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5 Healthy Foods That Should Be a Part of Your Vegan Diet

April 16, 2019

If you’re a vegan, we all owe you a big “thank you” for your service to animal welfare and the environment. And we’d like to keep you as happy in your chosen way of eating as possible. So we offer these healthy vegan foods for your consideration.

1. Legumes

Rich in protein and fiber, legumes have lots of nutrients. But they also have antinutrients. The trick is to process them to reduce the antinutrients and preserve the benefits. So if sprouting and fermenting seem like too much work for beans, just cook them.

And remember, eat them with foods high in vitamin C to increase iron absorption. Don’t eat them with foods high in calcium since it interferes with absorption.

2. Vegan “Dairy” with Calcium

Speaking of calcium, one easy way to get enough is to eat/drink non-dairy foods fortified with calcium. And it’s worth finding products also fortified with vitamins D and B12. You can make high protein choices too, turning to hemp milk or soy cheese. But the less sugar, the better.

3. Seeds: Flax, Chia, and Hemp

These seeds have more protein than most others. And:

Flax and chia (as well as seaweed) provide ALA, which is converted to EPA and DHA. This is important for vegans who don’t get EPA/DHA from fish.

And hemp has the ideal balance of omega-3s to omega-6s. It’s also beneficial for skin health, inflammation, and menstrual/menopausal relief.

4. Sprouted or Fermented Plants

Along with cooking, sprouting and fermenting are ways of processing plant foods that can make them more nutritious. They “disarm” the antinutrients that block absorption of beneficial nutrients to create healthy vegan foods.

5. Nuts and Seeds

Granted, they’re high in protein and nutrients. But they can be used in all sorts of dishes. Sweet or savory, breakfast to dinner to dessert, nuts, and seeds offer variety as well as nutrition.