Vegan?

[melrobsings]

I have been looking into going Vegan because I have been reading how farmers treat animals and I hate it. I have done some research on it and here is my problem...I can't eat beans and salad for the rest of my life. I LOVE eggs and meat but again, hate the way they are treated.

Can anyone think of other foods I can eat other then vegies or fruit that's gluten-free?

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I am a vegetarian. It wouldn't be hard to be a gluten-free vegan. You could have pasta, veggie burgers, sauces, some candies and junk food, too.

[tarnalberry]

There are a lot of things you can make out of the naturally gluten free fruits, vegetables, and grains that are available. Googling "gluten free vegan recipes" will find out some resources. Raw cookbooks may be a good help as well. There are others on the board who are vegan who may have good resources for you.

Not being able to eat beans, however, does dramatically reduce a major protein source, especially if it's *all* legumes, and it may be that you're body is not suited to going completely vegan. You may find that you need to still partake in some animal sources - be it free range eggs, wild fish, or free range chicken or beef or buffalo.

[Mango04]

Have you looked into organic meat and eggs, raised on local farms where the animals are treated humanely?

[Carriefaith]

I have been looking into going Vegan because I have been reading how farmers treat animals and I hate it. I have done some research on it and here is my problem...I can't eat beans and salad for the rest of my life. I LOVE eggs and meat but again, hate the way they are treated.

Can anyone think of other foods I can eat other then vegies or fruit that's gluten-free?

If you love eggs and meat, but dislike the way they are treated, then I would recommend eating fish, game meat, and/or organic free range animals that aren't treated badley. Health food stores will sometimes carry game meat and free range animal meat.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I'd have to argue that being bred and murdered for food is still terrible no matter how you're treated. That's a big part of being vegan/vegetarian.

[hathor]

I've been following a vegan diet for over six years and went gluten-free two weeks ago. I haven't found either difficult. There are days I have neither salad nor beans

You can choose from veggies, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, gluten-free grains, and soy. A meal will be satisfying if you pick a starch and work around that. Examples: potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, rice, quinoa, gluten-free pasta, beans, peas, corn, lentils. (edit: I forgot wild rice, kasha and polenta; of course, there are always things like veggie burgers and fake meats -- I would advise steering clear of products with isolated soy proteins, though, because of evidence that this isn't too healthy.) Then you add in low calorie veggies, fruit, etc. Really, it is no more difficult than giving yourself more of your usual side dishes and leaving out the meat, dairy, and eggs dishes. (edit: of course, as you go along you try out new dishes, too).

There are plenty of vegan recipe sites online. Just pick out those recipes that don't contain any glutened ingredients.

Eating out seems to be easiest at ethnic restaurants -- Chinese, Indian, Thai, Ethiopean, Indonesian, Afghan, etc. They always have vegan options. Any places with good salad bars will work. Also, paradoxically enough, steak places are often good because they have lots of sides. Really, any place with sides you can make a meal of them. A nice restaurant will often work with you, too. I remember at Thanksgiving being out of town and going to a place that my relatives had picked out. Nothing on the menu, really. I explained that I was a vegan and the waiter went and talked to the chef. He whipped up a wonderful roasted vegetable plate for me. I've done this many times on vacation, too -- it usually works because they want your business. You just look at the menu and say, "I'm a vegan, but I don't see anything on your menu I can have." Unless they are particularly snooty or have people waiting for tables already, they will work with you.

Don't worry about protein. You will get enough from your diet. I've seen the studies (well, the conclusions ) as to how much you need and what assorted starchy foods contain. You don't have to live on beans and tofu. You could do fine without ever even having them at all.

If you are interested in the health reasons for going on a vegan diet (my primary purpose), a good resource is www.drmcdougall.com. There is quite a bit of medical information there, plus his archived newsletters (which always contain recipes). There is also a discussion board, that includes a gluten-free forum.

What you do need if you follow a vegan diet strictly for a long period of time is a source of B12. Some foods are supplemented with it, or you can use a separate supplement.

I can't tell you everything in one email, but I hope this gives you some ideas. If you have any other questions, I will be glad to answer them.

[Juliebove]

I've been trying a raw vegan diet. I am not totally raw yet and not sure I ever will be. I aim for about 80% raw. I have food allergies and that's how I came down this path. I do not need to avoid gluten but my daughter does so I simply don't bring it into the house. I also have lots of other health issues so I don't eat a lot of fruit. What I do eat plenty of is raw veggies in salad or just cut up.

Here's a board where you can find all sorts of information and recipes for a raw diet:

Open Original Shared Link

Keep in mind not all of the recipes will be gluten free. They do sometimes call for things like sprouted wheat or barley. But there are still plenty of yummy things you can eat. I make onion bread. You'll find the recipe there. No gluten in it and it is wonderful! Everyone I know that has tasted it has loved it and some of them don't normally like onions. I make little sandwiches with it topping them with Swiss cheese made from cashews, lemon juice and a few other things, lettuce and tomatoes.

Smoothies are another thing a lot of raw foodists really like but I don't personally care for them. Other good sources of protein are nuts, seeds and all kinds of sprouts. And really most any fruit or vegetable you eat has small amounts of protein. It is hard to be protein deficient on this kind of diet. You might have a vitamin B deficiency on it though. For that, there's nutritional yeast.

[tarnalberry]

raw food recipes for brownies, 'ranch dressing', and even pizza are *good*!!!

[melrobsings]

I have been playing around and have found I

A) have cut back of animals in foods when possible

went to the "we treat animals right" way of farming.

I will continue to look at going vegan. thanks for everything guys!

[RiceGuy]

I don't eat any animal products, but mostly because I don't like it, and feel better when I avoid them.

When you say you can't eat beans or salad, what exactly do you mean? I would point out that for those who experience discomfort from occasionally eating beans, it can easily be that they didn't give their bodies enough time to develop the required digestive enzymes. That apparently can lead to gas and such. When adopting a new food, I try to start with a small amount, just to give my system time to recognize the new compounds and develop the enzymes. Then over a period of a week or two, I increase the amount until I've reached the target level. Seems to work for me thus far. I seem to recall reading that enzymes which aren't being used will diminish over a period of about two weeks, but I'd have to look that up to be certain.

But not able to eat salad? That could include a lot of veggies, so please clarify that.

I can tell you that I did find proteins problematic until I started taking a magnesium supplement powder. Now I have not only been quite comfortable with whatever amounts of proteins, but salt is far less an issue as well, so I no longer need to restrict that either. Carbs also seem to be digesting normally again

For high protein sources, I eat tofu, lentils, whole grains, peanuts, tree nuts, etc. I chose lentils mainly because they cook faster than most other legumes, especially the red lentils, which cook faster than brown rice. When selecting whole grains, don't overlook millet. I find it quite tasty, and it is one of the most easily digestible, least allergenic grains known to man. I really like Kasha (roasted buckwheat) as well (technically not a grain), which cooks very quickly, and also makes a wonderful hot cereal.

When someone says they cannot eat legumes, I'm inclined to point out that green peas are technically a legume, as is anything that grows in a pod. So the legume category is quite broad, and I sincerely doubt there are many whom are truly allergic to all of them.