Are you interested in a peaceful life full of radiant health? Happiness is one of the byproducts of a life that is lived in harmony with the world around us.

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• Think of 3 vegan meals you already enjoy and make those your dinners.
• Think of 3 meals you enjoy that can easily be adapted by replacing the animal products with veggie alternatives, make those your lunches.
• Breakfast is easy with muesli and dried fruit or nut butter on toast. Quinoa porridge and tofu scramble are also great breakfasts
• Add a hemp protein and fruit smoothie as your snack

• By now, you will know what you like and what gives you the most energy, so use those mealplans as your standards for 3 days a week.
• On the other days, start experimenting with new ideas and recipes.
• Form a vegan support group of like-minded friends or family and take turns preparing new dishes.
• Make it fun.

• Give yourself a pat on the back. You are saving 100 animals' lives every year!
• Veganism isn't about being pure or perfect, its about making the effort to progress towards a more compassionate lifestyle.
• Each time you become aware of something new, it will alter the way you view your food. Let this new perspective motivate you from the inside out ... you will be amazed at how easy it really is!

If you have problems with health, whatever the problems may be, a vegetarian diet may be just
what you need to bring you back to a healthy lifestyle.
Vegan Food Pyramid

• Include lots of green, leafy vegetables and salads in your meals. Fresh, organic produce is always best. Steam them or enjoy them raw to acquire the most health and energy benefits from your food. Spinach parsley and broccoli have a high iron and protein content.
• Colourful vegetables, like carrots, butternut and red peppers are rich in antioxidants.
• Fresh fruit is the perfect portable in-between-meal snack, or as a pick me up during the 4pm afternoon doldrums.
• Soak and boil mung beans, lentils, butter beans and chickpeas. They can be frozen in meal-size portions and then added to soups, stews, stirfries, curries or salads when needed.
• Alfalfa, lentils and mung beans are easily sprouted with minimal fuss - the ultimate fresh, organic meal absolutely bursting with real enzymes. Or grow sunflower seed sprouts and wheat grass for tasty micronutrients and minerals.
• Sesame and sunflower seeds, brazil, almonds, walnuts and pecan nuts make great snacks and are great sources of good fats and calcium. Have a tablespoon of freshly ground linseeds (flaxseed) every morning to ensure adequate intake of omega 3, or sprinkle over salads to add flavour.
• Dates are natures sweets, organic taste the best.
• For the feel-good hormones nibble on pumpkin seeds, raw cacao and goji berries.
• Tofu is simple to prepare, just add it to whatever stew or soup you are preparing and the soft tofu will absorb the flavours in the pot. Otherwise you could deep fry tofu or purchase a firmer variety.
• Rice, corn, pasta, and potatoes can be used as the base of your meal.
• Muesli can be made with rice, quinoa, soya, millet and buckwheat flakes and soaked in a little hot water to soften.
• It is always preferable to prepare food yourself from scratch, to reduce the chance of contamination from animal products used in the production process. Avoiding canned foods will also help reduce your salt and sugar intake.
• Humus and tahini make an excellent spread for corn thins and bread, or can be used in salad dressings.
• Dishes can range from mexican style chili and tomato to thai red curries.
• Condiments can include capers, olives, pickles and sundried tomatoes.
• Fats are a necessary part of your diet and it is far healthier to eat avocados, olives, almonds, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds than to add oils.
• If you are adding oils to your food, rather use cold-pressed olive oil.
• For healthy fried food use organic coconut oil.

• There are many vegan meat substitutes available worldwide. In South Africa, Fry's Vegetarian make a whole range of tasty, low cholesterol burger patties, strips, mince and even polony and hotdogs..
• A large variety of Cheezly vegan cheeses are available at selected supermarkets.
• Soya mince is available at health stores or in the health section at supermarkets. If you are buying an unflavoured soya mince, first soak the mince in a bouillon made with vegetable stock or the flavouring you want to add to your meal. Avoid the commercially available soya mince as it is often genetically modified.
• Read the labels carefully, not all soya products are vegan. Soya yoghurts produced in South Africa are most often not vegan. Unless it clearly states "vegan" on the package, it isn't.
• Anything that can be made from dairy products can also be made from soya milk. Keep an eye open for vegan ice creams, custards, creams, butters and chocolate mousses. Many of the products use non-hydrogenated oils, which is healthier, but beware: they are just as fattening as the dairy versions.

:: Vegan Recipes
Do you really need a recipe? Its fun to find a new recipe and add it to your regular favourites. But if you don't have time for a recipe, try the "meat, potatoes and vegetable" approach to a meal, and sauce it up! Simply pick one or more of each of the following:

Compassionate Cooks
Vegetarian Cooking & The Joy of Vegan Baking
Compassionate Cooks is dedicated to empowering people to make informed food choices and to debunking myths about vegetarianism through cooking classes, recipes and resources, workshops and lectures, articles and essays. Compassionate Cooks gives people the tools and resources they need to prevent disease, optimize their health, and create new habits that benefit the Earth and all its inhabitants.

Veganomicon
The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
Recipes you wish you'd grown up with. It's real and honest home cooking, with a splash of panache that only two food obsessed chicks could arrive at. These recipes were not born from airy-fairy, spotless brushed stainless steel made for TV kitchens. The recipes that await you in the deepest, darkest inner sanctum of this book were created by two women who cook, live and eat in real, urban kitchens.

Delicious TV
Delicious TV’s Totally Vegetarian is a cooking and lifestyle television show featuring host Toni Fiore. Enough is enough! Let’s make the world a healthier place for all by starting in our very own kitchens.

Superfoods
Raw food for abundant joy and energy.
You are what you eat and you can change your body,
your state of health and indeed your life when you
change the food you eat.
Login to the forum for great recipes.
Workshops held throughout South Africa.

:: Necessary Nutrients in a Vegan Diet
It is far easier to be a vegan in today's world than it was 20 years ago. However, in order to stay healthy, planning is essential. If meals are always caught on the run, then vital nutrients will be missed, as South Africa is still largely geared towards feeding meat-eaters.

— Protein
The plant foods highest in protein are legumes (beans, peanuts, soyfoods such as tofu) and nuts, but grains and vegetables also contain significant amounts. Here are some high-protein plant foods:

Food	Serving	Protein (g)
Tofu	1/2 cup	10-20
Veggie soy/burger	1 cup	6 - 18
Soybeans*	1/2 cup	14.3
Textures soy protein	1/2 cup	11
Soymilk	1 cup	5 - 10
Lentils*	1/2 cup	8.9
Peanut butter	2 Tbl spn	8.0
Chickpeas*	1/2 cup	7.5
Sunflower seeds	2 Tbl spn	5.0
Brown rice*	1 cup	4.9
Potato*	1 medium	4.5

Vegans may not meet their protein needs, resulting in loss of muscle mass and/or reduced immunity, if:

• food intake does not meet energy needs, such as in cases of anorexia nervosa, depression, poverty, illness, or dieting;
• higher-protein plant foods are not included in sufficient amounts.

• most food eaten is junk food such as French fries, soda, etc.;
• beans are avoided (in which case, other high-protein foods should be consumed instead);
• protein is believed to be unimportant or higher-protein foods are avoided (as in some fruitarian or raw-food diets).

— Quinoa
Quinoa contains protein of a better quality than that of meat. Although known as a grain, quinoa is technically a seed. Like other seeds it's rich in essential fats, vitamins and minerals,providing almost four times as much calcium as wheat, plus extra iron, B vitamins and vitamin E. Quinoa is also low in fat: the majority of its oil is polyunsaturated, providing essential fatty acids. As such, quinoa is about as close to a perfect food as you can get.

Quinoa can be found in many health food stores and used as an alternative to rice. To cook it, rinse well, then add two parts water to one of quinoa and boil for fifteen minutes.

- source: Patrick Holford, New Optimum Nutrition Bible

• may reduce the risk for breast, colon and prostrate cancer
• useful for heart disease due to its ability to lower cholesterol, enhance coronary artery function, and reduce other heart disease risk factors
• favourable effect on bone mineral density, reduces the amount of calcium lost in the urine
  consuming some soy as part of a vegan diet based on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes will allow for far more benefits than just adding soy to a diet with animal products in it.

Soy has many attributes that make it useful for those transitioning to healthful diets, although it is quite easy to follow a healthy, low-fat, vegan diet without using soy. For those who prefer to add soy products to their diets, it is prudent to emphasize the least processed sources of soy, such as edamame, tempeh, tofu, and soymilk, as part of a diet that includes other legumes, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Other soy products, including vegetarian meat and dairy substitutes, may be helpful for people who are making healthful changes from meat- and dairy-based diets.

- source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

— Calcium
Recent small studies have shown vegans to have the same or slightly less bone mineral density than non vegans.

Factors that can prevent osteoporosis include:

• weight-bearing exercise throughout one’s lifetime (one of the most important);
• adequate intake of calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, protein, potassium, magnesium, and boron;
• adequate estrogen levels (for women).

• Vitamin K in leafy greens; vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium in calcium-fortified orange juice;
• Boron in beans, nuts, leafy green vegetables, and non-citrus fruits.

• The absorbability of the calcium in kale, broccoli, collard greens, and soymilk is about the same as that in cows’ milk, which contains 300 mg per cup.
• The calcium in spinach, swiss chard, and beet greens is not well absorbed, due to their high content of oxalates, which bind calcium.
• Many nondairy milks are now fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and/or vitamin B12.
• Many orange juices are calcium-fortified.

Calcium Recommendations:
The Daily Value for calcium on food labels is 1,000 mg. If a label says 25% of the Daily Value, it has 250 mg of calcium per serving.

- source: Guide to Cruelty Free Eating, Vegan Outreach
... related post: The Truth about Milk and Dairy

• Vitamin D regulates the absorption and excretion of calcium, especially when calcium intake is low.
• - Vitamin D can be made by the action of sunlight (UV rays) on skin. Light-skinned non elderly adults exposing their hands and faces to sunlight for 10 to 15 minutes two to three times per week can get enough vitamin D.
• Vitamin D is not synthesized during the winter in northern climates.10 Vegans who do not get much sunlight exposure should supplement with vitamin D, especially during the winter or cloudy months.
• One small recent study found an increase in lumbar spine density in four out of five vegans in Finland (a northern country where sunlight does not activate vitamin D during the winter) who took 5 mcg of vitamin D2 per day for 11 months.
• Elderly people may need up to four times the amount of sunlight exposure listed above,18 and dark-skinned people may need up to six times this amount in order to meet vitamin D needs through sunshine alone.
• According to some experts, dark-skinned breast-fed babies should have vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin D Recommendations:
The Daily Value for vitamin D is 10 mcg (400 IU). If a food label says 25% of the Daily Value, it has 2.5 mcg (100 IU) per serving.
Typical fortified soy, almond, and rice milks have 2–3 mcg (80–120 IU) per cup.

- source: Guide to Cruelty Free Eating, Vegan Outreach

• Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is found mainly in flaxseeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, soybeans, and their oils, as well as in canola oil. It reduces blood clotting, improves artery flexibility, and may also reduce heart arrhythmias. ALA shows a strong association with reduced cardiovascular mortality rates, including those from heart attack and stroke.
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), found mainly in fatty fish, serves as a precursor for the eicosanoids (hormonelike substances that act on local tissues) that reduce inflammation, blood clotting, and cholesterol.
• Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found mainly in fatty fish and seaweed, is a major structural component of the gray matter of the brain, the retina of the eye, and cell membranes. Low DHA levels are associated with depression.
  

— Vitamin Vitamin B12
Very low B12 intakes can cause anemia and nervous system damage.

The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are foods fortified with B12 (including some plant milks, some soy products and some breakfast cereals) and B12 supplements. Vitamin B12, whether in supplements, fortified foods, or animal products, comes from micro-organisms.

Most vegans consume enough B12 to avoid anaemia and nervous system damage, but many do not get enough to minimize potential risk of heart disease or pregnancy complications.

To get the full benefit of a vegan diet, vegans should do one of the following:

• Eat fortified foods two or three times a day to get at least three micrograms (mcg or mg) of B12 a day or
• Take one B12 supplement daily providing at least 10 micrograms or
• Take a weekly B12 supplement providing at least 2000 micrograms.

If relying on fortified foods, check the labels carefully to make sure you are getting enough B12. For example, if a fortified plant milk contains 1 microgram of B12 per serving then consuming three servings a day will provide adequate vitamin B12. Others may find the use of B12 supplements more convenient and economical.

The less frequently you obtain B12, the more B12 you need to take, as B12 is best absorbed in small amounts. The recommendations above take full account of this. There is no harm in exceeding the recommended amounts or combining more than one option.

- source: Steven Walsh, VeganHealth.org

— Iodine
Iodine is needed for healthy thyroid function which regulates metabolism. Both too much, and too little, iodine can result in abnormal thyroid metabolism.

Iodine is only found inconsistently in plant foods, depending on the iodine content of the soil. Food grown near the ocean tends to be higher in iodine. Iodine is consistently found in only a few foods such as seaweed.

Soy and Iodine
There are components in soy, flax seeds, and raw cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage) that counteract iodine. These components, called goitrogens, cause an enlarged thyroid gland, also called a goiter. Thus, large amounts of soy combined with inadequate iodine intake can exacerbate iodine deficiency.

Recommendations and Sources of Iodine:
North American vegans should take a modest iodine supplement; 75-150 mcg every day or every other day should be enough.

You can also get the extra 75 mcg of iodine from 1/4 teaspoon of iodized salt (in the United States; other countries may not iodize their salt at the same levels). If you are already eating 1/4 teaspoon of salt per day on your foods, make sure it is iodized. However, I would not recommend adding salt to your diet just for iodine because it's generally good to limit salt intake.

If you regularly eat seaweed (multiple times a week), you will probably get adequate iodine from the seaweed. However, the availability of iodine from seaweed is variable and it can provide too much iodine. Cases of iodine toxicity I've seen in scientific journals were mostly from excessive amounts of kelp and kelp tablets. So, like salt, I would not recommend adding seaweed to your diet for iodine.

- source: Jack Norris, VeganHealth.org

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— Nutrient Needs
The complex carbohydrates found in whole grains, beans, and vegetables provide the ideal energy to fuel a child’s busy life. Cultivating a taste for brown rice, whole wheat breads and pastas, rolled oats, and corn, as well as the less common grains barley, quinoa, millet, and others, will boost the fiber and nutrient content of a child’s diet. In addition, steering children away from sweets, sugary drinks, highly processed baked products, and overly sweet cereals will help them avoid overeating and gaining unwanted weight.

— Protein
Naturally, children need protein to grow, but they do not need high-protein, animal-based foods. Many people are unaware that a varied menu of grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits supplies plenty of protein. The “protein deficiencies” that our parents worried about in impoverished countries were the result of starvation or diets restricted to very few food items. Protein deficiency is extremely unlikely on a diet drawn from a variety of plant foods.

— Vitamin B12
Parents will want to make sure their child’s diet includes a regular source of vitamin B12, which is needed for healthy blood and nerve function. Deficiencies are rare, but when they happen, they can be a bit hard to detect. Vitamin B12 is plentiful in many commercial cereals, fortified soy and rice milks, and nutritional yeast. Check the labels for the words cyanocobalamin or B12. Children who do not eat these supplemented products should take a B12 supplement of 3 or more micrograms per day. Common children’s vitamins contain more than enough B12. Spirulina and seaweed are not reliable sources of vitamin B12.

— Vitamin D
The body also requires vitamin D, which children and parents are happy to know can be obtained by simply playing outdoors in the sun. Fifteen to twenty minutes of daily sunlight on the hands and face is enough sun exposure for the body’s skin cells to produce the necessary vitamin D. Children in latitudes with diminished sunlight may need the vitamin D found in multivitamin supplements or fortified non-dairy milks.

— Calcium
For calcium, beans, dried figs, sweet potatoes, and green vegetables, including collards, kale, broccoli, mustard greens, and Swiss chard, are excellent sources. Fortified soymilk and rice milk and calcium-fortified juices provide a great deal of calcium as well. In addition, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, excluding animal proteins, and limiting salt intake all help the body retain calcium.

— Iron
Growing children also need iron found in a variety of beans and green, leafy vegetables. The vitamin C in vegetables and fruits enhances iron absorption, especially when eaten together with an iron-rich food. One example is an iron-rich bean burrito eaten with vitamin C-rich tomato salsa. Few people are aware that cow’s milk is very low in iron and can induce a mild, chronic blood loss in the digestive tract, which can reduce iron and cause an increased risk of anemia.

— Infants
The best food for newborns is breast milk. When breast-feeding is not possible, commercial soy formulas are nutritionally adequate. There is no need for infants to be raised on cow’s milk formulas. In addition to containing colic-inducing proteins that bother many children, cow’s milk is a common cause of allergies. Unfortunately, immune responses to milk proteins are implicated in insulin dependent diabetes and even in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Soy formulas are commonly used in all hospital nurseries, although they can occasionally be allergenic as well. Soymilk sold in grocery stores for adults is not the same as soy baby formula, however, and is not adequate for infants.

Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

:: The Dangers of Eating Animal Products
Studies of general populations consuming diets high in fat, particularly saturated fat have shown increased risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Mixed diets high in animal protein have been shown to increase the risk of kidney problems, osteoporosis, and some types of cancer. In addition, because fiber is found only in plant foods, and high-protein, high-fat, carbohydrate-restricted diets tend to be low in plant foods, these diets are also typically low in fiber. In studies of general populations, low fiber intake is associated with increased risk of colon cancer and other malignancies, heart disease, diabetes and constipation.

- Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Antibiotics are routinely administered to intensively farmed animals to hasten growth and reduce the risk of illnesses; as a result, antibiotic resistant bacteria strains, such as salmonella and E.coli, are increasingly found in meat and dairy products. Human consumption of secondhand antibiotics is reducing their efficacy when prescribed for human illnesses.

To read more about the dangers of eating animal products read these pages:

• Antibiotics - GoVeg.com
• Food Hazard - All Creatures
• Natural Born Killers - Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
• Saving Ourselves One Bite at a Time - Compassion Over Killing
• Vegan Children Happy and Healthy - PeTA

:: Hidden Animal Derived Ingredients
Read labels, don't merely trust in the manufacturer's sense of goodwill. Animal byproducts can be cheaper than the plant-based alternatives, especially the bits from the rendering plant that people don't want to knowingly ingest. Be willing to avoid products that are not properly labelled unless you have assurances they contain no animal ingredients. Wherever possible, buy from ethical and openly vegan companies. Help them grow into thriving businesses with your support.

The obvious hidden animal derived ingredients follow:

• Dairy products can be found in almost every processed food under the guise of whey protein, butterfat, milk protein, cheese flavouring, cream or casein. Dairy products are used in almost all chocolates, sweets, desserts, sauces, soups, casseroles and cosmetic products.
• Gelatine is made from the boiled hooves, bones, skin and ligaments of pigs, cows or fish and is found in marshmallows, jelly, sweets, custards, desserts, vitamin capsules, nail varnish, golf balls and matches.
• Chicken stock is used to "add flavour" and can be found in: butternut soup, vegetable soup, cheese sauce, tomato-based pastas, and potato bakes.
• Beef stock is used in many sauces and spices: BBQ sauce, hot chips and crisps, bovril, and vegetable soups.
• Eggs can be found in mayonnaise, desserts, soups, cakes, breads, biscuits and some pastas. Check the source of lecithin, if it isn't soya, then it will be egg lecithin.
• Fish stock and honey can be found in salad dressing.
• Shrimp paste is found in many thai green curries.
• The term "flavourings" can cover a number of evils from chemicals that are bad for your health and the environment, to bits of animal carcasses that the supplier would rather not name.
• When eating out don't expect the waitrons to know the ingredients in the food: they are not involved in the cooking process and will not be able to find out the details from the kitchen staff in the middle of a busy service time, rather phone ahead and speak to the chef personally.
  

For a more detailed listing of hidden animal derived ingredients and additives,
download this pdf file ...

 

Regardless of how careful we are, it is impossible to live a totally harm-free life. All animate sentient beings inflict some form of injury or death to others simply by their existence. Humans displace or destroy large and small life forms whenever we erect buildings, plant seeds, dig crops, burn wood, fly airplanes, drive cars, operate factories, walk on grass, or bat our eyes. This is simply an aspect of being alive.

The difference between vegans and non-vegans, how ever, is the element of intent. Vegans consciously strive to do no harm to any sentient life, including insects. This does not mean that vegans do not hurt others inadvertently, but that it is never their aim to do so.

- Jo Stepaniak, Grassroots Veganism

 

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Go Vegan
it is the single most important thing
YOU as an individual
can do to save our environment
free farm animals and heal your health