Becoming Vegan: Tips for Transitioning to a Vegan Lifestyle

Vegans are people who do not consume animal products - meat, eggs, dairy, or honey. They also do their best to not use other animal-derived ingredients in household or personal care products. Their goal is to reduce - or even eliminate - animal exploitation in their lives.

People choose to become vegan for different reasons. Most of the time, it is out of concern for the lives of animals, our own health, the state of the earth's environment, or some combination of those three.

Making the decision to become vegan can feel both empowering and terrifying! How does one make such a huge change? People come to veganism with varying degrees of familiarity with vegan cooking, support from family and friends, and understanding of their nutritional needs.

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to transition to being vegan. Some people become vegan over the course of weeks, months, or years while others become vegan overnight. The best advice is to do what feels right and achievable to you at this point in time. Becoming vegan is an individual journey, and what works well for one person may not ring true for another.

Usually, the first question aspiring vegans have is, "What will I eat?" This is a two-fold question, as it's important to identify both a person's nutritional needs and recipes that satisfy their personal tastes.

Regarding nutrition, it is not a particularly complicated issue for most people. The most common sources of vegan protein are soy products (such as tofu and tempeh), beans, nuts, seeds, and wheat gluten (sometimes referred to as wheat-meat or seitan). It is important to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This advice is equally important to omnivores, but vegans tend to think about it more because their diet is under more scrutiny!

A bit of research online or at the local library should be enough for most new vegans to understand their basic nutritional needs and recognize that if a variety of foods are consumed, they don't need to obsess over each and every meal. For those with specific health concerns related to diet (e.g., those with celiac disease, diabetes, low iron levels, etc.), it is advisable to consult with a nutritionist who is knowledgeable about veganism. The nutritionist doesn't have to be vegan but does have to be someone who will actively support the new vegan with sound information and advice.

Figuring out what kinds of meals to prepare can feel overwhelming. But once you have a handful of "go-to" recipes, it will get much easier. It won't take long before you ask yourself, "What should I have for dinner?" rather than, "What can I make that doesn't have animal products in it?" Incorporating veganism into the diet will feel natural rather than alien.

Invest in a few vegan cookbooks or visit your local library to borrow vegan cookbooks, and look online to find a wide selection of vegan recipes. When choosing recipes, consider your personal tastes as well as how much time you want to spend preparing food and what kinds of ingredients are readily available at your local supermarket. There are a wide variety of vegan recipes featuring different ethnic cuisines, cooking methods, and ingredients.

Be advised that some products that appear to be vegan may not be vegan at all. There are some "fake meats" and "fake cheeses" that are vegetarian but not vegan. Check all labels for ingredients such as whey, egg whites, casein, and gelatin. You can find extensive lists of animal ingredients by looking online.

While the issue of what to eat each day is the most pressing concern, new vegans face other lifestyle choices as well. For those who own leather, wool, or other animal-derived products, a choice has to be made about what to do with them. Some people donate these items immediately; others cannot afford to buy new vegan items and decide to continue using the non-vegan items they own until they are able to purchase replacement products.

Similar decisions must be made regarding household and personal care items. It may be tempting to simply throw away various cosmetics, lotions, soaps, and cleaning products; but throwing these items in the trash does nothing other than create more waste. It would be preferable to either give these products to someone who will use them or use them yourself and then replace the items with cruelty-free products.

Some people have to decide whether or not they can afford the cruelty-free products, since they often command a higher price. If an aspiring vegan cannot afford the more expensive products, that doesn't mean they're not vegan; it is simply a reflection of their economic reality. Vegans do their best to reduce animal exploitation, and our best is not always ideal!

A major challenge can be the lack of support for a new vegan. Some people have supportive families and friends; others have some support, though their families and friends may not really understand their desire to become vegan; others have overtly hostile families and friends.

Seek community and support for your new vegan lifestyle. There are many vegan groups online, but you may also be fortunate enough to live in an area with an active vegan or vegetarian community. These groups can offer information, advice, and camaraderie as you transition to veganism and may continue to play an important role in your life even after you are comfortable and established in your vegan lifestyle.

Becoming vegan is a tremendous journey that benefits you, animals, and the environment. The transition to veganism may include some challenges, but they are all achievable and well worth it. Having some easy-to-prepare, tasty recipes, solid information about your nutritional needs, and a supportive community will make your transition to a vegan lifestyle much easier!

About the Author
Valerie Bloom first became vegan in 1992. For more articles about the vegan lifestyle, please visit her website, Vegan Journey.

Original article

What Is Veganism? A Description of the Vegan Lifestyle and Why Some People Choose to Be Vegan

Many people have heard the word "vegan" but don't know exactly what it means, how being a vegan is different from being a vegetarian, or why a person might choose to live a vegan lifestyle.

Vegans, like vegetarians, do not eat meat. Vegans and vegetarians do not consume meat from any animals - including cows, pigs, chickens, deer, fish, clams, or any other creature that was once living. This decision may be based on concerns about the person's own health or the inhumane treatment of animals or both.

The vegan diet goes beyond the vegetarian diet by eliminating all other animal-derived products. Vegans do not eat eggs, dairy products (milk, cheese, etc.), or honey, since all of these come from animals. Because egg and dairy products have been linked to health problems and allergies in humans, the decision to maintain a vegan diet may be as much about health issues as animal welfare issues.

Animal farming also has tremendous consequences for the environment, and many people choose a vegan lifestyle in order to reduce their personal negative impact on the earth. In fact, some argue that becoming vegan does much more to help the environment than driving a hybrid electric car!

The vegetarian stance proclaims that animal-derived products such as eggs and dairy are acceptable to eat since animals are not killed in order to procure them. While this seems true on the surface, a little research reveals that animals are, in fact, killed as a direct result of the egg and dairy industries.

In addition, animals that are farmed (even for products other than meat) are subjected to horrific living conditions. Some of these practices are constant forced pregnancies for dairy cows, separating mother cows from their newborn babies, debeaking chickens without anesthetic, and cramming birds into cages without sufficient room to move.

Sadly, free-range and cage-free farms offer hardly anything in terms of improved living conditions for farm animals. And at the end of their milk- or egg-producing lives, they are roughly forced onto trucks and taken to the slaughterhouse, just like their counterparts on farms that are not free-range or cage-free. Without going into gory details, it is sufficient to say that very few of us could stomach the conditions at the slaughterhouse.

Veganism is not simply about maintaining an animal-free diet. The goal of veganism is to eliminate, as much as possible, the exploitation of animals for the benefit of humans. Vegans choose household and personal care items that do not contain animal ingredients and that are not tested on animals. They do not use wool, leather, fur or other products derived from animals. Nor do they exploit animals for entertainment, considering zoos, rodeos, and animal circuses to be sources of animal cruelty.

Being vegan means making choices to reduce animal suffering. However, there are animal-derived materials in so many products in our modern society that it would be impossible to live a completely vegan lifestyle. Animals' bodies are used in plastic bags, car tires, a number of medicines, brake fluid, concrete, cardboard, and paper - to name just a few products!

Given this reality, vegans strive to do their best in their own lives, doing what they feel they are able to do in order to reduce animal exploitation. In the process, they positively impact the earth's environment and also improve their own personal health.

More Articles about Vegan Living

If you are interested in improving your health, helping the environment, and standing against animal cruelty, please visit the author's website for more information about various aspects of vegan living: Vegan Journey.

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An Eccentric Lifestyle Popular in the Early 19th Century Has Left Us the Graham Cracker and More!

The Presbyterian Reverend Sylvester Graham, an early 19th century proponent of an extreme, aesthetic lifestyle, is largely forgotten today. During his life, however, he was amazingly popular and many of the theories he espoused are actually popular to this day, though he is rarely credited with their acceptance. He was also widely reviled and a controversial figure of derision.

Rev. Graham promoted a strict form of vegetarianism at a time when meat was a staple and considered essential to a healthy lifestyle. He held a number of extremely controversial diet and wellness ideas which he championed and was militant in defending. His followers were so dedicated that they became known as Grahamites.

Speaking before adoring crowds, Rev. Graham spoke boldly and powerfully against women wearing corsets, any type of gratuitous sexual activity and nihilism. His encouragement of a Spartan lifestyle was widely reported in the media.

In an age when bathing was rare and oral care primitive Grahamites practiced both; daily and religiously. Temperance was strictly enforced among Grahamites. Excitement was discouraged. They also did not use spices to enrich the taste of food, as these additives were considered to excite the senses and encourage sexual activity. Consuming meat, butter and white bread were forbidden. Especially white bread!

The elimination of white flour from their diet became central to the lifestyle and philosophy of Grahamites. Rev. Graham preached about the evils of white flour which was considered crucial by bakers in producing whiter loaves and more commercially appealing bread. He despised any food that contained additives and chemicals. Darker types of bread were considered a foodstuff for the lower classes during the Industrial Revolution. Graham set out to change this perception.

He created the recipe for Graham bread. It was made from un-sifted flour and contained no alum or chlorine, both present in the white bread of that time. He believed that bread should be coarse not fluffy and uniform like the loaves then being mass produced in industrial bakeries. A variant of the recipe for Graham bread lead to the creation of Graham crackers, popular to this day. Grahamites consumed massive quantities of Graham crackers to supplement their exceedingly bland diet.

Grahamism died out soon after Rev. Sylvester Graham's death in 1857. His death in Northampton, Massachusetts, where a restaurant named Sylvester's stands on the site of his home, marked the zenith of his movement. His influence, however, had touched such important Americans as Horace Greeley, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother William Kellogg. Their creation of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, and founding of the Battle Creek Institute, was heavily linked to their belief in Grahamism.

It has been over 150 years since the death of Rev. Sylvester Graham. It is generally forgotten that he is responsible for the creation of ubiquitous Graham Crackers, still found in most home larders. And yet, many of the principle ideas which he pioneered and were forgotten after he was deceased are again au courant today.

Modern nutritionists strongly endorse limiting the consumption of meat and refined, processed foods in the diet. Dark, multi-grain breads are promoted as key elements of a healthy diet. A vegetarian or vegan type of diet is increasingly popular. Daily bathing and proper oral care are cornerstones of hygiene and personal care. All of these ideas were key, if controversial planks in the philosophy that was central the Grahamist lifestyle. Today we accept them as factual truths, supported by science and research data.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Geoff_Ficke

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