If you’re a person who’s interested in going vegan, you may have this very important question: what do vegans eat? It’s important to have some sort of idea of what you’ll be able to eat before changing your diet in any way, to make sure that you won’t go hungry or be in awkward situations where you don’t know what to do.
I remember when I first went vegan, I didn’t have a good idea of what vegans eat. I mean, I knew what they didn’t eat. Sure, I would be able to look at an ingredient label and tell you whether or not something was vegan. But when it came down to it, I didn’t know how to put together a day’s worth of eating that would be filling and fulfilling enough to be sustainable and advisable for anyone.
Fast forward through the years, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned about cooking and international cuisines. And I’ve experimented with fruits and vegetables that I’d never heard of back when I was 15. And let me tell you, I eat. I’m able to eat when I’m hungry and stop when I feel like it instead of when I “should”. I get to have delicious food and be satisfied. But I needed to go through a bit of a journey to get there. If I can help anyone avoid some of the lessons I had to learn the hard way, I’d like to. So here is a walkthrough of vegan eating, as I see it, eight years in.
What do vegans eat?
A vegan or plant based diet is made up of a few different categories of plants. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seed, grains, legumes, and fungi. (And there are also many vegan processed foods available now, particularly compared to even a few short years ago. That being said, these should not make up the bulk of your diet as they are not the healthiest choices.)
If you want to have a balanced vegan diet, you’re going to want to get in each of the food groups daily, or at least on a regular basis. If you think about it in terms of a plate full of food, half of your plate would be filled with fruits/veg/fungi, and the other half filled with grains and legumes/nuts/seeds. This way of conceptualizing things is called the plate method. And it’s a lot easier than trying to piece together a food pyramid.
Planning your macros?
Another way of thinking about your food intake is in terms of macronutrients. A healthy, balanced diet is a good sources of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. This applies whether you are vegan or not. Your body uses all three in order to function.
Carbs
For carbohydrates, you’re going to be looking at sugars from fruits and starches from grains and starchy vegetables. I’m partial to starchy vegetables like potatoes, yams, yucca and plantains. But grain-based foods also are helpful in terms of adding bulk and making meals that look and feel comforting and familiar. Making a side of rice or pasta will help round out a meal and give you some energy. Also remember that whole grains are in general, better for you than processed grains. So things like oats, brown rice, barley and even popcorn are all good things to include.
Fat
When we’re talking about fats, you’ve got a couple different sources. Nuts and seeds are always a good option, as they’re a whole food and mostly fat with a little bit of protein and carbs. Think pumpkin or sunflower seeds, chia, flax, or sesame seeds, almonds, chestnuts, pecans and nut butters.
You can also find good sources of fat in oils, such as olive, canola, or coconut oil. And not to forget the longtime vegan favorite, avocados. Another way of getting some fats in your diet is consuming soy derived foods, like edamame, soy milk and tofu. All of them good for you (in moderation of course), and all of them good sources of both fat and protein.
Protein
Speaking of protein, this is what people had concerns about with veganism up until (and in some cases including) very recently. The fact is, it’s easy to get enough protein on a vegan diet, as long as you’re eating more or less balanced. (And let’s be fair, most people don’t fall into wanting to eat plain rice or fruits day in, day out.)
Vegan sources of protein include nuts and seeds (as listed above), but also legumes like beans, lentils, and peas. There are also many meat substitutions. Like tofu, seitan, and tempeh. They offer good sources of protein and add variation to a vegan diet. Not to mention the many more processed vegan mockmeats that seem to be coming out one after another lately. While not the healthiest, these are often good sources of protein (and sometimes fat too).
If you’re interested in learning more about plant based proteins, I’ve written a whole other post to cover that. So go check it out here. Protein is just one of those things that most people don’t know as much about as they think. And if you’re vegan, it’s good to be informed, since the topic tends to come up in conversation with nonvegans.
Making the switch
After going vegan, you may find yourself hungrier than usual. This is normal, due to the extra fiber. And the fact that often, vegan foods tend to be lighter than say, a steak dinner for example. Don’t be alarmed at this if you do experience it. Simply use this as a time to eat more and figure out what your body needs and wants. If you’re listening to your hunger cues, it won’t take long to get used to your new needs.
Supplements
Also, if you’re coming from a standard western diet, you’re going to want to make sure you’re finding new sources of calcium. There are a few nutrients that you have to be more mindful of on a vegan diet, actually. And while calcium from vegan sources isn’t difficult to get, you have to remember that you probably put your awareness of it on autopilot due to consistent dairy consumption. If that is the way you are most comfortable consuming your calcium, consider drinking fortified plant milks for your calcium intake. At least in the beginning. This is one of the more glaring differences in the vegan diet.
I would also recommend that upon going vegan, you begin to supplement with Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. Vitamin B12 is usually produced by microbes in the soil, which are then consumed by animals. That’s why it is sometimes found in animal products. But a plant based diet does not give any proper sources of vitamin B12, so supplementation is necessary. (Please don’t just decide to stop washing your vegetables as a way of getting vitamin B12. You won’t get enough, and you can get sick from other microbes in the dirt. Wash your veggies, people.) Vitamin B12 is not solely a vegan issue. Many meater eaters also do not get enough of it. That being said, it is something to watch out for if you’re a vegan.
And as far as Vitamin D goes, it’s incredibly common to have suboptimal levels, especially if you live further away from the equator where you’ll get less sunlight over parts of the year. To counteract this, many dairy products are fortified with vitamin D. That works for a lot of the population, but if you’re not consuming dairy, it won’t work for you. There are some plant milks and orange juices that are fortified with vitamin D as well. But if you find that you aren’t regularly having them in your diet, you’ll want to supplement. As someone who has been deficient in Vitamin D both before and after going vegan, let me assure you, it’s a fate you’ll want to avoid.
What can vegans eat…like, out in the real world?
It’s one thing to learn what vegans can eat and how to cook and prepare those foods, but when it comes to going out with people, particularly ones who aren’t vegan themselves, that can be quite a different situation.
You’ll be happy to know that eating vegan outside of the home is a lot easier these days than it used to be. Now this is a completely different topic, and one I plan on covering in the future, but to give you a quick summary, there are two ways to go about it.
The first one is to ask questions. You can call the restaurant ahead, message them on facebook, or talk to your waiter. Don’t expect for them to know what “vegan” means, since a lot of people still don’t quite get it. Instead, ask if there’s any milk, eggs, fish sauce, of whatever animal products may be hidden in the food that you’re considering ordering. This does involve a little bit of extra awareness of food to get it right, and you’ll probably make mistakes over time. But this is just like any other negotiation. It takes two sides to get to the end, and that’s okay.
And the second way of doing things is for the more shy, socially awkward vegans. But there are certain restaurants that are either all vegan, or are very vegan friendly and aware of what it means. These sorts of places will have their menus clearly labeled and if something is labeled vegan, then it is. Finding places like this with the internet has become far easier, and ordering at them is far simpler. A good website and app is HappyCow, which tells you if a restaurant is vegan, vegetarian, or veg friendly, and also has reviews written by many people whose profiles are labeled on the app whether they are vegan, vegetarian, plant based etc. However, even a quick google search can be enough these days to see what vegan options are around. How wonderful!
In Conclusion
I hope you were able to enjoy this quick guide to the vegan diet and what vegans eat. You can find all sorts ideas and recipes to come on this site in the future, and I hope that I was able to help with some perspective. If you appreciated what I had to say and want to hear more, go ahead and subscribe to our email list for updates on Eight Years In. And until next time, thank you for tuning in.