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?

Thanks @kikisparks

I've been vegetarian now for well over 35 years. Many things I cook do tend towards vegan but I don't set out to make them so.

We eat a lot of pulses and dinner last night was homemade kale soup followed by homemade falafels and salad which was actually vegan although not consciously so.

I had my B12 tested a few months ago and it is in the normal range without any supplements.

Like others on this thread I rarely eat out now as many places no longer cater for me and fake meat and the fake cheese they serve is just plain disgusting.

There's an app called the happy cow, that will tell you restaurants near you that are vegan friendly, if of use to anyone.

I have to agree some places are just useless for vegan options. I often go veggie when I'm out and about. Shockingly I had some good vegan cheese the other month, tempted to go back and ask the place what it was because normally vegan cheese is awful.

I watched that programme too, and I do think it's worth mentioning that the faming animal standards in the UK are better than those in the US. I have cut back on the amount of meat I eat, but the meat I do (generally) buy is from my local farm shop, has been raised within a few miles of my home, free range. It costs a bit more, although not ridiculously so, and I tend to get better cuts and much better flavour than what the supermarket sends me.

I thought the programme was so obviously funded by a vegan-fake-meat type industry, it left me very disappointed that Tim Spector took part.

The thing is though, 'free range' doesn't mean what we think it does. It's basically one big barn instead if a bunch of little cages. There's still no space for the animals to move around and they very rarely make it outside.

Also, even if we imagine some sort of a gold standard life..they are killed very young. And even if they are slaughtered as humanely as possible, it's still cruel. And its still death.

We clip off birds beaks, pigs teeth and tails without anesthetic. We gas pigs in co2 Chambers (they suffocate). We kill the baby boy chicks in the egg laying industry on the day they are born because they are 'waste product' . Often male dairy calves too.

It's all awful. Even if we have better standards than the usa...cruelty is still cruelty no matter how we spin it. It's a bit like slave owners saying 'oh but we treat our slaves well, far better than other people do'.

It's normal to make excuses to help ease our consciences tbh. But better doesn't mean good.

Meat is plant based as animals eat grass which is a plant.

One thing I do is to mixed up a load of mixed nuts and various seeds with barley flakes and rolled oats, then chuck a couple of tablespoons into yogurt, a few times a week. It's easy to make it in advance (50g of everything) then store it in a big screw top jar from which to scoop a tablespoon.

Well free range looks to me like the cows and sheep in the fields that surround me. Due to avian flu, chickens haven't been able to be free range for a while, and I don't really eat much pork, so I won't comment on that (although have lived among pig farmers, and none of the practices they've used would put me off).

But I don't have any ethical concerns about growing meat to eat it - I grew up in and continue to live in farming communities, perhaps that imapcts on my views.

I'm not a vegan, but I am a dairy, gluten and soya intolerant vegetarian, which means that most of my food is homecooked.

Sunflower mince is as nice (as far as I'm concerned) as the real thing and much nicer than most vegetarian mince (it is dried so quite processed). Added to a chilli with a couple of different types of bean and its really yum.

Dahls are super yum and make a great base for other curries, just add your vegetables of choice.

You can make really nice relatively high protein wraps from lentils.

Ground flaxseed is a fab egg replacement in things like pancakes and waffles.

Variety is the spice of life, try and add as many different types of vegetables as you can throughout the week, along with different types of grain and legume.

If you're able to eat as much gluten and soya as you like (i need to restrict mine, zero gluten and minimal soya) then there are lots of meat alternatives you can try. Tofu can be cooked in many, many ways just look online for inspiration. Then there's seitan, I do like that but unfortunately that is pure wheat gluten.

Jackfruit makes a great alternative to pulled pork, absorbs the flavour of whatever sauce you use, but it contains virtually no protein so you will need to add a pulse and possibly mushrooms to make it a complete meal.

Or go for the Barista oat milks. I made the change to oat milk when it became evident I'd developed an intolerance to soya (I have MCAS and regularly develop new intolerance and allergies, it was why I went veggie in the first place, my body can't deal with meat).
After trying a few different brands I hit on one from Morrisons, but the barista version.

I'm curious to know if vegans struggle to eat seasonally? It's something I strive to do but I think if I switched to a plant-based diet permanently it would be more of a struggle just from a variety perspective.

I use the same mix in energy bars.

Jusmix the seeds, nuts and oats with peanut butter, some maple syrup and a little oil. Then squeeze it together into a solid bar and put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning you can cut it into bars or little bite sized pieces :)

Most recipes are extremely easy to adapt to what's in season. The base of pulses or legumes are generally dried anyway so available all year round. And then vegetables you just swap around for close alternatives. I absolutely love asparagus and will use it when it's in season but if its not I'll use other veg such as tenderstem broccoli

Oh and to the op. The hardest thing for me is eating out, either at home or in restaurants. But that's because my diet is so restricted. My Mother has a thing where she thinks a deep fried veggie burger is about the only veggie food she'll try and give me (which I can't eat because of the gluten free aspect and even before didn't really enjoy).
Cheap cafes seem to have the same option as their only veggie option. Even more expensive have very few vegan options (and sad for me they normally either have gluten or soya in then)

Maybe extra soups and stews in winter and extra salads in summer :)

Funnily enough I've been veggie/vegan for over a year now and have only really just started making more salads. Odd to crave them in winter but I've been having fun with it.

Have had much more variety in my diet this year than before. I think because it potentially pushes you to try new things and experiment more.

At first I worried I might not find enough to eat but once you get into it you realise there's so much food available. You just have to push out of your comfort zone and try new things. Some you'll like, some you won't, such is life.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001tgkz

Yes, it does diminish. But beans have indigestible sugars in them. And that's why you get fermentation in the gut, that leads to wind. You can soak and drain, to get rid of them a bit, but you might also dump some other goodness. One method is to sprout the beans, then the sugars become totally available. Lentils sprout very fast. As do chickpeas. And you can eat them raw.

Cruciferous veg can be an issue. I have no issue with broccoli. Partner does. Cabbage does trigger me.

Personally I find if I eat fruit after other meals, it's problematic, but fine for breakfast. My guess is the sugars ferment what you have eaten.

Hasn't it been suggested that many supplements can actually cause harm. And B vitamin supplements can increase the chances of colo-rectal cancers?

Try to get a good diet to avoid supplements.

Just because you can have a healthy vegan diet, that doesn't mean that eating a vegan diet is healthy. And that can't be overstated.

There's some silly number of edible plant species, as in thousands and thousands of which we eat a very small fraction. Kind of sad that we aren't trying to domestic other potential tasty veg.

I thought that four part netflix show was pretty dreadful really. You can look up the results of the twin study if you are interested.

Uncle had a factory pig farm, and I live opposite a free range pig farm, and both were/are horrific. Neither of those were/are that large scale. The pigs are great though. Time with the pigs is what turned me veggie in the first place.

Not wanting to dwell on farming over food, but the larger outfits like the Australian cattle feedlots where the cows don't see any grass are huge and are taking over. Without subsidy our 'better' farmers might not be able to compete and fold. I doubt many care to know where their meat is sourced.

As I understand it, those of us who need B12 injections administered by the nurses at the GP are those who can't absorb B12 from their diet (no matter what we eat). I was told by the GP it was likely that I lacked intrinsic element which binds with B12 to make it bio available. This is a genetic condition, but no one seems sure what triggers the gene to switch on/off (similar is one theory for chronic fatigue - which I also went on to develop). B12 just passes on through my digestive system.

Otherwise, the GP would just send people off with B12 in tablet form wouldn't they? Or am I missing something?

I was referred to a dietician when vegan as they wondered if my tiredness was diet related, she said could she come round to ours, as we ate better than she did! Think was that the nicest compliment ever.

I am currently 90% vegan, with some eggs/butter/milk and 1 or 2 a year meat.
I don't like eating it ethically (and struggle with the idea of an animal being kept and slaughtered for food when I don't 'need' it) but I do somehow feel like it does me good.

Sorry think this was for @betwelve .

Agree about B12 supplementation orally in general though for vegans -
brewers yeast and marmite contain it too. Just have to do your research.

And everyone needs Vit D supplement in the UK it can really protect you from some nasty autoimmune diseases which callibrate with our northern climes/lack of light in winter.

I used to work in a rural area where the local slaughter house is.

The cows would regularly try and make a break for freedom. Any number of people who have worked there have now found employment elsewhere and are veggie/vegan. I think the staff turnover is/was quite high. I recall one guy saying about a big bin full of cows heads. He felt so reproached by the eyes he stopped eating meat from that day on.

Sorry, that's the grim reality though. The animals know they are going to die, they are stressed and they can smell death in front of them.

https://www.rspcaassured.org.uk/farmed-animal-welfare/egg-laying-hens/what-is-chick-maceration/#:~:text=Whilst%20maceration%20is%20a%20legally,Britain%20are%20killed%20using%20gas.

USA male chicks tend to be macerated. That's a nice word for something I find deeply disturbing, though apparently it takes a second or 2 to kill them. Still, not a pleasant thought. And still legal here but not used (at all or very much?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_culling