How To Prevent Iron Deficiency Or Anemia With A Healthy Vegan Diet

Preventing iron deficiency or anemia for the vegan is simpler than you think. Adjusting your diet to make it iron rich, or more specifically iron adequate is all that is needed.

Beginning with babies, breast milk is actually high in iron.  Babies absorb about 50mg iron from breast milk.

For adult women and teenagers, the requirement is less than 18mg a day.  During pregnancy however, a larger volume of blood is required to support the fetus so the risk of iron deficiency is higher during this time as well. Medically speaking, women require about 30-60mg of iron during pregnancy. Post menopause, women need about 8-10mg of iron a day.

Female athletes and endurance athletes are a very high risk group due to their excessive use of their red blood cells.  Loss of iron through sweat is commonly observed in their case.  Inadequate dietary iron with extensive training places a lot of stress on the body as the body has a hard time responding to these demands.

To fulfill the demands of the body in such cases iron enriched cereals, pastas, bread, legumes such as peas, baked beans and leafy vegetables such as spinach and coriander leaves, dried fruits, raisins, apricots, canned asparagus, baked potato, lentils and molasses are all good choices.  Red fruits such as watermelon and raspberries are excellent sources of iron.  Though rich, vegetables and fruits are a source of non heme iron.

Intake of iron has to be effective and to have the desired effect iron helpers have to be included in the diet. Vegetables have non heme iron which is difficult to absorb. Compared to 15 absorption rate in non vegetarian food items, it is only 5 in vegetarian ones. Vitamin C rich fruits (iron helpers) perfectly suit the purpose. Thus, intake of iron rich food simultaneously with a glass of lemon juice or orange juice only enhances the iron absorption. Other iron absorption enhancers are broccoli, tomato juice and sprouts and strawberries.

Red wine, calcium, caffeine, and tannins on the other hand are inhibitors.

In elderly people, anemia is usually prone to complications. The diet is the same for them but has to be monitored carefully. Under no condition, however, should the dietary iron be more than 50mg without medical supervision.

Symptoms of anemia include: Breathlessness, cardiac complications, fatigue and reduced physical and mental performance are just a few of its numerous effects. It goes without saying that prevention is the best solution.  Vegan and women especially can benefit from taking a liquid iron supplement to prevent anemia.

We recommend Florafix liquid iron and herbs as a supplement. A liquid supplement, no matter what it is, is the easiest and the best way for the body to absorb rather than pills.

Types Of Vegetarians From Raw Foodists To Lacto Vegetarians

A Real Vegan or Vegetarian Doesn't Eat Any Meat, Poultry or Fish

There are so many types of vegetarians, rather, there are so many different types of vegetarian diets out there.  Here is a list of all the different types of vegetarian diets out there:

Lacto ovo vegetarian

• The most common form of vegetarianism in western cultures.
• Avoid meat, fish, poultry and most foods arising from animal slaughter.
• Will eat dairy products, eggs and honey.
• Commonly referred to as “vegetarian”.

Lacto vegetarian

• Avoid meat, fish, poultry and most foods arising from animal slaughter.
• Avoid eggs and foods made with eggs.
• Will eat dairy products and usually honey.

Ovo vegetarian

• Avoid meat, fish, poultry and most foods arising from animal slaughter.
• Avoids dairy products and foods made with dairy.
• Will eat eggs and usually honey.

Vegan

• Avoid all foods containing animal products including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy and, frequently, honey
• Often avoid animal products altogether and will not wear leather or wool, nor use cosmetics and house-hold products with animal ingredients or by-products.

Fruitarian

• Eats only botanical fruits (including traditional vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, squash), nuts and seeds.

Raw Foodist

• Consumes raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains and legumes

The following is a list of what we call “Fake Vegetarians” or “Fake Vegans” because they still eat some meat.  Though they are worth mentioning in this list.

Pescetarian

• Avoid meat and poultry.
• Will eat fish, eggs, and dairy.
• Some will eat meat and poultry produced by non-factory-farming techniques.

Macrobiotic

• A dietary philosophy that advocates consuming seasonal foods.
• Diet varies according to the tradition being followed, with some allowing limited amounts of meat or seafood.
• Does not eat vegetables of the nightshade botanical family (potatoes, eggplant, peppers…)
• Foods are prepared and consumed based on the yin and yang principles of balance and harmony.

Natural hygiene

• Consume raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains and legumes, cooked grains and legumes and often limited amounts of animal products.
• Foods are consumed in specific combination for efficient digestion.

So which types of vegetarian diet is the best?  We personally support the raw foodist lifestyle the most because cooking destroys many valuable micronutrients and enzymes in your food.  If you want to lean more about raw foods and the raw foods lifestyle you can click here.

You Decide, Who Is The Most Famous Vegan?

Bet You Didn't Know Trinity Was A Vegan

From Ellen Degeneres to André 3000 here is a list of 30 famous people who are vegan, so who do you think is the most famous vegan of all?

Famous Vegan Actors

1. Alyssa Milano
2. Casey Affleck
3. Pamela Anderson
4. Gillian Anderson
5. Ellen DeGeneres
6. Portia De Rossi
7. Woody Harrelson
8. Carrie-Anne Moss
9. Joaquin Phoenix
10. Alicia Silverstone

Famous Vegan Musicians

1. André 3000
2. Bryan Adams
3. Fiona Apple
4. Erykah Badu
5. Lenny Kravitz
6. Prince
7. Paul McCartney
8. Moby
9. Alanis Morissette
10. Shania Twain

Famous Vegan Athletes

1. John Salley (former professional NBA player)
2. Ken Bradshaw (Professional Big Wave Surfer)
3. Peter Brock (Australian touring car driver)
4. Mac Danzig (professional mixed martial arts fighter)
5. Scott Jurek (ultramarathon runner)
6. Carl Lewis (track and field star)
7. Mike Mahler (Professional strength coach)
8. Ed Templeton (Professional skateboarder)
9. Salim Stoudamire (Professional NBA player)
10. Ricky Williams (Professional American Football Player)

To the best of our knowledge everyone on this list is vegan and not vegetarian.  Of course there are hundreds of other examples of vegans and vegetarians.

Famous vegetarians include Jude Law, Julia Stiles, Kim Basinger, Liv Tyler, and even Spiderman (Tobey Maguire).  We just want to note that Woody Harrelson is actually a raw vegan.

If someone on this list is no longer a vegan please let me know and I’ll take them off! 

Sinfully Delicious Apple Strudel Vegan Cookies

This recipe for apple strudel vegan cookies is so so good. Be careful though because this recipes only makes about 10 vegan cookies. To make sinfully delicious apple strudel vegan cookies you will need a the following ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 3-4 crushed up vegan graham crackers (this makes the cookies crunchy like pie!)
• 1 organic apple chopped up into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup soy, hemp or almond milk
• 1/2 cup soy based margarine
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 dash of salt

Directions

1. To make the apple strudel vegan cookies, preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Melt the margarine, “milk”, and sugar in a saucepan on low heat until the mix is completely dissolved.  Pour the contents into a in mixing bowl and add the apple pieces and graham crackers.  You want to add these first so that the hot mixture softens up the cone and the apple.  Slowly pour in flour as you in the mix, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and finally the dash of salt.
3. Divide the mixture, shape them into cookie shapes and bake them for 10- 15 minutes or until they are golden brown and crunchy.  Enjoy!

The Most Delicious Vegan Cheesecake Recipe In The World

Everyone has their own variation of a vegan cheesecake recipe.  This is our world’s most delicious vegan cheesecake recipe. To make it you will need:

• 12oz silken tofu
• ½ cup soy, hemp or almond milk
• ½ cup raw sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup maple syrup or agave nectar
• 1 9″ graham cracker crust
• a box of fresh organic strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Wrap the tofu in a paper towel and gently squeeze excess moisture out.  This will help keep the final product from being runny.
2. In a blender, combine the tofu, choice of milk, sugar, vanilla extract and maple syrup or agave nectar.  Blend until smooth.
3. Pour the blended mixture into the pie crust and smooth the top with a spatula.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove from vegan cheesecake from the oven and place it on the counter to cool.
6. Place it in the fridge when the vegan cheesecake is cool and chill overnight or for at least 10 hours
7. Top the entire vegan cheesecake with strawberries.

That’s all these is to this vegan cheesecake recipe.  Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

Vegan chocolate cake is super easy to make and a vegan chocolate cake with a recipe is even easier!

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups organic, unbleached flour, sifted (regular flour works)
• 6 tablespoons organic cocoa powder, sifted (regular cocoa works)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar) (regular sugar works )
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 T canola oil (may substitute safflower oil)
• 2 tsp raspberry vinegar *optional
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/4 cup vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk (if batter seems too thick, add more)
• fresh berries of choice – blackberries, raspberries, strawberries or blueberries

To make vegan chocolate cake, first:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Place flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda, sugar and salt in a medium size mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
3. Pour the soy milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla into the flour mixture.
4. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together until smooth, then pour into a 9 x 9 inch baking pan. (Spray cake pan with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in cake batter.)
5. Bake the cake at 350 F for about 25 – 30 minutes.  After 25-30 minutes test if the cake is done with a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done!  Cool the vegan chocolate cake on a cooling rack, and then remove from pan.  If you baked the cake in a glass baking dish, the cake should slip out easily once it has thoroughly cooled.
6. Garnish with fresh berries of your choice, cut and serve.

What Is A Vegan

A Vegan Doesn't Consume Any Animal OR Animal By Products

Whenever I tell someone that I am a vegan, I often get the question, “What is a vegan?”  In a nutshell vegan is someone who doesn’t eat any animal or animal by-products.  Whereas a vegetarian may still consume honey, milk, cheese and other animal by products, but not the actual meat from animals, a vegan does not.

Foods that contain animal by products that a vegan will not eat include gelatin, whey, honey, eggs, milk or anything with milk including cheese, milk chocolate, yogurt, some cakes and ice cream.

The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are a ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual and/or religious concerns.

A vegan may even abstain from wearing clothing and products made from animal by products such as fur, leather, silk, wool or cashmere items.  Animal by products can be found in such a wide range of items from makeup to the casing on medicine.  Even Vegan Outreach argues that “it can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to shun every minor or hidden animal-derived ingredient,” and therefore that doing what is “best for preventing suffering” is more important than identifying and excluding every animal ingredient.

One of the issues that come up when someone wants to be a vegan is the concern that a vegan does not get enough nutrition from their diet.  Some vegans take supplements to get adequate nutrition.  However, we find that a diet that is full and rich in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and occasionally superfoods is enough to do the trick.

Now that you know what is a vegan, try “going vegan” for a day, a week or even a month to see if you enjoy it.  You may find that you are a lot happier being a vegan and even become a vegan for life!