With millions of people in
the United States returning to a vegan diet for its
health benefits, its growing popularity does come at a cost.
With the high cost of many vegetable and fruits and relative
availability of meat, Americans typically have access to large
amounts of meat products at lower cost. Cost aside,
adopting a vegan diet has some enormous benefits and the
American Medical Association is reporting growing numbers of
vegetarian consumers to flock to the lifestyle in the coming
decade.
There are certain underlying
reasons that facilitate preference of a vegan diet among people
of different areas. Some potent factors governing it are
lifestyle pattern, health concerns, religious beliefs parental
preference, etc. Some people have a more sympathetic approach
towards animals and they consider it interference in the natural
environmental set up to opt for a non-vegetarian diet regime.
There are different kinds of
vegetarians depending upon the food they take or do not take. A
strict vegetarian is called a vegan who keeps away from dairy
products apart from the established non-vegetarian food items.
Macrobiotic diets belong to vegan diet category. They do not
take processed and refined food that contains preservatives.
Vegans restrict the use of products that have caffeine or any
other stimulating agent as well.
A list of food items that
contain the most essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins for
a vegan diet are as follows –
Iron-
some iron rich food materials are iron-fortified breakfast
cereals, legumes and sea vegetables like wakame, dulse, nori,
etc. Others include tofu, pumpkin seeds, blackstrap, molasses
and dried fruits.
Protein-
its rich sources are red
beans, nuts, soymilk, peanut butter, etc.
Vitamin D-
the rich source of this vitamin is cow’s milk. You can also take
any vitamin D supplement.
Zinc-
it is found in fortified cereals, soy products, beans and nuts.
Make sure
your vegan diet ensures these items and other nutrients that
shape a healthy body. We recommend the managed
vegan diet from
eDiets. If you're instead looking for
a traditional diet plan that still balances whole health and
exercise, we recommend either
eDiets or the
Glycemic Diet.
