The guide to a vegan diet:
More and more people are seeking alternatives to meat based diets or just aims at decreasing the meat intake a bit. I am very happy to see that there is so many out there that is thinking about how meat affects them and the planet, but we need to become many more still. To grow crops in the 21st century we don't even need soil, we can cover a city's need in a skyscraper, and move away from land & water destruction and the big waste of it, which is a result of the meat & food industry.
What nutritions go missing when you quit meat, do you need supplements?
Today I will go through some of the vitamins and minerals that many get from meat, especially in the western world. The first that comes into mind for me is iron and B12, both available in meat or for B12, also dairy. B12 is important for us to create blood cells and DNA so it is important to have a solid pool of it at all times. Iron is also important for the blood cells, we need it in every red blood cell to bind oxygen and spread it throughout the body.
Vitamin D and low sun exposure can also be tricky as well as getting new calcium sources.
Sources of B12
This one is a bit tricky, but there are B12 in algae or seaweeds rather, but there are also analogues that interferes with taking it up. We can absorb some of it and when we look at how B12 should be taken, small amounts often, I think it's a good start to add it to a diet. I eat it or drink rather in smoothies or preferably shots! Nutritional yeast is also a great addition to your diet and can be used for spicing up dishes, it contains B12. Nutritional yeast is just inactivated yeast.
I drink soy milk that is fortified with B12 so I don't need any other supplements, but if you are breastfeeding or pregnant I would recommend eating more B12 from B12 pills, since you both need some extra but also you need to make sure the baby has sufficient amounts.
Some argue that we can get B12 from organic grown vegetables, since they would absorb B12 from the dung used as fertilizer.
I think seaweeds are underrated and not researched enough, since fish gets enough B12 from them, and larger fish that eat fish also does, it has to originate from some plant source, probably seaweed! We know that we can absorb some B12 from it but it is not clear how much of the blocking analogues is in a certain seaweed, so be sure to diversify your base of seaweed and not eat the same one all the time!
Sources of vitamin D
Vitamin D is just available in fat fish and are made in the body when exposed to sunlight. Many non vegans never eat fat fish, so this is a issue for everyone i´d say. Just be sure to get sunshine and eat mushrooms and again that algae can really help along, green or blue. There are some vitamin D in mushrooms actually, but just D2. I like portobello or shiitake both delicious so even if it wont cover your needs of vitamin D, don´t miss out :)
I made burgers on whole pieces of portobello mushrooms many times and it's very tasty and got perfect texture, be sure to try it!
Fortified soy milk and tofu, just like with B12 is a great option and good to have in a solid diet I´d say, but if you take vitamin D and Omega fat capsules, be sure it comes from vegan sources and not wool or fish( fat and vitamin D).
And remember, regular milk is also fortified with B12, it has to be after the pasteurization, since its destroyed.
Sources of Iron & Calcium
Iron is often an argument for eating meat, which is strange. Meat have 40% heme iron which is easier metabolized then the non heme iron in vegetables, but 60% of the animal iron is also non heme. Meat is harder to digest, and per calorie you get more iron from vegan sources.
You can take up much more Iron when accompanied by Vitamin C and vegans do not suffer from more Iron deficiency then do meat eaters, so clearly meat is not the issue here. Still it is good to know your nutrition so you don´t accidental skip out on iron for a period. Always eat spinach, broccoli or green kale, or dark leaves in general, in your diet as well as tofu.
Eat nuts and seeds for breakfast or at the evening for more iron and good fats. If you do a fruit / spinach or green kale smoothie you will digest lot of iron actually. If you need some extra Iron you can always eat some dark chocolate, delicious :) and if you bake, use some molasses to add sweetness and extra iron!
Calcium is not scarce in vegetables or vegan options at all and can be found in anything from Tofu and beans to nuts, seeds and why not fruits.
Supplements?
We have talked about a few fortified products for Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D but taking supplements like pills will be just as good, I just like to have all the nutrition from my diet as far as it goes and I do fine without as well. Folic acids in high doses can help out when B12 is a bit low and vegans often have very much folic acid in their diets.
What I are today
Lunch & Dinner
Today i had the same food for both lunch and dinner. I made a pretty simple vegan version of chili con carne, chili con veggie perhaps :) It lasted for around 6 portions so both lunch and dinner for me and my girl and some leftovers for tomorrow. I just had bean pasta and cucumber to go with it, easy and fast meal!
Recipe
A tablespoon of oil.
Chop the yellow onion or the shallots and throw it into a hot pan with some nice oil in, wait 2 min and add whine if you are going to use it, let it saute.
Add the chopped habanero( or piri piri if you want a little less punch in it) and half a squash, which i always chop into small cubes. Also add a shredded carrot or two, it gives a nice juicy texture.Pressed or chop the garlic and throw it in. Fry or saute the squash & carrot mix for 2 minutes depending if you added whine or not.
Add the minced quorn. Let the quorn cook for 6-7 min with the rest of the added ingredients.
Add crushed tomatoes. The quorn doesn't add much when using both squash and beans, I use it for nutrients and substance, you can switch it to 400g black beans, or even use both.
After the crushed tomatoes is added, just throw in your small white beans and black beans if you like, I only used white beans today. Any beans work, it is essentially a chili.
Boil the pasta after instructions and chop the cucumber and tomato to serve with the dish.
P.s What kind of beans we use really doesn't matter, if you like other kinds more, use them, I constantly switch between many kinds to diversify and get a broad nutritional profile.
