ways that you maintain a well balanced vegan diet

[bzogorski]

Hello,
I have been vegan for a few months, and I eat a lot of nuts, fruits and veggies. I was wondering if you could share ways that you maintain a well balanced vegan diet. All ideas are appreciated!

[Risker]

Could you make the question a bit broader?

[Muvesz]

I eat what makes me feel good and healthy, and I don't eat what makes me feel...not good and healthy, haha.

It's pretty simple. Generally your body will let you know when it needs something.

[Korn]

Hello,
I have been vegan for a few months, and I eat a lot of nuts, fruits and veggies. I was wondering if you could share ways that you maintain a well balanced vegan diet. All ideas are appreciated!

Hi,
we probably have thousands of posts with mea ideas - but we also have a new section called What do you eat? Meal plans? Shopping lists? which could be intereseting for you. Check out this thread, for example:Meal plans, anyone?

Generally your body will let you know when it needs something.

Since the body doesn't speak English... and since we sometimes - just like non-vegans - may need a nutrient we don't know how to obtain from food, I wouldn't trust 100% that all people know what to eat to get the nutrients they need.

Nutrient deficiencies may be more common in meat eaters than in vegans, but we still need to pay attention to certain nutrients, just like them - only that the nutrients we need to focus are different.


Some keywords:
Make sure you get enough calcium, selenium, iodine, protein - and vitamin D (primarily from sunlight). Read a little about vegan omega-3 (EPA/DHA). B12 is a special case for vegans, since even small amounts of B12 are may be hard to get from plant source due to poor soil/chlorinated water etc (including a lot of common substances that aren't B12-friendly in a world as industrialized and full of chemicals as ours). (More here).

With these things in mind, I'd just try to eat as varied as possible, make sure you don't become a junk food vegan, include some raw food in your diet, eat a lot of stuff with colors (green/dark green in particular), and continue with what you already eat - just expand your repertoire.

I'm sure you'll get many ideas if you look at the many threads we have with recipes, pictures of good food and listings of what people eat. I don't think there's a need to be fanatic about taking - or not taking - supplements, but the main thing to keep in mind is that vegans in general - just like others - strive to get their nutrients from food, not from pills.

There are dozens of vegan cookbooks out there (we have a section about cookbooks as well), and if you have the time and energy, you could try a new meal every day for a year and find out what feels right for you.

I don't think any vegans (not anyone I'm aware of, at least), follow some strict 'meal plan', and as you may know, there's no such thing as a (as in one) vegan diet. So - good luck in finding a diet that suits your body.

[RubyDuby]

in addition to nuts, fruits and veg, adding whole grains and legumes to your diet would help round it out.

[RubyDuby]

You could also try using a calorie counting site for a while until you get the hang of it. Those sites generally keep track of protein, carbs, calcium, iron, etc.

[Lentils]

Eat more lentils!

[Mymblesdaughter]

I got one of these charts it really helped me when I first became a vegan. Looks of healthfood shops sell them.

http://store.veganessentials.com/veg...hart-p782.aspx