Healthy with just protein and vitamins?

My question is, as a vegan, can I be healthy off of just protein and a multi-vitamin?

I'm running low on money this year, so my main protein will be rice and beans as that seems to be the cheapest. I would also add tofu and tempeh occasionally. Fresh veggies and other would be very seldom..

The multi-vitamin would be Organic Life It contains b-vitamins, vitamin d, ect… All the things vegans need to my knowledge.

Is this a viable diet, mostly rice / beans and a 30-day multi-vitamin?

a reply to: SilentSaturn

As long as your micro and macro nutrient levels are fine, it's a liveable diet. It won't be a flourishing diet by any means. You really need to add some Vit. D and some complex Bs in there, amongst other things. As a basic platform it's okay but if it were me, I'd add greens, other legumes, nuts, fruits and berries in there.

But please consult with a nutritionist as to the nutrients you will be missing and that will be in need of supplementation. An online forum is certainly not the place to seek this type of health/diet advice.

originally posted by: kelbtalfenek
a reply to: SilentSaturn

As long as your micro and macro nutrient levels are fine, it's a liveable diet. It won't be a flourishing diet by any means. You really need to add some Vit. D and some complex Bs in there, amongst other things. As a basic platform it's okay but if it were me, I'd add greens, other legumes, nuts, fruits and berries in there.
But please consult with a nutritionist as to the nutrients you will be missing and that will be in need of supplementation. An online forum is certainly not the place to seek this type of health/diet advice.

I can't really afford a nutritionist, and I understand that all online advice is to be taken with a grain of salt. The multi-vitamin I mentioned does include Vit. D and complex B's.

I agree that it's not optimal. As you said, optimal would be fresh greens, legumes, nuts, fruits, ect… However, this is a budget diet that I'm hoping will still give me energy.

While fresh, wholesome ingredients are the best, I am hoping to somewhat cover those nutrients through a multi-vitamin. Purely for budget sake, and not as an optimal diet.

a reply to: SilentSaturn

Not sure where you live, but greens aren't that expensive. Nor is most produce, again dependent upon your geographical location. Mark-down racks are your friend for budget meals. Multi-vitamins are fairly expensive, if taken as a major part of your nutritional needs. (And the kicker is that because a great deal of those nutrients cannot be absorbed as quickly as they are processed...those nutrients get flushed out of your system.)

I think you should give it a try, but before you do it...make a journal and record your food intake, your general health and energy levels, weight and all that. Then try your diet for a week and do the same thing. Definitely journalize everything and evaluate yourself daily.

Best of luck to you.

a reply to: SilentSaturn

Why not go vegetarian instead of vegan? Then you could add eggs and other important B vitamins to your diet that you can't get from a vegan diet. Right now you won't be getting nearly enough protein from rice and beans.

a reply to: SilentSaturn

I would read up outside of ATS on the dangers of supplements. Especially Iron.

I don't think a vegan diet is healthy, and can cause longer term problems down the line.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: SilentSaturn
Why not go vegetarian instead of vegan? Then you could add eggs and other important B vitamins to your diet that you can't get from a vegan diet. Right now you won't be getting nearly enough protein from rice and beans.

I'm vegan for ethical reasons, and vegetarian doesn't fit into my personal beliefs. I find that B vitamins aren't that hard to attain.

Like I said, I use a multi-vitamin, and if that was not enough, I could always buy a b-complex.

Protein? I'm not sure if it is enough or not. I plan on adding tofu/tempeh to help supplement on occasion. From a brief search :

1 cup rice/beans = 5 grams of protein, 45 carbohydrate grams, 2 grams of fat and 216 calories.
1 large egg = 6 grams of protein,5 gram saturated fat, 0 carbs, and 70 calories.

I don't see a big different between eating two cups of rice/beans and two eggs when it comes to protein.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: SilentSaturn
I would read up outside of ATS on the dangers of supplements. Especially Iron.
I don't think a vegan diet is healthy, and can cause longer term problems down the line.

From everything I've read, a vegan diet is one of the most healthy diets concerning heart disease.
A vegan diet compared to the American Heart Asociation diet.
Conclusion: A vegan diet significantly reduced systemic inflammation, as evidenced by hsCRP, in patients with CAD on guideline-directed medical therapy, while an AHA diet did not. This is the first rigorous study to comprehensively assess multiple indices of cardiovascular risk between a vegan and AHA die

Sure, that's just for hearth disease. However, I haven't heard anything negative for being a vegan in the long run as long as you're getting the needed vitamins and protein.

Is there any studies that show long term negative health effects of a healthy vegan diet?

My main reason for being vegan is my moral beliefs. I did look into health risks of being vegan before starting a year ago. The only bad effects I found were that of a unbalanced diet.

a reply to: kelbtalfenek

Iv'e been noticing that. My pee is very yellow after taking vitamins . I imagine that not everything gets absorbed as a body is used to the process of breaking down food and turning it into ATP or whatnot.

I think you're right, I'll have to look at what produce is somewhat cheap and find a way to mix that into rice/beans/tofu... Just tryin to keep it cheap!

I’m commenting to follow

Is the diet COMPLETELY for financial reasons? Or is there any health concerns or benefits your looking for other than simply sustaining your energy for day to day function?

I would assume a protein source plus some kind of vegetable source high in nutrients at least a couple of times weekly would be sufficient, i personally can’t trust that vitamins or supplements are what they say they are. If it’s a thoroughly researched brand containing what it claims, I would assume it would far outweigh a few servings of veggies a week in cost.

a reply to: SilentSaturn

Dandelion greens, from an unpolluted area. Do some internet searches on foraging safely...

a reply to: SilentSaturn

1 cup rice/beans = 5 grams of protein, 45 carbohydrate grams, 2 grams of fat and 216 calories.
1 large egg = 6 grams of protein,5 gram saturated fat, 0 carbs, and 70 calories.

I don't see a big different between eating two cups of rice/beans and two eggs when it comes to protein.

The difference is that the egg is a "complete protein" , because it contains all the essential amino acids that the body can not produce. Alternative to egg you can use "Quinoa" since "Quinoa" is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids.

It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants.

Here is a link that lists 26 different foods(plant based included) with more protein that egg, since your main concern is the protein intake. Also keep in mind that usually it´s recommended that 46 grams for women and 56 grams for men daily intake on protein.

Peace

a reply to: SilentSaturn

This is a good quick article.

www.alexfergus.com...

If you are on Facebook, I suggest you join a group called magnesium advocacy group.

They go extensively in depth on why veganism isn't healthy in the long run, iron toxicity, etc.

a reply to: SilentSaturn

As an aside, from my own research/info pool/experience, heart disease, or arterial sclerosis specifically, is directly related to vit c intake. Vit c makes collagen, too little causes lesions on the high pressure areas of the arteries, body deposits plaques at the lesions as an internal band-aide which can run amok.

Linus Pauling knew stuff.

But good luck on the diet, otherwise.

a reply to: Baddogma
Okay, I'll keep in mind to eat some oranges

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: SilentSaturn
This is a good quick article.
www.alexfergus.com...
If you are on Facebook, I suggest you join a group called magnesium advocacy group.
They go extensively in depth on why veganism isn't healthy in the long run, iron toxicity, etc.

I have a few issues with that article. One, I can't find his works cited. Two, Every linked I clicked on goes to another alex Fergus article. I'm not heavily researched on veganism, but I will try to address his points.

1. Hard to Get Protein : While it is harder to get protein on a vegan diet, I don't find it too much of a struggle. Looking into it, rice and beans is an uphill battle to solely rely on protein for. However, soy beans seem to contain a ton of protein to make up for it. Tempeh comes at 20.3g, and Roasted soy beans at 38.5g per 100g. For chicken, it was 29.8g per 100g serving siSource : Bing's search-bar nutrition checker.

2. Vegan and Vegetarian Diets have Lower Protein Quality : Author claims soy effects estrogen levels. This is still a debated topic, and from what I read, the studies have shown the estrogen levels to be affected from little to none. www.alwaysonnutrition.com...

Then the author says, soy is a GMO crop. Well, not if you buy organic or non-gmo right? Organic tofu or tempeh goes for about $2.50 to $3.5 u.s. where I live per package.

High in PUFAs, Polyunsaturated fatty acids. Well, I'm uninformed if there is anything against those things. This is a highly debated area concerning all fatty acids. Coconut oil was praised for years b/c of health benefits, only for people to say saturated fats are not good for heart health. So.. I won't try to touch that massive subject.

Anyway, I'm not going to bore you to death and try to address every single point. His article isn't bad, but I get the sense that he isn't well researched. He just constantly links to his own website, and doesn't provide studies. You just have to trust him.

The main point of his article seemed to be that being a vegan is hard. I agree, but like I said in earlier posts, it's a moral/ethical choice for me.

a reply to: Seed76

I always thought that rice and beans formed a complete protein together. After thinking about it more, I think I will have to add some more quinoa, tofu, and tempeh to my diet. As beans and rice don't seem to provide enough protein purely by themselves.

a reply to: snowspirit

I think I'll check the store first. But thanks for the recommendation.

originally posted by: SilentSaturn
My question is, as a vegan, can I be healthy off of just protein and a multi-vitamin?

Opinions vary but the truth is that it just depends. You can try it but be aware that your health is a one time deal. Generally, when bad things start happening in your body, there's no fixing it. The way I see it, people are living longer than ever before and most of them are not vegans. Of course you can overdo anything.

I would personally advise against strict veganism and instead recommend dietary diversity with a steady eye on avoiding stuff you know for a fact is unhealthy. Eating a ton of stuff that's supposed to be healthy (according to the latest study) turns you into a guinea pig. And guess who is screwed if they later find out it has serious consequences? Guess who pays for it if they're wrong or if the study was flawed or conducted in an unscrupulous way?

I would stick to what is known to be a reasonably safe diet and avoid the fad stuff at all costs. And of course, if you're eating something and you have bad symptoms every time you eat it, just stop eating that. In general, your body tends to do bad things when bad things are happening to it. The same things are not necessarily good and bad for everyone (individuality).

My philosophy is that if you're going against convention just to be going against convention, you might be doing something wrong and you might regret it. When you go against established ways of doing things because you're bored or you have strong feelings or something, you're playing with fire because you don't really know what's going to happen. You're (as I said) basically paying these people to turn yourself into a lab rat.

The proteins in veggies is often not that bioavailable. There are problems with Lectins and antinutrients in many of the plants which lower bioavailability. I have read multiple scientific articles addressing this but have not actually tested on myself. I like veggies but am pretty intolerant to lots of them.

I don't care much for the type of vitamin you use, not that particular one, but the multivitamins in general. I tested the effectiveness of many forms of minerals and vitamins, I like food folate instead of folic acid, Methylcobalamin is in your multivitamin, that is good. I tried a lot of those more natural vitamin combinations and had some problems with all of them, I can't take a multivitamin of any kind regularly.

But that is me, other people do fine with them.