Hold the Meat, Please

Tuesday July 24, 2007

I can say with great confidence that my diet's far healthier than it was ten years ago. Even if it weren't for my then-undiagnosed celiac disease, I ate a diet that, at least sometimes, was bad enough to make me ill. I liked vegetables well enough, but I had no problem eating with a couple of bowls of Lucky Charms for dinner in the college dining hall, or fried --- well, almost anything.

I still like fried foods, but I'm much more aware of the provenance of the foods I eat --- and I consider that a side effect of living with a restricted diet. Spending a lot of time in natural food stores to get gluten-free flours, researching the biological relationships between foods, and turning to local, seasonal vegetables as a way to get around processed (and often wheat-filled) foods was part of a natural transition to a healthier diet for me, and it might not have happened if I hadn't been diagnosed with celiac disease.

Still, though, squaring your ethical principles with food allergies --- especially if you have multiple food allergies --- isn't always simple. I recently read Peter Singer and Jim Mason's The Way We Eat, and in their discussion about transitioning to veganism, they point out:

There are now so many substitutes for animal products that becoming a vegan is far easier than it ever has been. Soy milk, along with rice milk, is now available almost everywhere, and soy yoghurt is also popular. For those who . . . still crave bacon, there are excellent vegan bacon substitutes, usually available in the refrigerated section of supermarkets or natural food stores. There are also vegan sausages, in many different varieties, along with other vegetable-based meat substitutes.

Easier said than done if you're allergic to any of a number of common allergens that are staples of ready-to-eat vegetarian foods! Most common allergens are high in protein, and soy, nuts, and wheat are usually the basis of these meat substitutes that Singer and Mason refer to. So if you're vegetarian or vegan and have food allergies, you may have to forego a lot of convenience foods and pay attention to balancing your diet.

Is it possible to have a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet with food allergies? If you have allergies to any one food --- even soy! --- the answer is absolutely yes. You'll probably be looking at more of a whole foods diet, which has nothing to do with the grocery chain of the same name except for the fact that you can buy foods that work for the diet there. A whole foods diet consists of foods in or close to their natural state --- whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and milk or eggs (if applicable). One need not be fanatical about maintaining a whole foods diet, but it's an easy option for someone cutting out one food allergen on a vegetarian diet. You'll need to look at dietary protein, but most people get far more than they need; there are many sources of vegetarian protein.

With multiple food allergies, maintaining a healthy vegetarian diet is trickier. There's little, besides Vitamin B12, that's in meat that isn't found in ample quantities in plant foods. Finding them in non-allergenic plant foods, however: there's the challenge! While your situation will depend on your specific combination of allergies, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Grains that are not staples of the American diet are rich in both protein and calcium: specifically, quinoa and amaranth. Other grains that may be worth investigating are teff, millet, sorghum, and brown rice.
Leafy green vegetables, like kale and spinach, are good sources of iron. They're also quick to cook.
If you're concerned about getting ample nutrients in your diet, it's worth making an appointment with a nutritionist or a dietitian --- preferably one who specializes in vegetarianism or food allergies.

More resources for vegetarianism and food allergies: