Plant-Based Eating for Beginners
You've decided to adopt a fully or partially plant-based diet. What now? It can be quite overwhelming when you start searching online for information on how to get started. To lend a hand, we've compiled a few tips that will make transitioning your diet much easier.
Replacing Products
First, take stock of the products you consume daily or always have in your kitchen cupboard. See if you can or want to replace them. For instance, if you always have cheese, butter, and milk in your fridge, swap them for alternatives like vegan cheese, hummus, coconut oil, olive oil, and plant-based milk. This is an easy step that makes a significant difference.
Plan a Plant-Based Menu in Advance
Think of 3 breakfast dishes, 3 lunch options, and 3 dinner recipes. Make sure to stock up on groceries each week so that you never run out during the initial period. As you progress, you'll think of new meals and become increasingly creative with your cooking. Try a new recipe each week, for example. Online, you have an endless choice of delicious recipes, and you can make it as easy or challenging as you like.
Don't Be Too Hard on Yourself
Rome wasn't built in a day. Give yourself time to make the necessary adjustments. Don't overcomplicate things if you accidentally buy something containing animal products. Throwing it away is also wasteful! You'll find that over time, you'll better understand which products you can and cannot eat.
Products Surprisingly Not Vegan
There are certain products that appear to fit within a vegan diet but aren't entirely plant-based. It depends on how strict you are with yourself whether you choose to avoid these products:
- Wine and beer: the production process uses isinglass (a type of collagen), gelatine, and proteins to clarify the drink.
- Avocado: bees are needed for the pollination and cultivation of avocados.
- Crisps: may contain whey powder or milk components.
- Sweets: often contain gelatine made from beef or the red dye carmine derived from cochineal insects.
Supplementation for a Plant-Based Diet
When following a plant-based diet, it's important to monitor your intake of certain nutrients such as:
- vitamin B12
- vitamin D3
- Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA
- Proteins (amino acids)
- Iron
By choosing an optimally dosed multivitamin in addition to a healthy diet, you can prevent potential deficiencies. The Vegan Multi from Vitaminstore is specially designed for people who eat plant-based and contains an optimal dosage of vitamin B12, vitamin D3 and iron and is unique because this multi also includes 3 important amino acids, namely:
- taurine
- L-carnitine
- L-lysine.
With a plant-based diet, there is an increased risk of a deficiency in these important amino acids. In addition to a multi, you can choose algae oil, a vegan alternative to fish oil. Algae oil contains, like fish oil, the fatty acids EPA and DHA (pay close attention to the label when purchasing as some algae oil only contains DHA). Furthermore, you can take a Vegan protein shake daily to supplement your protein intake. With a plant-based diet, it can be challenging to consume enough protein.
Written by: Noëlle van Seggelen
