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10 tips for a healthy transition to a vegan diet

by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 16, 2014 | Health

I didn’t turn to a vegan diet cold turkey. I turned to a vegan diet out of necessity. I was vegetarian for many years. Yet I suffered from severe heartburn and reflux. It was BAD. At times, I felt like I was having a heart attack, and the pain was so unbearable that I thought I was going to die! Yes, it was as bad as that. Medication didn’t help. So I decided to eat alkaline food only. To my surprise, I was able to cure the heartburn and reflux by switching to a 100% plant based diet. I also started to sleep better. Last but not least, I was able to do proper hikes again. I happily transitioned to a vegan diet.

Because of all the pain and nausea, it was an easy choice for me. I started to focus on my health only. Because I felt so sick, I was happy enough if I managed to cook vegan and alkaline food for myself.

I know transitioning to a vegan diet is not easy for many people – yes, including myself. So, I made this list of 10 tips for a healthy transition to a vegan diet for you. I know these tips helped me, and I hope you find them useful, too. Enjoy.

Table of Contents1. Clean your kitchen 2. Stock up your kitchen 3. Baby steps 4. Eat what you like 5. Cut down on processed foods 6. Know your food.7. Make you meals easy and fun.8. Give up dairy 9. Breakfast 10. Go easy on yourself.Vegan cashew cheese

1. Clean your kitchen

When you empty your kitchen of unhealthy food choices, it’s easer to focus on healthy eating choices. Go through all your cupboards and fridge and get rid of everything that’s processed or not 100% plant based.

Foods in unopned packages can be donated to your local street kitchen. Everything else goes in the garbage bin.

2. Stock up your kitchen

Time to go shopping: buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables – this is a given. Here are items I always keep stocked in my cupboard:

Beans – any will do, like lentils and chickpeas – I prefer dried over canned.
Grains – I look for non-gluten types like quinoa and rice
Tofu
Nuts and seeds (flaxseed is #1 in my book)
Miso (fermented beans)
Vegetable stock (not necessary)
Nutritional yeast (not necessary)
Spices
Herbs, whatever is in season

3. Baby steps

Start slowly. My suggestion is that you add foods to your diet and not remove any, to begin with. Start by eating a salad before lunch for a week, then expand to a salad before lunch and before dinner for seven days. When you eat a salad before your meal, you will, without thinking about it, eat less. In the following week, eat 50 percent less junky food per meal. Into the third week, keep cutting down until you eliminate 75 percent of the junk. Finally, by the end of a month’s time, remove everything that’s not plant based.

4. Eat what you like

If you don’t like kale now, then you will not like kale when you transion to a vegan diet. Eat the fruits and veggies you like. And try new varieties to find new favorites.

5. Cut down on processed foods

Processed foods are bad for us, because they make us addicted to fat, sugar and salt. If you buy a lot of prepared meals, start cooking for yourself. Prepping your own lunch is easy, and you can find many videos online for creating easy vegan lunches. A few videos are added at the end of this post.

Drop the softdrinks. It’s time to drink water when you are thirsty and not drink sugar. A beer or wine occationally – vegan of course – and with a meal is a nice treat, if you drink. You can find out if your favorites are vegan here.

6. Know your food.

Most of the commercial vegan products on the market such as fake burgers, meatballs, and cheese are processed foods and not healthy. Think saturated fat and excessive amino acids: these foods are often packed with highly refined oils, flours, sugars, and salts. Therefore, it’s better to indulge in these foods only once in a while. The good thing is, our bodies get addicted to what we eat most of. Be prepared! Your body will soon prefer fresh foods to processed. It’s pretty aweome when your body craves healthy vegan diet options, not junk.

7. Make you meals easy and fun.

Unless your hobby is cooking or you are a chef, I recommend you find easy and fast recipes. It’s easy to make your meals more exciting and fun, through online videos, posts, and vegan communities. I like to find vegan cookbooks to pore through.

8. Give up dairy

Now is the time to give up dairy, if you’re serious about a vegan diet. There are growing varieties of plant milks on the market. There are also vegan cheeses and dressings. During the transition period it can be good to buy those, but I do not recommended continuing to consume a lot as they are also processed. I have added a homemade cheese recipe at the end of this post.

9. Breakfast

I did a smoothie diet challenge, and now all the greens goodness is a part of my morning routine. Overnight oats is a great thing to eat, in the summer fresh fruit and bread. Quinoa bowls is another fun thing to try. If you are stuck on bread or muffins still, try making your own plant-based quick breads or muffins tht are easy to freeze and take out a serving at time as you need it.

10. Go easy on yourself.

You ate something non-vegan? don’t beat yourself up, just go back to your vegan diet immediately. Nothing bad happened, you are human. After my reflux was healed and I could eat “normal” again, I planned cheat meals, at the beginning once a week. Now I barely cheat more than once a month, if that. Remeber you are on a journey, not a race, but do remember to get some kind of exercise regularly.

Here’s an easy cheesy recipe for you:

Vegan cashew cheese

1 cup of soaked cashew nuts
2 teaspoon lemon juice
60 ml / 3-4 Tblsp. water
salt & pepper to taste

Pulse everything but the water – add the water little by little as needed.

Vegan Health and Fitness for Beginners

by Michaela Kennedy | Nov 15, 2013 | Health

If you have recently turned vegan or you are still considering adopting a plant-based diet, but are concerned about your level of activity and keeping an active and athletic lifestyle, then this article is for you.

It is true that there are some concerns around changing diets and veganism specifically, but there are some successful athletes who do not eat animal products and they are thriving. The key is to know what you are getting into and do it well.

Can vegans lead an active lifestyle?

Of course, while getting proper nutrients is an essential step for developing and maintaining a healthy active lifestyle, the type of diet rarely prevents you from accomplishing that. Even people who eat meat and other animal products might run into problems if they do not eat right. Furthermore, there are many successful and well-known athletes and sports figures who adopt a plant-based diet. So, veganism does not prevent that kind of physical development in any way.

What are the health issues I should watch out for?

While our bodies are certainly capable from adapting to change in many different ways, it is only natural that you would have to make certain changes to your eating and exercising habits as you transition to the new diet. A few key things to watch out for include:

Caloric vs. protein intake: like in any other diet, you need additional calories if you are training on a regular basis. This is not to be confused with the increased protein intake, which is also essential. People with plant-based diets tend to get less whole proteins that are essential for the body especially when training, so it is important that you get more calories and a higher percentage of protein.

Minerals: many minerals that are highly important for training such as iron and calcium are found in higher quantities in animal products, which means that it is more difficult to get them through a vegan diet. Include foods that are high in minerals in your diet and resort to supplements when necessary.

Change your approach on fitness: Shorter more intense workouts are recommended for people on a vegan diet because they are far more likely to be in sync with your protein levels. This is important because with less protein you run the risk of losing muscle mass when exercising.

Photo Credit: Marcel Aniceto

Why you should be talking about vegan health risks and how to avoid them

by Michaela Kennedy | Nov 8, 2013 | Health

People choose to go vegan for multiple reasons. Yet just like any change of diet, it works only if and when the diet is done right. While many people can live a lifetime without eating animal products, it is a fact that there are some serious well being concerns associated with not eating animal products that should be aware of. Below are tips to help you making a healthy switch to a vegan diet.

Common vegan health risks

Low iron. It is not uncommon for people on a plant-based diet to suffer from an iron deficit and even from anemia, which could cause fatigue and other associated problems. The good news is that there are many foods that could boost your iron intake. Those include red kidney beans, spinach in a raw form and various nuts such as cashews, peanuts and almonds. Make sure you include them in your diet.

Low calcium. Calcium is essential for bones, nails and teeth growth and is mostly present in animal products such as milk and eggs. A low level of calcium could decrease your bone density and put you at a higher chance of getting arthritis and other harmful diseases. You can address this problem by buying fortified vegan items such soy milk and tofu and capitalizing on natural sources of calcium such as almonds, tahini and collard greens.

Whole proteins. Unlike animal products, very few vegan ingredients contain the eight essential amino acids that your body needs for proper growth. This means that you often run the risk of not getting enough protein combination intake which can be harmful to your body. The best way to ensure you are getting the most doses of protein is to find the right combinations of foods and cook based on that.

Take the right supplements

Dr. Joel Fuhrman points out six nutrients that vegans should supplement to stay in optimal health. Find out those supplements in the video below:

General tips for a healthy transition to veganism:

Get informed before you make the diet switch. There are many resources available online for free to help you know the risks and address them.
Check with your doctor before switching diets to make sure your body can support it.
If you doubt that you are getting enough nutrients, try vitamin and mineral supplementAvoid processed foods and make sure the large portion of your diet includes wholesome ingredients with a lot of benefit.
Cook for yourself and talk to other vegans to get easy fully nutritious recipes.