Vegans steer clear of eating animals for health and environmental reasons.
If you are a vegan and you want to stay healthy by eating the right plant-based meals, consuming a nutrient rich diet with fortified and whole foods is very crucial.
Here are 4 healthy foods that you can include in your diet to ensure you stay healthy.
Nuts, Seeds, and Nut Butters
Nuts, seeds, or any of their byproducts can make an excellent addition to your vegan meals, because they contain protein.
Nuts can also contain iron, fiber, magnesium, zinc, selenium, Vitamin E, antioxidants, and other compounds that can be beneficial to your health. In fact, nuts are so versatile that they can be consumed as a snack or can be included in recipes like sauces, desserts, and vegan cheeses.
If you are going to use nuts in your meals, make sure that you choose unroasted, raw varieties whenever you can. This is because nuts that are processed contain very little nutrients.
Itβs favorable to go with nut butters or nuts that are natural instead of heavily processed ones, because they contain unhealthy oil, sugar, and salt.
Legumes
Of course, we all know that in an effort to prevent all forms of animal cruelty, vegans steer clear of traditional sources of protein and iron like meat, eggs, poultry, fish, and meat. Therefore, it is important to replace these animal products with natural protein and iron rich plant alternatives like legumes.
Beans, peas, and lentils are a great option because of protein content. As an added benefit, legumes also include fiber, iron, folate, manganese, slowly digested carbs, antioxidants, zinc, and other healthy plant-based compounds beneficial to your health.
Minimally Processed Meat substitutes like Tofu
Tofu and tempeh are a great meat substitutes made from soybeans that are minimally processed. They are great sources of protein and calcium. Make sure to choose non genetically, sprouted tofu whenever possible.
Pressing soybean curds creates tofu, which is a popular substitute for meat. This can be grilled, scrambled, sautΓ©ed, basically can be cooked any way you want and can be included in almost any recipe that you find delicious. Check out my favorite tofu recipe.
Tempeh on the other hand is made from fermented soybeans. Its flavor makes it a popular replacement for fish, but can also be used in many other vegan dishes.
Seaweed
Seaweed is used in a lot of Asian cuisine and can be consumed on its own as well as a healthy snack. For vegans, seaweed is one of the rare plant-based foods that contain DHA, which is an essential fatty acid that holds a lot of health benefits.
Additionally, seaweed also contains riboflavin, manganese, potassium, iodine, magnesium, and good antioxidants. Iodine is a great mineral to can help aid in weight loss because it can help boost your metabolism
Try these 4 Healthy Food Ingredients
Vegans are very conscious when it comes to the food ingredients they include into their meals. These 4 healthy plant-based substitutes can help you begin your journey of adding more plants on your plate!