Be a Food Smart Vegan

My name is Tracy Conner; I am a vegan nutrition coach and a long time vegan. Not too long ago while walking through my local natural market I looked at all the wonderful vegan food on the market today. However looking at the nutrition fact’s I was shocked by how high the calories, fat and sodium are in some of  the foods. The sodium in particular since too much sodium intake can cause high blood pressure, even in vegans. And it may take years before symptoms occur but high blood pressure can cause damage to the arteries, an aneurysm, heart attack, coronary artery disease, brain damage, kidney failure, fluid buildup under the retina, bone loss and more. I then started to wonder what are the healthy vegan choices? After much research I came up with this.

Veggie dogs

There are so many choices out there right now for veggie dogs, but what are the healthiest choices? The top two are Yves tofu dog  and light life smart dog.

The unhealthiest veggie dogs on the market today are soy boy not dogs which is equal to two and a half cups of kale in both calories and protein. You can put that in a yummy smoothie! The second is the Yves veggie brats which are equal to four plums in calories and six and a half cantaloupes when it comes to sodium. Yikes!

Veggie burgers

Who doesn’t love a veggie burger every now and then? But what are the healthiest choices? The top four are; Boca original vegan, garden vegan burger, Amys California veggie- low sodium and garden burger veggie medley
And which are the unhealthiest? Amy’s quarter pounder veggie burger in sodium it is equal to three hundred apples. Plus if you were to have tofu instead you would lose four pound at the end of the year. The Light life mushroom burger is equal to two hundred and fourty apples in sodium. And the Light life veggie is equal to one hundred and eighty five apples in sodium alone.

Another great option are the raw food nut burgers. They may not be lower in fat but the ingredients are living, pure and natural so it is 100 percent healthy.

Now if your one who eats a lot of veggie burgers you should limit yourself to two a week and have the fruit and tofu instead.


Cookies

We all have our cookie monster moments, but did you know that the Alternative Baking Company is the unhealthiest. One of their cookies is equal to 12 peaches in calories alone the amount of fat in the one cookie is more than what is in a medium avocado; and the sodium in this cookie is equal to 3.8 cantaloupes.

Eat Pasty cookie dough is the best. If you were to have one cookie a week and had the eat pastry at the end of the month you will have saved 1,440 calories, 52 grams of fat (which is more than one day's intake need), 232 grams of carbohydrates and 1,400 mg of sodium (which is equal to 3 days of your sodium intake needs and the amount of sodium in 1400 bananas). Plus at the end of the year that's five pounds lost just by simply switching.

Another great alternative are raw food cookies or chocolates. My personal favorite is Sacred Chocolates mint heart.

Cheese

Cheese is big right now. But which is the healthiest? Simple the Galaxy rice cheese and Follow your heart cheeses are the best on the market. Now I know everyone loves Daiya but it is high in calories and for one ounce it is very high in fat and sodium. Toffuti is the unhealthiest of all though.

Nut cheese is a wonderful choice as well if you are making a sandwich or something uncooked.



Food Bars
Food bars are a fast and easy choice if you’re on the run, but another great choice is edemames and even tofu. Not only are they whole foods but it’s amazing how much weight you could lose just by simple switching. The Organic food bar is equal to eight cups of kale, plus you would get six grams more of protein. If you were to have one cup of edemames instead of a Vega whole food bar you would lose fourteen pounds at the end of the year. If you choose three ounces of tofu over a Luna bar at the end of the year that’s eleven pounds lost. And if you had six ounces of tofu instead of a Cliff Builder bar that’s twenty pounds lost at the end of the year. OMG!

Not to mention the fact that a recent investigation on popular non-vegan protein powders had high levels of cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury. Now granted these were not vegan protein powders but many vegan ones have fillers that could be the same fillers as listed above. And these protein powders are in some of the vegan food bars. This is a great reason to choose either a raw protein powder like Sunwarrior or a whole food such as edemames or tofu.

So to be a food smart vegan you really need to look at the calories, fat and sodium within the foods you eat. Make the wise and healthy choice!