Article by Sutiyo Na

Most experts and health organizations have documented the benefits of living a pure vegetarian lifestyle or vegan including permanent decrease in obesity, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, as well as the decrease of risk for heart diseases and some forms of cancer such as lungs and colon. Also, arthritis, rheumatism, allergies and asthma also reacts with vegan nutrition that means no meat, fish, poultry, dairy and eggs. A vegan lifestyle also advocates non-smoking and non-alcoholic practices.

All the important organic nutrients that are needed by humans such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals are produced by plants and micro living things. Animal products contain these nutrients too, but since most animals have also the same nutrient requirements of animals, we get the nutrients second-handed. The unique components of animal foods are really saturated fats and cholesterol which cannot be found in plants.

In switching to a vegan lifestyle, the food transformation is easy since it’s often much easier to prepare vegetables than the usual recipes we are used to. A vegan diet is very easy. You could eat only vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fruits and still meet all the body requirements for essential nutrients. However, for those people who like to cook, there are countless recipes in different books and thousand of vegan recipes available online for the cost of a small subscription fee or for free.

Most vegans are referred to some clinics for serum cholesterol reduction or for treatment of obesity. The reasons are direct: a vegan diet contains no significant amount of cholesterol and very low amount of saturated fat.

As for losing extra pounds, the vegan diet does not contain refined sugar and harmful oil. The average food recommendations are focused on fresh vegetables preferably green leafy ones, and raw in whatever you like, with calorie requirements filled by grains such as rice.

There are no limitations in the amount of food you can eat, and most experts encourage vegans to eat as much as you want as long as the foods are not refined and generally vegan. It is not important to measure the food servings. Our body has three sense mechanisms that can work on this. First, your stomach has the sense receptors that will send impulses to our brain when the stomach has reached the capacity. Second, our body can direct us to eat until we have enough energy to run our metabolism. Lastly, there are complex biochemical processes that can detect the amount of minerals, vitamins, or other nutrients.

You will not have to make big renovation to your kitchen just to suffice your new lifestyle. In reality, there are ways that will favor the whole maintenance of your kitchen. Your kitchen can be very simple because you will only need tools and utensils that will help you in preparation of vegan meals. Usually, vegan meals are very fast, easy and cheap to prepare, once you make some investments. You should purchase a rice cooker, steamer, popper and microwave oven.

The most important kitchen tools that you need so that you can prepare your vegan meals are the following:

1. baking utensils, 2. chopping dish3. colander4. grate5. pots6. pans7. soup ladles8. jars9. lids10. measuring cups11. bread knife12. paring knife13. cooking spoons14. chopping knife15. bowl16. muffin tins