Vegan for Life

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“The vegan revolution is upon us!
Vegan for Life
is an essential handbook for understanding all of the ins and outs of this increasingly popular lifestyle choice.”

—Mark Reinfeld, coauthor of
The 30-Minute Vegan
,
The 30-Minute Vegan’s Taste of the East
,
The Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw
, and
Vegan Fusion World Cuisine

“In a clear and concise manner, vegan nutritionists Jack and Virginia spell out what it really means to be healthy. Reading this well presented, fact-based book about your well-being and the well-being of our planet, you’ll be equipped with all the necessary tools to achieve your own personal best in health.”

—Robert Cheeke, best-selling author of
Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

“
Vegan For Life
shows not only the adequacy and benefits of a vegan diet, but the steps to make the transition and do it right! It’s the book I recommend to all of my clients.”

—Matt Ruscigno, MPH, RD

A
vegan diet is the world’s most simple solution to a host of complex problems.

For almost all of human history, people ate whatever they could get their hands on; availability, habit, and taste preferences were the factors that drove food choices. That changed a mere century or so ago, when the new science of nutrition revealed that food was more than just something to eat—it was part of an approach to optimal health.

But in the past few decades, we’ve come to understand that what we eat has more far-reaching effects. Not just on our health but on the lives of the animals who share this planet with us and on the very future of the planet itself. Our current food system supports a growing health crisis in America, a worrisome loss of global resources, and some of the worst cruelty to animals imaginable. Today, there are a lot of good reasons to embrace a vegan diet.

Going vegan is easy and fun. But without a doubt, there is a little bit of a learning curve. That’s why we wrote this book—to provide both newcomers and more seasoned vegans with solid information that will keep your diet healthy and practical.

As dietitians and animal advocates, we are unapologetically provegan, and we want to help as many people as possible take steps toward an animal-free diet. That means that we want you to have the best nutrition advice possible, because a vegan diet isn’t a realistic choice if you aren’t meeting your nutrient needs or eating in a way
that supports optimal health. We’ll give you all of the basic nutrition information—the absolutely essential facts that you need to safeguard your health while moving toward a vegan diet. We’ve also provided plenty of practical tips and tools to make the transition easy.

For those who are new to veganism, we hope the information in this book will reassure you that a vegan diet is safe and healthy. But we think that longtime vegans will find plenty of useful information here as well. We’re going to sort through myths that have caused some vegans to make less-than-optimal food choices and give you ideas on how to make your vegan diet even healthier.

And if you are just dipping your toe in the water, that’s fine. Use the information here to start a transition, because even reducing the amounts of animal foods in your diet makes a big difference.

Veganism may seem like something new and unusual, but it’s a concept that has been around for awhile. In 1944, just after the end of World War II, a small group of British vegetarians added the word “vegan” to our language. It was derived from the first three and last two letters of the word “vegetarian” because, they said, “Veganism starts with vegetarianism and carries it through to its logical conclusion.”

It was not an easy time to be a vegan, especially in England. Postwar food shortages made any kind of special diet difficult. The science of nutrition was young, and some nutrients of specific concern to vegans hadn’t even been identified yet. Nobody had ever heard of veganism, so it stands to reason that resources like cookbooks were nonexistent.

The change we’re seeing sixty-five years later would have astounded those early pioneers. In fact, they astound some of us who have been vegan for a mere twenty years. Not only do we have hundreds of vegan cookbooks, but we also have cookbooks devoted to vegan baking, holiday celebrations, meals for kids, and backyard barbecues. Nearly every grocery store in America carries soymilk, veggie hotdogs, and dairy-free
ice cream. And if you can’t find what you want in your local market, there are online vegan grocery stores to fill almost every need.