A comprehensive guideline on following a healthy vegan diet - 24 Mantra Organic

A vegan diet includes only plants (like nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables) and foods that are made from the plants. It is a diet that is free from all foods that come from the animals, including eggs and dairy products.

In recent years, the vegan diet has become really popular as it comes with health benefits such as better weight management and blood sugar control. And, if you can switch to organic food while being on a healthy vegan diet, you can get even more nutrition from what you eat.

Getting adequate nutrition from a healthy vegan diet

In order to meet the nutritional needs of your body, you need a clear understanding and good planning about vegan meals. Since you’ll be restricting your body to a major group of food, you need to be extra careful about your meals when you’re on a vegan diet.

Failing to plan the diet properly might make you miss out on crucial nutrients, such as vitamin B12, iron, and calcium. Here’s enlisting the vegan sources of these nutrients.

Calcium in healthy vegan meals:

As you can’t have calcium from dairy anymore, you need to get it from other sources like:

• Green, leafy vegetables, like cabbage, broccoli, and okra.
• Tahini and sesame seeds
• Dried fruits like prunes, raisins, and figs
• Unsweetened soy and oat drinks

Iron sources in healthy vegan meals:

Though a vegan diet is high in iron, the body absorbs less plant-based iron than meat-based iron. Thus, you’ll need to increase your intake of:

• Pulses
• Nuts
• Whole-wheat flour and bread
• Dark green, leafy veggies like spring greens and watercress

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Vegan food containing vitamin B12:

Your body needs vitamin B12 for maintaining healthy blood and nervous system. Along with the following vegan sources for the vitamin, you should also consider taking vitamin B12. For a healthy vegan diet, the following food needs to be fortified with vitamin B12.

• Breakfast cereals
• Yeast extract like marmite
• Unsweetened soya drinks

Vegan food having omega-3 fatty acids:

Omega-3 fatty acids have an important role to play in keeping your heart healthy. So, make sure the following is a part of your healthy vegan diet:

• Walnuts
• Rapeseed oil
• Flaxseed oil
• Soya-based food and soya oil

Seven things to remember for eating a healthy vegan diet

Along with including all the food mentioned above as a part of your diet, you should also keep seven important facts in mind to stay healthy.

1. Have at least five portions of a variety of veggies and fruits daily.
2. Base healthy vegan meals on bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, or other such starchy carbohydrates.
3. Have only dairy alternative daily, such as oats and soya drinks.
4. Include proteins in the form of pulses and beans.
5. Choose unsaturated spreads and oils, but eat them in small quantities.
6. Have at least six to eight glasses of water daily.
7. Limit your intake of food and drinks that have high fat, sugar, or salt content.

Bottomline

The vegan diet has been linked to multiple health benefits, even though more research is needed to strengthen those claims. But, if you are planning to switch to a vegan diet, make sure you keep the advice given above in mind. Moreover, your diet will be healthier and more effective if you can opt for an organic vegan diet. Organic food is free from chemicals, contains more nutrition, and is better to eat.

Try 24 Mantra Organic’s range of products and savour the taste of organic goodness.