A Vegan Diet: What Do You Eat?

It never ceases to amaze me how those who eat a typical western diet, high in saturated fat, do not know what vegans eat. Some don't even know what vegetarians eat, and they eat plenty of different foods.

But when it comes to the vegan diet most meat eaters (or corpse crunchers, as I've heard them called) can never think of a meal that doesn't contain animal flesh, dairy or eggs. Yet many have eaten the humble baked beans on toast meal without ever realizing that it was probably vegan. Or how about a baked potato with salad? Again, it's a well-known meal yet few realize it's vegan.

The other concern about the vegan diet is protein. Many people wrongly believe that a vegan diet lacks protein. But it doesn't. Because vegans eat a bigger variety of foods, they get all the protein they need. And although we need to consume protein every day, we only need around 30% of our diet to be protein. And most foods contain protein. Even the humble potato has protein in it.

So what do vegans eat? Anything that doesn't contain meat, eggs or dairy. You might think that it doesn't leave much choice of what to eat, but you'd be surprised.

Here is just a short list of vegan foods:

PizzaChilliSaladStewPastaFalafelPancakesCasseroleStir fryPiesPastiesWrapsNoodlesRice dishes

And there are so many variations of each one. For instance you can have 'cheezy' pasta, tomato pasta, vegetable pasta or pasta and pesto. And the types of wraps, casseroles salads and pies are so varied that there isn't room to list them all here.

And yes, pizzas can be vegan if you sprinkle it with vegetables, grains and beans and leave out the cheese. Covering pizzas with cheese was actually an American idea. Originally, Italians ate them without cheese. Pizzas were simply a way to use up uneaten bread and other leftovers from the fridge.

There is much more information around now about living a vegan lifestyle and search engines like Google make it easy to find out as much as you want and to find recipes.

When you start looking into a vegan diet you'll find the ideas for meals are limitless. You can just take what you have in the pantry and fridge and throw a simple meal together. Or, if you prefer, there are plenty of 'meat' substitutes available too.

Just take a look online and you'll see just how good a vegan diet can be. Much more healthy than the usual meat-based idea of eating.

Ruth Barringham has been a vegetarian most of her life and is now a vegan. She has set up a website to help others learn about living a vegan lifestyle and how it can help you, the animals and the planet. Visit AustralianVegan.net to find out more at http://australianvegan.net/.