Shifting to total veganism

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After having given this lot of thought, I am quite seriously considering to shift to total veganism.
My reasons for it :
1) I have been vegetarian for 21 years already and without any problems I have avoided eating meat, fish, poultry for 21 years now. On top of that, I have extremely rarely eaten egg, cheese or milk in their pure form, and generally eat more vegetables, tofu etc that does not contain dairy products. And yes, I also do not wear anything leather.
2) My motivations for going vegetarian 21 years back were animal rights, not willing to eat animals that needed to be slaughtered first. Now I realise more and more that the meat industry goes beyond that, for example milking does not kill the cow but if she is kept pregnant at all times to produce milk while all male calfs born do get slaughtered, then consuming milk is still supporting the meat industry in a less direct way. The same goes for chicken in so called "egg batteries". Dairy may not include direct slaughter of the animal, but indirectly it contributes to a miserable life for the animal.



Now I would sorta like shifting to veganism, several friends of mine have done so with success and I admire their determination and also fully understand that it is generally better for animal wellness.

Now what I wonder... I don't see it being too hard to ditch those very few meals that I eat and do contain dairy - 80 to 90% of my meals do not contain it. The thing I see as being problematic is to recognise what contains dairy or what does not. I mean, being vegetarian has always been easy for me because it is well indicated and usually just easy to see if a dish contains meat, fish or poultry. However, to ask in any restaurant if a product does not contain some milk or cheese (ice cream? some sorts of pizza? - just two examples of vegetarian dishes which however could be vegan but are not necessarily free of dairy) seems difficult. Especially when, like me, living in a country where not every restaurant owner speaks the languages I do. Are there any vegans here, and how do you verify if whatever you wish to order is indeed free of animal based ingredients?

PS I was 6 years old when I turned vegetarian, have abstained from any type of meat/fish/poultry since then. Determination is not the issue, I just wonder how to recognise the products that are vegan and separate them from those who are lacto ovo vegetarian.



I haven't made the shift as yet, but seriously consider it. I am in theory lacto ovo vegetarian for the last 21 years, but as I eat so few dishes that contain dairy it would make sense to go vegan. But when I do make a choice I prefer to fully go for it and not make any exceptions, just like I won't eat any meat/fish/poultry and rather skip meal for a day than to stray from my diet whenever it seems convenient.

Somehow I am around vegans a lot. The subset of vegans overlaps the subset of bloggers considerably. I mean, there is just an enormous amount of information online about it. My friend's blog is centre pull ball and it links to a lot of other blogs about veganism too.

I say go for it! I'm vegan. I was vegetarian for a few years prior.

I encourage you to research into it as much as possible first, however.

So how do you make sure that when you go out eating (any random cuisine or any restaurant) that no dairy is involved? Most restaurants here in Europe have a seperate part of the menu for vegetarians, but this is lacto ovo vegetarianism so the dishes in this section of the menu just avoid meat, poultry and fish but may incluce cheese, milk, eggs, butter. How do you make sure to avoid intake of this when you go out eating and thus have no real sight on what happens in the kitchen?

Also, it will involve learning about the composition of some types of food I guess. I mean, yesterday I passed an ice cream stand and did not dare to buy one because I was not sure if no milk was involved in making it. Dito for the pizzeria, some sorts of pasta can be made with cheese or without cheese.

I must add the country where I live (CZ) is not veggie friendly but it still has not changed my determination, after all I also did not stray from my vegetarian diet when I moved here. If I decide to go for something idealistic, then usually my determination is strong (otherwise I would have not been vegetarian for 21 years)

I' am not a vegan but dray is *very* easy to cut out.

I am GFCF and the dairy part is the easiest. There arn’t many dairy products and they all come from milk, not difficult. Eggs are not dairy but it is pretty simple too.

It is very easy to ask a restaurant not to use any dairy products, and the alternatives such as oil most cooks understand well. It is a lot more difficult to be confident about gluten; it is a lot trickier. The first time, I went to restaurant that was actually having gluten free special on, and the still brought a plate with crusty bread on the side. Granted a waitress did come running in at that point, which was quite amusing.

There are some many gluten products it is a lot more difficult, if they are not in a gluten free kitchen.

So far I have not found a dedicated gluten free restaurant. I have heard of vegan restaurants.

If you problem is with production I have some sympathy. My friend came from that position, and I generally agree with some of the sentiment; however she isn’t 100%, because she started eating chicken and never stopped eating fish. But it is important to her the source. I don’t have a problem with that. I disagree myself with the amount of meat that is thrown away, and the fact that this is all done so it can look right in little plastic containers as if it grew on trees.

Humans wouldn’t be here today without meat that is undeniable, but they wouldn’t be humans if they couldn’t decide not to eat meat. In many respects we are evolving away from meat eating. Certainly in countries where it is viable not to eat meat due to increased cultivation and distribution of vegetables, meat starts to harm because it is not longer so regularly part of diet. It really difficult to express just how much meat we ate in the past, but it used to be a larger part of our diet without a doubt. If you go out in the wilderness you will die without enough protein, and it is not the tender cuts that will save you, it is the organs like liver kidneys, pancreas, etc. Any digestion discomfort is pretty much irrelevant.

CZ may not be vegetarian friendly but it well known for alternative thinking.

True. but most if not all local dishes contain meat, and until recently people looked at you with a strange face when you said you were vegetarian. Things begin to change luckily, while some restaurants still refuse to serve me when I ask for veggie food, there are also a few spots where they especially cater vegetarians. There is 1 vegan restaurant as well. Still, this is the beginning of the change, many Czechs are still not understanding vegetarianism, let alone veganism. The problem is that some people here have very bad English, so to ask everywhere to not have dairy is not that easy, I should somehow manage to learn ingredients and recognise what is vegan or what is not, this is the hard part I fear. To not eat the dishes and resist their taste is easy when you are determined, but to recognise which dishes are vegan seems a lot harder. For example even the ice cream vendor in my local mall, I felt unsure if there was milk involved in the making of that cream or not. That is just one simple example ...

yes learning cooking helps a lot. You improve your understanding of ingredients in recipies.

If you understand what dairy is used for in cooking that will make it easier to avoid it.

OK, an update. Been vegan now for nearly 2 months and no complaints whatsoever. I had the bad luck that I was struck by a viral infection just a few weeks after making the switch but nonetheless I stayed true to my promise and I refrained from dairy. Now, after almost 2 months, I can only say it is easier than I thought it would be.

I even feel I eat healthier. No more chocolate bars (contains milk) but instead I go buy bread (pure bread without any butter or so). I pay more attention to combining vegetables and eating a wide variety of vegetables. I found some delicious vegan curries and vegan vegetable soups that I never tried before. I still enjoy my meals equally good as before, a lot of vegan plates I really enjoy. I don't miss the few things I had to sacrifice at all. No more pancakes or chocolate mousse for me, but instead a feeling of doing something I ideologically support - and that is much better than any dish.

So I am glad to have made the switch The one question I may have: is it advisable to take vitamin B supplements? I heard from several other vegans they do it, even though I never found any research that shows it is necessary. But would I do good for myself by taking these supplements, or is it really not needed at all?

I think taking supplements is not the best thing to do. Eating a variety of nuts is better. Almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts - these are all good for B vitamins. Not enough people have nuts in their diet really.

When I used to have almond milk every day with my breakfast my skin looked about 10 years younger.

I am so glad you are considering supplementing your vegan diet with vitamin B complex. Having been a vegetarian and a vegan cook in a veggie/vegan cafe I recommend getting nutritional yeast and keeping it in a shaker, like is done with salt. This way you can consistently sprinkle the yummy yellow flakes over anything you care to. I recommend Red Star Nutritional yeast the larger the flake, the better the taste!
This covers the B complex in an easy and tasty way, since you continually use it as a condiment ( like real tamari and miso that gives you all twenty two amino acids our cells need to maintain themselves) you can be conscious of how much you are taking, to make sure it is enough.

Merle

I guess supplements can definitely not do harm, so why not take them eh... I will buy some at the pharmacy this week.

Still no complaints whatsoever about being vegan, it still goes smoothly and I feel perfectly fine. I still eat very good food, and the side dish is a satisfied feeling about doing something ideologically right (well, in my opinion I mean).

Do you ingest anything with yeast in it? hardcore vegans won't eat stuff with yeast in it.

I was a satvic vegan for a while and then we decided to 'crush no seed' and there for no soy beans (tofu) no miso (soy and wheat) or tamari (naturally brewed soy sauce). We ate leaves mostly. If you take the salad you would make with dinner and put it through a Champion juicer and strain out the juice, you can heat it up to 87F and it will separate out to curds and whey ( the same way you make tofu, btw!) you can use this for 'salad dressing' and pour out the 'whey' on your house plants.

The biggest problems adapting to the vegan diet is after about 6 to 8 months in, when the body that was built on a balanced diet is not being replenished with the foods that built it. then the transistion period comes.

been there, done that,
glad I had the B-12,

Merle

Congrats!! !

I myself went vegetarian about 3 years ago for my boyfriend and now I am about to make the leap to Veganism on my own.

It's sort of hard to figure out how I'm going to do it because we are pretty much homeless and jobless right now, and our diet is usually ramen noodles and mac n cheese or anything we can afford - not very nutritious... but I know in my heart I have to do it - I have to figure it out

I think at least for me, it was a matter of logic to go Vegetarian, but to go Vegan is a matter of the heart - it's completely different this time around - I really feel it in my heart:)

Good Luck on Going Vegan!!

If you're going vegan for the health benefits, good for you... (and yes, vitamin b supplements do help)...

If you're going vegan because you're afraid of killing something, remember that there is some organism out there producing your food, regardless of what it is (even leafy greens had to be harvested from a plant...) Unless you can do photosynthesis, something (whether an animal or a plant or even a part thereof) had to suffer and/or die to put that food on your plate...