Eating a plant-based diet doesnt make you a vegan; any more than eating sushi makes you Japanese. A plant based diet is just a part of the whole process of switching into the vegan lifestyle. A vegan lifestyle is part of a much larger process of enhancing a kind, compassionate and harm-free lifestyle that are applied in the all areas of life.
Just think of this. Where do animals get their food source? From the plants, fruits and vegetables have all the needed vitamins and minerals that can provide our body with proper nutrition. You can get complete nutrition from carrots, potatoes, broccoli, soy beans, legumes, nuts whole grains and other plants.
Some people stop consuming meat while some prefer to add dietary changes in a slower pace. Whatever way you decide to make your switch, you can reap health benefits of a vegan lifestyle by significantly cutting down on your meat servings every day and making fruits and vegetables the primary component of your meals. Some experts suggest the following pointers you can follow while on a vegan lifestyle:
1. Consume whole grain products such as brown rice, cereals, wheat bread instead of refined products.
2. Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables
3. Choose non-fat dairy products
4. Limit intake of egg yolks to 3 to 4 every week
5. Limit consumption of sugar and fatty foods
6. Plan your shopping so that you can have more time to read food labels
7. There are available vegan products in the market today and there are also special stores devoted in manufacturing and selling non-animal products.
High consumption of animal fats is attributed to a high risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and other diseases. Switching to a vegetarian lifestyle is very wise choice when you are really serious about your health. Changing your diet can be very rewarding in many different ways.
If you would choose to use a vegan diet you can reap several benefits such as weight loss, lower hypertension, lower cholesterol and more energy. Adopting a vegan lifestyle can also decrease the bodys blood sugar and lessen the risk of different kinds of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
If you really want to switch your feeding habits but you are not very sure if you have the will and guts to be a total vegetarian, you should take a subtle step into a vegan lifestyle first. There are also some differences between a vegetarian and a vegan. Vegetarians generally abstain from animal flesh, while vegans also avoid animal products or products that have been tested on animals. Vegans also do not consume dairy and cheese as well as any material things that are made from animal parts.
There are also health habits that you should do when you want a vegan lifestyle. You should exercise daily at least a moderate form of any physical activity for at least 30 minutes to one hour every day. You should also avoid alcohol, but you can always take a can of beer or a glass of wine occasionally because over consumption of alcoholic beverages negates the whole concept of going into a vegan lifestyle since alcohol is extremely acidic and can harm the body.