab food here and there and think oh vegans dont get protein deficient, ill just eat whatever i want. DO focus on getting your greens, your fruits. DO focus on making your grains WHOLE grains. DO focus on getting a VARIETY of vegan proteins EVERY day, and dont ever be cocky about your diet. you CAN get ill on a vegan diet if you dont pay proper attention, just like with any other diet.

    my sister was just told she was anemic. she ate a steak and assumed she would have had lots of iron. see what i mean? dont assume anything. pay proper attention to your diet, and be aware of the symptoms of different deficiencies.

    eat fortified foods as well.

    get enough sunshine, water and exercise.

    dont rely on packaged foods.

    and remember to eat treats every now and then because vegan treats are amazingly delicious, and lets face it, life is more fun with treats.

    just have fun with your diet, experiment, cook, bake, try everything. a vegan diet is a whole new world of possibilities and you will find it actually has more food options than an omni diet. (my boyfriend says this all the time and hes not even vegan. he cant believe how many things there are that are new to try, after all these years of me being vegan lol)
    "you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb

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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    Eat as wide a variety of vegan foods as possible, with an emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables (which a lot of people, including vegans, seem not to eat much of), and make sure you get enough calories. Try and prepare your meals from natural ingredients, rather than commercial foods, as far as possible.

    People aren't likely to develop vitamin deficiencies etc immediately so they can take some time to read up about that.

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    I eve's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    I agree with harpy to eat every day - plenty of fresh fruit & vegies, a handful of nuts, some legumes, a large spoonful of flaxseed oil. I'd say don't be concerned about calories, there are calories in everything we eat. If the person likes bread, to eat a slice or two of a decent bread, such as rye. Also, there's a website run by Dr McDougall at http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/apr/070400.htm where you can have a regular newsletter by email with useful info. Also on our forum here there are many recipes for those interested.

    Another thing is that depending upon where the new/potential vegan lives, it might be wise to get a blood check done for iron, cholesterol, b12, liver health, etc.
    Eve

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    People aren't likely to develop vitamin deficiencies etc immediately so they can take some time to read up about that.
    Hm. Are you indicating that you believe they are more likely to develop deficiencies after they have gone vegan then were before? I hope not...

    I think the best advice we can give to a new vegan is to use the exisiting knowledge about nutrient levels in vegans and non-vegans to give advice about what the differences are.

    I guess the first thing would be to think of out what nutrients non-vegans normally are deficient in, and focus on these. The average American diet is normally deficient/too low in calcium, iodine, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, fiber, folate, and magnesium, antioxidants, phytosterols, selenium, zinc, vitamin B6, Omega-3, chromium and more. In addition, the average non-vegan diet also contains too much of certain things (like fat).

    Even if non-vegans normally have higher B12 levels than vegans, somewhere between circa 10 and 40% of non-vegans (these numbers vary from study to study) have low B12 levels too. Still, B12 is the nutrient a current non-vegan that's going vegan in general* needs to worry the least about. Then again, he may still have a severe B12 deficient, which is why general advice isn't my cup of tea....

    (There are more detailed numbers here: Nutrient deficiencies more common in meat eaters than in vegans )

    According to one of the studies cited in the thread above, the vegans who participated in that study were getting more than enough protein on average and three times more vitamin C, three times more vitamin E, three times more fiber, twice the folate, twice the magnesium, twice the copper, and twice the amount of manganese as the non-vegans did.

    So my first comment to a new vegan would probably be to remind him that by going vegan, he needs to be less worried about antioxidants, folate, fiber, phytosterols etc. than he would have if he would be monitoring his nutrient levels as a non-vegan, and most of all, he should to enjoy the change!

    Both vegans and non-vegans may have too low levels of vitamin D (especially in the winter, in the Northern parts of the world), Omega-3, iodine and selenium.

    Vitamin/mineral supplements are routinely given to pigs, chicken and other animals for various reasons (soil depletion being one of them), but since vegans don't eat animals that have been eating supplements, we need to take supplements on our own if needed.

    Some people assume that 'a vegan diet may be OK but only if it's 'well planned', and/but... of course we want to be healthy, but saying that vegans need to worry about their nutrient levels is a bit like saying that 'vegans may die in car crashes'. They may, but they may also die in a car crash if they're not vegan.

    The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada writes that...

    It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Approximately 2.5% of adults in the United States and 4% of adults in Canada follow vegetarian diets. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat, fish, or fowl. Interest in vegetarianism appears to be increasing, with many restaurants and college foodservices offering vegetarian meals routinely.

    Substantial growth in sales of foods attractive to vegetarians has occurred, and these foods appear in many supermarkets. This position paper reviews the current scientific data related to key nutrients for vegetarians, including protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B-12, vitamin A, n-3 fatty acids, and iodine. A vegetarian, including vegan, diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, use of fortified foods or supplements can be helpful in meeting recommendations for individual nutrients. Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during
    pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

    Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.
    So - what's wrong with the 'well planned'-stuff? Two things, the way I see it: vegans as such don't need to plan anything more than non-vegans. Any change of any habit needs some planning - sure, because meat eaters are used to get calcium and protein from other sources than vegans, so instead of beef and milk they'll need to get used to buy and cook with other sources. But changing a habit doesn't take forever, and once that change is established, there's no more need for planning. The change from non-vegan to vegan is probably less dramatic than the change person raised on vegan food would experience if he would start to use animal products.


    The planning period is temporary. Vegans don't need to 'know what they're doing' any more than non-vegans when making sure they get the nutrients they need - because both need to know what they're doing. The special case is B12, which is an extremely fragile vitamin easily destroyed by all sorts of chemicals and other popular 'substances' like coffee, sugar, nitrous oxide from cars, pesticides and lack of healthy bacteria in soil and water, and which is also reduced by cooking and by microwave ovens.


    A very short advice to a new vegan would be to experiment with new tastes, eat varied, eat as fresh and organic as possible, include a lot of raw stuff, and most of all, don't be move into any kind of tastebud ascetism. If vegan food isn't as tempting and delicious as what you ate before, you're probably doing something wrong, and need to have a look at our Vegan Recipes-subforum!

  7. #7
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    Well, I suspect anyone who eliminates a group of foods from their diet needs to make sure that they get the nutrients that are in those foods from some other source, otherwise they risk developing a nutritional deficiency of some kind (but not overnight).

    For example, pre-menopausal women are often borderline anaemic, and if they have been getting most of their iron from animal products before they might miss out, so they need to make sure they get plenty of other iron-rich foods such as green leafy veg. A junk-heavy vegan diet might not do the job.

    That doesn't imply omnivorous diets are all nutritionally adequate, of course.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Nutrition: What's the best advice we can give to new/potential vegans?

    My advice would be to consume a lot of calories in a veriety of foods.
    context is everything

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