Eating Vegan – The Best Tips

What is a vegan diet?

The term “vegan” was coined by Englishman Donald Watson. It is an abbreviation of the English “vegetarian” as it brings the principles of vegetarian nutrition to a logical conclusion. This can take different forms.

• At the very least, being vegan means not eating any products of animal origin. As with vegetarianism, these include meat and fish, but also milk, eggs, honey, animal fat, gelatine, and all products that contain them.
• In a broader definition, veganism also includes the renunciation of all goods that come from animals. These would be, for example, furs, leather, pearls, natural sponges, horn, glue, or wool.
• Finally, fruitarianism or organism is a form of nutrition that can overlap with veganism. The paradigm of this diet is not wanting to hurt plants. Fruitarians therefore mostly eat fruit, nuts, or grains, but avoid tubers, roots, and leaves. However, there are very few followers of this way of life.

Vegan Diet – Common Pitfalls

The vegan way of life excludes the consumption of many goods, which at first glance may appear unproblematic to many. If you decide to do so, you must be particularly careful with the following products. In general, the following applies when buying: Take a close look at the list of ingredients for each product beforehand.

• Pasta: Many types of German pasta contain eggs. Italian pasta made from durum wheat semolina is usually less problematic, but it can also contain traces of eggs.
• Chocolate: May contain milk and honey, for example. But most dark chocolate can do without it. In many shops, there are now special vegan chocolates in different flavors.
• E numbers: There are some food additives that are derived from animals. These would be, for example, the dye E 120 (from scale insects) or E 901 (beeswax). You can find an overview of problematic numbers at food-info.net.
• Lactic acid: Despite the name, is not only obtained from milk, but also by fermenting various substances, for example, beer, pickles, or sauerkraut – all vegan!
• Taurine: Today it is only produced synthetically because extracting it from bulls is far too expensive. Vegans can safely use most energy drinks.
• Cocoa Butter: This is not butter mixed with cocoa, but rather the fat derived from this bean. It’s purely herbal.
• Sugar: Sugar is inherently vegan, but animal charcoal can be used during refining to decolorize it. According to self-disclosure, however, this process is no longer used in the German sugar industry.

Possible dangers of a vegan diet

Going vegan is not a decision to be made lightly. While there are many arguments in favor of this diet – it’s good for the environment, respects animal rights, and is healthier overall – many also warn of the dangers it could pose.

• Simply eliminating all animal products from your diet can lead to deficiency symptoms. Compounds like calcium, iodine, iron, zinc, and protein are what many people get from these products, so it’s important that you look for plant-based substitutes.
• For example, you can get iodine from iodized salt, calcium from green cabbage, iron from whole grain products, and zinc from tofu. Proteins, on the other hand, are found – in varying amounts – in almost all vegan foods.
• Finally, vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal foods. The lack of this vitamin, which can cause anemia and neurological disorders, is, therefore, the greatest weakness of vegan diets. To prevent this, you should take specially fortified products or dietary supplements. An adult human should consume 1-3 μg of vitamin B12 daily.
• Past nutrition during pregnancy and infancy is highly controversial. On the one hand, there are very few studies on this, and on the other hand, the opinions of various experts differ greatly. No recommendation for or against can is given at this point.