What You Need To Know About Vegan Lifestyle

A significant transformation in the lifestyles and eating has been observed in the recent times. There is an increase in the number of person who is actually choosing to become a vegetarian or a vegan. For most of them, living in a vegan lifestyle is not an obligation but an enjoyment of what they love and to respect life. If you want to know the definition of a vegan, most people define it as a way of living your life through eating vegetable, fruits and grains. In many cases, vegetarians actively protest against animal cruelty.

A vegan lifestyle has been hold as one of the most kind and compassionate way of a food lifestyle. If a person is using a vegan lifestyle, you are pledging not to eat any kind of meat or animal products.

Most vegans believe that animal farming is a very cruel way to make money. Raising animals and turning them into meat and other products that are beneficial to humans is very inhumane.

Even though, many vegans admit that there is nothing mystic or magical attribution to their way of life, which is rumored by some religious groups, however, vegans, undergo a different experience because of their eating habits. Let us try to know the different aspects of the vegan lifestyle, and try to examine the importance of this certain lifestyle.

Most people are wondering on the vegan way of life and their food preferences. In many cases, a person simply switch to a vegetarian lifestyle, since they simply want to reduce the harmful risks in eating red meat, white meat, sea foods and other animal products. A vegan lifestyle is very rich in fruits and vegetables, to maintain a well-balanced diet to meet the needs of the body for vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

There is also a hot issue between pro vegan lifestyle and child rights activists. Most people on the side of child rights believe that if a child is forced to undergo a vegan lifestyle because their parents are vegan, it violates the right of that child, since he or she cannot acquire proper amount of protein and carbohydrates from mere diet of plants.

The whole concept of a vegan lifestyle rooted out as particular guidelines of living for those people who are interested in living a vegetarian life. These guidelines aid a person to create their food diet according to their own choices while maintaining the requirements of essential minerals and nutrients for the body. Food experts suggest that having at least 10 to 15 servings every day composed of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and berries. Even though it looks much, our body really needs a wide variety of vitamins and nutrients every day, so we need to eat a lot of foods if we are in a vegan lifestyle.

Even though the advocates of the vegan lifestyle believe that switching on vegan from a non-vegan lifestyle can allow them the suppleness to achieve maximum health, it is still a subject that’s an on ongoing debate. In fact, the two sides have their certain benefits and almost none of them can actually take advantage to one another. But switching to a vegan lifestyle can specifically bring peace of mind since no animal has been killed simply because you are hungry.

What Is A Vegan Lifestyle?

A vegan lifestyle is believed to have existed in ancient Greece, where some philosophers believed that animal cruelty can earn them the wrath of some of their gods and goddesses such as Helios or Artemis. Also in India, people do not consume beef as a respect and adoration for the amiable animal, protected by Krishna. However, in the modern world, a vegetarian lifestyle is employed to gain a balanced and healthier lifestyle.

In spite of the different beliefs of different people all around the world, we can always choose a certain way to live our own lives. Everyone can choose what to do with compassion and kindness.

A vegan lifestyle has been viewed as one of the most kind and compassionate way of a food lifestyle. If a person is using a vegan lifestyle, you are pledging not to eat any kind of meat or animal products.

Most vegans (vegetarians) believe that animal farming is a very cruel way to make money. Raising animals and turning them into meat and other products that are beneficial to humans is very heartless.

If you are a person who decides to be a vegetarian to help decrease the existence of animal cruelty, then you are making a right choice to respect life.

Most people believe that humans need meat products to absorb all the nutrients and vitamins needed by our body to properly function. However, vegetarians believe that being a vegetarian is actually healthier because vegetables, fruits, grains and other plan foods can also substitute the nutrients that we get when we consume meat.

According to the American Dietetic Association, a vegan lifestyle is also attributed to the significant reduction of risk for heart diseases, coronary ailments, obesity, most kinds of cancer such as colon and lungs, and numerous diseases.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also published a series of position papers pointing out the different benefits of a vegan lifestyle:

1. A high consumption of fruits and vegetables is attributed to the reduction for cardiovascular diseases, most kinds of cancers and other severe chronic eye diseases such as cataract and macular degeneration.

2. Legumes such as beans and lentils are high sources of protein, fiber and other nutrients that help in protecting the body against numerous diseases.

3. High consumption of whole grain products is also attributed to a reduced risk for heart disease, blood pressure, colon cancer and diabetes mellitus.

4. Regular eating of nuts and berries is associated with a reduced risk for heart diseases and increases a person’s longevity.

To live a healthier life, one should add new foods in the diet such as soy products, tofu and soymilk that are very high in protein.

Legumes such as beans and lentils that are paired with whole grain products such as rice provide a high source for protein.

You can also try tofu products such as in peanut butter and sandwich spread for lunch. You should reduce the consumption of meat and animal products that you take for a healthier life.

In a vegan lifestyle, animal cruelty is avoided because there is no need to consume animal products. If you would just observe how a cow is slaughtered and transformed into meat products such as your favourite beef steak, I’m sure you will never eat that piece of meat ever again.

Vegan Lifestyle Tips

Here are a few things you can do to pursue a vegan lifestyle:

1. Add variety to the diet

Don’t make many various recipes every day. Just keep it simple. For most events, just pick out at least 4 recipes that you can make for the whole week and eat the same food a couple of days in a row. If you are thinking that this is boring, you are definitely wrong. The food will be so fresh and delectable that you can’t imagine only having one meal of a recipe, so try more servings of it in a week.

As an example, if this week you are having a vegetable burger for lunch, make it as the main dish of your dinner for two days. Later, make a big batch of vegetable salads, which will probably last for two lunches and a dinner. Since the last time you made falafel, put some in the freezer, and take out your snack composed of chopped vegetables such as carrots or celery to make it plain. Have this snack for two days. If you are having an extremely busy week just have some vegetable smoothies to sustain your diet without even bothering with the kitchen.

2. Keep your food at arms length

Always have a delicious vegan meal such as chopped vegetables, nuts, cookies, grains or plates of salads in the freezer. All you have to do is to take something out and reheat it. You can pick one or two days in a month to make a variety of recipes and freeze them. Store more food in jars, but you can also use food saver which can increase the use of space in your freezer.

3. Get some liquid

Liquids are often healthy and easy to take. In a usual vegan house, it is a common for people to begin the day with either fresh fruit juices or a vegetable smoothie. You can often maintain a diet for green liquids for some hour a day. This can give you some extra energy. Plus, it is very healthy because it can give your digestive system a break for heavy digesting.

4. Get To Your Greens

The more you add green foods to your lifestyle, the less you will crave for unhealthy foods. You will be focused to healthy food preferences at all time. Usually, a vegan goes on with fresh green vegetable smoothies, fruit juices and healthy salads.

To keep your salads plain, you can wash the lettuce and chop the cucumber and some carrots. You can always rotate the vegetables and non-sweet fruits to balance your consumption. You can also add some raisins or berries along with seeds and natural dressings.

5. Organize your diet plans

For most part, vegans keep a weekly menu that is pre-planned for a couple of months. You can write it down, with more details for your breakfasts, snacks, lunch, dinners, desserts etc. At least have a special journal or a small pocket notebook where you can jot down all your plans, along with ticklers, post-it notes, colored pens and some stickers to add personality to your organizer.

By writing every plan and what you eat, you can give more time to look forward to, as well as enough reason to maintain the lifestyle. Plus, it can also help in motivating yourself to prepare food. Once it is all planned, most work will be easier.

Vegan Lifestyle 101

High consumption of animal fats is attributed to a surge in the risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and other diseases. Switching to a vegetarian lifestyle is a very wise choice when you are really serious about your health. Changing your diet can be very rewarding in many different ways.

If you would choose to use a vegan diet you can reap several benefits such as weight loss, lower hypertension, lower cholesterol and having more energy. Adopting a vegan lifestyle can also decrease the body’s blood sugar and lessen the risk of different kinds of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Fortunately, being a vegan is easier with the existence of the different pressures of many world issues for everyone, and the lifestyle is not too hard to follow than in the past years.

Now, sticking into a vegan diet is much easier than in the past. There is more protein and meat substitutes that are produced sold in most grocery stores, and this improved the regimen of most vegans.

Non-animal products such as meat and protein substitutes (tofu, soya milk, soya meat, veggie meat and tofutti) are widely available in different health stores, groceries or even online sites where you can also purchase other vegan products such as food, clothes, shoes and even cosmetics.

Even though, many vegans admit that there is no mystical, religious or magical attribution to their way of life, which is rumored by some religious groups, vegans, undergo a different experience because of their eating habits. Let us try to know the different aspects of the vegan lifestyle, and try to examine the importance of this certain lifestyle.

Most people are wondering about the vegan way of life and their food preferences. In many cases, a person simply switch to a vegetarian lifestyle, since they simply want to reduce the harmful risks in eating red meat, white meat, sea foods and other animal products. A vegan lifestyle is very rich in fruits and vegetables, to maintain a well-balanced diet to meet the needs of the body for vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

There is also a hot issue between pro vegan lifestyle and child rights activists. Most people on the side of child rights believe that if a child is forced to undergo a vegan lifestyle because their parents are vegan, it violates the right of that child, since he or she cannot acquire proper amount of protein and carbohydrates from a mere diet of plants.

Although the supporters of the vegan lifestyle claims that switching to vegan from a non-vegan lifestyle can allow them the suppleness to achieve maximum health, it still a subject on ongoing debate. In fact, the two sides have their certain benefits and almost none of them can actually take advantage to one another.

But switching to a vegan lifestyle can specifically bring peace of mind since no animal has been killed simply because you are hungry.

Tips To Switching To A Vegan Lifestyle

Millions of vegans around the world have taken a huge step in an effort improve their well being, decrease inhumane animal cruelty, and maybe get close to some religious convictions and beliefs, or possibly all of these reasons. The decision to become a full-pledged vegan is very challenging for many. It is sustaining a given diet, particularly a healthy diet that is said to be the most demanding for most people. However, if you are thinking that it is hard to live without using things made from animal products, please think again. For you to make a permanent switch to a healthy vegan diet there are different factors that you should take into consideration.

A vegan lifestyle is free from all materials made from animal products such as meat, eggs, milk, cheese, genuine leather shoes, wool coat and even cosmetics that were tested on animals. The normal vegan diet forms the foundation for most vegan meals that are composed of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes and nuts.

Maybe one of the most important controversies facing the idea of veganism is the lack of protein in a diet. While some animal products are the common sources of high protein, vegans do not really need hamburger or steaks to have a rounded meal and especially protein. When we remove animal products from our meals, imagination regarding food preferences is very important so that we consume high levels of protein. When protein consumption is not enough, the body will burn our muscle cells for additional fuel energy. This will cause a slower metabolism and also slow increase of body fat.

The most common misconception about a vegan diet is that it is quite impossible to consume the required protein intake. Although animal products are high in protein we cannot easily have enough protein from a usual vegan diet. Fortunately, we really don’t need a high amount of protein to begin with. The recommended daily allowance for protein is 30 grams per 100 pounds of body weight. Suppose you weigh 150 pounds, you need about 45 grams of protein every day. This can easily be consumed with a vegan diet.

One of the blockages to obtain enough protein in a vegan diet is the insufficient amount of foods that are protein rich. High proteins can be found in animal products that can give our body with necessary nutrients such as amino acids. Surely, we can have incomplete proteins from fruits and vegetables but they are not enough. To get the proper protein supply, we need to eat non-animal products that are high in amino acids.

The following tips can help anyone who wants to acquire high level of protein while maintaining a vegan diet.

1. Eat different kinds of foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, berries etc.

2. Increase consumption of legumes and nuts because they are rich in protein.

3. Add soy products in your regular vegan diet. Soya products are high protein.

4. Avoid meals that are composed of fruits alone. Though, a vegan lifestyle is also composed of fruits, eating fruits alone does not usually beneficial to most people. You may experience some problems such as significant weight loss, dental plaques, mental and emotional imbalances and many more.

You should take note that there is no such thing as 100 percent fruit diet. You should take a complete set of meals with vegetables and grains.

Things You Should Know About A Vegan Lifestyle

1. Liquids are often healthy and easy to take. In a usual vegan house, it is a common for people to begin the day with either fresh fruit juices or a vegetable smoothie. You can often maintain a diet for green liquids at any time of the day. This can give you some extra energy. Plus, it is very healthy for you because it can give your digestive system a break for heavy digesting.

2. The most common misconception about a vegan diet is that it is quite impossible to consume your recommended daily protein intake. Animal products are high in protein we cannot easily have enough protein from a usual vegan diet. Fortunately, we really don’t need a high amount of protein to begin with. The recommended daily allowance for protein is 30 grams per 100 pounds of body weight. Suppose you weigh 150 pounds, you need about 45 grams of protein every day. This can easily be consumed with a vegan diet.

3. Vegan cooking is synonymous for some with preparing tofu and organic yeast. A booming interest in ethical cooking, however, has created young chefs to think that most cultures have different vegan meals that are delicious and can be added in their specialty cuisines. There are recipes from Middle East such as hummus, tahini and falafel and North Africans have stews, tangine. Also, Indians have curry as well as stir fry among Asians.

4. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans are very low in fat and contain no cholesterol at all. These foods are also rich in fiber and nutrients. Vegans usually get all proteins that our body needs from legumes such as beans and peanuts, grains such as corn and rice. Spinach, lima beans, and broccoli contain fortified juices and Soya milk that are rich sources of calcium. Some vegetables and beans such as chickpeas, pinto beans and spinach are also iron rich and a high source of Vitamin B12.

5. A high consumption of fruits and vegetables is attributed to the reduction for cardiovascular diseases, most kinds of cancers and other severe chronic eye diseases such as cataract and macular degeneration.

6. Legumes such as beans and lentils are high sources of protein, fiber and other nutrients that help in protecting the body against numerous diseases.

7. High consumption of whole grain products is also attributed to a reduced risk for heart disease, blood pressure, colon cancer and diabetes mellitus.

8. Regular eating of nuts and berries is associated with a reduced risk for heart diseases and increases a person’s longevity.

The Vegan Lifestyle

The term “vegan” was coined by Elsie and Donald Watson in 1944 to describe a group of vegetarians who are also cutting out other animal products. Since then, veganism developed an elitist, health-conscious reputation among social circles. This lifestyle also became popular with different advocates such as the hippies but it still maintained its air of uniqueness. Today, most vegans try to play a role for food reputation and supports veganism as an enjoyable and trendy lifestyle.

According to the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine a vegan diet or a vegetarian lifestyle can give several benefits such as weight loss, lowered diabetes risk and reduction of heart disease risk. A vegan diet also fills the human taste and lowers the cravings for fatty acids.

A vegan lifestyle is also very beneficial to the environment. Space is at a maximum usage and more and more people are becoming aware than the last about carbon imprints that they are leaving the earth.

In 2006, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that livestock production produces more greenhouse gasses than automobiles. Meat production is also reported to add in the water and soil pollution, as well as air.

Vegan cooking is rather synonymous with preparing tofu and organic yeast. A booming interest in ethical cooking, however, has created young chefs to thing that most cultures have different vegan meals that are delicious and can be added in their specialty cuisines. There are recipes from Middle East such as hummus, tahini and falafel and North Africans have stews, tangine. Also, Indians have curry as well as stir fry among Asians.

On the other hand, vegan baking is almost impossible. How on earth can you bake a cake without milk, eggs or even butter? However, soy, rice, and almond milk easily substitute dairy milk. Grated flax seeds, tofu, banana, and yogurt can also be a replacement for eggs, while canola oil is also used as a substitute for butter. Now, vegan baking is strongly appealing to people with allergies or lactose intolerant.

For many people, making this significant switch to a total vegan lifestyle can be very hard. As with any kind of change, it requires time. Some individuals take it easier than other people. If you want to make this change but there is still hesitation, you can do it on your own pace and way. You should change into habit one step at a time. You can add more vegetables and fruits into your diet while slowly decreasing the number of meat servings every day. You can also replace peanut butter, tofu and soy for fewer foods that we normally consume. Eat fruits and raw vegetables when you are hungry but it’s not yet meal time. You can also experiment with various dishes and recipes to see what will be suitable for your taste.

Vegans also avoid wearing and patronizing animal products such as wool, silk, honey and leather even animal-based cosmetics and chemicals. So, replacing leather shoes, silk dresses and wool coat for kick and hemp is now a trend. This is one of the significant sacrifices of vegans. However, vegan designers and stores develop a new trend that is harm-free, well made and elegant. The famous fashion designer Stella McCartney, who is also a vegan, uses only fibers and artificial leather to create her lines.

The vegan lifestyle is changing from a personal based self-sacrifice to a centralized social awareness. Potential vegans are appealed by the diet’s distinction or its good environmental or health benefits. However, this lifestyle is still complicated that requires professional advice.