Tasty healthy Fats as a Vegan???
 

Elo, I've been a vegatarian for 15 years; I'll go back and forth between vegan and vegetarian. I feel amazing vegan though...wondering if there's anyone here who is vegan; how has it impacted your mental and physical health?

I just started working again on being a full time vegan.

Wondering also about healthy fats..I've noticed alot of vegan do the low fat thing which seems to make them appear gaunt and wrinkly as they age and I'm already on the slim side. I imagine it makes them a bit more crabby as well. Not enough fats makes me feel ungrounded... Outside of avocados and coconut oil/milk which I LOVE where do you personally get more fats?

I would not call myself vegan, there are many things vegans eat, I would not touch. But fats are important, so I us a lot of coconut oil, and a virgin olive oil, at times hemp oil. Eat a lot of Avocados, only here in Australia the avocados are expensive at the moment and I have cut back. Otherwise I eat what my garden gives me, and add fruit and vegetable form the markets. My favorite nuts are walnuts, an other source of fats.

I've been vegan for ten years and I don't pay too much attention to fat per se. My health is excellent according to blood tests I had done last year and I feel great. I occasionally use coconut oil but because it's a saturated fat, I use it sparingly. Mostly I use an organic canola oil, I eat avocados and a tiny bit of walnuts for the sake of the omega 3's and I do use coconut milk for curry dishes.


There are some whole food plant based groups that eat only plants (they aren't vegans) and some of them really avoid the fat. The good thing for them is that there are numerous success stories on being cured of really bad diseases because they gave up meat. Like I chatted with one lady who, between her husband and her, reversed heart disease, fatty liver disease and MS!

I don't understand why you think slim plant eaters who avoid fat would be crabby.

Sorry I just noticed trying low fat vegan I was quite crabby and I don't know any low fat vegans in person so I'm certainly not one to judge; but I've seen alot of pics and videos where they look emaciated; next to no body fat; hunger seems to make people crabby. I totally believe in it though; I cleared up some ongoing health issues going raw vegan (not low fat); I suppose it's more for my vanity and mood that I'd like to eat more fats as I find myself not feeling my best with no or next to no fat. Totally ungrounded feeling...I'm already pretty thin and wanted to know a wider variety of fatty foods I can work with and add to dishes. Thanks! :)

Maybe you're just not eating enough calories?

Fats are in olive oil, (and other vegetable oils) nuts, avacodo - coconut oil is a saturated fat. Flax seed is rich in omega 3 and 6 - especially flax seed oil. Peanut butter and other nut and/or seed butters. Prepared foods like tahini/hummus are high fat.

Yes the human body needs fat as an essential nutrient, and one should consume somewhere between 50 - 80 g per day (as a rough figure dependent on body weight, activity levels and carbohydrate intake). A tablespoon of olive oil has about 15 - 18g. It is pure fat.

Fat is a high calorie nutrient. One tblspoon olive oil packs about 150 to 160 cals.

If removing animal products from the diet, you will need vitamin b12 as a supplement.