by Polana Fehu

Created on: September 19, 2008   Last Updated: February 10, 2012

Having followed a vegan diet for nearly 20 years, these are my top tips:

1) Get as wide a range of ingredients into your diet as possible. This way you stand the best chance of covering all the essential nutrients. It's no good just sticking to a few favourite foods: you won't maintain good health that way. Go to international stores and try unusual vegetables or pulses, experiment with different grains and mix things up.

2) Experiment. There are so many foods that vegans can eat, it would take hours to list them all. It is quicker to say what not to eat: animal products - meat, fish, dairy, eggs and honey (although some vegans do eat honey - it's a matter of personal choice.)  So try different foods, different combinations and don't be afraid of the odd disaster. 

3) Buy the best quality food you can afford. If necessary, travel around town and visit smaller stores and farm shops to get different items. You'll be supporting small businesses instead of multi-nationals. Get on your bike and go green at the same time - you'll become fitter in the bargain! Wherever possible, try to buy organic. There will always be controversy on whether it is actually better for us, but regardless, it has to be better for the planet, and the reasons many are vegans include environmental issues.

4)Try to grow some of your own vegetables. Fresh is best, and that's great if you can buy all your vegetables freshly picked from the farm or market garden next door, but most of us don't have that luxury. If you have a garden (you lucky thing!) then make a vegetable patch. Grow a variety of vegetables and try to keep to organic principles. If you don't have a garden, look into renting an allotment. Again, you can grow a variety of your favourites, or stick to growing the unusual or more expensive varieties. Even if all you have is a windowsill, you could grow some herbs, get a growbag and try growing a few tomatoes, or plant a seed potato in a large pot - you'll get quite a yield just from that!

5) Balance your diet. Get some good vegan cookbooks with dietary information in them and learn how to balance proteins,(it really isn't complicated!)Find out which foods contain which vitamins and minerals etc, and make sure you cover everything, every day.

6)Don't be precious about being vegan. A lot of people don't understand - it's not their fault. If people look at you with bemused expressions or throw their hands in the air and 'don't know what to feed you' - gently educate them. Let them see that you do, in fact, eat most of the foods they eat, and you're not some kind of freak (unless, of course, you Are some kind of freak, in which case - good for you!)

7)Keep some vegan-friendly vitamins in the cupboard. If you are following a varied and balanced diet, you should have a pretty good immune system, but we all get a bit under the weather from time to time and whilst you shouldn't need to take vitamin supplements if you have a balanced diet, now and then a bit of a boost can help.

Enjoy being vegan. It's a fantastic lifestyle. The food is amazing and you can live with a reasonably clear conscience - you are 'treading lightly' on the Earth and doing what you can to make things better for the future. You'll also be giving your body the best chance at being and staying healthy.

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