What to eat everyday when you're vegan
Eating a plant based diet can sometime feel pretty daunting, especially if you’re quite new to veganism. Below I have developed a simple chart with a list of foods you should include in your diet everyday to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs.
Fruit and Veg
Get your 5 a day
Aim to eat at least 5 portions per day. If you are making meals from scratch then add a few extra hidden veggies to top you up. For example some blended courgette into a pasta sauce or portion of spinach into a smoothie. It will make a huge difference to the amount you consume throughout the day.
Carbohydrates
Try to pick high fibre options
Choosing a high fibre, whole wheat option will give you an extra boost of fibre that is so good for our gut and also for fuelling us for longer. Good healthy choices include wholemeal or stone ground bread, brown rice and pasta, oats, and sweet potatoes.
Calcium
Be sure to choose food and drinks fortified with calcium
It’s easy to include calcium to a plant based diet by simply choosing options that have added calcium. These include dairy free milks, yoghurts and cheeses. Calcium is also found in seeds, beans/lentils and some brands of tofu have added calcium too.
Protein
You will find protein in so many plant foods
A question many vegans get asked is How do you get your protein?
This is an easy one as there are so many options…beans, lentils and peas are all high in proteins. Nuts contain lots of protein too and also nut butters (making your own is really easy) Other foods such as soya products like tofu are good for protein.
Iron
Combine with vitamin C
Did you know that if you eat foods high in iron and also consume vitamin C at the same time it enhances iron absorption? A small glass of orange juice will do the job nicely.
Fortified breakfast cereals contain lots of iron. Dried fruits, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses are also great choices.
Vitamin B12
Easy when you know how
Vitamin B12 is probably the most likely supplement that vegans consume. You can however get vitamin B12 from many foods. Nutritional yeast flakes are used in many vegan dishes as they give a nice, natural cheesy flavour a couple You can consume more than double the recommended dose of B12 in just a table spoon of nutritional yeast which can contain 5 mcg (check the packaging)
Other foods include fortified breakfast cereals and fortified plant based milk and yoghurts .
A varied and healthy diet should ensure that you are able to consume all the nutrients that your body needs to stay strong and healthy.
I hope you’ve found this article beneficial.
Remember to follow me on Instagram for healthy body and mind tips and inspiration.
Love Jen x