Which foods can you eat if you are a vegan?
As a vegan, you can eat fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, seeds, tofu, and legumes, to name a few.
WHAT IS VEGANISM?
Veganism is a way of living your life without including animals in your dietary plans, in order to not promote cruelty against them.
It is a reaction against the exploitation of animals for food, clothing, and any other purposes that might cause harm to them.
Veganism also strives to make use of alternatives that prove to be beneficial to humans, animals, as well as the environment we all live in.
Vegans primarily follow a plant-based diet. They avoid eating such as meat, fish, insects, dairy products, eggs and even honey.
WHY DO PEOPLE GO VEGAN?
The reasons a person decides to embrace veganism may vary from person to person.
Some people turn to the vegan way of life as a plant-based diet keeps them healthy as it is rich in nutrients and makes the human body less prone to diseases.
Moreover, it also constitutes toward saving our planet earth as the production process of meat is one of the major causes of pollution, harming our planet. However, the most common reason why people decide to go vegan is that they cannot stand the cruelty toward animals.
Animals are living beings just like us and feel pain the same way we do. Watching them being butchered just so that we get meat and their tusks or hides for decorative purposes is downright outrageous!
Vegans share a deep love for animals and therefore, they cannot stand the harm their species causes to them.
I mean, would you be fine if someone were to hurt the ones you love? Exactly.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEGAN DIETS?!
Yes. You read that right! There is a wide variety of vegan diets available for you to follow.
Depending on your food preferences, you can choose to follow whichever is the most suitable for you. Here are a few of the most common ones:
- The Whole Food Vegan Diet comprises whole plant foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc.
- A Gluten-free Vegan Diet is a diet plan wherein foods that are not gluten-free, are not consumed.
- The Raw Food Vegan Diet is all about raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
- Starch Solution is a low fat and high carb vegan diet that places emphasis on potatoes, rice, and corn over fruit.
- The Fruitarian Vegan Diet, as the name says, is a dietary option where only fruits, nuts, and seeds are eaten.
- Raw Till 4 is a low-fat vegan diet wherein raw foods are consumed only until 4 p.m., after which a cooked plant-based meal is consumed for dinner.
- Thrive Diet revolves around eating plant-based, whole foods that are either raw or cooked at low temperatures.
- Junk Food Vegan Diet, as the name suggests focuses primarily on consuming processed junk food like cheese, fries, dessert, and vegan meat.
FOODS YOU CAN EAT
As we know by now, the diet is solely made up of plant-based foods.
Here are a few foods you can include in your diet:
And here are some healthy vegan options that you can try:
The AG Taste Vegan & Gluten-Free Protein Cookies
As the name suggests, these mouth-watering cookies are gluten-free.
Moreover. they comprise quite a lot of protein and fibre that will enrich your body with the nutrients it needs.
But above all, they have low carbs!
The Vegan Milk & Dark Chocolates
Who does not love chocolates?!
This right here is the perfect vegan substitute to fulfil your sweet cravings!
The chocolate is dairy -free, gluten-free, and has no artificial added flavours and colours.
Foodvez also offers you a variety of flavours to choose from like the Fruit & Nut, Zesty Orange, Classic, Mixed Seeds, and Classic Coffee.
Check out more vegan products on Foodvez.
FOODS TO AVOID
Now that you know about what you can eat and about the types of diets available, you need to know what you should be avoiding!
• Meat and Poultry
beef, meat, turkey, pork, chicken, duck, lamb, etc
• Eggs
from ostriches, chickens, fishes, etc
• Dairy products
cheese, milk, butter, cream, curd, etc
• Seafood
fishes, crabs, shrimps, scallops, mussels, etc
• Bee products
honey, bee pollen, etc
• Animal-based ingredients
like whey, lactose, shellac, gelatin, and more
OF COURSE, GOING VEGAN HAS ITS BENEFITS!
- The vegan diets help you lose some kilos!
- They help regulate your blood sugar level and type 2 diabetes!
- Vegan diets aid in decreasing your blood pressure and cholesterol, keeping the heart diseases miles away from you!
- They decrease the chances of you being diagnosed with Alzeimer’s and help reduce the Arthritis symptoms!
AND IT HAS ITS SIDE EFFECTS TOO!
Even though a vegan diet is healthy and nutritional, if you were to follow a poorly planned diet, your body would be prone to risks and deficiencies.
- You could be at risk of Vitamin B12 deficiency.
- You could be prone to depression because of the decrease in omega 3 fatty acids which we generally get from seafood.
- Being extremely strict with your diet could lead to the development of an eating disorder.
- Since plant-based foods are not as rich in calories as animal-based ones, consuming them in small amounts could highly affect your energy levels, leaving you out of breath.
And so, this is exactly why a properly planned diet needs to be followed.
