Vegan Meal Planning
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If you have chosen to eat a vegan diet, you have made the decision to eliminate all meat and animal products from your food selections. While this kind of diet can have health benefits including lower cholesterol and reduced risk of heart disease and obesity, limiting your food options also means you need to use special care to make sure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.
There are many sources of vegan recipes available on the internet, as well as many comprehensive guides to help you plan your diet. Try these vegan recipe links to help you get started:
• The Vegan Society recipes
• Food.com recipes
• Recipes at AARP
• AllRecipes.com
The Vegan Society website also offers several nutrition guides to help ensure your diet is nutritionally complete. Their recommendations for meal planning include:
• Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables every day, including foods of different colors to ensure you get a good selection of nutrients.
• Eat whole grains rather than refined grains to get the best nutrients. Many nutrients are lost in the refining process.
• Look for fats containing omega 3s, such as rapeseed oil. Avoid hydrogenated oils.
• Limit salt
Although some people may worry about getting enough protein in a vegan diet, eating a combination of beans, lentils, tofu, soy, seeds, and nuts can easily fill this nutritional need as long as you eat a good variety of them each day.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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Mostly good information except about milk being good for calcium. Animal protein actually leaches out calcium from the body and that is why so many Americans suffer from osteoporosis and hip fractures. Counties that eat or drink little animal protein have the least amount of problems. Here is more about how Harvard School of Public Health feels about it: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/harvard-declares-dairy-not-part-of-heal...
January 11, 2012 - 10:23amThis Comment