The vegan diet provides a large amount of fiber as it consists of vegetarian foods. Following this diet, our stomach has to work harder to digest, keeping it full for longer. The diet also helps us to lose weight effectively and to maintain a healthy body. 

Many famous stars, specifically Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, or Ariana Grande, follow this diet due to its benefits. Let's find out the exact reason why they switch to this diet. 

The article below will provide you with all the essential information to start going vegan. Have a read at the entire article before deciding to adopt this diet to ensure no harm to your health. 

2. What is the vegan diet?

Aside from not eating animal meats, people following the vegan lifestyle must establish a commitment not to use any products derived from animals, including pearl jewelry, silk clothes, silk, fur coats, leather goods, etc.

Following this diet and lifestyle, you will also have to avoid using all products of animal origin. Instead, you will have to eat mainly plant-based produces.

In addition to minimizing animal products, this diet also limits processed foods such as refined carbs, sugary drinks, and fast foods!

The most common variations of this diet are as follow:

• Whole-food: A diet based on a wide variety of whole plant foods, likely veggies, fruits, legumes, whole grains, legumes, seeds, nut 
• Raw-food: A diet that cooks fresh or processed plant-based foods at under 48°C (118°F ).
• 80/10/10: Also known as a low-fat vegan diet. This mode will limit the use of high-fat plants such as nuts or avocados, etc
• The starch solution: similar to 80/10/10, but this mode will focus on adding foods containing slow-cooked starch such as rice, corn, and potatoes instead of fruits.
• Junk-food: A vegan diet lacking in fresh, raw produces and heavily depends on processed, low-nutrient food such as store-bought vegan products (fake meat, vegan cheese, and ice cream), french fries, greasy snacks, and sweets

2. Advantages and some limitations of the diet

Processed foods and animal-derived foods seem to make people sick and overweight easily. Many diseases caused by animal products can be prevented or even reversed by eating whole plant-based foods. Going vegan then can bring you benefits as follow:

2.1 Help you to lose weight and stay in shape:

Surveys show that people who follow this diet tend to be thinner and have a lower BMI (body mass index) than non-vegans. As a result, the diet is increasingly popular. 

The high content of vitamins and fiber found in plant-based products helps our body minimize fat absorption, making it easier to lose weight. Researches also find that a vegan diet slows down the body's aging process, making you look younger and your body healthier.  

2.2 Improve gut health:

Probiotics contribute to the healthy microbial population in the human body. Fiber and prebiotics are a source and a medium for them to thrive. A plant-based diet can make it easier to get the prebiotic and probiotic levels you need to maintain gut health.

 2.3 Prevent heart diseases and type 2 diabetes:

Proper and healthy veganism can help you to fight the risk of metabolic syndrome. Like high blood pressure, diabetes, and insulin resistance. The more saturated fat and cholesterol we eat (more foods of animal origin), the higher our risk of heart disease.

Unfortunately, there are some risks associated with this diet.

Pursuing this diet puts you at risk of being deficient in certain essential nutrients, deprived of animals. The nutrients mentioned include iodine, iron, calcium, zinc, or other vitamin D, vitamin B12, long-chain omega-3s. 

Therefore, this regimen is not suitable for everyone, especially children, the elderly, pregnant, or lactating women. If you are one of those, you should consult an expert before following this vegan diet! 

3. What kind of foods should we eat following this diet?

With this diet, of course, you should only use plant foods as the main ingredient in each of your daily meals.

You can kickstart your day with a healthy vegan breakfast consisting of oats, fruits combined with nuts or nuts milk such as walnut milk, soy milk, or almond milk.

A simple lunch can be black bean rice or various salads combined with sesame sauce, olive oil, and dinner can be sweet potatoes or tofu, cereals, and fruits.

The food choices will also depend on the types of diet you are following. In more details, some foods you can use to complete a great vegan meal include fresh fruits and veggies, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. 

This diet also needs to avoid foods derived from animals such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, or honey.

A healthy vegan diet should contain primarily fresh, whole, unprocessed foods. Therefore, we recommend you stay away from unhealthy, processed vegan food such as white bread, fake meat, vegan sweets, and snacks.

Understanding your body is very important to create a balanced, healthy, and nutritionally completed diet. Whether you follow the this diet or not, we hope this article has told you more about this exciting diet! Good luck!