Testing the waters
Posted by bmoreyogini on Dec 29, 2012 · Member since Dec 2012 · 2 posts
Hi everyone,
Super new in transitioning to veganism mainly for health reasons. My family has an awful health history in terms of digestive problems and I am hoping to avoid all the doc visits and meds that they have to contend with. I'm also taking it very slow here for a variety of reasons and I have to admit the slow transition is also because I still live at home. Unfortunately, with the exception of one sister the fam doesn't understand and looks down upon veganism. So, I apologize in advance if I drive you crazy looking for my support here. I look forward to chatting with everyone and all of the recipes, advice, etc posted :)
welcome.I'm newly vegan as well and for health reasons mainly too.my family has a history of type 2 diabetes,heart disease,cancer,autoimmune disease and I was recently diagnosed in August with Hashimoto's disease,and it's caused me to have high blood pressure,high cholesterol,uncontrollable weight gain,muscle weakness,so I'm hoping a vegan diet can help reverse those effects and so I can go down to taking one medication for the rest of my life.One advice I can give you that helps when family is not up to the idea is make some dishes that may be accepted by the family.I've made vegan smoothies,today had a vegan grilled cheese with rye bread,tomatoes,mushrooms(the recipe is on this site in the sandwich section,delicious) and you couldn't really tell it was dairy-free cheese or egg-free mayo.I'd also recommend a smoothie I found on here that I tried today called "Avocado awesomeness" it was delicious and filling.I recommend using stevia as a sweetener for it,1 packet.me,along with my parents loved it.Also you may not be able to get everyone on board,but try to do the best you can with replacing animal products.
You may also want to look up vitamin supplements you may need to get on the side,because some of them are not in a vegan diet at all.Vitamin B12 being the biggest one.it's only in animal products but nowadays there's vegan products that are fortified with it,using nutritional yeast in food can supply a daily dose at times and then there's vitamins you can take daily.I choose mainly the vitamins.be sure to eat enough iron-rich foods,it shouldn't be a problem on a vegan diet,just eat lentils,beans,leafy vegetables,watercress,tofu,chickpeas,black-eyed peas and black-strap molasses ocasionally.For zinc,which is also mythically said to be onl in meat,is also found in various seeds(sesame,poppy,alfalfa,mustard,celery,pumpkin,sunflower),nuts,almonds,black currants,and beans.And finally make sure you get enough iodine,found in sea vegetables, because iodine deficiency can lead to hypothyroid(the main problem of the hashimoto's I have) and cause goitre.it really sucks.