Will Being Vegan Kill Me?
We’ve seen a massive push in recent times of people going vegan for a multitude of reasons from religion, personal preference, ethical and health to name a few.
But what a high portion of these individuals doesn’t realize is that going vegan takes a lot more dedication than just removing all animal products from your diet in order to both stay healthy alongside actually improving your health.
Is Being A Vegan Unhealthy? – Published BY : TopFito
In this article I will be diving into 5 of the main considerations you will need to look at in order to make the most of your new lifestyle choices without getting ill, dropping energy and simply wanting to quit.
1. Slowly Adjust
When starting any nutrition protocol whether that is being a vegan or simply going on a weight loss or health kick I find going on full sprint usually means that you set yourself up for failure.
The human brain doesn’t like the amount of change that a new plan will bring to the table, and going from 0-100 isn’t ‘really good’ despite what Drake will want to tell you.
Slowly moving over from where you’re at to make better choices over a given period of time will allow you to get longer and more sustainable results with anything, not just when going vegan.
2. Track Your Protein Intake
There’s a big perception in the health world that getting your protein in is near on impossible when you’re a vegan.
First off, unless you are in a caloric deficit then your protein intake doesn’t need to be as high as people first believe, 1g of protein per kilogram of lean body weight should be sufficient providing you are getting good carbohydrate and fat levels in.
Secondly, there is a lot of protein in things we don’t usually see as high protein foods as you can see in the list below:
- Quinoa, 1 cup, cooked: 8 grams
- Buckwheat, 1 cup, cooked: 5 grams
- Oat bran, 1 cup, cooked: 7 grams
- Rolled oats, 1/2 cup, cooked or raw: 5 grams
- Tofu, 4 ounces: 12 grams
- Almonds, 1 ounce (about 1/4 cup), raw: 6 grams
- Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons: 7 grams
- Nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons: 8 grams
- Lentils, 1/2 cup, cooked: 9 grams
- Chickpeas, 1/2 cup, cooked: 7 grams
- Black beans, 1/2 cup, cooked: 8 grams
- Broccoli, 1 cup, steamed: 3 grams
- Kale, 1 cup, steamed: 3 grams
- Hummus, 1/4 cup: 5 grams
You can see, just from this list, why it is important to use a tracking app such like My Fitness Pal in order to check your total intake of protein for the day.
3. Use Substitutes
Technology has moved forward massively in the last few years and this is no different when it comes to food.
Many companies will produce food items which are not too bad taste wise, when trying to make certain swaps for your previous favorite foods when you were eating animal products.
Make full use of the different forms of milk substitutes, the meat like products and even dairy items.
Also, don’t get too stressed about soy filled items, don’t have them all the time but every now and then they won’t damage your health like the media seems to want you to believe.
4. Make Time To Prepare Food
The worst thing anybody can do regardless of the nutrition protocol you’re following is to rush your food preparation time.
Making sure you put time within your schedule to make your food in bulk for the week will result in setting yourself up for success.
Most diets fail when people are rushing around the store hungry picking up anything they see and fancy on the end of a row.
Also, this can lead to people ordering takeout food which isn’t going to always be the healthiest option depending on where you reside.
5. Remember To Supplement Where Needed
Supplementation is 100% key when making sure your immune system is as strong as can be undertaking the vegan lifestyle.
What is important to be aware of and why I am not recommending dosages here is that every single individual is going to require different amounts depending on their baseline health and life history.
Some supplements to consider are:
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Omega 3 (EPA & DHA)
- Iodine
- Iron
- Calcium
- Zinc
I can’t reiterate enough, every individual is going to need slightly different amounts here and it is wise to seek out professional advice before you undertake your supplement support plan when going vegan.
What is important to note from this article is that you can 100% get a healthy lifestyle and keep your immune system strong when going vegan IF you are prepared to put in the work and effort to do so.