Lessons Learned from a Vegan Diet
What began as a food-based detox turned into a lesson in responsible living. By Heather Wood Rudúlph
Like just about everyone in America, I was hankering to go on a slimming detox diet after New Year’s. But based on previous experiences with just about every form of cleanse, I knew I wanted a food-based diet. Eliminating everything but organic, natural foods seemed like the clear choice. Mission: Eat exclusively vegan for a month.
This diet wasn’t all that new to me. I was raised vegan—yes, really—and have followed some version of a vegetarian diet for most of my life. But I had been a happy fish-and-poultry eater for a few years and just felt like I needed a break. I yearned for a “cleaner” diet; something that made me feel good rather than too-full after each meal.
The initial motivation of an internal cleanse quickly turned into a mission to experience responsible eating at its finest. Even though I’ve always been a conscious consumer—organic, free-range, pasteurized only, thanks, and NO, don’t you dare put it in a plastic bag!—as I researched vegan cuisine, I was reminded of the personal and political reasons why so many choose to eat this way all the time. Then I watched this “Oprah,” read these books and watched this movie. The mission was so go for launch.
Beginning was easy, the midway point was a little boring, and by the time I finally consumed my first much-missed tuna sandwich, I knew eating this way all the time wasn’t for me—at least not right now. But I did learn a lot about healthy eating, formed an even deeper appreciation for where all of our food comes from and am dedicated to eating as responsibly as possible—no matter what it is.
Here are some of the best lessons I learned through this experiment:
I can cook! I’m usually timid in the kitchen—sticking to basics and a few signature dishes I know I can knock out of the park. But when you’re on a restricted diet, culinary creativity is a must. Each week, I logged hours online looking up new recipes, researching ingredients, buying groceries—so many groceries!—and desperately seeking creative ways to make soy, whole grains and plants taste interesting. And guest what, there are so many ways! Eggplant penne with artichokes, roasted red peppers and olives—yum! Roasted butternut squash soup with chipotle cream—O.M.G! Sesame-chili kale with toasted walnuts—Un-real! Vegan banana blueberry bread with walnuts—my food-snob husband and I literally wrestled over the last slice; it’ll be a staple from now on.
The best part of trying new recipies is that you can tweak ingredients to better suit your palette. For example, the kale recipe I used didn’t call for much flavor, so I kicked it up with a mix of sesame and chili oil. The blueberry banana bread lacked the crunch I love in traditional B-bread, so I added the walnuts. That amazing butternut squash soup didn’t seem to miss a thing by subbing vegetable broth for chicken. Anything goes in the kitchen—except maybe milk and orange juice (see: “Heathers”).
Eating more whole grains and fresh vegetables is better than a colonic. That “clean” feeling I was looking for arrived just a couple days in to eating massive portions of leafy vegetables and whole grains. To me, this is proof that the food pyramid has been right all along. I’m never going on a carb-free kick again.
Some things you miss more than others. In my case, it was fresh fish and yogurt that I pined for when faced with another soy-based dinner or carb-loaded breakfast. Interestingly, I didn’t find myself craving any other type of meat, dairy or eggs.
Farmers’ markets rule. Eating healthier can mean eating more responsibly by simply shopping at the right source. For inspiration and a great weekend activity, I made it a habit–one I stick to today–to visit local farmers’ markets each weekend to stock up on fresh ingredients to experiment with in the vegan kitchen. Buying locally from trusted, organic farmers supports small farmers and cuts down on emissions that are used to ship the produce you find at your local grocery store. I also discovered the importance of eating seasonally. Living in California, I’m fortunate to have access to most fruits and vegetables year-round. However, there are certain winter months when tomatoes just aren’t available. And guess what: Life goes on! There are so many recipes you can use with canned tomatoes and not having them for my salad forced me to experiment with new combinations—such as romaine, mango and fresh-mint tossed with a lime-shallot-honey vinaigrette.
Wine is vegan. And thank God for that! There are also a number of delicious organic varieites available at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and many sizable wine stores.
It’s OK to eat dairy and meat—if you do it responsibly. Realizing I don’t want to be totally vegan all the time made makes the meat/dairy choices I do make seem that much more valuable. When I go to the grocery store now, I evaluate every choice, asking myself, “Do I really want this in my diet or is it just easy and familiar?”
Knowing now that cheese and milk products contribute largely all feelings of bloat I experience, I’ve managed to all but eliminate them from my back-to-normal diet. Sure, there’s a little feta in my Greek salad and shaved Parmesan on my pasta, and I gotta have my yogurt. But I’m not reaching for quesadillas, pizzas or cheese-and-fruit trays any longer.
I also know which fish varieties to avoid, what to look for on dairy labels, and that it’s our right to ask our grocers or farmers how the food they’re selling was raised, processed and shipped. Demanding better quality and higher standards will help us all eat healthier—and even live longer lives.
FIVE FUN, NEW FOODS I LEARNED TO LOVE
Quinoa: It’s a protein, it’s a high-fiber carb, it’s a super food!
Chipotle peppers: They make even the blandest soups or tofu scrambles simply scrumptious!
Fennel: Funny-looking root veg that spruces up salads with a distinct licorice taste.
Lentils: They’re brown and bland, so it seems, but much like tofu, they take the flavor of anything you cook them with. They’re full of fiber and so versatile—from a citrus salad to a Mediterranean stew.
Cheese-free pizza: When whole wheat dough is slathered with sundried tomato pesto, roasted eggplant and artichoke and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, you’d never know something was missing.
RESPONSIBLE EATING RESOURCES
The Environmental Defense Fund
Tips for Responsible Carnivores
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Tell us your vegan adventures, Sirens? And share what you’ve learned with the community below!
For Further Reading: FemiNoshing: Being a Responsible Carnivore, FemiNoshing: My Organic Conundrum
Heather Wood Rudúlph is the co-founder and editor of SirensMag.
Tags: feminoshing, food, organic, responsible eating, vegan
March 20th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Heather, Great job!! By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. With Love, Auntie Judy
March 24th, 2010 at 8:46 am
As consumer, we don’t read the label nearly enough. But when my wife and I went Vegan (her for ethics, me for health — see food inc), we learned to really look into our food. Here are 6 lessons about food:
1. Diet means what you eat, not what you don’t eat. Everyone is on a diet. It even looks strange to write that, but the food we consume is our diet, not the other way around. When you flick the semantic switch, you open up the things you want to eat, and don’t think about the things you ‘can’t’.
2. So, this is related to #1: A vegan isn’t bound by rules — we can eat fish, put chicken stock in a soup — have yogurt. When people say: “Oh, you can’t eat that can you” in a tone normally used on 7-year-olds, we’ll sometimes point out that we can eat anything, but choose not to.
3. But then, we try not to be preachy to the people from #2. We’re doing this for us, not for other people, so we don’t like to get into the ethics or health debate. That said, if pushed, I’ll ask people why on earth they would eat farmed shrimp or industrialized beef. And don’t get me started on milk — I’m neither a cow or a baby one. See, it’s easy to get preachy, which is why we really mostly just nod and agree that “we can’t eat that”. We’re not part of a force. We’ve just re-jigged our diet.
4. It’s rare that you can substitute. Seitan isn’t meat (and won’t ever taste like it). If you love cheese, you won’t find a “vegan cheese”. There are some nice rice substitutes, but they are different. My wife makes a pizza with a nut based cream that is wonderful, but it isn’t a cheese pizza. It’s new. (A few exception: vegan mayonnaise, earth balance “butter”, some soy yogurts in Indian dishes).
5. Explore ethnic foods. The foods of asia, from Indian to Chinese, often don’t even have meat in the recipe. Go around the world, where meat isn’t as abundant, and eating becomes more adventurous, not less.
6. Anything, and I mean anything, that makes you look more closely, or think harder about the food you eat is good. The food industry has done a good job at making dinner so easy that people don’t have to think. On your farmer’s market point, we got a food share from a farm. When we get a new vegetable, we’re forced to figure out how to cook it. And to think about our diet.
Thanks for the article.
March 28th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Lots of great comments from Matt. If you skipped his post because it seemed too long, go back and check it out.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I am also a vegetarian and my body has never been in a very good shape. Being a vegan can really make you much heathier.~:,
May 30th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
[...] further reading: Lessons Learned from a Vegan Diet, Being a Responsible Carnivore Social [...]