Thank you for sharing your experience with being vegan – and it is awesome to hear that it is working for you!
All the best with continued great health.

To answer your question of substitutes, you have inspired me to write a whole article on it, as there was a lot that I wanted to share with you and make it as helpful as possible for you – and other readers who are wondering the same thing as you, as well.

So thank you so much for asking the question and I answer it here:
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/916/how-to-handle-vegan-and-vegetarian-substitutions-for-common-food-items/

Please feel free to let me know if I missed anything, or if you have any other questions that this may stir up for you.

I can totally relate to thinking “one has a healthy diet” before going vegetarian or vegan. I know because I was there. If someone asked me 5 years ago if I eat healthy I would have said “oh yes, definitely”. However, seeing what I know today about the food I used to eat and then going all natural and vegan – WOW – what a difference. In the end it really comes down to I find knowing that there are different levels and definitions of what “healthy” really means.

I am so happy to hear that all your husband’s problems have resolved :)

@ HUNTER – Thank you Hunter for the feedback :)

Hunter I can so relate to what you have said. It kind of goes along the lines of what I said to Elena above. If someone told me 5, but even 3 years ago that I would be vegan today, I would not have believed them. But look at that – today I am – and thriving and loving it. And all that changed where my ideas about food and nutrition.

So what advice I give to people now is this – take your time with any change you are facing – but stay open minded and continue to research more on it.

I have friends who became vegan in one month from eating a better version of the SAD diet, and then I have examples like myself who took about a year to 2 to get to where I am today.

See for me, as I learned a little, I wanted to know more, so I just continued to read and learn. As I learned “enough” on any particular topic I was ready to make a change. So for me change came in steps. First went the red meat. 4 months later all meat. 6 months later dairy. 6 months later refined sugar. Then eggs and today I am all plant based and natural.

So take all the time you need – know that there is no one right way and no one has to rush, as that might only make you do things you are not ready for. Just immerse yourself in knowing more about what you are interested in and all the rest will come on its own. To me at times it honestly felt like I just woke up one day and no longer would eat this or that. But in reality it was a beautiful journey and process.

Enjoy yours :)

After watching a few videos of animals being raised for food, it makes any decent person never want to eat animal products again. Whether I’ll be able to stick to that is a big question, but I figure just making an attempt is a good start.

Evita, thanks for stopping by my blog ;)

While for more women before menopause, like me, it is generally an issue of not enough iron, for many men, especially one’s who regularly eat meat, and fortified food with iron (which today is many processed foods) they can actually be at risk of iron overload. This puts a huge stress on the body, and this is why I always recommend that people (no matter what they eat) go for a yearly blood test, for things like cholesterol, iron, B12, among some other things.

As for cutting down on meat David, that definitely never hurt anyone, but on the contrary added to many benefits. So if you are up for it, I would definitely give it a try and remember more fruits and veggies – fresh and raw as much as possible.

And you couldn’t have said it better, when it comes to ones diet, it is definitely better and try and do something, instead of sit back and do nothing. The way I see it, is that there is ALWAYS room for imporvement – in everyone’s diet.

@ AKEMI – Hi Akemi

As far as supplements go, I am not big on most supplements, as I really think we should always look first to our diet to get everything we need. I know some people live off of supplements. However, having said that, there are some supplements that support the body very well and are a really good option to take, especially today that we messed up so many natural cycles. For example vegans of the past, had no problem getting B12 from plants, thanks to today’s farming practices, this is no longer applicable.

Here is the problem though, say for example multivitamins. They are pushed on us today in pill form, in drinks and even in food. But this gives a lot of people a false sense of security. I feel that many people use that as an excuse not to eat good. Like “oh I can have my McDonald’s, as I take my multivitamins”

Unfortunately it does not work like this. If it did, then we could help the 3rd world countries by just sending them multivitamins.
So for one – most vitamins in pill form are not well absorbed by the body (and we just pee them out giving our livers and kidneys more unnecessary work)
Two – vitamins and minerals work in a very synergistic wat, ie. too much or too little of one can throw off many important functions of the others. This is usually not a concern with diet alone, but when one puts in pill forms they can really quickly sometimes upset proper levels for all these substances to work properly.

You can also check out the following two articles I wrote:
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/30/multivitamins-to-take-or-not-to-take/
and
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/27/vitamins-and-minerals-a-quick-guide/

So, if one is a vegan, they must think about what they are going to do about the B12. Will they eat the processed food that is fortified with it, or will they take a supplement?
If they take a supplement, most supplements are of the form cyanocobalamin. This is okay, but it is not the most efficient form, as it has to still be metabolized by our body to be used. The most absorbable and effective one appears to be B12 in the methylcobalamin form. If one has no issues with a deficiency and gets their blood checked yearly, and sees no decrease, then their body is probably fine with the “cyano” form. But if there are some past issues with B12 or any area for concern, it would be probably best to find a methylcobalamin form.

In terms of brands, I don’t really have one I recommend, as there are so many and availability differs depending on location. I would look for a pill of about 50-100mcg daily and one where in the ingredients there are no artificial colors, preservatives, fillers, etc. If there are problems with the stomach, one might also want to consider a sublingual form or nasal spray form.

I also recommend reading the following article from a nurse on B12:
http://blog.peta2.com/2009/09/b12_a_nurse_gives_the_lowdown.html

In terms of calcium – I just read a fantastic article from Dr.Olson about calcium – he is the author of Sugarettes and was featured here on Evolving Wellness too. That will say exactly pretty much how I feel about calcium and how we are somewhat greatly mislead when it comes to this mineral.

http://olsonnd.com/calcium-myths/

In mainstream medicine they scare us with these huge numbers of you must get this and you must get that – but the truth is sometimes these things do more harm than good. Dr. Pam Popper is also amazing to look into her work on calcium, as she amazingly explains how calcium supplements can actually throw your body into absorbing less calcium and leaching more.

I guess I should write about all this in an article on its own, eh? Another good inspiration Akemi – thanks!