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| No Beef? No Problem |
Nowhere in sight if you’re a vegan and think vegging out is the better way.
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| “Veganism is not simply a way of eating. It’s an ethical lifestyle based on a reverence for all life, part of which includes a plant-based diet. Veganism is not motivated by the desire to improve one’s health or longevity. It just happens to be a sound way of eating,” says Joanne Stepaniak, educator and media coordinator for the North American Vegetarian Society.
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Stepaniak, author of several books including Compassionate Living for Healing, Wholeness & Harmony, The Vegan Sourcebook and Being Vegan (all available on Amazon.com), has been a vegetarian for 40 years and a vegan for two decades.
“Becoming vegan was a happy decision,” she says. “At that time, few people knew of the word, let alone what it was or how to pronounce it. Today it’s a term that most people have heard or read about and there are retailers and manufacturers with countless products designed specifically for vegans. Although it wasn’t a hard adjustment for me — there’s nothing difficult about aligning one’s ethics with one’s actions — it’s even easier for those who choose to become a vegan now.”
Originating in England in 1944, veganism made its official incursion into the US in 1960 with the establishment of the American Vegan Society. Vegans do not consume or use animal products or by-products, including eggs and dairy, leather, soap, fur, silk, cosmetics and even honey.
These prohibitions tend to cause the uninitiated to regard veganism as being emblematic of some strange counter-culture and lead to the belief that the rules are too restrictive to be nutritionally adequate.
“Virtually all the vegans I know view their diet and lifestyle as expansive rather than prohibitive and say they have never eaten such a broad range of foods prior to becoming vegan,” says Stepaniak. “Most meat-eaters limit their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 different types. Once animal products are removed we’re motivated to seek out the hundreds of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and ethnic cuisines that most North Americans overlook.”
According to Stepaniak, dieticians who cling to the traditional four food groups are “…out of touch with current research and stuck in antiquated beliefs.”
Studies suggest vegetarians have higher energy and endurance levels, superior circulation and are generally leaner than flesh-eaters. Vegetarianism appears to sometimes reverse arterial blockages and is also a good choice for athletes — the focus on high carbohydrate, low fat and adequate protein intake represents the ideal high-performance diet.
Vegging Out:
- The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine recommends drawing 1,200 calories daily from at least three servings of whole grains, five servings of vegetables, three servings of fruit and two or three servings of legumes.
- Eat a variety of foods to achieve the best balance of nutrients and calories.
- Eat enough. You shouldn’t feel hungry.
- Most people get too much protein. One cup of oatmeal each day is sufficient. Other sources of protein include: potatoes, rice, spinach, broccoli, almonds and chickpeas.
- Dark green leafy vegetables contain calcium. So do soy and rice milk, figs and broccoli. Meat-eaters seem to need more calcium than vegetarians.
- Legumes and nuts supply zinc. Eat raisins, watermelon, soy and kidney beans and kale for iron. Use iodized salt for iodine and snack on walnuts for Omega 3.
- Take a B12 supplement and increase your exposure to sunshine for Vitamin D.
- Blackstrap molasses is an excellent — albeit strong-tasting — sweetener.
- For more info go to www.vegsource.com
“Vegan dining is exciting, satisfying, bursting with flavor and texture and is health-supporting. That said, I don’t make my personal choices based on what others may think of me or my lifestyle,” says Stepaniak. “I do what I believe in my heart is right for me.”
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