Just over a year ago I wrote about becoming vegetarian and I mentioned that at some point I wanted to switch to vegan. Well it was pretty much that day which I switched to a vegan diet. So lets do a quick update.
First off, why vegan?
Well as per my previous email I mentioned in the previous blog I’m lactose intolerant. Cutting down milk based products really made my stomach a hell of a lot less yuck. The other major non vegan ingredients is eggs (not a huge fan) and honey. So I thought - why the heck not. I’ve always found the concept of eating milk and eggs extremely weird and less animal cruelty is certainly a good thing.
I don’t believe the environmental footprint difference between vegan vs vegetarianism is significant but that’s not really the point here.
What foods do I miss?
I had a good think about this the other day, and really nothing. I can pretty much eat the same food as a non vegetarians. Obviously something like a “steak sandwich” will require a steak substitute, but theres substitutes for everything these days.
The biggest problem however is eating out. It’s surprising how hard it is to go to restaurant/cafe and have them make something without an ingredient. It’s mind boggling to me. So many dishes that could be vegan by just leaving out 1 or 2 things. I’ve certainly changed where I eat based on that - but the meals themselves have been just as good, if not better.
Regional towns are probably the worst because there’s often only 1-2 places to eat out. It’s extremely odd though since given their remoteness you’d think cooking with products that don’t go bad as quickly / have long shelf lives would be their speciality. Look its not that hard to offer bolognese with just some pasta sauce or a salad sandwich.
A cafe I used to regularly go removed their vegan options so I haven’t been there since. It’s pretty sad when that happens.
A good chef can make any meal vegan with fuss or complaint. I’ve been using HappyCow app to find good places to eat.
Substitutes are thinking about food wrong
I did mention vegan cheese in my last post. I still eat these semi regularly but probably a lot less now. The thing is, if you make your meals around not using substitutes and instead play on the strengths of the flavours and spices of your ingredients you end up with much nicer meals.
Often you can make a meal way better using different set of ingredients than relying on faux meat, cheese or egg.
Baking
I’ve baked a few things now without eggs and milk. And now I’m angry. Turns out you really don’t need milk or eggs. At most of you might need an egg replacer.
It’s wild - I had been taught my entire life that eggs and milk were critical to baking but they really aren’t. Give it a go - its fine. Take any baking recipe, replace the eggs with egg replacer and the milk with either an alternative milk or just water. Why there isn’t more vegan baked goods on shelves is bizarre to me now.
It’s fine trust me.
B12 and nutrition
Going to preface this with - I am not a doctor, and I am not your doctor. When making diet changes consult an expert.
Changing your diet and regular foods is certainly going to have an impact on the nutrients your body is receiving. This is no different from any other diet.
If you eat a fairly balanced diet with lots of different greens, rather than just carbs it appears the biggest risk is lack of B12. This is because B12 doesn’t naturally show up in plant products. Some vegan specific products are fortified with B12 for this reason. B12 is extremely important to the body, but you don’t need much. As I was aware of the risk of low B12 I asked my doctor to monitor this in my usual blood tests.
However even making an effort to select B12 fortified products where possible I still became B12 deficient and started taking B12 supplicants. Not really a big deal, but something you should be aware of.
Still learning
While I don’t usually drink wine or even drink much at all these days, it was only yesterday that a Mastodon reply caught my attention. Most wines aren’t vegan as various animal products are used during the fining process. Just goes to show that animal products sneak in everywhere.