Thinking of Becoming Vegan.

Bill-the-Thrill

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I am thinking of becoming vegan, but have a lot of questions. Most vegans that I have talked to usually don't give me much help. They either think my questions are stupid, or they get mad that I don't already know the answer. Hopefully there are some people here who can help me. I will just start with a few. Thank you!

1. Is it true eating vegan food that isn't cooked is better than cooked vegan food?
2. Is bread okay to eat?
3. What is vegan for cheese?
4. Is it ok to eat certain animal products? If I can't give up steak, can I still eat it?
5. Is honey actually considered vegan since the bees make it for us?
 
1. There are some studies that suggest that raw foods are extremely healthy. This is mostly due to the fact that the plant enzymes are intact, which is very good for the digestive system. Also, when you cook any food, many of the nutritional content gets lost. However, most vegans are not fruitarians or raw foodists. Some eat a diet called 'Raw Til 4' which simply means what it suggests, eating raw until 4PM when you can eat cooked for the rest of the day. This is to avoid uncomfortable fermentation in the stomach by eating raw and cooked foods in this order. Most vegans, still, eat a predominantly cooked diet.
2. Bread is fine from a vegan stand point, yes. However most people report that eating gluten makes them feel 'heavy' and 'sleepy' so many people - for these reasons - swap bread for something gluten free. But again, from a vegan standpoint bread is totally fine and most vegans eat it in abundance. It is worth noting, also, that not all bread is vegan. Sometimes honeys or dairy is added to bread, so worth checking to avoid. Then there are breads like bara brith, which comes from Wales, which has added seafood in the bread! But generally 'standard bread' is vegan.
3. Many supermarkets these days actually stock vegan cheeses, and there are also plenty of recipes online if your local store doesn't. There is even a very in depth book on vegan cheeses, I believe. Worth doing a quick internet research. Most vegan cheeses are either soy, potato starch, almond, cashew, or coconut based.
4. Vegans do not eat any animal products, with the possible exception of medicine (such as a vaccine, which is not vegan). If you were to go on eating meat you would not even be considered vegetarian, let alone vegan. You would be a 'flexitarian'. The idea that you 'can't give something up' is not really a good basis to continue animal suffering, is it? There are vegan beef replacements out there now with more on the way.
5. No, honey is not considered vegan. There are some people who call themselves 'beegans', i.e. vegans who eat honey. But since the honey industry regularly takes more honey from the bees than they can manage to get through winter safely, mutilates the queens, heavily smokes them (which can kill some of the bees, but apiarists use it to sedate their activity when they come near), and other horrors I could list, most vegans are happy to replace honey with something like maple syrup or agave nectar. The video below is quite helpful:


Hope I've answered your questions satisfactorily!
 
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