Vegan is the way to go

To improve your health and wellbeing and to stop cruelty towards the environment and animals, there's nothing better than going vegan. Priti Salian clues you in to everything you need to know about a vegan diet

Vidya Balan and Shashi Tharoor were recently voted the hottest vegans on a poll conducted by PETA. Not far behind were Lara Dutta, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Maddy, Mallika Sherawat, Natalie Portman, and Bryan Adams. A vegan diet has worked wonders for them. Let’s take a look at how it can work for you.

What exactly is a vegan diet?
If you decide to eat vegan, you will have to shun animal products like meat, fish, eggs, honey, milk and milk products like cottage cheese, curd, cream, ghee and even normal chocolates. All grains, beans, legumes, vegetables, fruits and food combinations made from these make a nutritious part of you diet. Nuts, seeds, pulses, whole grain and soy products fulfil your protein requirements, while tofu, leafy green vegetables and dried fruits give you calcium. Along with leafy green vegetables, add mushrooms to make up for some important vitamins.

But don’t lose heart if you are a dairy lover. There are enough vegan substitutes available! Soy milk can be had instead of cow’s milk. Staetta and Sofit are two varieties available easily in different flavours besides their natural form. Tofu can replace cottage cheese in your diet. Peanut milk can be used in place of buttermilk while sunflower oil can be used instead of butter. Let dairy-free cream take the place of cream in your recipes. And if you love chocolate, Bournville is vegan! There are also restaurants which serve vegan food. Cafe Coffee Day serves a vegan shake and Irish coffee. The Green Stove in Thane and Mumbai provides vegan cakes, cookies, breads, cheesecakes, chocolates and appetizers on order.

The pros
Meats contain saturated fats which are not good for health. So do full cream milk and eggs. Giving up these products also lowers your risk of heart diseases because your intake of cholesterol is automatically reduced. Less consumption of fat keeps your blood pressure and weight in check. Vegetarian food is rich in fibre and keeps you feeling energetic all day, besides giving you a feeling of fullness for a longer duration.

Diet rich in animal fat is also said to increase the risk of colon cancer, so this is also one health risk you can evade. There is adequate proof today that when a vegan diet is consumed keeping a check on vegetable oil intake as well, the deadly diabetes can not only be controlled but also reversed. Hypertension, obesity and auto-immune diseases can also be controlled, say experts. “The risk of rheumatoid arthritis, kidney diseases, gallstones and cancer is also reduced by following a vegan diet,” says Deepshikha Agarwal, a dietician and sports nutritionist from Mumbai. Rita Theobald, who has been on a vegan diet for almost 15 years, admits to having got over her constant bouts of cough and cold and menstrual cramps after becoming a vegan.

And the cons
It is said that the vegan diet cannot fulfil a human body’s need for certain nutrients like Vitamin B12. Agarwal recommends a Vitamin B12 supplement regularly after consultation with your dietician/doctor to avoid any inadequacy.

It is not difficult to follow a vegan diet if you have the will. All you need is a good diet plan. “Poor meal planning is the cause of nutritional deficiencies in vegetarian diets, not the absence of animal foods,” wraps up Agarwal.