The Right Vegan Diet

[ 0 ] July 2, 2019 | Contributor

Deciding to switch to a vegan diet can be quite a task. It is not that pretty, you know. You might find a hoard of articles on the internet and celebrities swearing by how a switch to the vegan lifestyle has changed their lives for the better. However, the reality is quite different. The vegan lifestyle requires patience, dedication and discipline. You cannot adopt a vegan lifestyle overnight and start glowing with an accomplished change. It takes a heart to follow a vegan lifestyle. However, if you have made the decision of following a vegan diet religiously, this article shall furnish you with some insight into veganism, and some simple yet delectable vegan recipes.

What Exactly is Veganism?

Is veganism just an upgraded version of vegetarianism? No, it is not. While a vegetarian diet puts no restriction on the ingestion of dairy products, veganism does not tolerate any dairy product in its diet plan. Another crucial point of difference between vegetarianism and veganism is the fact that while a vegetarian is free to use and wear products made out of animals, vegans cannot. Thus, it would be appropriate to state that veganism is more like a philosophy. It is a philosophy that revolts against the commodification of animals by renouncing any product that makes use of animals, be it in clothing or food.

What is An Ideal Vegan Diet?

Vegan diet, as has been established earlier in the article, does away with dairy and poultry. Also, when you have entirely ticked off poultry, meat and dairy from your diet, you have to make up for all the lost animal nutrients with substitutes and supplements. Not to mention, those supplements can really blow a hole in your pockets. Therefore, while taking the decision of switching to veganism, understand your budget constraint well. It might be easy for celebrities to promote and follow veganism, but not everyone on Earth can.

Coming to the topic at hand, an ideal vegan diet would include soy milk, almonds, dry fruits, various other nuts, seeds and legumes to make up for the dearth of animal protein. Also, once into the vegan lifestyle, you cannot have just any kind of bread. Identifying a vegan bread might be difficult at first, but it eventually grows on you with the right supervision. You can include dark leafy vegetables, almost all kinds of fruits. It must also be noted that your body mass index and blood group have to be kept into account while planning for a vegan diet. Only because you are a vegan, you cannot eat every kind of vegan food items. Structure your diet under the careful supervision of your dietician and doctor. However, just to give you a head start, your diet can include tofu, plant milk, nut butter, edible algae, nutritional yeasts, calcium-fortified yoghurts and whole grains.

While a vegan diet is quite great, to be honest, it is sometimes not self-sufficient. You have to complement your diet with various health supplements. A vegan diet works like magic if you are looking to cut down cholesterol, blood sugar and aiming at losing substantial weight. It also takes care of your heart like no other diet. However, if you are one of those few people who are struggling to gain weight, a vegan diet might not be advisable for you. If at all, you are hell-bent in adopting the vegan lifestyle, then you must consult your doctor.

If all the above description about veganism look bleak to you, and if you find yourself having second thoughts, here is a great recipe to restore your hope in veganism.

A Mouth-Watering Bean Salsa:

Have you got guests coming over to your place? They are vegans, and you just do not know how to set the tone for the evening right. Or, maybe you are a newbie and have sudden pizza cravings. Fret not; there are a plethora of vegan recipes out there. Let us start with a mouth-watering spicy bean salsa.

Ingredients-

• A can of black-eyed peas and black beans, thoroughly washed

• A can of whole kernel corn

• Half a cup of finely chopped onion

• Half a cup of chopped bell pepper

• A cup of diced jalapeno pepper (if you are in a mood for some spice and tang)

• A cup of diced tomatoes

• Garlic salt, to taste

All the above-mentioned ingredients can be modified according to your requirements. This recipe is just a shell structure. You can go creative within the confines of veganism.

Get To Work-

Now that you have all the ingredients ready, get to work. There is not much to do, to be honest. It is pretty easy.

Get that medium-sized bowl from your kitchen shelf and mix all the ingredients mentioned above in their adequate proportions. Add garlic salt, and vegan seasoning to spice up the salsa. After you are done mixing everything generously, keep the mixture overnight in the refrigerator and allow the flavours to entice you the next day.

The recipe, goes without saying, is an extremely simple one, and does not tug at your purse strings. You could always serve the salsa with some vegan bread or tortilla chips and feel your taste buds jumping with joy. It is light, healthy and shall not make you feel sluggish.

Veganism might not seem that beguiling initially. However, it is just like one of those songs that needs time to grow on you. Allow veganism to grow on you and be patient. That is the key to sticking to a difficult diet. Once through it, you shall be able to reap a life full of health benefits.