21-Day Vegan Kickstart

Each day during the days you become a vegan, this site provide recipes and suggestions for every meal. Don’t let this overwhelm you. There are tons of options, but you get to pick and choose how many recipes you make each day or week—and how much of each recipe you make. 

Read the complete article here.

The New Four Food Groups

Be sure to include a good source of vitamin B₁₂, such as fortified cereals or vitamin supplements.

3 or more servings a day Fruits are rich in fiber, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Be sure to include at least one serving each day of fruits that are high in vitamin C—citrus fruits, melons, and strawberries are all good choices. Choose whole fruit over fruit juices, which do not contain very much fiber. Serving size: 1 medium piece of fruit • 1/2 cup cooked fruit • 4 ounces juice

2 or more servings a day Legumes, which is another name for beans, peas, and lentils, are all good sources of fiber, protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and B vitamins. This group also includes chickpeas, baked and refried beans, soymilk, tempeh, and texturized vegetable protein. Serving size: 1/2 cup cooked beans • 4 ounces tofu or tempeh • 8 ounces soymilk

5 or more servings a day This group includes bread, rice, tortillas, pasta, hot or cold cereal, corn, millet, barley, and bulgur wheat. Build each of your meals around a hearty grain dish—grains are rich in fiber and other complex carbohydrates, as well as protein, B vitamins, and zinc. Serving size: 1/2 cup rice or other grain • 1 ounce dry cereal • 1 slice bread

4 or more servings a day Vegetables are packed with nutrients; they provide vitamin C, beta-carotene, riboflavin, iron, calcium, fiber, and other nutrients. Dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard and turnip greens, chicory, or cabbage are especially good sources of these important nutrients. Dark yellow and orange vegetables such as carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin provide extra beta-carotene. Include generous portions of a variety of vegetables in your diet. Serving size: 1 cup raw vegetables • 1/2 cup cooked vegetables

Nutrient Recommendations for Vegans

Daily Nutrient Recommendations for Vegans please CLICK HERE

Tips for Parents of Young Vegans

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Some children have been vegan from birth. Others come from families that decided to make the change to a vegan diet. Still others have decided, independently of their family, to be vegan. No matter how long a child has been a vegan or what their motivation is, the key to a nutritionally sound vegan diet is a variety of nutritious foods. These foods include whole grains, dried beans, nuts and seeds, fortified soymilk, and fruits and vegetables. Vegan children should use reliable sources of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12.

Feeding Vegan Kids

by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D.

Many members of The Vegetarian Resource Group are glowing testimony to the fact that vegan children can be healthy, grow normally, be extremely active, and (we think) smarter than average. Of course it takes time and thought to feed vegan children. Shouldn't feeding of any child require time and thought? After all, the years from birth to adolescence are the years when eating habits are set, when growth rate is high, and to a large extent, when the size of stores of essential nutrients such as calcium and iron are determined. The earliest food for a vegan baby is ideally breast milk. Many benefits to the infant are conveyed by breast feeding including some enhancement of the immune system, protection against infection, and reduced risk of allergies. In addition, breast milk was designed for baby humans and quite probably contains substances needed by growing infants which are not even known to be essential and are not included in infant formulas.

Vegetarian Diets for Children

Right from the Start

Eating habits are set in early childhood. Vegetarian/Vegan diets give your child the chance to learn to enjoy a variety of wonderful, nutritious foods. They provide excellent nutrition for all stages of childhood, from birth through adolescence.

Vegetarian Diets for Pregnancy

During pregnancy your need for nutrients increases. For example, you will require more calcium, more protein, and more folic acid, although your calorie needs increase only modestly. It is important to eat foods that are rich in nutrients, but not high in fat or sugar or excessive in calories.
Vegetarian diets, based on nutritious whole foods, are healthful choices for pregnant women.

Top 15 Sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin C, a valuable nutrient in the shortening the duration of colds and flu, rebuilding tissue, bones and blood vessels, as well as improving the body’s ability to digest and utilize calcium and other minerals, is often cited as an integral part of a healthy diet. Studies are also being conducted to prove vitamin C's role in brain function, healing from injuries, and recovering from illnesses. The National Institutes of Health recommend that the average adult male consumes 90 mg of vitamin C, while the average healthy female consumes 75 mg each day. The following list of foods, rich in vitamin C, will help you to add healthy doses of it to your diet.

Calcium in Plant-Based Diet

Many people avoid milk because it contains saturated fat, cholesterol, allergenic proteins, lactose sugar, and frequent traces of contamination, or simply because they don’t feel well after consuming dairy products. Milk is also linked to type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes and other serious conditions. Happily, there are many other good sources of calcium. Keeping your bones strong depends more on preventing the loss of calcium from your body than on boosting your calcium intake. Some cultures consume few or no dairy products and typically ingest fewer than 500 milligrams of calcium per day. However, these people generally have low rates of osteoporosis. Many scientists believe that exercise and other factors have more to do with osteoporosis than calcium intake does.

Diet, Vegetarianism and Cataract risk

Appleby PN, Allen NE, Key TJ.

Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Age-related cataract is a major cause of morbidity. Previous studies of diet and cataract risk have focused on specific nutrients or healthy eating indexes but not on identifiable dietary groups such as vegetarians.

Top Tips for Vegetarian/Vegan Diet

The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are impressive. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, nutritional researcher at Cornell University and director of the largest epidemiological study in history, says, "The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

How To Get The Best Nutrition

A well-planned vegetarian diet is a healthy way to meet your nutritional needs. Find out what you need to know about a plant-based diet. 

By Mayo Clinic staff