i'm thinking of turning vegan. what can and can't i eat?

Well, the tricky part is knowing what to look for. There are some items of debate amongst vegans (for example, white sugar is often processed with bone meal ash. Some overlook this, others find it completely off limits).

Things to watch for are:

Meats & meat broths (including fish & poultry and seasonings such as bonito flakes and Worcestershire sauce)

Gelatin (often found in things like yogurts, candies, ice creams, frostings [like on Pop Tarts] most gel caps)

Animal fats (found in many baked goods such as Hostess products, pie-pockets, etc)

dairy

honey

leather and silk items (most vegans avoid purchasing these things but many believe it is OK to purchase them 2nd hand.)

As extensive as the above list is, there are still SOO many things you can eat.

Non dairy cheeses, yogurts, non-dairy ice creams (I LOVE Rice Dream -- even prefer it over dairy ice cream)

many faux meats (some have dairy products -- Boca makes many vegan "meat" patties), gluten products

beans/legumes

veggies

fruits

grains

Aside from purely vegetarian/vegan restaurants, you may want to try Thai restaurants and Indian restaurants when you wish to go out. Neither are exclusively vegan - when dining at Thai restaurants, check to see that the dishes you order do not contain fish broth, fish oil or fish flakes (bonito flakes, for example). At Indian restaurants, be sure there is no dairy in what you order.

There are SO many great books available now. One of my favorites is La Dolce Vegan (played off the phrase La Dolce Vida, or The Sweet Life)

Good luck! You really should do well.

I want you to know that becoming a Vegan isn't so much what you can and cannot eat but a way of life. I'm not Vegan but many of my friends are. They have tried to explain to me about being Vegan, I have some of the finer points down let me try to explain them to you. what is a VEGAN? A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who, for various reasons, chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. While vegetarians choose not to use flesh foods, vegans also avoid dairy and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals. I got the best information about Vegans and what they are all about on this web site, I hope you check it.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.

The key to a nutritionally sound vegan diet is variety. A healthy and varied vegan diet includes fruits, vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, and legumes.

Protein

It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein as long as calorie intake is adequate. Strict protein planning or combining is not necessary. The key is to eat a varied diet.

Almost all foods except for alcohol, sugar, and fats are good sources of protein. Vegan sources include: potatoes, whole wheat bread, rice, broccoli, spinach, almonds, peas, chickpeas, peanut butter, tofu, soy milk, lentils, kale...

For example, if part of a day's menu included the following foods, you would meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein for an adult male: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup soy milk, 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 bagel, 2 Tablespoons peanut butter, 1 cup vegetarian baked beans, 5 ounces tofu, 2 Tablespoons of almonds, 1 cup broccoli, and 1 cup brown rice.

Being Vegetarian - For whatever reason you are becoming veggie, you can't call yourself vegetarian if you eat any kind of fish or if you eat cheese with animal rennet.

In fact, ethically minded vegetarians don't buy leather. (Remember, leather came from an animal that once had a pulse and a pair of eyes!) However, as a vegetarian it may be argued that you could buy 2nd hand goods that contain leather. This is because you are not directly responsible for the animal's death ... it was slaughtered as a choice of the product's original owner from new, not yours. I.e. second-hand cars with leather seats / upholstery is a buying choice that hangs somewhat precariously on the edge of animal ethics for veggies. Vegetarians might also feel justified in buying leather goods made from animals, which have died from natural causes.

Also note that silk is made from creatures that were killed to make it - silkworms in fact.

So remember, to be a "un-hypocritical" vegetarian, it's:

No meat

No fish

No fish eggs (fish are killed to collect them)

No cheese with animal rennet

No wines, beers or spirits with animal-derived fining agents or colouring

No food products with gelatine (parts of hooves and legs of horses and cows)

No food with animal-derived ingredients and colours (see nutrition site)

No new leather (but best none at all)

No fur

No silk

And ... if you really want to be a well-tuned-in 21st century veggie, make a conscious effort not buy foods that destroy precious animal habitats. This includes foods with palm oil - produced by flattening rain forests and in turn killing thousands of primates and other animals (see more here). Also, always check the source of organic soy based products, because again, rain forests are being wiped of the face of the earth to grow organic soy beans. (see more here)

So, with palm oil and soy, ask questions in your supermarket to find out exactly from where the ingredients were sourced ... If from the Brazilian or Indonesian rain forest areas, then don't buy it.

i think of in effortless terms those will go decrease back to eating meat who stopped eating it because of the fact of non-violence and animal rights motives yet deep down they actually desire they might eat meat reason they like it and otherwise do no longer see something incorrect with eating it. i finished eating meat because of the fact that's undesirable for religious progression so I won't, as nicely as a vegetarian my wellness has greater plenty (regardless of the undeniable fact that it greater much extra as quickly as I even have been given rid of different forms of undesirable food). i've got not got self assurance that meat is a necessity in any respect, i've got self assurance that people can thrive on a vegetarian based food plan. eating meat is in effortless terms a prepare and habit, dependancy to style. fairly than becoming some thing weird and wonderful like synthetic meat that can deliver approximately unknown wellness issues (that ought to be an test extremely), it sort of feels plenty extra smart to sell vegetarian existence sort.

I know a few vegans. Vegans don't eat any animals. No cheese, No dairy products this includes No eggs! What U can eat is everything else: grains, beans, fruit, seeds, veggies,

You can not eat anything that contains dairy or meat.

Be on alert foods such as gelitan have meat produce in it.

Gelitan has groung up animal bones ehhhh

I have a friend who's vegan. She eats nothing dairy, since that's derived from cows (meat), which means no milk, cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc. No eggs either.

You're pretty well limited to fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. You're going to want those nuts for protein, trust me!

Personally I see absolutely nothing wrong with eating meat, but that's your choice.

all the vegetables & fruit you want

no meats, dairy, or eggs. stay away from anything that includes "gelatin, lanolin, rennet, whey, and beeswax."

vegan action - http://www.vegan.org/

the word vegan means non meat,vegetables,rice and wheet and veg oil