people! help!

[totalmuggle]

ive have been reading this whole site and all im getting is way to hard to understand things! im 14 for crying out loud!
i just want to know what can a vegan eat and what can they not? just a simple old list of things vegans cant eat! thats all im asking for! its really confusing to look thorugh all this stuff! help!

[vheogl]

Vegans can't eat, anything that was an animal or that came from an animal, which obioussly includes all meat and fish and all dairy products (milk eggs etc.) but unfortuantly it's not as simple as this, as manufactors of processed foods put in ingrediants that came from meat, milk or eggs, like whey for example (which is probably why you came accross lots of things vegans can't eat) Also many vegans dont eat honey or other ingrediants derived from insects ( like colourings) and vegans alos dont wear or use any products that have any animal products in them such as leather, wool and silk and also many cosmetics.

hope that helped :)

[totalmuggle]

i get the basics but i dont understand what " little ingridents" that are in gennerally vegetarian foods make them non vegan acceptable. i dont know where to start!
:deal:

[katt]

things like whey, for example. The whole list of animal ingredients and their alternitives can be found here. http://www.caringconsumer.com/ingredientsfactsheet.html

[AliasSpy]

Are you a vegetarian now? I'd suggest you go vegetarian before vegan (if you haven't). It's much easier for you to more slowly eliminate foods from your diet. After you've gotten comfortable without eating meat, then cut out the obvious animal products, like eggs and milk. Then start looking into the miniscule things you wouldn't eat as a vegan.

Again, I'm sorry if you're already a vegetarian.

[shadow-panther]

if youre just starting out, heres a great site AND through it you can get a free "starter pack" recipes, philosiphy and stuff. www.veganoutreach.org Its preeety useful .

stuff to avoid:
whey
milk protien
casein
egg whites
mono and diglycerides (though it can be iffy )
mono sterate (from milk) found in mints and stuff
gelatin
egg albumin

I think those are a few of the big ones. THough you cut out the main amount of animal products just by not eating meat, not eating scrambled eggs, cream cheese, glasses of milk, etc. This is probably the bulk of animal products in your life! Its the list of wierd additives that'll drive you crazy. Besides, stuff with billions ingridients, you are likely better off without anyways. Dont sweat it though.

[Nirvana19105]

I never liked the phrase "can't eat". I can eat whatever I want, I just choose a vegan diet. But anyway, yeah, vegan's CHOOSE not to eat anything from an animal. If you're feeling like a cruelty free lifestyle is the way for you, congratulations! Personally, I think if you can make the switch cold turkey, it's for the best. However, working in steps is more suited to some people. Make sure your parents don't have coronaries over your decision, and start by skipping meat, maybe switching to soy milk, using egg substitutes for baking, then vegan cheeses (since it seems to be what most people have the hardest time with). Sooner than you know it, you'll be a full fledged vegan. Good luck!

[totalmuggle]

ive alcully been a 100% guilt free vegan for a while. but i find it very hard to sort through everything in the shopping cart!

[raylea]

I never liked the phrase "can't eat". I can eat whatever I want, I just choose a vegan diet.

I totally agree!

If you are adhering to a vegan lifestyle, you can eat:

Lots of fruits and vegetables
Dried fruit
All kinds of nuts and seeds
Many sorts of beans (boiled, baked, refried, etc.)
Lentils, split peas, and other legumes
Soymilk
Tofu (and all soy-based dairy replacements for that matter)
All sorts of meat analogs
Bread! (pitas, bagels, baguette, cinnamon raisin)
Pasta
Rice
Soup, salads, sandwiches (be creative!)
Baked dishes
Vegan cakes/cookies
Dairy-free chocolate
Marzipan ;)
Jellybeans

And the list goes on. Just remember to focus on what you can eat rather than what you can't, because that attitude of elimination will only make you feel deprived.

[mayuko]

i got in the habit of making a lot of my own stuff because i got sick of trying to sort through everything :lol:

but really, it's only as hard as you make it. checking ingredients can seem daunting, but eventually it becomes second nature... it's kind of trial and error before you can identify that certain ingredients are not vegan (and it's quite a feat if you know all of them right off -- i doubt anyone does!) -- there are plenty of sites like the one katt posted that lists animal ingredients. it gets easier with time :)

or you could go by the "vegan rule of thumb" -- if the ingredients list is longer than the width of your thumbs, it's probably not vegan! :lol:

[vheogl]

Raylea jellybeans are vegan? i always assumed they wernt.

[Nirvana19105]

Raylea jellybeans are vegan? i always assumed they wernt.

Some are. Some have gelatin. Others have like Jellybelly have beeswax, so it depends on if you have a problem with that or not. Others like the starburt jellybeans are completely vegan! Treat yourself to some jellybeanage this Easter! =)

[Rebel Girl]

hey,
congrats on going vegan! i am also 14 and a vegan, i know how tough it can be, sometimes im really sad when my friends ditch me for the Chipotle up the street and such, but you should be proud of what you are doing/trying to do. Some cook books have "indexs" in the back of bad non vegan things, like HOW IT ALL VEGAN! has one of those such indexes. Peta also has a good one, non exhastive, but still good.

[mayuko]

starburst jellybeans are vegan? score! i always assumed they weren't, since starburst aren't. aw man, easter's gonna rock! *sugarhigh bounce*

[raylea]

Starburst hard candies are vegan too!!

[vheogl]

I dont like jellybeans anyway, they remind me of jelly babies which i HATE, now if jelly tots were vagn i'd be a happy bunny.
I think i'll just treat myself to a big grean and blacks maya gold easter egg and be done with it yummmmmmmm chocolate :D

[Non_Vegan]

I' new here and as you can guess I am not a veggie or vegan, as a matter of fact i just eat whatever. But i have recently started seeing this girl, shes really nice and a vegan. Now I don't wanna be doing things wrong and reading up on this thread has been helpful. It funny actually we were havin a lil disagreement bout jelly beans being vegan friendly or not. We decided the weren't just to be safe. So i got fat and she ate nuts =]
but yeah thank you

[vegansrock]

starburst jellybeans are vegan? score! i always assumed they weren't, since starburst aren't. aw man, easter's gonna rock! *sugarhigh bounce*

But Starburst is made by Mars Inc., which tests on animals.

Here's a good list of animal ingredients:
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html

[Spree]

almost everything has in bold letters at the bottom of the ingridient list "contains dairy or contains eggs or something along those lines, not always though