A Few Words About Nutrition
“How do you get your protein?!?!?!?!”
Get used to this question, often asked in an accusatory tone, because you will hear it more often than you can imagine. Ironically, it’s often asked by people who pay very little attention to their own diets; they’ve just heard that vegan diets are woefully inadequate when it comes to protein. We in our culture have been trained to believe that a high-protein diet is healthy.
Indeed, too much protein is actually quite unhealthy, and the standard American diet reflects that. Good nutrition is not just about protein – it’s about balancing protein with other nutrients and about incorporating whole foods, fruits, and veggies into our daily diets. The standard American diet has plenty of protein but also an overabundance of fat, cholesterol, sugar, and processed foods.
When folks ask about my protein sources, they seem reassured when I intelligently discuss good vegan sources of protein, such as nuts, seeds, beans, wheat gluten, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), and tofu, tempeh, and other soy products.
If you want to be a smart aleck, you can answer the protein question and then ask your omnivorous friend what they do to make sure their diet is not dangerously high in protein and fat!
“What about calcium?!?!?!?!” is a very common question, especially for women and children. Soymilk (and some other non-dairy milks) is fortified to have as much calcium and Vitamin D as cow milk, sometimes even more.
In addition, there are plenty of whole foods that are excellent sources of calcium. And, certainly, you can take a vegan calcium supplement if that seems prudent. (See the websites listed below for specific information about vegan nutrition, including good vegan sources of calcium.) |
Now that I’ve said what I wanted to say about protein and calcium, I do want to make it clear that I am not a nutritionist, and reading this article is absolutely no substitute for seeing a nutritionist or other medical professional. If you have questions and concerns that are not adequately addressed by information you can find online or in books, I highly recommend that you consult a nutritionist. This may be especially helpful for those people who have specific issues, such as a medical condition or food allergy that affects how you might implement a vegan diet.
Prior to making an appointment with the nutritionist, you do want to make sure that the nutritionist you select is knowledgeable and supportive of vegan diets. This does not mean that they themselves have to be vegan, only that they fully understand what the diet is and will be helpful in educating you about how to maintain good health as a vegan. (If you can find a vegan nutritionist, so much the better!)
Prior to making an appointment with the nutritionist, you do want to make sure that the nutritionist you select is knowledgeable and supportive of vegan diets. This does not mean that they themselves have to be vegan, only that they fully understand what the diet is and will be helpful in educating you about how to maintain good health as a vegan. (If you can find a vegan nutritionist, so much the better!)
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Here are a few websites you may find helpful. You can easily find more good websites by doing a simple internet search.
http://www.vegancoach.com/vegan-nutrition.html http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/ http://www.vegparadise.com/calcium.html Please click on the button below to share this page
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Organic Food Gardening A Beginner's Manual Vegan Insider Guide Step-by-step audio guide for living a healthy vegan lifestyle Easy Raw Recipes 11 eBooks |