Being vegan with a nut allergy?

Being vegan is never going to be easy, but you can do it without nuts. Lots of soy and legumes should help.

Have you considered going vegetarian instead? It’s also difficult, but you can find ethically produced dairy products if that’s your main concern, and eating moderate quantities of cheese, eggs, yogurt, etc. would be a good, healthy supplement to your diet.

You can get plenty of protein from legumes and beans, especially soy products. Although I’m not vegan (I’m a vegetarian) I rarely eat peanuts or other tree nuts, so I don’t think you need to be concerned about that allergy. If you’re allergic to soy, that will make things much more challenging. Aside from the nuts, however, the only thing you should be very careful about on a vegan diet is vitamin B12. You’ll need to take a supplement to insure you don’t have a deficiency. Otherwise, if you eat a balanced diet of soy, grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., you’ll do just fine nutritionally. A good book to start with is Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis. It’ll provide lots of good info on your nutritional needs.

I encourage you to become a vegan. I am ½ vegan (I don’t eat red meats). Eat lots of peas is what I will say.

The problem, I would think, is contamination (may contain traces…). My daughter has a nut allergy and as we switch more and more to a vegan diet we have to be very careful. Even our tofu has a peanut warning! Remember, peanut allergies can build up in strength! A tiny bit of nut or peanut here and there can build up to a severe reaction. Just be careful and read labels.

Ooo, that’s a tricky one. I’m a vegan and I eat a bunch of nuts myself :I Would you be allergic to almond milk? Or is it just peanuts and tree nuts?

I’m sure it can be done, but you’d have to be careful about the “trace amounts” on the labels, which is on a good bit of stuff (and it’s hard enough finding stuff that’s vegan to begin with, especially if you don’t have access to a natural foods store).

The majority of what you’ll eat is vegetables, pulses, fruits, grains, and seeds (and other nuts?) anyway, though.
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Some tips: Try it for a week first (it’s what I did). You’ll initially be intimidated, but once you’re doing it, you’ll see it’s not as hard as you might’ve thought. Your tastebuds shed off like every week or so (or maybe even 5 days? don’t remember) so they won’t even remember certain things after awhile and the cravings die down. You’ll be like “meh” instead of GIMME (hopefully, lol) to certain things and you suddenly have more control over yourself. :) Milk and cheese have an addictive + carcinogenic protein in them called Casein, it’s basically the feel-good hit the calf gets that encourages it to come back for more. It’s why cheese seems hard to give up. With time, you’ll see dairy as kinda gross and won’t want it in your body (disclaimer: I’m not psychic and could be wrong). If you’re transferring from a straight up normal American diet, I don’t have any tips for cold-turkeying meat. I think it’s more of a life-long conditioning/comfort food type of thing, to want to eat it, but I was never a meat-fan to begin with so it was easy for me to dump unceremoniously. Try watching the documentary film Earthlings (for free to the public, up on youtube!) that’ll definitely help (but brace yourself… I couldn’t get past half of it, personally). It might also help to know that a lot of the flavor in meat comes from Urea (basically pee that’s still in the meat).

And don’t be discouraged by sources that say B12 only comes from meat (there’s a misconception that protein only comes from meat too. You’ll come across it a lot. The reality is, deficiency in either protein or B12 is rare in this country, even for vegans. I’m talking, a couple of case studies. You don’t need nearly as much as they’d have you believe). Anyway, B-12 actually comes from bacteria. Other sources of B12 are mushrooms and blue-green algae (and they toss some in stuff like soy milk). Protein’s in freaking a bajillion things you’re eating anyway, I don’t even worry about it (quick google on vegan protein should show you what I mean).

I think it’s funny how as soon as you turn vegan, you suddenly have to be concerned about where you’re getting your vitamins from (as opposed to before, because apparently the hamburger and fries were just bursting with nutrition!.)

In general, nutritional information is a landmine of misinformation and garbage. I suggest going through seeeveral sources. You’ll eventually learn that if you keep it varied, you’ll get everything you need. Variety’s good anyway, right? Don’t be a vegan that just eats potatoes and apples (THAT’S how you hit the malnutrition club, heh), go for the throat. Kale is excellent, sprinkle in some flaxseed to whatever you’re making, learn to cook with seitan and tempeh, explore and research. It’s kinda fun, even for a horrible cook like me. :)

And especially at first, you’ll need motivation. You’re surrounded by peers that are still eating normally, and just won’t get it (I don’t recommend trying to address that either, they just won’t get it. at best they’ll humor you), and it’ll weigh on you after the 30th social situation (food+social happens a lot). I suggest books! Lots of books! There are a bunch of vegan books, I personally recommend the World Peace Diet by Will Tuttle, but there’s even 0.99 vegan books on Amazon that are pretty complete. I also recommend the podcast “Vegetarian Food for Thought” by Colleen Patrick Goudreau. Good stuff.

Really, your enemy is ignorance. Educate yourself, from various sources, and drink lots of smoothies! (also, for a bit the bathroom trips kinda suck. don’t be scared, your body’s trying to detox).

I am working to become vegan and I am about 90% there. I don’t have a nut allergy but my husband does. Therefore, I cannot cook with nuts. However, he can have seeds which is highly recommended! You can do it quite easily and I recommend reading Dr. Furhman’s “Eat To Live” book on how to accomplish that diet! Do not buy processed foods and you are not at risk for any contamination! Focus your attention on Salad as the main dish. Your salad MUST contain fat in order to absorb the nutrients in the salad. Therefore you will add avocado, sunflower seeds, or a dressing that includes tofu. Also, you will need to use 2 TBSP of flaxseed everyday! This will help your omega3 needs and keep your skin from drying out. You can use sunflower seeds as an alternative to most nuts in recipes. And you will need a DHA/EPA and B12 supplement at minimum! I take a liquid B12 supplement b/c it has a better absorption rate! Good luck!

These are Dr. Furhmans’s Rules for a healthy Vegan Diet!
All Raw Vegetables and Cooked Green Vegetables can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Eat
lots of green leafy vegetables. They have the greatest amount of nutrients per calorie of any
food. You may also eat as many nutrient rich non-green vegetables as you want (eggplant,
cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, carrots, peppers, tomatoes). The more you eat, the more
weight you will lose. Try to eat a pound per day of raw and a pound per day of cooked
vegetables. If you can’t eat this much, don’t force yourself, but the idea is to completely rethink what your idea of a portion is: make it huge.
You may also eat as much fruit as you want. You should have at least four fresh fruits daily.
Finish lunch or dinner with watermelon, a whole cantaloupe of a box of blueberries or
strawberries. On this aggressive weight loss diet, limit dried fruit like dates, raisins or apricots to 2 tablespoons per day.
Starchy vegetables (butternut or acorn squash, corn, potatoes) and whole grains are grouped together because they can be a problem for those who have difficulty losing weight. While wholesome high carbohydrate foods are a valuable addition to a disease prevention diet, they are more calorically dense than the non-starchy vegetables. These foods are limited to one serving (1 cup) per day in these aggressive weight loss menus.
Eat beans every day; they are a dieter’s best friend. The goal is to eat an entire cup of beans daily and you may have more then a cup if you chose. Beans reduce cholesterol and blood sugar and help prevent food cravings. They are digested slowly, which gives them a high satiety index.
Consume nuts and seeds every day in limited amounts (1 ounce daily). Almonds, walnuts,
cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and others may be rich in calories and fat, but
scientific studies consistently report that nuts and seeds offer disease protection against heart attacks, stroke and cancer and also help you lower cholesterol. Always eat nuts and seeds raw because the roasting process alters their beneficial fats. Nuts and seeds are ideal in salad dressings because when eaten with greens, they greatly enhance the absorption of nutrients from the green vegetables. You may also use an additional 1 tablespoon per day of flax seed.
Refined grains, sugar, oil and added salt are off limits on this meal plan.