Feeling sick since going vegan

[Birdwatcher]

Hi,
I made the jump from vegetarian to vegan about 3 weeks ago. I am starting to feel sick since I made the switch. My legs are cramping some and I feel tired a lot and kind of weak. I think that iron and protein may be an issue for me. I am allergic to soy so that leaves all of the meat substitutes out. I have been using rice milk but there isnt much in it nutritionally speaking. I've been eating a lot of beans and whole grains but I dont think its enough.

Does anyone else eat a vegan diet without any soy or tvp's?

[Elena99]

What is it that you are eating? Give us a typical day, please.

When in doubt, increase your dark green vegetables, have some more nuts and seeds, and maybe plug your food intake into fitday.com to see. You can get all the protein you need from eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains.

Also, have you tried nutritional yeast? Red star is fortified with a lot of nutrients, including B12.

[lightrailcoyote]

man, vegan and allergic to soy?! that would be so hard.



(...developing a soy allergy is kind of one of my fears.)

I don't have any suggestions but good luck!

[erineernie]

I think I've seen at vegan essentials a protein powder that's made from peas. I've never actually seen the stuff so I don't now if its 100% soy free.

[Birdwatcher]

Thanks for the replys. I really dont want to switch back to vegetarian but if I have to, I am only going to do ovo and not lacto. The cheese thing really grosses me out and I cant stomach the milk at all..

Lets see, a typical day for the vegan diet i have been doing is like

B- Cheerios, oatmeal or kashi with rice milk and some fruit a banana or some strawberries

S- Usually a handful of raw sunflower seed and raisins or fruit sometimes veggies like carrot sticks

L - PB and J on WW with chips and fruit almost every day..Either that or I will have tomato soup or veg soup with ww crackers.

D- usually tons of diff. veggies or WW pasta with homemade red sauce with bread and salad.

I see that I dont get enough iron or protien...Just dont know where to get it from if I cant eat soy!

[lightrailcoyote]

beans actually are really high in protein. also up your leafy greens intake, it looks low?

[Elena99]

Okay. Well, for starters, do you like hummus? You can learn how to make that easily, and it's a good source of protein. There's also a decent amount of iron in chick peas (the main ingredient); one cup of cooked chick peas has 15g of protein and 23% of the iron needed in a day. Also, instead of tahini paste (not that it's bad for you), you can choose a type of seed or nut that's high in iron to add, like sunflower seeds (I used to make it with sunflower seeds since it was more expensive to buy tahini or sesame seeds).

[zoebird]

a few years ago, joanne stepianak was working on a vegan cookbook for vegans who were allergic or sensitive to soy. she also does a lot of research on nutrition and such, which she usually includes in most of her books. i recommend looking her stuff up, and checking it out.

it is possible to be vegan and soy free. before my cholesterol issue, i was vegan and virtually soy free. I ate it only rarely. There are lots of options, and i would recommend nut milk or oat milk instead of rice milk. You can even make your own nut or oat milks too.

As far as iron goes, cnosider cooking in an iron skillet. this helps get iron salts into the body easily, which is the same as taking a supplement. An iron vitamin (ferrus salts) is also appropriate.

I don't see how protien could be an issue, but with cramps in muscles, a lot of things could be--magnesium, potassium, calcium (whether or not they're in balance), selenium, and a variety of others. Most of these are found in vegetables or nuts. For example, the RDA for selenium can be met by eating two brazil nuts each day. only two! easy! for potassium, bananas, apricots, butter beans are good sources. for calcium, greens with vitamin C boosts are helpful. also, decreasing sodas and coffee can be helpful for calcium absorption. for magnesium, there are lots of options, including a supplement. And many vitamin stores have a mag/calcium/pot blend that's functional.

if you don't like the idea of taking vitamins--for various philosophical reasons or whatever--then increase your intake of vitamins through juicing. it decreases volumn of roughage. that can be helpful. Good luck!

Oh, and cramps can also be caused by low caloric intake--taking in less than what you need to both function (metabolic rate) and be active. So, sometimes simply increasing your caloric intake can be helpful.

[cftwo]

You can easily add some beans to your dinner - saute your veggies with beans (navy, kidney, black, etc.) and some garlic and onion and spices of your choice and have that with pasta. I've added zucchini or spinach (2 of my favorite veggies) and a drained can of beans to my marinara/red sauce with my pasta and really really like it.

Chickpeas are really good on salads, too.

Lentils are quick to cook and really very good for you (if I remember correctly, they're a good source of iron). I've seen recipes for sauces using lentils that are used on top of pasta.

For a quick dinner, baked beans on toast is another way to add beans to your diet. That would taste good with a salad, too. (I had a variation on that last night for dinner - beans simmered in a Trader Joe's Simmer Sauce over toast. It was an experiment, but turned out pretty good.)

[berrykat]

cream of wheat cereal is a good source of iron,black strap molasses,lentil and chickpeas are good for both iron and protein and please take a supplement.

[Indian Summer]

Yeah, you should definately make sure to take a B12 supplement.

[Zsky2]

If it's iron and protien you need, eat a pasta dish with vegetables cooked in a skillet, then have some sort of Peanut Butter dish for lunch (pb is high in iron)

[Zsky2]

Thanks for the replys. I really dont want to switch back to vegetarian but if I have to, I am only going to do ovo and not lacto. The cheese thing really grosses me out and I cant stomach the milk at all..

Lets see, a typical day for the vegan diet i have been doing is like

B- Cheerios, oatmeal or kashi with rice milk and some fruit a banana or some strawberries

S- Usually a handful of raw sunflower seed and raisins or fruit sometimes veggies like carrot sticks

L - PB and J on WW with chips and fruit almost every day..Either that or I will have tomato soup or veg soup with ww crackers.

D- usually tons of diff. veggies or WW pasta with homemade red sauce with bread and salad.

I see that I dont get enough iron or protien...Just dont know where to get it from if I cant eat soy!


Looks like D for dinner and L for breakfest would be the best choices for your problem. Also, make sure to get a good mix in the pasta dish and some nuts, seads, and dark greens in with the salad. Some B12 fortified bread would be good too.

[RunsWithFoxes]

Most folks who go from veggie to vegan and start having problems blame it on protein, when in fact the major change they made was cutting out a lot of high-caloric-density dairy fat. The weakness they feel is simply due to calorie deprivation, but they blame it on protein because of the widely held myth that high protein = high vitality/energy/etc.

There is nothing magical about soybeans. There are lots of other beans that will contribute just as well to your future good health. Just be sure that you gets lots of variety in your daily diet - veggies/fruits/nuts/seeds/grains/etc.

If I don't eat a banana a day, I get leg cramps. It may be the potassium.

Good luck! :bobo: