Any Vegans Out There?

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M

Montreal Skye

Guest
Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if there were any vegans out there. I've been trying to adopt a vegan lifestyle since last October. It's been such a struggle for me because I also suffer from IBS - this makes certain food items cripplingly painful to digest.

For the most part I'm doing okay. I figured out how to make a good tasting vegan cheese, coconut yogurt, I even make ice cream from coconut milk. I don't really miss animal products at all...except the protein aspect.

With the IBS, I need to avoid beans, chickpeas, high doses of wheat and most starchy and cruciferous veggies. Those are great sources of protein that I can't handle! Sucks too, I used to LOVE hummus...I'm not a big fan of soy either, go figure, so my protein intake is really suffering.

I have to be careful with the seeds too. I eat hemp and pumpkin seeds daily, but only in small doses. I love seitan but again, can only have it in small doses because of the wheat. I'll eat soy products, but only a few times a week. I eat grains like quinoa (or is quinoa a seed??), but again, with the efforts I make there still isn't enough protein.

I saw that the hemp company has protein powder, but gosh...it's so expensive! I've lately reverted to eating a small portion of fish each night because my energy has been so low and I've been getting sore muscles from weight training.

I'd say on a good day (without the fish), I only get about 30 grams of protein. The recommended by Health Canada is 46 grams for my age and gender, but I'd welcome a little more since I'm weight training.

I HATE eating the fish, but I couldn't stomach any meat or chicken. Any kind of dairy flares up the IBS too, so I can't even go vegetarian, oh and to boot? Allergic to eggs.

How's that for a dilemna? Any suggestions out there? (Besides eating animals again, which is the obvious, but I'm really trying to steer clear of that for ethical reasons!)

Thanks!!! (help!) :(
Skye
 
I don't really know how much help I can provide, but there are a few vegans here (I'm not exactly vegan, as I do eat dairy, but everything else about me is vegan)
Here's a thread (with a link to another thread in that thread) that may help a little as far as the vegans that are on this forum...
http://www.alonelylife.com/thread-vegans
 
Thanks Callie for the link. My diet is driving me nuts. I've done exhausted searches online for "vegan protein sources" and keep coming up with the same list I can't digest, sigh. I'm close to giving up.
 
I'm not vegan, but I am vegetarian.

Have you considered supplementing your diet with spirulina?
It's an algae that is very high in protein and other vitamins, it has about as much protein as meat or milk. The only downside is it's pretty expensive, but if you look around online you can get it at a discount. Try to go for Hawaiian spirulina though, it's better quality.

Do you like tempeh? It's a soy product but a bit different from the others.
There are a few grains that are a decent source of protein, such as brown rice and barley. Can you eat nuts? Or peanuts?
I should add that if you can eat rice, you should look into vegan protein substitutes derived from rice.

Quinoa actually is a decent source of protein, 9 grams per cup I believe. But considering your dietary limitations, you'd really have to eat a lot to get to your 46 grams a day.
 
Barbaloot said:
I'm not vegan, but I am vegetarian.

Have you considered supplementing your diet with spirulina?
It's an algae that is very high in protein and other vitamins, it has about as much protein as meat or milk. The only downside is it's pretty expensive, but if you look around online you can get it at a discount. Try to go for Hawaiian spirulina though, it's better quality.

Do you like tempeh? It's a soy product but a bit different from the others.
There are a few grains that are a decent source of protein, such as brown rice and barley. Can you eat nuts? Or peanuts?


Quinoa actually is a decent source of protein, 9 grams per cup I believe. But considering your dietary limitations, you'd really have to eat a lot to get to your 46 grams a day.

Thank you! Just the reply I was hoping for! :) I've never heard of spirulina actually. I just looked it up. I see that a teaspoon of the powder only has 2 grams of protein though. I know it all adds up, but I need something with a good 10-15 grams per serving I think.

Tempeh I've never tried, and I've asked my local store to stock it, but they haven't so far...I think I'll push them a little bit! I know that's a good source of protein and I've heard it has a meaty texture.

Peanuts are on the no-no list and nuts in small portions! I have 4 cashews in the morning, 1 gram protein, and 4 almonds in the afternoons, another gram there. I love quinoa, but it's so filling for me I can only handle 1/4 cup at a time!

I'm not trying to be contrary to your suggestions, I really appreciate them, it's just my limitations are challenging. I'll definitely try to get some tempeh, thanks! :)
 
I understand, the wife of one of my friends is vegan with a lot of dietary intolerances, so you're not the only one. :p She basically has to maintain her health with supplements, but it works for her.

My advice if you go for spirulina is to take it in concentrated tablet form, because it tastes *awful*, exactly like you'd imagine algae to taste.
You can also add other kinds of protein supplements to your diet, such as the ones derived from brown rice. They taste better at least. :p I guess pea derived ones are out of the question, but the vegan protein supplement market is huge so there are probably a lot I don't even know about.
 
If I could just add it up to around 46 grams a day, supplements and all, I'd be happy. Cost is an issue right now. I did see in passing one of those big jars in the supplement aisle last week...you know with all the body building powders. It said "Vegan" on it, I'll check it out next time I'm back at that store.

I have this pet peeve that I just want to get all of my nutrients through food. I know that's not always possible, you need supplements when you can't eat everything. I guess that's why I'm so uneasy about taking supplements in general. Maybe I need to get over that!

I used to live in the Maritimes, and people would eat seaweed by the handful, and I never took to the taste, ick.

Here's a mini-rant...I never had these intolerances and allergies before I took 7 years of pharmaceuticals for mental health disorders. They developed after that.


What the heck do I do with tempeh?? I've been looking things up, I guess I need to do more research...
 
Wow, that's really terrible that you've just now developed these food intolerances. :(

Unfortunately I don't see many other options for you in your situation without taking supplements, but, they are still healthy, and as long as you're eating a wide variety of other things you should be fine. So definitely look into what ever is available and what you can digest. I'm sure you can make it work.

Fortunately, if you can get your hands on tempeh, there are a lot of recipes online. www.food.com has quite a few. :) It's pretty versatile.
 
Barbaloot said:
Wow, that's really terrible that you've just now developed these food intolerances. :(

Unfortunately I don't see many other options for you in your situation without taking supplements, but, they are still healthy, and as long as you're eating a wide variety of other things you should be fine. So definitely look into what ever is available and what you can digest. I'm sure you can make it work.

Fortunately, if you can get your hands on tempeh, there are a lot of recipes online. www.food.com has quite a few. :) It's pretty versatile.

And you know, the IBS was onset by the pharmas too. My gastro-doc told me it's a near epidemic, the cases he's seen of people with bowel disorders who take or have taken anti-whatevers with relation to mental health disorders. Makes me slightly bitter!!

Thanks for that link! I think it's just a matter of ignorance on my part. It took me ages to figure out what to do with tofu!

Oh, how's this for spontaneous...I just got back from town. I went to the grocery store to price check those supplements. I found the brown rice one! It only amounts to about $1.00 a day and each serving is about 23 grams of protein! Thanks so SO much for your suggestions! And I stopped by the other store, they actually got in some tempeh, but as luck would have it, their freezers broke down overnight, everything is in the deep freeze and won't be available for sale until the weekend. At least I know it's there! :)
 
Montreal Skye said:
Barbaloot said:
Wow, that's really terrible that you've just now developed these food intolerances. :(

Unfortunately I don't see many other options for you in your situation without taking supplements, but, they are still healthy, and as long as you're eating a wide variety of other things you should be fine. So definitely look into what ever is available and what you can digest. I'm sure you can make it work.

Fortunately, if you can get your hands on tempeh, there are a lot of recipes online. www.food.com has quite a few. :) It's pretty versatile.

And you know, the IBS was onset by the pharmas too. My gastro-doc told me it's a near epidemic, the cases he's seen of people with bowel disorders who take or have taken anti-whatevers with relation to mental health disorders. Makes me slightly bitter!!

Thanks for that link! I think it's just a matter of ignorance on my part. It took me ages to figure out what to do with tofu!

Oh, how's this for spontaneous...I just got back from town. I went to the grocery store to price check those supplements. I found the brown rice one! It only amounts to about $1.00 a day and each serving is about 23 grams of protein! Thanks so SO much for your suggestions! And I stopped by the other store, they actually got in some tempeh, but as luck would have it, their freezers broke down overnight, everything is in the deep freeze and won't be available for sale until the weekend. At least I know it's there! :)

That's great. :) I hope the supplement works out for you and you can start getting creative with tempeh this weekend.
 
You can also look up the "Paleo" diet. There are some pretty good recipes out there for it. The main thing is to stay away from grains, processed foods, and lactose.
 
Ox Blood said:
You can also look up the "Paleo" diet. There are some pretty good recipes out there for it. The main thing is to stay away from grains, processed foods, and lactose.

Hi Ox Blood, I definitely stay away from grains, processed foods and dairy of all kinds. I actually thought I was lactose intolerant, but tests showed I wasn't. I found out it's the casein in the cow milk. Even the smaller casein molecules of goat milk turned my insides upside down. I try to eat gluten-free too, I seem to digest better that way. And I'm sugar-free, caffeine-free and alcohol-free. I need to take the time to look up recipes, I somehow find that a daunting task these days!
 
Hi, Montreal Skye. Do you tolerate black olives? They're not seeds, but fruits (or at least that's what they are considered to be). Olives contain about 9 grams of protein per 100 grams, from what I know. On the down side, they have a rather high calories intake (over 400 calories/100 grams).
 
iris said:
Hi, Montreal Skye. Do you tolerate black olives? They're not seeds, but fruits (or at least that's what they are considered to be). Olives contain about 9 grams of protein per 100 grams, from what I know. On the down side, they have a rather high calories intake (over 400 calories/100 grams).

Hey Iris,
I don't care about calories, I work out a lot and I LOVE olives. But my wicked little digestive system says "nope, not allowed"...I've come to the conclusion that another 8-week elimination diet is necessary. I'm starting on Monday and then I'll see what I can eat and what I can't. If I can't tolerate non-vegan and non-vegetarian sources of protein, then I'm giving up. Not for lack of trying that's for sure! But thanks for the suggestion!

Skye
 
Wow, you have a challenge!

I don't know except learn a handful of recipes that fit your dietary requirements.

I am vegan and have been for years. I've been veg for 27 years.

I thought my diet was hard. I can't do any sugar, need to avoid wheat (only occasionally) and, of course, being vegan. I can do it while at home but while traveling, too hard. It's harder to avoid wheat than it is meat, in case you haven't realized.

But I love it. I think it's a wonderful way of life and lifestyle and I try to learn a new recipe every week. Lately I've been grilling with all kinds of sauces and vegetables and proteins. It's so much fun, especially with so many wonderful vegan books out there and foods. We are really lucky,.
 

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