Are you healthy and vegan - please help

[Peachesandcherries]

I’m a prestataria but am seriously considering going vegan. I’m doing it for the animals and not for anything else really.

however, I really struggle even as a pescatarian to be healthy. I don’t have a great diet and probably don’t get much protein. Up until a few years ago, I ate a lot of meat and really enjoyed it

if you’re a healthy vegan, would you please share your recipes with me?

im a terrible cook so the more specific the better. Thank you so much!

Vegan for 10 years here and eat probably 70% whole foods.

The deliciously Ella app is a game changer with healthy recipes and well worth the £2 a month.

A typical day would be,

porridge with peanut butter, raisins and banana or granola with soy yogurt and fresh fruit.

Lunch is nearly always leftovers from the night before as I’m a big believer is cook once, eat twice.

dinner is typically stir fry noodles, cottage pie made with lentils, spag bol, some kind of pasta dish, home made soup all served with a huge side of green veg.

i take an A-Z multivitamin and a vitamin d spray daily. I use fortified soy milk for coffees and add nutritional yeast to dishes to ensure im getting enough b12.

I exercise daily and have zero health issues, I even donate blood regularly and everything is healthy.

I think I am healthy, touch wood! Recent blood test came back perfect.
I've been vegan for 25 years, so hopefully doing it right enough. I am 50 and people are kind enough to look genuinely surprised when they find out.

I tend to chuck a cube of frozen spinach in to everything I can - curry, pasta, noodles, rice dishes.
On top of that, "eat the rainbow" - good variety of fruits and vegetables in all the colours.
I add lentils and chickpeas to most of my curries (sometimes I do cheat with the sauces and buy ready-made - Indian favourite is The Spice Taylor).
I eat tofu probably two-three times a week, not a massive portion.
I try not to eat much bread, and when I do it is seeded. I pretty much only have it with avocado. Maybe once a week.
Pasta only a small portion of the actual pasta, rest is the sauce. We (me and my lifelong vegan kids) probably have alternatives (burger/sausages/meatballs) once a fortnight, either added to pasta, or in a bun with chips. Pizza as a treat about once a fortnight too.

Porridge for breakfast a couple of times a week. I don't always have breakfast though.

I have a small banana smoothie with fruits (usually strawberries and/or blueberries) most mornings.

I take a green juice tablet every two or three days (brand is called INFUSD) when I can't be bothered to make fresh juices - I probably juice once a month and it lasts four days. I used to do it more but going through a phase of getting fed up with the mess. I don't really like the green tablet things, but I do feel really healthy for having them. I usually add one of those vitamin C/other vitamin orange fizzy tablets too, to take the sting out of the green tablet. When I am not having one of these Infusd drinks, I'll have the green chewy supplement by Nutriburst (delicious, like chewy sweets!).

I have a Spacegoods drink most days, with unsweetened soya milk.

I don't drink alcohol at all.

I do take supplements when I can remember, this is mainly as a backup, but I tend not to feel they are essential on the regular. I take a variety of:
Spermidine (brand Primeadine)
Nuchido Time
TotalCare Plus by NutriBurst
Nutrigreens by Nutriburst
Lions Mane
Opti3 for Omega-3 EPA and DHA
Chewable B12

I drink herbal teas.

Bosh healthy vegan and proper healthy vegan are good books and deliciously Ella as PP suggested.
Try and spread your protein through the day - I learnt off one podcast (maybe food for fitness) you can only digest 30g at a time otherwise it's expensive wee.
Unsweetened soy milk is higher protein than oat or almond milk

Nutritional yeast is great add it everywhere.
Eat a range of protein foods as not all vegan proteins have the full range of amino acids (maybe only tofu) so just have a variety.
Wholemeal bread has more protein and other nutrients than white bread.
Lots of veg lets you add protein for minimal calories apart from obvious things like beans and pulses also think of peas, spinach, broccoli, edamame, mushrooms, most green veg really.

quick & easy pasta dish- fry off onion, garlic, any fresh veg such as carrot, celery in a pan, add some greens or spinach, add some stock & cashews then blend to form a lovely sauce to put over freshly cooked pasta.
remember to couple iron rich foods with vit c to maximise absorption & also avoid tea/coffee & high calcium foods close to iron rich meals as this inhibits iron absorption

No such thing as a healthy vegan

Evidence?

Eh? The first few posts show that a vegan diet is usually perfectly healthy, and is also made up of normal foods that everyone can eat and enjoy, not special weirdy foods only attractive to vegans.

I'm not vegan btw, just baffled by a sudden proliferation of 'unhealthy vegan' posts. What's unhealthy about vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, grains and pulses? Sounds like something everyone should mostly be eating.

https://www.noracooks.com

https://ohsheglows.com

https://www.thevegspace.co.uk

Thank you for joining us OP.
I've been vegan almost 30 years.

I am 9st 10 and bench press nearly two stone over that. No health issues whatsoever. Not saying you need to get weight training, just that protein is not a concern as a vegan provided you get a healthy diet.

Protein pushing is trendy at the moment, the reality is it is in so many foods and a none-growing human doesn't need very much of it realistically,0.8g per kg of body weight for someone sedatary.

What sorts of meals/foods do you usually like? That may help with suggestions. I am mindful of B12 but fortified spreads, nutritional yeast added to pasta sauces, salads (I put it in everything to be honest!) takes care of that.

Feeding trolls isn't a great idea IMO.

Commenting for inspo as a lactose intolerant vegetarian for 10 years with an interest in going vegan! I eat the aldi frozen vegan chicken and aldi frozen plant based mince and they seem to have really good protein content.

I follow a lot of babeonabudget on tiktoks recipies but veganise/remove the cheese as she does low cost and relatively healthy meat free things.

Also when in doubt I use a tin of chickpeas/butterbeans and a tin of tomatoes to make either a curry with spices or pasta sauce with herbs depending on what I fancy - fool proof and quick!

As you age and the amount of protein needed to maintain a healthy muscle mass increases it’s almost impossible without protein powder supplements. Yes you can be healthy in the medium term by eating pulses and loads of veg but that doesn’t mean you are eating enough protein to prevent muscle breakdown. Unless you have a dexa you wouldn’t know if you are losing muscle so blood tests aren’t helpful.

I take no supplements, am middle aged and built like a tank.

It's entirely possible without supplements/powders etc. My biceps measure 14 inches flexed (both sides). As above my bench press while not rivalling Miss Olympia is substantial, particularly as I am 5"3.