Tell me interesting facts about vegan food?

[hollyhola]

I'm watching the you are what you eat twin study which seems to be pushing veganism.

I won't be going vegan tomorrow but it has piqued my curiosity.

What plant based things could I try that are not more expensive, are more healthy and at least equally as tasty as meat versions?

Veg roasted with olive oil served with hummus is the food of the gods.

There are MANY better documentaries to watch on following a whole food plant based diet than the twin study on Netflix.

That being said, I'm a very strong advocate for a wfpb diet even though I'm not a vegan. Some of the benefits I have seen were noticeable within days to weeks:

• asthma became virtually non-existent (typically used ventolin at night)
• gastric flares disappeared
• no DOMS after training sessions
• running pace increased within a week with the same exertion and I was able to run longer
• heart rate dropped
• eczema flares lessened
• periods got lighter and less painful
• I felt stronger and was able to increase intensity during boxing training sessions.

These are just off the top of my head.

For me, the only downside is eating enough to support my activities. I don't eat a lot of legumes or whole grains, typically my day consists of oats and quinoa or starchy vegetables to increase calorie intake but typically I can eat like a horse and I'm barely scraping 700 cals so supplement with a protein powder.

And in answer to your question about why restrictions aren't put on consumers for farming... money.

Thai green curry with chickpeas is delicious.

Tofu with stir fry.

I had a vegan chilli con carne tonight.

Pasta with vegan pesto and beans.

I'm only 4 months In after years of being a vegetarian and it's hands down one of the best things I've done and the difference In how I feel is insane. Wish I'd done it years ago

Oh, and just to append to my previous post, you can follow a really high quality wfpb diet and not need to go anywhere near vegan junk food (I rarely need it).

Vegans don't eat animal products for the sake of the animals but can still be horrendously unhealthy individuals.
People following a wfpb diet generally do it for the health benefits and/or environmental concerns.

I do it for health, but the benefits to environment and animal welfare are a close second. I still cook meat for my family but I'm not sanctimonious enough to ignore the 7 months of everyday meat consumption that I had when I was following a low carb diet!

@Strokethefurrywall what exactly is a whole foods plant based diet. I eat a healthy vegan diet full of fruit, veg, oat milk, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, beans etc etc but have 'fake chicken' or similar probably twice a week. And vegan cheese a few times a week. Does that count?

Vegans and vegetarians should probably take a B12 supplement, sublingual spray is good. And get a blood test including B12 annually. I found that one out the hard way.

The thing is, everyone will get pushed down the plant based route, because there isn't anywhere else to go. And basically the plebs will be back eating their gruel while the toffs scoff away on their own mountain of foie gras.

The small light at the end of the tunnel is that we will be all at it like rabbits with our super-orgasms.

Haha! What on earth is that about? I thought that part of the experiment was weird.

The book Bold Beans is good for a lot of pulse based recipies many of which are vegan. I eat meat but do like a lot of Indian dishes such as chana massala and saag aloo which could be made without ghee if required.

I went vegetarian in 1984. It is a different mindset to just not eating meat, or about substitutes, it is about making meals with vegetables front and centre. You really need to know how to actually cook.

I would go vegan but a - I live in France and b - I had osteoporosis and so need calcium significantly every day.

As far as I can tell it's the level up from "plant based" which means you eat a predominately plant diet but will include oils, vegan processed foods, vegan cheese etc.

A whole food plant based diet is just stricter and doesn't include vegan processed foods/cheese or processed food generally, as well as some who restrict oils/fat as well (other than naturally occurring fats in nuts/avocados etc). Also no refined carbs/white bread.

Tofu/Tempeh isn't classified as "processed", it's more impossible burgers, vegan cheese that seems to fall in the bracket.

I balance between the two, don't eat processed during the week but will have an impossible burger when out but I do limit bread/wheat/pasta as it doesn't really agree with me.

I have a bunch of tried and tested recipes that I love and I generally rotate through those and try and add a new recipe on a monthly recipe. I'm a creature of habit though and don't mind eating the same things over and over!

"Zalmon" was one of the most bizarre and awful things I have ever tried. I like vegan food when it is honest.
When there is a vegan version of cheese/ice cream/mayonnaise/custard..they always taste weird and ruin the meal for me. I am vegetarian and so my brain thinks mayo should taste and feel a certain way and the vegan versions rarely pass muster.

I am very frustrated a lot of places have done away with vegetarian options and just offer one vegan choice now

I have no idea what an impossible burger is 😂feeling really out of my depth now and would hate for anyone to think my diet is unhealthy. Im not perfect but I really do try so hard to be really healthy.

Whatever you do, don't touch vegan 'cheese'. It's beyond disgusting.

Just stick to fruit, vegetables, nuts, berries, leaves.

Fruit, vegetables, pulses and grains. What more do you want?
I was an impoverished student in the late 70s, so I spent four years eating a mostly vegan diet. Now I’m vegetarian. Drank a lot of black coffee and herbal tea. Ate a lot of food from other cu,tires.
There ae a lot of weird and wonderful Beyond Meat/Plant Life/ Ultraprocessed ready meals and products now. Try a few, but a vegan diet can be very simple and I expensive..
I never saw the point in ‘It’s just like meat’ attempts, there are a number of good vegan cookbooks too.

No diet is perfect! You do what you can and if you're happy and healthy that's all that matters!

Just remember to take your B12, I cannot stress how important that is. B12 deficiency causes all kinds of terrible symptoms, and they can become irreversible if the deficiency isn't treated. Just a quick copy and paste:

extreme tiredness
a lack of energy
pins and needles (paraesthesia)
a sore and red tongue
mouth ulcers
muscle weakness
disturbed vision
psychological problems, which may include depression and confusion
problems with memory, understanding and judgement

I must admit I didn't think that much to the study. But if what they suggest is true that in just 8 weeks led to de-aging in the twins that ate a plant based diet, the micro-biome improved and radically changed, and blood vessel health improved - which has the knock on effect of improving genital health and sexual orgasm. Then it's not really to be sniffed at!

I get really tired of thrice daily hour long intense multi-orgasm love marathons, it can be a real bind when you have important things to be getting on with. But hey, I'll take it on the chin.

Plenty of vegan things have b12 added.
Many of the milks for example.

Cows are injected with b12 (unless they get it from grazing, which many don't as they are not grass fed), they don't produce it naturally.

Also there wads a study that found that the meat eaters were deficient in general in more vitamins and minerals than theur vegan counterparts (I'm sorry I can't cite it it was a while ago I read about it). I suppose that makes more sense as since changing myself I've ate much more of a range of food.

Also...most of everyone is deficient in barious nutrients at various times. Heck some people eat nothing but junk food! But we're not all freaking out telling them to take vitamin tablets!

The hospital wards are not filled with b12 deficient vegans. There filled people who have who have over indulged in all the wrong foods. Usually including a ton of meat and dairy.

Definitely won't be making me go vegan...

You're back....and posting irrelevant things on yet another thread asking about veganism. 🤣

Yes, DH watched this recently and decreed we should go vegan during the week. Honestly, this last week (a.k.a first week) has been hard. I've been trying est more healthily over the past years, to eliminate as much processed food as possible, to only buy organic meat so we eat less meat overall, to gradually reduce carbs but many recipes seem to double carb like stew/curry with potatoes in and serve with rice or bread. I don't feel healthier at all this week, although I've definitely drunk more water as tea with oat milk is not a good taste!

I can't eat nuts or mushrooms and after only a week of eating chickpeas, lentils and beans, the thought of eating solely that for the rest of my life is somewhat hard to get my head around. Maybe you get used to it?

@SparePartz that's what I can't get my head around with the variety of food especially if you're trying to g to avoid the fake vegan processed stuff.

Oh dear, why the prickly defensive reply? 🙄You do realise that I was vegan myself and am still vegetarian and have been my whole life?

I knew someone would take this tone even when I posted. Veganism isn't a religion but such a reaction is exactly how people react when their religion has been criticised, even though I didn't criticise veganism, I merely pointed out something that is indisputably true and made a suggestion for people to follow that can protect their health.

Would you rather people did themselves physical harm rather than hear the truth which is that they should monitor their B12 on a vegan diet and probably supplement?

"Plenty of vegan things have b12 added.
Many of the milks for example."

Which confirms the point that B12 supplementation is needed.

"The hospital wards are not filled with b12 deficient vegans."

No, but clinics are filled with people taking B12 injections, some of whom are vegan and vegetarian. You didn't realise that, did you? Because you're not a healthcare professional, you're a layperson with no experience of what you're talking about.

Also...most of everyone is deficient in barious nutrients at various times. Heck some people eat nothing but junk food! But we're not all freaking out telling them to take vitamin tablets!

No-one's freaking out, well not me anyway. But actually we do have long-established public health campaigns informing everyone they should supplement vitamin D over winter, women who want to become pregnant should take folic acid and so on, yes.

@hollyhola

Interesting thread idea theme 🤔 hopefully insightful too