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?

and some wines are cleared by using egg whites

@betwelve It can be if it is an underlying condition I believe, rather than consuming too much of it. I don't have any such condition however.

I didn't realise people didn't know that about wine/beer-yes a lot of it isn't vegan. A lot of it IS though thankfully .

I think there is a bit of misconception surrounding protein. We don't need that much of it. I can't think of ever even hearing about anyone protein deficient in the U.K unless they've had a very restricted diet. It's in basically any meal you'd eat. There's about 8 or 9 grams in a small portion of pasta. 9g in a portion of lentils. That's before you add any known protein sauces (nuts, tofu, beans quinoa) etc. There's 3g in a slice of crappy white bread.

what I find really interesting about people being vegan is that others will say to them

"oh goodness you need to make sure you're getting a your nutrients you know"

They don't say to carnivores that eat take aways

"goodness where do you think you'll get your nutrients from" all the junk food and you'll likely be malnourished

Ok so one fact is… vegan food is just food!
Everyone can eat it, it can be as cheap or expensive, processed or unprocessed as you want, you can have a healthy or unhealthy vegan diet.. just the same as omni diets.
There are so so many different vegetables, legumes, etc, spices, flavours, cooking methods. “Vegan food” doesn’t have to be weird, tasteless, boring. It’s just food!

Lentils soak up flavour. So do potatoes.
You can make creamy pasta sauce with houmous. Or silken tofu. or cashews.

Everything tastes better roasted.
Lots of food is “accidentally vegan” like Bisto gravy, Oreos.
You can get protein, iron, calcium, from a range of non-meat and non-dairy foods.
Most people suffer with low vitamin D regardless of diet.
b12 doesn’t occur in meat, it occurs in dirt, which most factory farmed animals don’t have access to, so the farmers give the animals supplements. So we might as well just supplement ourselves.
Fish get omegas from their food eg. algae, again we can just bypass the animals and supplement ourselves.

Potatoes - in every format!

a chef once told me there are 365 different ways to cook potato, unsure how many ways there are to cook potatoes vegan

I went vegan many many years ago (meat eater now). In those days veganism wasn’t that popular so you had to cook things from scratch using lentils and rice and chickpeas etc. now you can get so much but much of it is ultra processed. I like vegan sausages but I have a feeling that they are just as unhealthy as pork ones. I wouldn’t go completely vegan now. I think eating meat is better for me. I think the ideal for me is to have meals that are meat based a few days a week (2/3) and then have fish and veggie based meals on the other days.

If you are interested in the development of the vegan and vegatarian push, take a look at Belinda Fettke on YouTube, she has an excellent analysis of the hostory and recent history of the rise of plant based eating.

And if you are toying with the idea of going vegan, definitelt watch Zoe Harcombe, should we be vegan on YouTube.
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I am not vegan but because I have friends and family who are so eat meat/ dairy free quite regularly but do not use fake meat/cheese.
Initially it took a lot of thought (soaking beans etc) and finding what worked well eg didn't like tofu until it was suggested to freeze and thaw before using as keeps shape and texture better.

It’s worth also noting that, much like many omnivores, some vegans don’t actually care about eating for health.
The average (omni) diet isn’t very healthy.

Vegans don’t all have the same goals, some people just really like delicious food but don’t want their food choices to require animals to be hurt and abused.
It’s an ethical choice for many, more than a “diet”.

YouTube videos and research papers that investigate vegan diets are irrelevant to these people, it doesn’t matter, because it won’t change your ethics.

I wouldn't say my reply is particularly prickly. And I'm not a vegan, so there's that. I flit between vegetarian and vegan. Maybe the use of 'freak out' was a bit strong tbf, appolgies.

I just don't appreciate people scare mounngering. Which is what pointing out about the b12 came accross. Because if this was a thread about people who eat junk food, would you be on here telling them to supplement vitamins?

I'm sure plenty of people do take b12 injections.
Vegans and meat eaters alike. But if you monitor what you eat, it's not necessary. Have some oat milk that mentions its added, once in a while and you're sorted.

I'm not vegan but one of my favourite dinners is roasted cabbage, with some roasted pepper and onion strips in olive oil and balsamic used to dress the cabbage, topped with harissa chickpeas.
A warning: it is very high in fibre and you may need to shift your diet to a higher fibre one before you try it.

And a health tip that doesn't fall into scaremongering would be to consider upping your water intake. Because as pp said, going vegan can result in you being more regular. And if you eat more fibre, it's wise to drink more water too, to help prevent piles.

A cheap and tasty alternative to cheese or egg on toast is smashed peas on toast. Add a squeeze of lemon, some chopped mint to your fork mashed cooked garden peas, press onto toast and add a sprinkle of chilli flakes.

A cheaper/higher protein version of avocado toast and really delicious!

Pointing out that vegans and vegetarians should take extra care to monitor their B12 and supplement is by no means and in no way "scare mongering", how completely f_king ridiculous. I don't know how someone could type that with a straight face.

Have some oat milk that mentions its added, once in a while and you're sorted.

Nope. Wrong again.

Because if this was a thread about people who eat junk food, would you be on here telling them to supplement vitamins?

As a matter of fact I am active u
on other threads discussing eliminating UPFs, under a different username, yes.

I wouldn't tell them to supplement vitamins, no. But that's because they can usually obtain those vitamins and minerals naturally through a good diet, with the exception of vitamin D during the winter. This is not the case for B12, as you will no doubt be aware.

[Should read]* This is not the case for B12 in a vegan diet, as you will no doubt be aware.

@ODFOx thanks for the peas on toast idea, I'd never thought of that.

I eat a lot of veg, salad and fruit and make a big effort to eat as little processed foods as possible. I have now started to reduce our meat intake and am using beans and lentils more. The problem I have is the wind! Its killing me, I am lucky I am WFH this week as God love anyone sharing an office with me.

I have always found this with beans and green leafy veg (which I am also trying to eat more of). Does it go after time, does my gut change and manage it better or am I doomed to also have it!

I love beans on toast

Simple replace meat with pulses - A range of vegetable curries and chilliis and Lentil bolognaise ( stir spoon of marmite into it )

Mexican refried beans with salad and flat breads

There are sone lovely tofu dishes
This one is fantastic

www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/sticky-soy-and-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli-rice

We didn't have Brocilli in the rice just did a side of Stir fried veggies

Then things like mushroom pasta using oat cream , loads of vegetable soups ( mushroom soup with oat or soya mills instead of cows )

I am not vegan or even veggie it's just sone recipes ,, many family favourites, just turn out that way

The wind problem - perhaps rinse the pulses before adding ?

Or wait for your tummy to adjust

And interestingly I think marmite - which adds a lot to sone of the dishes - is also a a source of b12 vitamins

Thanks I have been rinsing them so maybe I just have to wait it out

“What I don't understand is that if the cows are so inefficient and bad for the environment, why don't governments put restrictions on them and / or us as consumers?”

I think the answer to that is ££££. Big meat and dairy lobby. People would also not be very happy with such restrictions as at the moment billions of animals are killed for food each year (trillions if you include marine animals) so it would be a big change.

Just to give further information on the B12 issue, here's what the Vegan Society has to say about it:

To get the full benefit of a vegan diet, vegans should do one of the following:

Eat fortified foods two or three times a day to get at least three micrograms (mcg or µg) of B12 a day

OR Take one B12 supplement daily providing at least 10 micrograms
**
OR Take a weekly B12 supplement providing at least 2000 micrograms

Do you think they are "scaremongering" too?

I urge all vegans and vegetarians to read the link and follow the advice, which certainly is not to drink oat milk "once in a while":

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12

Do not make the same mistake I did.

This is super common, most people I know who went vegan had this for a few weeks then it gradually went away. Your body isn’t used to the fibre. Some advice here https://challenge22.com/gas/

For dietician advice https://challenge22.com/nutrition/

You can also sign up to veganuary and get lots of tips and recipes.

Food wise, yes the best way to eat is whole foods plant based.

The following are good to include-
Various beans (kidney, haricot, butter, black eye, chick peas etc). Can eat these as pate, hummus, in chilli, in curry, in soup, in salad etc.
Lentils- the green ones go well in pasta or shepherd’s pie etc as a mince replacement and the red ones make good soup.
Nuts- peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios etc- as a snack, in porridge or cereal, as a nut butter on toast, ground in baking and so on.
Seeds- chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower etc in bread, ground flaxseed can go anywhere, cereals, soups, baking, can make chia pudding, both chia and flax mixed with water make an egg substitute.
Veg- especially green leafy types, but all veg and as much as possible- should be half of the plate at each dinner. Can get quite a lot of veg grown in UK.
Fruit- especially berries when in season, but all fruit.
Wholegrains- pasta, bread, couscous, rice, quinoa, oats etc.
Oils, spices, condiments, herbs and so on.

It doesn’t need to be expensive or hard. Pasta with a tomato based sauce and green lentils. Oat porridge with chopped fruit and nuts. Baked beans on toast. Etc.