The Vegan Diet - When Mothers Are Not Always Right
I remember the day I told my mother about my decision of becoming a vegan.
I still have this picture on my head of her expression when I told her that, and the first things that came out of her mouth were...
Where are you getting your proteins? And, where are you getting your calcium? She strongly believed that a vegan diet was too dangerous because it would not provide me with sufficient nutrients to make it a healthy diet.
Now I understood her concern, because although I knew about all the health benefits a vegan diet could bring, I also understood that not planning a balance vegan diet can bring serious consequences too.
An unbalance diet can bring big problems whether it is a non vegan diet, or a vegan diet.
So when she told me those questions, I was already prepared to answer her questions and give her some piece of mind.
You see, there is clearly a big misconception about the two most common questions a vegan gets asked.
And I will give you the answers to those questions.
Where do you get your protein as a vegan? It's very simple, and that is from whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and even vegetables.
In fact there are some foods that have such a high concentration of proteins that by eating them alone, you are getting your recommended daily intake of proteins.
Now you need to keep in mind that there is also a risk factor of getting too much protein, so you really need to know your recommended daily intake.
Where do you get your calcium? This can have multiple answers.
One way is to buy products that are fortified with this mineral.
For example, now you can find orange juices that are fortified with calcium, or you can even buy whole wheat bread that is fortified with calcium.
Green leafy veggies, like broccoli, can also give you a nice amount of this mineral and of course soy milk too.
So you see, there is a big myth going on about where to get these types of nutrients.
The good thing about vegans, is that they do their homework and find the true answers to these questions.
Things our mothers don't even know about.
So next time someone asks you the same questions, you will know what to answer and best of all, you are helping the vegan community reach more people by showing them, this diet can be done and its growing stronger and stronger every day.
I still have this picture on my head of her expression when I told her that, and the first things that came out of her mouth were...
Where are you getting your proteins? And, where are you getting your calcium? She strongly believed that a vegan diet was too dangerous because it would not provide me with sufficient nutrients to make it a healthy diet.
Now I understood her concern, because although I knew about all the health benefits a vegan diet could bring, I also understood that not planning a balance vegan diet can bring serious consequences too.
An unbalance diet can bring big problems whether it is a non vegan diet, or a vegan diet.
So when she told me those questions, I was already prepared to answer her questions and give her some piece of mind.
You see, there is clearly a big misconception about the two most common questions a vegan gets asked.
And I will give you the answers to those questions.
Where do you get your protein as a vegan? It's very simple, and that is from whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and even vegetables.
In fact there are some foods that have such a high concentration of proteins that by eating them alone, you are getting your recommended daily intake of proteins.
Now you need to keep in mind that there is also a risk factor of getting too much protein, so you really need to know your recommended daily intake.
Where do you get your calcium? This can have multiple answers.
One way is to buy products that are fortified with this mineral.
For example, now you can find orange juices that are fortified with calcium, or you can even buy whole wheat bread that is fortified with calcium.
Green leafy veggies, like broccoli, can also give you a nice amount of this mineral and of course soy milk too.
So you see, there is a big myth going on about where to get these types of nutrients.
The good thing about vegans, is that they do their homework and find the true answers to these questions.
Things our mothers don't even know about.
So next time someone asks you the same questions, you will know what to answer and best of all, you are helping the vegan community reach more people by showing them, this diet can be done and its growing stronger and stronger every day.
