How to Keep Vegans in Your Family Happy at Thanksgiving (2024)

FAQs

How to Keep Vegans in Your Family Happy at Thanksgiving? ›

Soup, salad, and sides: There are thousands of recipes for veggie soups, salads, and side dishes which even the most dedicated carnivores can enjoy alongside your vegan friends and family. Don't forget dessert: Consider baking pies, cookies, and cakes with unrefined coconut oil or vegan margarine instead of butter.

Seasonal vegetables like squash, beets, and mushrooms are key to making vegan-friendly dishes that are festive for Thanksgiving. Add quinoa, nuts, and beans (like chickpeas or lentils) to create satisfying entrées that everyone at the table will want to try.

Other protein-filled vegan options that could replace turkey in your vegan Thanksgiving table are tempeh, tofu and seitan. Choose one of these plant-based turkey alternatives, or combine more than one in your table, complimenting with veggies, rice, salads, or any other plant-based whole foods ingredients you want.

Vegetarian and vegan diets must pay special attention to vitamin B12 because it is only found naturally in animal foods. Without adequate amounts of this nutrient, people may develop Vitamin B12 deficiencies, which can cause anemia, mood changes, nerve and neurological damage.

Veganism isn't a switch. It's a series of choices that form part of your subconscious. It's an identity, not a temporary experience. Yet, 84% of vegetarians/vegans abandon their diet.

If all U.S.-based dogs and cats went vegan, researchers estimated that the lives of 2 billion livestock animals a year could be saved, along with billions of aquatic animals. If pets around the world stopped eating meat, around 7 billion livestock animals a year would be spared from slaughter, according to the study.

Whole soy foods, such as edamame, tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy nuts, are great sources of lean protein.

What is alternative turkey and ham made out of? Brands like Tofurky, Field Roast, Gardein, Beyond Meat, Lightlife, and more use plant-based ingredients in the products you can buy for any vegetarian/vegan guests.

What do most vegans suffer from? ›

Low vitamin B12 intake is a significant problem in vegan diets due to the exclusion of vitamin B12-rich foods such as meat, poultry, and eggs. A lack of vitamin B12 has been linked to neurologic and hematologic problems [19].

Deficiencies in minerals such as iodine, calcium, and zinc may also occur. Iodine deficiency is very common among vegans, often leading to acquired hypothyroidism [58].

Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and other vegan staples are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help protect against disease. Plant-based diets also tend to be lower in unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol.

You shouldn't go cold turkey.

As Nussinow explained before, going vegan means you're significantly upping your fiber count, and it takes some time for your bacteria to adapt.

Even though meats provide certain nutrients that plants don't, eating meat isn't necessary for your health or survival. With appropriate planning and supplements, plant-based diets can provide the nutrients your body needs.

Since fat is your body's most concentrated form of energy, and a little extra body fat is naturally insulating, boosting your fat intake can help you stay warm during winter. Just like squirrels power through winter by digging up the acorns they've stashed away, you'll find that nuts are the perfect winter snack.

According to the data, vegans typically crave classic comfort foods such as: Chocolate (18,100) Banana bread (12,100) Cheese (12,100)