Top Tips For A Balanced Veggie Diet

Source: Baraka Vegetarian Restaurant via Facebook

So you’ve recently decided to become a vegetarian or a vegan, or feel like your diet is lacking, or just want some new recipe ideas? Then you’ve come to the right place. Switching to a plant-based diet is a great choice to make, and there aren’t a great number of health risks if done wisely, but you’ve got to ensure that you keep getting the right amount of minerals, vitamins and proteins that you would have previously gotten from animal products to stay healthy. Below are some ideas for you to try out to keep a rich and varied diet.

1. As a safety net, try taking multivitamins

If you manage your new diet wisely, there should be no danger of you lacking in vitamins. However, especially when starting out and for women of childbearing age and children, there’s no harm in using multivitamins to keep yourselves safe in case your new diet does not go as well as planned.

2. If you don’t know where to start, get inspiration elsewhere

For those of us who aren’t culinary experts with “ordinary” diets, learning a new range of preparation skills could seem like a daunting task, as does the experimentation needed before you figure out what you do and don’t like and can and can’t do. So why not try different meals by eating out first? Have a look at these restaurants on www.deliveroo.ie to see if anything catches your fancy, either as a restaurant or as ideas for home cooking. There are endless possibilities with veganism/vegetarianism if you’re willing to do a little exploring.

3. Try meat substitutes that are high in protein

Unsurprisingly, being a vegan or a vegetarian does not mean becoming a herbivore. There are many meat substitutes that are not only made to taste like and feel like meat, but also to provide you with the same amounts of iron and protein. Also (though this is only for the vegans), there is a wide range of vegan dairy substitutes, such as vegan cheese, milk, butter, cream, and more. irishvegan.ie is a top blog for brands and products that are guaranteed to be vegan. Finally, for good levels of protein, you don’t necessarily have to look at substitutes: beans, pulses, and (for vegetarians) eggs are all also great places to get your nutrients.

Source: Candice Sullivan Pilates via Facebook

4. Eat lots of dark leafy greens

This one seems like a no-brainer for a plant-based diet, doesn’t it? But it’s worth mentioning: dark leafy greens have innumerable amounts of benefits (anti-aging, enzyme building, fighting diabetes, to name a few), and they are especially well known as an alternative source of omega-3 fatty acid, a nutrient for which the health benefits seem to have no end, as the Holland and Barrett webpage shows.

Now that you’ve got the health benefits sorted, what are you waiting for? Go out and experience all veganism/vegetarianism has to offer.