Part 1
I’ve been vegan for over 3 years, and before that I was vegetarian for about 7-8 years so the transition was very easy for me. Plus, as a vegetarian I was really picky about food and I did not have dairy products often. Going vegan I always wondered why I did not do it sooner, what was holding me back. Also, as I know people who are vegetarian I know what they struggled with before changing their diet or know some of their concerns upon deciding whether they should go vegan.
So without further ado, this is simply a guide on how to transition into a vegan lifestyle.
First cut out meat/dairy, whichever would be easiest for you to cut out. For the items you do decide to cut out, find replacements, read reviews online to see what others thought of it. My favourite replacements for dairy:
- MILK: RICE MILK and CASHEW MILK for cereals, OAT MILK (look for the OATLY brand barista edition) for coffee (trust me).
- CHEESE: for CREAM CHEESE look for the brand SHEESE. My favourite from their collection are the original, sweet chilli and garlic & herb. For slices or normal cheese you can’t go wrong with VIOLIFE. If you want to create a cheesy style sauce, NUTRITIONAL YEAST is great for that. For PARMESAN, the VIOLIFE PROSOCIANO.
- YOGHURT: ALPRO, the soya vanilla flavour is my favourite.
- MAYONNAISE: HELMANS VEGANAISE (the only one I’ve tried and did not have to search for another).
- DESSERTS: ALPRO dessert moments hazelnut chocolate, VEGAN BEN & JERRY’S (need I say more), ALPRO hazelnut chocolate ice cream, MAGNUM vegan classic.
For meat replacements:
- FRYS do the best chicken style meat replacements, I would recommend the burgers and nuggets.
- VEGIDELI CHEATIN’ bacon rashers are a must try.
There are also a lot of good vegetable style burger options in most UK supermarkets and they have their own range of meat-replacement products. Once you know what you like and can implement the replacements into proper meals, keep this up for a while. Then, I would slowly start to cut out products from the other category and find replacements, see what works for you and what meals you can make with them.
Next, lets debunk the bread rumour. Bread is vegan. I am not sure why people trying out a vegan or plant-based diet try to find a vegan bread and pay an extremely large amount for it (well of course it will be if its rye wholegrain blah blah bleughh made in รก de la due). However, with that being said if you are looking in the fresh bakery section then I would have a look at the label indicating what is in the bread (a few contain dairy). Also, dry pasta is vegan.
This next one is revolutionary and my favourite to debunk. Most junk foods are vegan, oreos yes, crisps yes, biscuits yes, cereals yes etc. Look at the ingredients if it does not contain whey, milk, eggs etc. but says it may contain milk or another form of dairy does not mean it contains it. The factory where the product is made also handles dairy products so in the case of cross-contamination, the company has to indicate there may be a chance it contains dairy however it is highly unlikely.
(PS. If you got this far, I am not advocating a junk food diet, I am simply stating you can go vegan without giving up the snacks you would normally have or pay for some overpriced snacks simply because they have a vegan stamp on them).
Next, lets move on to eating out. This can be difficult as when I first went vegan I would cancel out on my friends because I knew I would be a hassle or did not want to sit there eating a salad. But, over time it has gotten so much easier because most restaurants now have vegan options. Also, it is always a good idea to check the menu online and see which items you can eat. In some cases, you can ring up the restaurant in advance and ask if they cater for vegans. Or, you can look at the vegetarian options and in most cases there is always a small ingredient that is non-vegan so you can ask the waiter if they can leave that out. If you are travelling, always pack food for yourself, options at train stations are rubbish.
Veganising meals. When I first went vegan I watched hotforfood, avantegardevegan, minimalist baker (great website for recipes), the vegan corner, sweetpotatosoul, Rachel Ama, Sukkari Life and just recently I’ve been following Lucy Watson (an online persona) who came out with two great vegan recipe books. She is probably my favourite because she is from the UK making the ingredients she used easily accessible for me.
Some videos/documentaries I think are good on educating yourself regarding a vegan lifestyle:
- Philip Wollen, Animals Should Be Off the Menu
- John McDougall, The Food We Were Born To Eat
- Neal Barnard, Power Foods For the Brain
- Neal Barnard, What the Dairy Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know
- Gary Yourofsky speech at Georgia Tech, 2010
- Moby, Why I’m Vegan
- Michael Gregor, Food as Medicine
- Michael Klaper, The Most Powerful Strategy for Healing People and the Planet
- Earthlinged, You Will Never Look at Your Life in the Same Way Again
- What the Health
- Forks over Knives
- Cowspiracy
I would like to say one more point when making the transition. Do not follow youtubers’ or online persona’s for advice or follow their diet choices (within veganism there are many different diets such as raw, high carb low fat, vegan paleo, vegan keto etc). At the end of the day, you know what is good for your body so nourish it and do not restrict or make it harder for yourself. We are only presenting options to make it easier for people considering going vegan, in no way are any of us health professionals and know what is good for others. If you are struggling or think you are lacking on a vegan diet, consult a doctor or nutrionist.
VIEWS of a millennial 