Show Me How To: Eat Healthily When Vegan

Veganism is an increasingly popular way to stay healthy, but it can be difficult to stick to because it limits food options. Vegans, like vegetarians, avoid meat, poultry, and fish. But in addition to that, vegans must avoid all animal products and by-products, which rules out dairy, eggs and honey. Here are a few tips, courtesy of the Vegetarian Resource Group, to help vegans maintain a healthy and varied diet.

Protein

With enough variety, it should be easy for any vegan to meet the recommended dietary allowance of protein. Some good sources of vegan protein include peanut butter, soy milk, tofu and almonds, as well as vegetables such as potatoes, kale, broccoli, spinach and whole grains such as rice, quinoa and wheat.

Calcium

can be found in many of the aforementioned protein sources — soy milk, tofu, kale, and almonds — along with other sources such as blackstrap molasses, broccoli and okra. It can also be found in dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, rhubarb, chard, cooked collard greens and beet greens.

Dining out

Some Indian curries, Chinese moo shu vegetables, and pizzas without cheese are all vegan. You can also order bean burritos without lard or cheese, which is available from most Mexican restaurants, including Taco Bell. Middle-Eastern hummus, tabouli and Ethiopian flatbread are vegan options as well.

Egg and dairy replacements

A quarter cup of tofu or applesauce can substitute for an egg when mixed with the wet ingredients of a recipe for baked goods. One small, mashed banana can serve this purpose as well. Milk can be replaced with soy milk, rice milk, potato milk, nut milk, or even water in some recipes. Soy cheese can be used as a substitute for cheese, though many brands of soy cheese contain casein, which is a dairy product. Tofu can be used as a cheese substitute as well. Some stores also sell dairy-free cream cheese.

Other vegan options

There are many other dietary options that vegans can buy or cook themselves, such as muffins or French toast made with soy milk. There are also a variety of vegan substitutes for meat, such as soy hot dogs, tofu lasagna and veggie burgers. Many other common foods are vegan-friendly, such as popcorn, some fruit smoothies and pastas, and salads.