Edible’s Vegan Diet Guide

A starter’s guide to going plant-based

Edible Project
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Welcome to The Edible Project’s Diet Guide Series, a starter’s introduction to eating pescetarian, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo or keto. We cover the basics of each diet, pass along tips and tricks curated from the diet community, and provide some simple recipes and communities to get started.

PDF versions of all the guides can be found at www.edibleproject.io/guides. To help improve these guides, leave feedback in the comments or send an email to media@edibleproject.io.

Overview

It is important to make the distinction between veganism and plant-based diets, as veganism implies that one does not use any animal products (wool, leather, animal-tested products) in addition to their diet. This guide is concerned only with the plant-based diet aspect of veganism.

To identify if a food item is vegan is seemingly easy — does it have animal products or not? In reality, especially at restaurants, this becomes more difficult when animal products are used for things like cheese and salad dressing. The obvious no-no’s are dairy products (cheese, milk, butter), eggs, beef or chicken stocks, and honey. Make sure to always check with a server when eating out and check the labels at the store — the most indubious route is to buy products that are already labeled vegan since self identifying labels have become increasingly common.

Things To Note

protein: There are a ton of adequate plant-based protein sources such as tofu, tempeh, seitan (meat replacement), quinoa, peas, beans, seeds, nuts, lentils, miso and more.

supplements: It is important for vegans to make sure they get an adequate amount of Vitamin B12, the essential fat ALA, and Vitamin D. For detailed information refer to http://www.vegan.com/nutrition/.

Avoid ❌

Be Careful Of ⚠️

• Fried products — some restaurants use beef tallow for french fries, pretzels, etc., so ask a server!

How-To Order

Simple Recipes

These are some curated simple dishes that are great for any beginner on a vegan diet! Bon appetit!

(from left to right) Tofu Burrito Bowl, Vegan Stir Fry, and Curried Eggplant recipes

Community

While embracing a new diet can be daunting, there’s a ton of great vegetarian and vegan resources. Check out the following:


The Edible Project helps you find food tailored to your lifestyle. Know anyone with dietary restrictions? Tell them to check us out on iOS | Android | Instagram.

Let us know what you liked or didn’t like about our guides in the comments!

Edible Project

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The Edible Project is all about helping people find the food that suits their lifestyle. Arriving in LA soon: https://www.edibleproject.io/

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