Hey everyone!
I wated to ask about Vegan Nutriton and what the pros and cons are. My boyfriend has recently started A vegan diet for a month but he's not doing it perminantly. The only problem is that hehas veggie issues and doesn't like to cook. Any ideas?

He has "veggie" issues.. explain?

My girlfriend's vegan, so over the course of the past few months, I've had the wonderful (read: painful) experience of making/eating/trying vegan dishes.

He's vegan with veggie issues? I'm very curious, why is he vegan then??

There's a lot of veggie "meats," morning star makes some good stuff. There's some other brand that makes really good "ribs" but for the life of me I can't remember the name now. They're always in the frozen section. The only thing with that stuff is that some of it's only vegetarian, not always vegan. And a lot of it is made from soy, which can be controversial.

You can do a lot with stuff like quinoa, lentils, beans, stuff like that.

How's he feel about fruits? There's a lot of great summer fruits. I always like my salads with just a little greens and a lot of fruits.

Is he into mushrooms at all? My coworker was making these great portobella burgers the other day. He took these huge portobellas, baked 'em in balsamic viniagarette and topped 'em off with onions and greens.

He wants to try being vegan for a month to learn some better heating habits and start becoming healthier. The only problem is that he doesn't like most veggies. He won't eat peppers o rpeas, he nibbles green beans, no problem with broccoli, doesn't like carrots, is okay with celery. Stuff like that.

He is convinced that eating the fake meats that are made from veggies are probably bad for you. He's been eating mostly vegan bread with extra virgin olive oil, quinoa and cereal with Almond milk. I feel like if he's not open-minded about this vegan thing then he won't get much out of it. I'm notsure about mushrooms, and I think he's pretty good with fruits. He's just being WAY pickier than he needs to be and I'm trying to introdce him to more Vegan options so that he doesn't limit himself. He barely knows how to cook, So I wanted to make something with him so that he can learn to make vegan meals himself. He doesn't want to try soy cheese or egg subsitutes or anything like that.

He's also All about saving money. He doesn't want it to cost more. Fact of the matter is, that it IS going to ost more, and if he limits himself to all of the cheapervegan options and doesn't try to cook I don't think the experience wll benefit him much. I'm trying to be supportive.

Yeah, if he won't learn to cook it's going to be way more expensive. My cousin and I have gone sort of semi vegetarian again since we moved out on our own. We both love meat, but neither one of us can afford to buy the not overly super processed stuff all the time, it's cheaper to get veggies and things like pasta and beans. Is there a farmer's market near him? I prefer to get my fruits and veggies there when I can. They tend to be cheaper (I don't know if this holds true for all areas) and it's nice knowing that I'm buying local, fresh produce.

I thought I didn't like bell peppers. Then my friend made them with taco seasoning and cumin and they actually came out really tasty. Maybe you can talk him into experimenting. Beets are pretty good too. Some stores even sell them already steamed. Hummus is good, I think that's vegan, or at least some of them.

At work we made this quinoa salad thing. Actually, we made a few. My two favorites though were
1) quinoa (we used red but I think you can use any color), chopped apples, walnuts and or pecans, oranges, and I think it had an orange viniagarette on it too. I feel like I'm forgetting something else, there might have also been celery. All over spinach, or your favorite green.
2) quinoa, corn salsa, and black beans.

My friend also makes a great cous cous salad. Cous cous, cucumbers, romatoes, red onion, and rice wine vinegar. That one's pretty easy to make too.

How's he feel about asparagus or zuchinni? Those are always great right off the bbq with just a little balsamic or olive oil.

You don't need to be vegan to eat healthy.

There are many benefits to being a vegan or vegetarian. There are many proven health benefits as long as you eat right and get the required nutrients your body needs. Another one I always like to state is you can be a glutton and not wear it. The downside is that you'll probably be spending more money to eat healthy and it does take effort.

Regarding food choices: Breakfast can consist of eggs / egg beaters; another good choice can be Oat Bran w/ mixed fruits; or fruit shakes filled with protein powder. Sometimes I eat apple slices with organic peanut butter spread on. You'll want something high in protein. For lunch I usually have a sandwich of some kind w/ mixed vegetables. Snack on nuts / almonds, bananas, avacados. Avoid high fructose corn syrup. Buy bread high on fiber, not white. Dinners can be portobella burgers, good pasta (whole grain), quinoa served in a hollow tomato w/ broccoli side, vegetable wraps, vege tacos, salads (spinach,strawberry, banana, nut mixture). The possibilities are endless, and healthy.

Make sure to get things high on protein and fiber, high potassium, lower sodium, lower calories if he wants to get the most out of it. There are several vegan recipe sites if you need help coming up w/ a meal! Good luck!

I know that yuou don't need to be vegan or vegitarian to be healthy, but he has his ideas. I told him there are plenty of people that eat meat and are still perfectly healthy. It's all about how you use the food that's most important. He's just a Giant Dork. He thinks he has it all figured out. If it were me I'd experiment but he's not willing to be.

If I ever decided to be Vegan I bet I'd be healthier than him than he would because of the way he is doing it. He thinks he already knows what he likes and dislikes and doesn't want to change thngs, and want him to be healthy. If he doesn't do this ting right then it could turn out worse for him than when he wasn't tryig this vegan diet. I'm frusterated. =/

Many veggie burgers are unhealthy because they contain hexane which is a neurotoxin Which Veggie Burgers Were Made With a Neurotoxin? (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/1e5/which-veggie-burgers-were-made-with-a-neurotoxin.aspx)
Also most all soy is genetically modified unless it says organic
GMO Dangers - Institute for Responsible Technology (http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/GMODangers/index.cfm)

Then too, vegans have to make sure they are getting certain amino acids and other nutrients that are hard to get enough of if you don't eat meat.