Become Vegan: Top Tips for Vegetarian/Vegan Diet

Consider this...

Whether or not you consume animals and their by-products, have you ever considered the existence of these beings, even for a minute? From conception to slaughter, they experience unspeakable cruelties and intolerable confinement; yet they have consciousness and experience feelings, just like us. Even if you don't care about animals, what about the impact of agribusiness on air, land and water pollution; not to mention the fact that we grow more grains to feed animals than we do to feed the hungry, and because of this, people are starving. Even if you only care about yourself, then consider that a meat-based diet contributes to cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, all of which are killing us! Animals are not here for us to use and abuse, but they are at our mercy. It's our responsibility to be good stewards of this earth, but I don't believe we can honestly say that we're doing the best we can. But we can choose to go vegan.

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."

The American Dietetic Association, the nation's largest organization of nutrition professionals, states that vegetarians have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and other health problems. By adopting a nutritious vegan diet, you will likely lose unwanted weight, have more energy, and dramatically lower your risk of various diseases.

Here are a few pointers on how to maximize the benefits:

Top Tips

Eat a variety of "whole foods," with plenty of beans, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Avoid unhealthy foods like trans fats, which are usually listed as partially hydrogenated oils. Deep-fried foods often contain trans fats. Choose margarines that use nonhydrogenated oil, like Earth Balance or Smart Balance. Although a diet consisting of Coke and French fries is technically vegan, you can't be healthy if you eat nothing but junk food.

Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria, and some experts believe that vegetarians used to get plenty of this vitamin from bacteria in drinking water. Since drinking water is now treated with chemicals that kill the bacteria, it's important to make sure that you get enough vitamin B12 from fortified foods (like most brands of soy or rice milks, some breakfast cereals, and many brands of nutritional yeast) on a daily basis or by taking a sublingual B12 tablet of 10 mcg per day.

A healthy, balanced vegan diet rich in beans, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—along with a bit of vitamins B12 and D—will give you everything that your body needs. But if you often eat on the go and don't always have time to eat nutritious meals, taking a regular multivitamin might be a good option.

It's never too late to turn over a new leaf-you can take control of your health today by going vegetarian.

*****

"The Happy Herbivore Cookbook's Low-Fat, plant based dishes promote health in delectable and whole some way. Lindsay Nixon's recipes are ... simple and flavorful solutions to eat better for mental and physical health."

- T. Collin Campbell, PhD, author of The China Study and professor emeritus of Nutritional Biochemestry.-