Going Vegan: The Best Substitutes for Meat and Dairy

Delicious Alternatives to Meat & Diary

Most people would admit that they see the immense benefits of a vegan lifestyle in regard to how much it would improve their health, benefit the environment, and save the lives of countless animals; however the biggest concern for meat eaters is that they would have to sacrifice the pleasure of eating delicious food in order to transition to this new lifestyle. In fact, there are plenty of foods that are a combination of healthy and tasty, along with being cruelty free and environmentally friendly.

The stereotypical vegan eats salads, soups and wraps all day which is, in most cases, not true at all. Many widely consumed products are unintentionally vegan – like most commercial cereals sold at every grocery store (like Cheerios, etc, etc.), many types of sweets (likes Oreos and Sour patches), most types of chips (like Lays, Doritos and Fritos) and etc. Those are examples of “vegan junk food”, the type of food many vegans who chose this lifestyle solely due to animal cruelty rather than health concerns eat lots of. Contrary to popular belief, not all vegans are extremely health conscious, and if you are considering a vegan diet because you want to be more compassionate towards animals rather than try to get into better shape, it’s definitely an option. However, quitting junk food altogether is definitely a better alternative that would pay off in the long term and reflect positively on your health.

No one has the same taste in food, so it would take some experimenting for you to find what healthy foods you’ll enjoy, but there are plenty of widely loved vegan foods. Think of your favorite diary product –whether its cheese, chocolate, or something else – and now go to the nearest Whole Foods (or similar store with vegan options) and find that item in the vegan section. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of brands of specifically vegan desserts, cheeses and snacks that will easily satisfy your cravings. Yes, its true, there isn’t a single diary product that can’t be made without cow’s milk – milk can be extracted from so many other sources; hence the creation of rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, and the list goes on. Every type of milk tastes different, but if you try at least three or four different options, you are bound to find something you enjoy. Milk extracted from plant-based sources is also significantly more nutritious because most brands have all the nutrients you get from cow’s milk (such as protein and calcium), and significantly more vitamins and less saturated fat. If you’ve never tried cupcakes made with coconut milk or cheese made out of rice milk, you’re yet to discover a whole new industry.

Meat is slightly harder to imitate than milk because meat, or simply put into context, animal flesh, cant be extracted from plants. Of course there’s the wildly popular tofu, but in reality it hardly tastes anything like meat. Once you go vegan, you won’t be craving meat, and meat substitutes won’t really be a necessity.