Wanting to go vegan!
Posted by VeggieAnna on Sep 03, 2013 · Member since Sep 2013 · 1 posts
I've been a vegetarian for about 5-6 years and now feel as if I'd like to take the extra step and go vegan. I would really love some input from fellow vegetarians/vegans. Thanks :)
Hi Anna!
This reply comes really late, but how's it going so far? Have you started yet? Are you still looking general pointers, or do you have specific questions? I'll do my best to help if you still need it!
I'm the same as Anna actually. I've been vegetarain for a couple of years now, but want to go vegan soon (in the next month or so). I take a multivitamin to make up for what I don't get through meat. I know if you eat right and all that you don't need a MV, but I work weird hours and have a two hour round trip commute to work as well. Always making super healthy meals isn't doable. Does anyone else take a MV? Or not?
Hiya Kyle,
I take a vegan multivitamin (VEG1 from the Vegan Society). I try to eat healthily a lot of the time, but you can't get everything through food: B12 isn't reliably present in any plant food (excluding fortified plant milks, which I would also classify as supplementing), and a lot of people - not just vegans - are vitamin D deficient: vitamin D is also not available from non-fortified plant foods.
In addition to that, I take a vegan Omega 3 DHA/EPA supplement to be on the safe side, because while you can get plenty of omega 3 ALA from plant sources, the medical jury is out on whether your body adequately converts it it.
As a woman, I'm also careful to get enough calcium, through fortified plant milks mostly, as you have to eat pretty huge servings of all the plant foods that are calcium sources.
Veganhealth.org is a really great site on vegan nutrition, and I think this article is a really good place to start: http://veganhealth.org/articles/intro
Good luck on your journey!!! My whole post sounds a bit technical now, so let me add this: A vegan diet, done well, is fantastic for your body, living in a way that is commensurate with your values is fantastic for the soul, and vegan food is delicious :)