How to be a Healthy Vegan

I've been a vegan for over 20 years now and I've never felt better or healthier. My heart is healthy and kind and my spirit lives in peace. But I have also taken time to make sure that I learned all about the healthy aspects of going vegan and how I could maintain and improve my health on the vegan diet.

The first thing that you need to understand when starting out on a vegan diet and lifestyle is that veganism is not necessarily the elixir to automatic health and longevity. For example, you could eat donuts, french fries, potato chips, dark chocolate candy bars, twizzlers, white bread with heaping margarine and jam and be on a vegan diet.

That kind of a diet is not going to be healthy though. You need to learn to eat wholesome foods from the vegan 4 food groups. These are beans, grains, veggies and fruit. Oils and sweets should be seen as condiments and used sparingly.

Being a healthy vegan is actually easier than being a healthy omnivore. Everything in the 4 vegan food groups as outlined above is healthy when kept as wholesome as possible. So we have it a little easier.

Here's how I like to eat on a typical day. My breakfast consists of some hearty oatmeal with blueberries and a little maple syrup. Maybe a healthy vegan smoothies (recipe below) instead. Lunch is a massive salad heaped with onions, tomatoes and a little avocado. I might also have a nice PB & J sandwich. Dinner is a nice bowl of brown rice with assorted beans or a nice veggie stir fry. Easy, wholesome and healthy.

Eating vegan is easy healthy and cheap. You've just gotta keep it wholesome and stay away from those soy based meat analogues which I don't believe is very healthy for you anyway. Whole organic soy milk, tofu, edamame, miso and tempeh are all great though.

If you've been vegan for while, let's say over a year then you should be taking a vitamin B12 pill or sub-lingual liquid at least weekly for optimum healthy. That's about it. It's not hard, it's simple but socially it might take you time to get into your new routine. However, the animals will love you for it.

Here's that very yummy vegan smoothies I promised you earlier. I call this vegan smoothies "Monkey Goes Bananas". I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how it worked out for you.

Just remember the quantity of ingredients is estimated, I just chuck things in a blender, blend and enjoy. Stay a healthy vegan with this smoothie.

1 banana
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 Tbsp ground flax
2 Tbsp peanut butter
0.5 cup ice
pinch of nutmeg

Blend it all together until smooth. Pour in a large glass. This makes over 2 cups of deliciousness and will keep your belly smiling for the whole morning at less than 500 calories. Enjoy!