How To Easily Improve Your Vegan Life

A vegan lifestyle has plenty of benefits. It reduces your risk of getting various chronic diseases and may help you lose weight. It can improve your kidney function and reduce blood sugar levels. A vegan life can lower the pain of arthritis. It can reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and high blood pressure. However, living a healthy vegan life can present a few challenges. Here are a few tips to improve your vegan life.

Eat More Vegetables

One of the simplest tips to improve your vegan lifestyle is increasing your intake of vegetables. Veggies are filled with all sorts of nutrients including potassium, minerals, vitamin A and vitamin K. They are filling, full of fiber, and a great way to keep your calories down.

Plant-Based Proteins

While this may seem like a no-brainer, vegans can improve their lifestyle by eating more plant-based proteins. Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy options. Vegan protein sources include beans, lentils, tofu, and chickpeas. You can visit this site to get more options. Walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds are rich in protein as well. Incorporating enough protein into your diet is not as difficult as it may seem. The secret is to eat a varied diet and be conscious about eating more proteins.

According to the Institute of Medicine, women should get 46 grams of proteins every day. Men, on the other hand, should consume 56 grams.

Watch Your Sodium Intake

Unfortunately, American vegans and vegetarians consume up to six times more sodium than necessary. A lot of it is from salted nuts, crackers, and soups. The high sodium intake may cause loss of calcium. You can improve your vegan lifestyle by limiting your sodium consumption. Ideally, you shouldn’t consume more than ¾ teaspoons every day. It increases your risk of stroke and heart disease.

Vegan Options Aren’t Always Healthier

Do not assume that vegan food alternatives are healthy. Vegan cookies, for example, may not have any animal products but they aren’t necessarily better for your figure than regular ones. Limit your consumption of processed vegan foods. They may be filled with unhealthy fats. There are plenty of healthy vegan foods. However, you cannot justify foods as ‘healthy’ just because they are vegan.

Limit Your Consumption of Sugar

While the vegan lifestyle is supposed to be healthy, vegetarians and vegans consume almost 50kg of sugar every year. Most of it is from concentrated fructose corn syrup used to sweeten juices and sodas. Excessive sugar may increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Find Vitamin D Rich Foods

Most people rely on fortified dairy products, salmon, and sardines for vitamin D.Vegans need alternative ways to obtain it. It is present in non-dairy kinds of milk like almond and soy milk. Mushrooms that have been exposed to UV light and orange juice may be great sources as well. The skin may be able to synthesize vitamin D from the sun in summer. The daily vitamin D value is 600 IU. However, some experts advise that it should be close to 1500 IU. Some vegans may need supplements to meet the numbers.

Variety

Your vegan lifestyle does not need to be boring. You can improve it by adding variety to your diet. Adding variety will make you healthier. Choose foods from the different rainbow colors to reap all the benefits. Red tomatoes, for example, are rich in lycopene which is good for the heart. Orange sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A which is great for your eyes and blueberries are good for your brain.  Experiment with different recipes regularly to keep things interesting.

Focus on Your Iron

When eating a vegan diet, you need to identify iron sources and add them to your diet. Carnivores get it from chicken and meat. However, vegans can get iron from leafy green vegetables, beans, and other legumes. The iron from plant sources isn’t absorbed easily. Therefore, vegans can get the most from it by eating more vitamin C and iron. They promote the absorption of iron. Avoid consuming iron and calcium at the same time as calcium can slow down iron absorption.

Exercise

Even though a vegan lifestyle will improve your health, it isn’t enough to keep you healthy. Physical exercise will be a great addition to your lifestyle. It lowers your blood pressure, strengthens your heart, and improves your coordination.

In conclusion, the vegan lifestyle has plenty of benefits. However, there are a few things that you can do to improve it. They include regular exercise, eating more vegetables, and eating more plant-based proteins.