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From Vegetarian to Vegan - Making the transition

Coming home from camp one day last summer, my then-10-year-old son announced: "Now I’m a vegan." As a lifelong vegetarian (as is his older brother) and the child of committed vegetarian parents, this didn’t come as much of a shock as when I informed my family 30 years ago that I was becoming a vegetarian. Still, when I emptied his lunch box and saw that he had left his rice cheese sandwich uneaten (mistaking it for dairy cheese), my Typical Mom reaction was, "Couldn’t you have become a vegan after lunch?"

I had been privately considering going vegan myself, so when my older son followed his younger brother’s lead, I decided to take the plunge myself. Ours was a fairly typical transition— longtime lacto-ovo vegetarians gradually giving up eggs and dairy, to take the final leap from vegetarian to vegan.

What is vegan, exactly? Vegetarians avoid meat, fowl, and seafood; vegans avoid all animal products in the diet, including eggs, dairy products, and honey. They also avoid any animal products in daily life. No leather, no wool, and no cosmetics tested on animals. For most vegans, ethical factors weigh in equally, if not more so, as health and environmental issues. Concerns for animal welfare and the embracing of a more compassionate lifestyle means that in general, any products that are animal-derived or that contain animal byproducts are avoided.

Before going vegan, I worried that family meals might be impossibly restrictive, but making the transition for home cooking has been surprisingly easy. With the variety of nondairy cheeses and milks so readily available, we can still enjoy favorite recipes. At first, eating out was tricky, but I find that more and more, the word “vegan” is in the general lexicon and while I still can’t say you’ll get a great meal most places you go, it’s definitely getting easier.

The bottom line, though, is that eating vegan is not just about substituting one kind of cheese for another so that you can still have pizza. The optimal vegan diet, like any ideal diet, is abundant with fresh organic fruits and vegetables, including plenty of leafy greens, whole grains, beans and other legumes, nuts, and seeds. If tolerated well, soy is indispensable. Even if you can’t see yourself going completely vegan any time soon, anyone can benefit from enjoying a totally plant-based meal from time to time. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how hearty and satisfying it can be.

Resources and tips for going vegan

According to Brenda Davis, R.D., and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D., authors of Becoming Vegan, “The vast majority of studies assessing the dietary intakes and nutritional status of vegans reassure us that well-planned vegan diets can supply adequate nutrition...It is important to recognize, however, that as with nonvegetarian or lacto-ovo vegetarian diets, vegan diets can be both adequate and inadequate.” The most important first step in going vegan is to seek reliable information, read, and learn.

Good books to start with are the aforementioned Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet (Book Publishing Company, 2000) and Simply Vegan by Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels, RD, Ph.D. (Vegetarian Resource Group, 1999).

The Vegetarian Resource Group’s web site (www.vrg.org) is one of the web’s premier destination for all things vegan, including articles on nutritional needs from infancy to adulthood. Request their brochure, Vegan Diets in a Nutshell, which encapsulates ways to obtain protein, calcium, zinc, iron, and vitamins D and B12. Becoming a member of VRG entitles you to Vegetarian Journal, a quarterly publication of vegan nutrition, ethics, and recipes.

For tips on raising vegan children, VegFamily (www.vegfamily.com) is an excellent web resource dedicated to supporting vegan families, including product reviews, expert Q & A, personal stories, and more. Vegetarian Baby (www.vegetarianbaby.com) and Vegetarian Teen (www.vegetarianteen.com) also offer support for aspiring vegan families.

Explore large natural foods stores and well-stocked supermarket to learn about products suited to the vegan diet. The "soy dairy" is often side-by-side with conventional dairy products and there you’ll find soy milk, cheeses, cream cheese, and even Silk® coffee creamer. Soy isn’t the only way to replace dairy; explore rice, oat, or almond-based milks and cheeses as well. Butter is easily replaced with nonhydrogenated margarine. Try making your favorite recipes using some of these vegan substitutes. You’ll hardly notice the difference!

The best way to go vegan is gradually. If that’s your goal, segue gently from a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. Many people give up eggs first, then milk. Cheese is often last to go. Eat only plant-based foods once a week at first to see how you—and your palate—react. If it suits you, add another plant-based day per week for a while, then make the complete switch when you feel ready.

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