"I'd love to eat vegan, but isn't it super complicated?" I think what keeps most people from seriously trying a purely plant-based diet (and has kept me from doing so for years) is the fear of doing something wrong. Yes, it's bad what happens to animals. The climate change, the hormones, the diseases - all good arguments (you can find more of them in this article). But a lack of nutrients, which inevitably has to occur at some point in a vegan diet, is not something you want to risk. And here's the good news: you don't have to. As has been proven a thousand times, a plant-based diet does not lead to iron, protein, or any other deficiencies - if you just take a little time to learn the basics. Then, on the contrary, it is actually extremely healthy. To make the start into the vegan life easier, I have 8 tips for you with which you can't go wrong.
Find a good source of protein
Even though some experts still believe that 0.8 grams of protein per kilo body weight is enough to live a healthy life, especially for athletes it is important to find alternative sources of protein. And there it gets a little more difficult for you as a vegan. Because almost everything that contains a lot of protein - legumes, grains, etc. - also contains a lot of carbohydrates. Personally, I have nothing against carbohydrates and especially people who work out a lot will not be bothered by that - but as a low carb devotee you will have to make friends with tempeh, tofu and seitan.
Make it healthy
Whether beans, lentils or chickpeas - legumes offer one of the most important sources of protein for vegans. If prepared correctly, they are absolutely harmless to health and are also much more digestible. So the excuse not to tolerate legumes is no longer valid.
Anti-nutrients in legumes
The reason why legumes were not taken seriously and accepted as whole food for a long time, is that they naturally contain the so-called anti-nutrients lectins and phytates. While lectins can attack the intestinal walls and make the intestine permeable, phytates bind important minerals such as iron, zinc and magnesium and could thus theoretically lead to a nutrient deficiency. However, it is relatively easy to eliminate these two substances. Lectins leave after being cooked for 15 minutes and phytates are neutralised after soaking or fermenting a product. So just let lentils and co. soak in water overnight before boiling them long enough and the problem is solved.
Other cereals and nuts also contain phytic acid by the way. In nuts, however, the whole thing is much less dramatic, as they are usually not consumed in such large quantities as legumes.
Oats are also more digestible if you boil them briefly as porridge before eating.
The thing with soy
It should be said right from the start: Nobody who wants to be vegan has to eat soy. In general, nothing speaks against using soy products from time to time though. Nearly 90% of the soy cultivated world-wide is used for animal feed anyway. Still, soy is not the most sustainable choice for your diet and maybe not the healthiest. Unlike other legumes, whose problems can simply be boiled away, soy also contains phytoestrogens that are similar to the body's own estrogen. This - although not sufficiently proven - can upset your hormone balance. Even regular soy consumption is probably relatively harmless, but I personally prefer to eat almost no soy and would not necessarily give it to my daughter. As I said, there are many alternatives.
Vegan protein sources and muscle building
Especially if you do a lot of sports or have the feeling that you are not getting really full, no matter how much you eat (protein is the macronutrient that makes us full), you can also use protein shakes. This way you don't overdo it with the carb-loading and you don't have to eat kilos of pasta or legumes. I usually use hemp protein for this, as it has a complete amino acid profile and is quite tasty.
Combine protein sources
Yes, protein obviously takes up most of the planning in the vegan diet. That's because most vegan protein sources do not contain all the essential amino acids. Unfortunately, if one of them is missing, the body cannot use the rest either. However, with a little planning, this too is not a problem. You can simply take the missing amino acid from another food source and they thing will complement each other. You don't even have to do this during one meal - within one day is enough. So if you, for example, eat oatmeal for breakfast, which is rich in methionine but poor in lysine and legumes for lunch, which are the other way around, you have a complete amino acid profile.
This may sound as if a plant-based nutrition is linked to a lot of tracking, but in fact you probably implement most of it automatically. So you will still be able go shopping without amino acid tables.
Many dishes are naturally adapted to this combination. Corn with 48% biological valence and beans with 52% - a combination that is exclusively eaten together in many countries - thus give a biological valence of 98%.
By the way, the perfect source of fat and protein are all kinds of nuts and seeds, which I basically sprinkle over every dish, snack in between or use as almond butter or tahin for cooking.
Supplements
If you have decided to go through with a vegan diet, you should buy yourself a good vitamin B12 supplement. This is the only vitamin that is really only available in animal products in sufficient dosages. It is also the only supplement you need. Forget iron or zinc - you can easily cover your needs with green vegetables, legumes and grains. Despite regular blood donations, I have still not managed to catch an iron deficiency in fifteen years without meat.
In addition to vitamin B12, I take omega-3 from algae oil, which I would also recommend to any non-vegan unless they eat fish twice a week. Linseed and hemp oil are also good sources of omega-3. However, you would have to drink about 50ml of them a day to cover your needs.
Measuring, not guessing
It's best to have your blood checked regularly after a year or two for all sorts of vitamins, minerals and other health markers that will confirm that everything is okay or show you where your diet still has weaknesses. Then you can replenish your reserves in a targeted manner instead of taking tons of supplements right from the start.
The only exception here too: Vitamin B12. You should already start with this in the first months of your dietary change. Stored vitamin B12 lasts for a long time, but if the storage is empty, health problems can arise very quickly and it takes a long time to replenish it.
I have been supplementing vitamin B12 from the beginning and thus have never had a vitamin or mineral deficiency.
Eat the rainbow
A vegan diet is neither automatically healthy nor automatically unhealthy - just like any other form of nutrition. However, a plant-based diet forces you to deal with what you eat every day. And that's probably one of the reasons why vegans are usually healthier than vegetarians or meat eaters. Just try everything: roots, nuts, seeds, grains, various legumes and eat your way through the fruit and vegetable section. Try eating all the colours of the rainbow in one day. A varied and colourful menu will ensure that you take in all the important vitamins and minerals and also you won't get bored like that.
Reduce substitutes
The possibilities of simply replacing everything from a "normal" mixed diet with appropriate vegan alternatives are huge today. Nevertheless, you should resist the temptation especially in the beginning and experiment with wholesome, natural foods. There are countless, incredibly delicious recipes for which you don't need a vegan egg, vegan salami or soy cutlet. The longer you follow a plant-based diet, the more you learn which animal products you can replace and how, and develop your own ideas: Mashed cashews instead of parmesan, cocoa and dates instead of chocolate - there are so many new possibilities.
I always make an exception for vegan almond grated cheese though - I use it for everything, just like almond milk.
Don't be too perfectionist
Many people who start to eat vegan suddenly develop a tremendous perfectionism when it comes to their eating habits. Everything becomes sugar-free, gluten-free or even raw vegan. Of course, you usually automatically eat healthier once you start to deal with the individual micro and macro nutrients, which is what one should do at the beginning of a vegan diet. Nevertheless I have absolutely no problem with eating empty calories like chips or liquorice every now and then. It is mainly about living without animal products and not about becoming a fanatical health apostle.
Exceptions?
Eating a piece of cheese now and then won't hurt anybody, will it? That sounds logical, and who would forbid you. But in retrospect I would say that it was a mistake not to have been more consistent in the beginning. At first it was too complicated for me to stay vegan when I was eating out. I also didn't want to offend anyone at birthdays or other celebrations and if you are new to a city, a university or a friends circle, you don't want to be the person with a thousand extra wishes. However, every day there is some reason to pause your vegan diet and I have found that I am more the "all or nothing" kind of person. Once everyone has realized that you are vegan now, it will be easier not only for you, but also for everyone else who can adjust to it. After a few weeks or months at the latest, your new form of nutrition has become normal, which makes it much easier for you to follow it through as a matter of course. When I had decided for myself to be plant-based from now on, I started to notice that there is actually an alternative everywhere and that I don't have to starve anywhere if I abstain from animal products - neither abroad, nor at friends who didn't know about my nutrition yet (which I used as an excuse very gladly for a long time). Once you have flipped the switch in your head, you become much more creative and experimental in your food composition, vegan food starts to be fun and you automatically eat a more balanced diet than if you try to do it half-heartedly and without deeper knowledge.
Healthy & Vegan
I guess that's everything you need to know for your vegan start. Stick to the "A grain, a green and a bean" principle, so always eat a mixture of grain, green leafy vegetables and legumes and combine it with everything that tastes good - fruit, nuts, seeds and spices, pay attention to your vitamin B12 intake and don't make soy products your main source of protein.
It is left to say that too many studies on veganism probably won't get you anywhere, as new findings are constantly coming to light, all of which contradict each other, and new recommendations are being established all the time. What all studies agree on, however, is that a diet of unprocessed and seasonal products is best for our health. If you stick to this principle and also listen a little more to your body, you will intuitively already do a lot of things right.
