Veganist_ Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World - Kathy Freston [95]
9. Sometimes eating lots of vegetables, beans, or soy products gives me uncomfortable gas; how do you avoid this?
The problem with gassiness can often be found with beans. They should not be excluded from the diet, however, because they are great sources of protein, calcium, and iron, among other nutrients. But if you are new to beans, it is good to have them in small portions and always very well cooked. A well-cooked bean is very soft, with no hint of crunchiness. As time goes on, your digestive tract adjusts, so a bean that may cause a problem today may be better tolerated later on.
Also, cruciferous vegetables can cause indigestion for some people. The answer is simply to cook them well. This group includes broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbage, among others. It is common for people to eat them raw or only slightly cooked, but they can easily cause gassiness or bloating. Cook them well, and the problem usually disappears. Later on, you can experiment again with less-cooked vegetables.
On the good side, rice is very easily digested, and a great food to emphasize. Brown rice is best. Also, cooked green, yellow, and orange vegetables are very easily digested.
Fruit vary. Some people do very well with raw fruit; others have more difficulty at first. If you are new to any particular fruit, you might have smaller servings at first, then gradually increase.
Three Weeks of Meals
SINCE SO MANY PEOPLE ASK ME, “WHAT DO YOU EAT IF NOT meat, dairy, and eggs?” I’ve prepared a list of what a few weeks of eating looks like in my home or when I’m at a restaurant. You can use the cookbooks and recipe websites listed in Resources to flesh out your shopping list and find things that appeal to you; or do like I do and guess at how something can be made and get creative! You can get fancier or go simpler according to your lifestyle needs.
MONDAY (WEEK ONE)
BREAKFAST: steel-cut oatmeal, sliced bananas, walnuts, rice milk
LUNCH: whole grain pasta with veggie sausages, sundried tomatoes, broccoli; salad
DINNER: seitan Parmesan with tomato sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST: bagel with Earth Balance butter
LUNCH: sandwich with vegan cold cuts, nondairy cheese, avocado, pickles; tomato soup
DINNER: tacos with “meat” crumbles, nondairy cheese, guacamole; salad
WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST: bagel with almond or peanut butter
LUNCH: split pea soup with tempeh bacon, (nondairy) cheesy toast; salad
DINNER: stuffed butternut or acorn squash with tofu; sautéed collard greens
THURSDAY
Breakfast: frozen waffles with Earth Balance butter, maple syrup
LUNCH: black bean and soy cheese quesadilla with guacamole; salad
DINNER: pan-seared Gardein fillet with shiitake-mushroom sauce; mashed potatoes and braised brussels sprouts
FRIDAY
BREAKFAST: brown rice (I make several days’ worth at a time), chopped dates, almonds, nondairy milk poured over
LUNCH: cabbage, thyme, and meatless ground beef soup; 7-grain garlic bread
DINNER: coconut curry tofu with whole grain wild rice and green beans
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: brown rice with blueberries and almonds; hemp milk
LUNCH: smoked paprika pinto beans with quinoa and sautéed kale
DINNER: charred seitan skewers, wheat berries; chili broccoli
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST: whole grain pancakes and blueberries; tempeh bacon
LUNCH: chili with pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, soy sour cream; salad
DINNER: seitan Parmesan (seitan fillets with melted nondairy cheese, tomato sauce), collard greens, mashed potatoes
MONDAY (WEEK TWO)
BREAKFAST: soy yogurt with blueberries and almonds
LUNCH: oven-roasted stuffed zucchini flowers on top of fig and walnut salad
DINNER: pasta with porcini mushrooms; salad
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST: quinoa (I make a big batch that will last a few days), chopped dates, almonds, nondairy milk poured over
LUNCH: flax-seed and whole grain pizza crust with classic margherita topping
DINNER: portobello mushroom and cannelloni bean burger with