Try these five fun activities to ensure your Friday is happy, healthy and productive!

Isolation is no fun... but it can be productive.

As the world continues to work on containing the COVID-19 outbreak, Olympic Channel has found another five activities you can try today from the comfort of your own home that will keep you happy, healthy and entertained.

From elite athlete workouts, to a fascinating conversation you can tune into, we have you covered today!

If you have stairs at home, Carlin Isles has speed drills for you.

The USA rugby sevens flyer is a constant source of inspiration during isolation, in how to self-motivate and make the use of what you have around you.

Just make sure no one is coming round the corner at the top!

If running up stairs isnt your thing, the COM dive team in Texas have created a slightly more intricate challenge to test your mobility.

If youre alone, use #footshoechallenge and see how you shape up online.

Brian Orser is a figure skating double Olympic medallist-turned-coach, who has mentored the likes of Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernandez and Adam Rippon.

We will be giving Brian a call on Instagram live today, so DM us your questions and join us at 2pm UTC (10am EST).

Tune in to see how skaters are coping, and what advice Brian has for keeping active, and also what his thoughts were on the abruptly ended world championships.

He will discuss how the figure skating community is regrouping, and why this is a time when skaters will get to show what kind of athlete they really are, from a leadership and self-improvement perspective, and also in terms of learning new choreography - which are things that can usually only be improved in the off-season.

NB. Tomorrow, 25 April, is the Open Ice event: where a host of star figure skaters will Livestream for the UN Foundation's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The donation page can be found here.

Do you let someone unqualified have a go at taming your hair during the lockdown? Or is it time to grow your locks out a bit?

Perhaps the safest option is to shave it off like Michael Phelps has for charity, and you can attribute your new look to a worthy cause.

For the women, how about some Italian inspiration from Federica Pellegrini who has gone for an isolation bob...

USA boxers Mikaela Mayer and Ginny Fuchs may have fancy footwork in the ring, but even they can struggle with learning new skills!

Fuchs will have to take care though, as shes one of the favourites to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at the Pan American Olympic Boxing Qualifier in 2021.

Please get your home owners permission before trying this, and wear protective equipment!

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Daily routine: Five things to do - 24 April - Olympic Channel

Self-discipline when it comes to physical acts of worship is a part of the heritage of Islam. However, the true essence of Ramadan has been diluted, and dare I say, lost, through the generations. Photograph: Ian Langsdon/EPA

It is going to be a very different Ramadan this year due to the Covid-19 global pandemic and the social isolation laws. For 1.8 billion Muslims around the world, the cultural traditions and customs of this religious month of fasting will have to be forsaken for the safety of the global community. As an introvert, I am really looking forward to spending this month focusing inwards, without the burden of social responsibility.

Ramadan in 2020 means no communal gatherings in mosques for tarawih night prayers, no large iftar dinners with family and friends at sunset to break the days fast,and, sadly, restrictions on celebrating Eid, the biggest social holiday for Muslims signalling the end of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, and involves fasting from food, water and marital relations from dawn to dusk for 29-30 days. Though cultural traditions have depicted Ramadan as a month of feasting and socialisation, in reality, the pure religious tenets stress Ramadan as a month of extreme self-discipline and self-mastery, concepts that I constantly strive for.

The current coronavirus rules involve hygiene practices that muslims are encouraged to do in general daily life. Muslims believe that cleanliness is half of faith, and we perform wudu, which is a ritual purification that involves handwashing and washing the face, arms and feet five times a day before each obligatory prayer.

Self-discipline when it comes to physical acts of worship is a part of the heritage of Islam. However, the true essence of Ramadan has been diluted, and dare I say, lost, through the generations. The struggle for us today lies in the matters of the heart and the soul, and connecting at a deeper, more authentic level, to our sense of self and to our creator.

Unfortunately, today Muslims often subjugate themselves and put the needs of others over our own physical, mental and spiritual needs. We frantically prepare large family dinners, and with the lockdown and children at home every day, this struggle can be magnified. It could simply be a matter of perspective, where a shift into a spiritual reflective state a state of being rather than doing could help maximise our affinity.

The focus of Ramadan can move away from food preparation and eating at sunset, to self-improvement and self-discipline. There can be a tendency to overeat at these large iftars due to the spread of food available. However, now, without the self-induced obligation of hosting or attending iftars, meals can be prepared with a focus on simplicity and aligned with Islamic principles.

Islam teaches that any food consumption should be to the fullness of one third of the stomach, with another third for water, and the last third for air. Muslims are highly discouraged from overeating and from wasting. Furthermore, any food that is consumed must be halal and tayyib. Tayyib means that the food eaten must be wholesome and good for you. Ramadan is the best time to discipline the self to eat healthy fresh food and in smaller proportions.

Ramadan is also known as the month of the Quran, as this is the month in which the Islamic scripture was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. We Muslims place a heavy emphasis on connecting to the Quran during this month, through daily recitations and reflections, or attending the mosque for congregational night prayers (tarawih) where the Imam aims to recite the entire scripture in the prayers over the month so that we can reflect as we listen.

In this time of physical distancing, as Muslims we will be forced to reconnect to our God and the Quran on a deeply intimate level. Interestingly enough, this is the authentic practice of Prophet Muhammad. He would isolate himself for days in a cave at the top of a mountain to introspect, reflect, worship and connect with God. During the last 10 days of Ramadan, he was known to self-isolate in a spiritual seclusion practice known as itikf.

In the time of Prophet Muhammad, tarawih night prayers were initially prayed in congregation for three days, however from the fourth night onwards Prophet Muhammad prayed tarawih in his own home, saying O people! Perform your [tarawih] prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational prayer.

I believe the authentic spirit of Ramadan is one of self-discipline, introspection, self-discovery and self-development. Ramadan during the global pandemic may seem disheartening at a superficial level, however I honestly feel that it arrives at an ideal time.

You have the choice to embrace this Ramadan with a focus on deep connection and one-on-one intimacy with God through prayer and reflection. I plan to spend this next month practising self-compassion and self-mastery, and I invite everyone to join me in this journey of holistic growth and connection.

Heba Shaheed is a physiotherapist and womens health advocate

Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing

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Ramadan during coronavirus may seem disheartening but it's the ideal time for reflection - The Guardian

Minimalisms core and uncontroversial preaching is to think critically about whats necessary and whats not. In practice, what often results, as Chayka and other critics have noted, is a form of conspicuously inconspicuous consumption. In a 2018 passage on ambient music, the writer David Stubbs got at the elitist subtext of the orderly/disorderly design dichotomy: Wealthy Westerners still squander obscene amounts of the worlds resources, but have found stylish, discreet ways of doing so Poverty, by contrast, is a visibly maximal experience. It is shopping trolleys crammed with wretched but vital belongings which you have no place to park. As Arielle Bernstein, a daughter of refugees, put it in a 2016 Atlantic piece, For my grandparents, the question wasnt whether an item sparked joy, but whether it was necessary for their survival.

The notion of survival is now, of course, something even the wealthy are having to meditate on. Its been widely noted that overly Kondoed households may be, in the present, fend-for-yourself crisis, a bit screwed. Im not the one who threw out everything that didnt spark joy, Robert, chides a figure in a recent New Yorker cartoon. Enjoy spending the next few months rolling and unrolling your seven T-shirts. The truth is that most Kondo followers who subscribe to The New Yorker are fine: They can still send out for the things they need. But it will be telling to see, when this is all over, whether anyone ditches stocked-up canned goods on account of them not sparking joy.

While the crisis has staged the revenge of stuff, its also implemented lifestyles long glamorized as minimalist. In social isolation, many of us just do less than we once did, and some of us are clearly enjoying it. For the longest time, I have felt that theres been too much world, Olga Tokarczuk wrote in The New Yorker. Too much, too fast, too loud. So Im not experiencing any isolation trauma, and it isnt hard on me at all to not see people. I feel a twinge of this relief too, but I am not sure it is something to be proudly embraced. People for whom coronavirus isolation is relatively serene tend to be lucky enough to be able to work from home, or rich enough to not need to work at all. Theres something misanthropic in celebrating isolation when the un-isolated risk infection; it calls back to the way that self-care has been, in recent years, evangelized to endorse callousness toward others.

With any of the existential trials that isolation has placed on society, its an open question whether the habits of this moment will stick around long-term or instead inspire rebellion. Certainly right now its impossible to forget that vaunted aesthetic terms such as clean and sterile derive from highly unglamorous medical situations. Its hard to feel that hospital-like order and silence are, in themselves, values that ennoble life. Streets have now been emptied and six-foot grids have been implemented in order to guard against not just bodies but the jostle of existing in a diverse society: confrontations, connection, and accidents, happy and sad. In response, hearteningly, people are scrawling art on their blank masks and making noise out their windows. They know that one of the joys of good health is the ability to make a mess.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

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The Pandemic Has Made a Mockery of Minimalism - The Atlantic

I was listening to a podcast the other day and the main topic of discussion among some of the world's greatest public intellectuals was whether we will be a changed society after we emerge from lockdown and life goes back to normal.

Will we take the lessons we have learned during this period of quarantine?

Will our politics be changed, our health care and educational systems upgraded? Will the food, hospitality, travel, and entertainment industries be transformed? And if so, how?

Will humanity be more united?

Will the race towards globalization continue or be slowed? Will we revert back to a more nationalistic posture and orientation, with each country looking out for its own, or will we come together to fix some of the global issues that cannot be solved individually, like pandemics, climate change, cyber security, terrorism, and market disruption?

Will we maintain our heightened levels of introspection and the added quality time spent with our families, or will we immediately rush to (over) fill our lives with business and social engagements, like a pent-up rubber band or champagne bottle cork suddenly released?

Jewish history, especially as marked during the current Omer period, has much to offer on the topic.

If you study Jewish history you will discern a pattern: any change that is externally induced is short lived. Real, sustainable, lasting change comes through evolution, not revolution.

This is true of the two most monumental events in Jewish history: the great Exodus from Egypt and the Revelation at Sinai seven weeks later. The effect of both of these watershed events was temporary.

Just three days after being liberated from Egypt, the people challenged Moses:

What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt? Isn't this the thing [about] which we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, Leave us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians, because we would rather serve the Egyptians than die in the desert.

Incredibly, over the next few decades there are numerous instances where the people challenge Moses similarly, even expressing a distorted nostalgia for their time spent in Egypt:

We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

Really?!

And do you also remember the attempted genocide, forced slavery, and torture you faced at the hands of the Egyptians? Or did the mind-blowing culinary delight of cucumbers and garlic eclipse the many horrifying human rights violations you suffered in Egypt? (My words, not Moses.)

How does a group of liberated slaves come to pine for their former period of enslavement? How do they accuse, abuse and confuse their savior Moses with genocidal intent?

They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt?

But such is the nature of sudden and externally induced change: its effects are superficial and skin-deep.

While the great Exodus from Egypt might have changed the external reality of the people, it didnt change their inner world, the slave mentality that had been seared into their psyches.

As the saying goes, It may have taken a day to take the Jews out of Egypt, but it has taken millennia to take Egypt out of the Jew.

You see, any real external progress requires a corresponding internal process.

Change that is artificial rather than organic is superficial and temporary.

The same theme repeats itself during the Great Revelation at Sinai, considered by our sages to be the most monumental event in Jewish and world history.

Just weeks after hearing Gd say: I am the Lrd, Do not worship another, the people are found fervently dancing around a calf made of gold in blatant violation of the prohibition against worshipping idols!

And this would not be the last time. As chronicled throughout Scripture, sadly, our peoples struggle with idolatry was an ongoing feature of their spiritual evolution.

How does this happen?

It takes more than a few supernatural feats, plagues, and miracles to counter hundreds of years of attachment to idolatry.

Real, lasting, transformative change requires perspiration, not just inspiration.

The journey and transition from decadent slaves to kingdom of priests is not natural, and therefore could not be instantaneous.

And that is what the Omer period is all about. Its an annual national 7-week program of spiritual and moral evaluation and self-improvement.

The mitzvah to mark each day between Passover and Shavuot with a prayer is not just about counting each day, but making each day count.

The mystics teach that the Hebrew word for count, sipur, can also mean to refine.

Hence the deeper meaning of this mitzvah is to reflect on and work to refine one particular component of our character and inner composition over the seven-week Omer period.

We analyze the building blocks of our emotional makeup, and ensure that the foundation of our psycho-spiritual world is healthy and mature.

The Omer ritual does more than link the festivals of Passover and Shavuot in time; it bridges them in spirit, transforming two separate festivals into milestones along a single journey, ensuring that by the time we reach the foot of Sinai our hardened hearts have been softened and our embittered egos have been gently broken open, making us soulful and receptive recipients to the infinite rays of Divine light and love made available to us each year on Shavuot.

To internalize, then, is to eternalize.

And so in the spirit of counting the Omer, let us dwell on, delve into, and develop our inner world. Let us utilize this global period of pause and introspection to go back to the drawing board of our lives in order to define our core values, refine our beliefs and philosophy, and redesign our habits and lifestyles to reflect our highest and truest selves.

And if we can achieve that, we will have managed to reshape and reframe a period of turbulence, transience, tribulation and tragedy into personal and collective triumph and lasting transformation.

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Will Coronavirus Change Us Forever? - A Timely Lesson from Counting the Omer - Chabad.org

It may not win any Instagram photo competitions, but it is definitely going to put a smile on your face. Billie Schwab Dunn

Cook them both until they're fragrant and their intoxicating scent is wafting through the house. Next you'll want to add the cumin, chilli powder, salt, and sugar before tossing in the beans.

Pour in the passata next you want to use enough so that the beans are well-covered. This recipe really relies on the beans, so make sure you buy a tasty passata otherwise it will really affect the dish. If passata isn't an option for you, use tomato paste with a dash of balsamic to cut through the tomato, and add a splash of water to thin it out.

Leave this to simmer for 15 minutes until the mixture has thickened enough that it won't make the tacos soggy.

While that's cooking, chop up enough cherry tomatoes and lettuce for however many tacos you'll be serving. This is also a great time to prepare the guacamole, which only needs avocado, salt, cumin, chilli flakes, and a couple of squeezes of lemon all mixed in a bowl together.

Once the beans are cooked well, it's time to serve up! I like to fill my tacos with the beans first, then the lettuce, guacamole, and finally the tomatoes. If I have any vegan cheese or nutritional yeast, I'll put that on right after the beans so that it melts a little bit on top.

The tacos can also be turned into burritos, depending on what you prefer. All you need to swap in the recipe are the taco shells for tortillas.

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9 Disney cocktails and coffee drinks you can make at home

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I've been a vegan for 7 years these are my 6 go-to recipes using only cupboard staples - Insider - INSIDER

Plantifull food pots

A convenience food company with a difference hopes to take the UK market by storm.

Plantifull is a plant-based brand producing meal pots and jerkies to capitalize on the thriving plant-based sector. In the UK, the market has grown 8% annually, and is now worth 1.8 billion ($2.2 billion).

In just a few years, the amount of people identifying a flexitarian has grown significantly, and we dont see this trend abating anytime soon, says Adam Courtenay, 34, who runs the company with his wife Becca, 31.

The founders see their competitors as supermarkets that are creating their own sub-brands of vegan food, for example Tescos Wicked Kitchen; Sainsburys Plant Pioneers brand, alongside Co-ops new brand Gro.

These developments area change from the past, where supermarkets would look to brands to grow a category, however, because this sector is growing so quickly, they have realized they dont want to forgo any future profit, says Adam. This strategy seems to be reaping rewards for the supermarkets too, and it is also helping consumers have a huge amount of choice.

The amount of vegans in the UK is still relatively small; the estimated percentage of consumers who identify as vegan, range from 3%-5%.

But Plantifulls sales come from customers who dont strictly identify as vegan. Around 80% of sales come from those who dont identify as vegan, and instead are more focused on reducing their meat and fish consumption.

Recent research shows half the UK population will identify as flexitarian by 2025. M&S's vegan range has attracted 585,000 customers and helped to increase its meat-free sales by 77 per cent this year, the report said.

Its easy to look at the sheer number of plant-based products on the market and assume that supermarkets are over-indexing on vegan offerings, adds Adam, but its the flexitarian category thats really driving change.

Neither Adam nor Becca have a background in food. Becca has worked in consulting and real estate investment, while Adams career started in hedge fund trading.

We both had aspirations to set up our own company one day, and even created concepts for things like a property management tech platform, and a career networking service for students, Adam explains.

Neither of this really progressed because, although its a cliche, we just werent that passionate about the ideas.

One day late in 2016, the pair watched a documentary on Netflix called Forks over Knives, and everything changed.

Prior to this, neither of us were even vegetarian, and probably didnt even regard a meal without meat as being a proper meal, Adam recalls.

For some reason, this documentary really struck a chord with us; were both into fitness in a large way, and the health arguments seemed compelling.

The next day, Adam explains, they stopped eating meat, fish and dairy.

We adopted a completely plant-based diet, and weve never looked back. Weve now been plant-based for almost 3.5 years and we have never felt healthier.

For New Years in 2016, we went on an amazing trip to Australia, and we saw just how many plant-based offerings there were in supermarkets and restaurants compared to London, Adam adds.

Its easy to look at how spoilt we are in 2020, but the landscape was very different in 2016 to 17.

Adam says his business is different to others in the market through trying to be more authentic.

There are so many big players in the market with budgets infinitely bigger than ours, but we have never scarified our initial strategy of being open and transparent with our customers. I

ts why we openly admit and communicate mistakes we make, its why we share the bad parts of our business openly (such as using plastic pots). Its also why we wont compromise on using preservatives.

He added: Our mantra has always been: if we read an ingredients label and cant understand half the ingredients on there, it isnt good enough.

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One Vegan Company Is Trying To Turn The Convenience Food Sector By Storm - Forbes

Scientists have been documenting the unsustainable nature of meat and dairy consumption for decades, but it is only in recent years that veganism has garnered the attention of mass consumers all over the world. While India is a country with a long history of vegetarianism, like many other countries that have undergone rapid urbanisation and population growth, the demand for animal protein has been on the steady rise. However, Indian consumers now seem to be making the shift towards plant-based and here are some signs indicating that the vegan trend has hit the country.

Despite India being associated with vegetarianism, the majority of Indians 71% do consume meat. While that is the case, most Indian consumers do not eat a lot of meat compared to the average American consumer, which may make the plant-based transition that much easier. While per capita consumption of meat in the United States stands at around 25 kilograms, Indias per capita consumption of meat is 4.4 kilograms, making it the second lowest meat consuming country in the world.

Cereals, legumes, grains, pulses and sprouts all of these ingredients are typically found in traditional Indian dishes and most Indians have these in their kitchen pantry. But theyre also staples in vegan diets and provide a great source of protein and fibre.Lots of Indian dishes tend to already be plant-based too, such as chana masala, vegetable biryani, dal chawal and dum aloo.

As the climate crisis continues to make headlines, more are becoming conscious about the impact of their food choices and the environment. Animal agriculture drives 18% of global greenhouse emissions and 63% of Indias total greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture comes from livestock farming. More information about the water and land-intensiveness of livestock farming has further raised the alarm amongst Indian consumers, especially as India is one of the 17 countries most at risk of facing acute water shortages due to climate change.

Empowered with this knowledge, Indian consumers have shown greater willingness to try plant-based products even more so than their American counterparts, as revealed in a Frontiers report earlier this year.

Veganism has a celebrity touch all over the world, and its no different for Indias famous A-listers. Bollywood stars such as Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor and Aamir Khan have pledged to go 100% plant-based. Cricket skipper Virat Kohli and Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian football team, have too adopted veganism and are no doubt influencing other athletes and fans to do the same.

Indias first plant-based chicken startup GoodDot operates vegan chain eatery GoodDO, which has several locations across the country. The restaurant chain provides all-vegan versions of classic Indian dishes as well as international fast food fare, with many dishes already reaching price parity with its non-vegan competitors, such as KFC and McDonalds.Another homegrown plant-based brand Goodmylk, on the other hand, is also making vegan food accessible and affordable to Indian consumers by creating a line of dairy-free milk, curd, butter and mayonnaise all delivered to doors via its online shop and popular grocery app BigBasket.

With affordability and accessibility remaining the biggest obstacle preventing Indian consumers from making sustainable purchasing decisions, food techs delivering these solutions will help drive mass change.

Even more encouraging, the Good Food Institute, a global nonprofit that promotes plant-based and cultivated foods as alternatives to to meat, dairy, and eggs, have a dedicated India team working to advance the countrys alternative ecosystem and support local innovators in the space.

Lead image courtesy of Food 52 / Julia Gartland.

Sally Ho is Green Queen's resident writer and reporter. Passionate about about the environment, social issues and health, she is always looking into the latest climate stories in Hong Kong and beyond. A long-time vegan, she also hopes to promote healthy and plant-based lifestyle choices in Asia. Sally has a background in Politics and International Relations from her studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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5 Signs That The Vegan Trend Is Hitting India In A Big Way - Green Queen Media

This week, vegan brand Laird Superfood announced that it is closing a $10 million financing round, with funding provided entirely by Danone Manifesto Ventures (DMV)the investment arm of food company Danone. Laird Superfoodwhich was founded by professional surfer and fitness guru Laird Hamiltonproduces coconut milk powder-based vegan creamers enriched with medium chain triglycerides (MCT) oils and marine mineral complex Aquamin. Im so grateful to have such a strong, philosophically aligned partner like DMV on board as we look at developing the next phase of delicious, innovative, plant-based products for all to enjoy, Hamilton said.

DMVs investmentwhich builds on Lairds $32 million funding round led by coworking company WeWork earlier this yearwas made to bolster its portfolio with brands that meet the needs of the modern consumer. Laird Superfood is a powerful brand with a unique story, and we are excited about our ability to seal this partnership, particularly in the current global environment, DMV CEO Laurent Marcel said. We believe it will result in future success with a foundation of mutual trust and shared values.

In 2016, Danone closed a $12.5 billion acquisition of WhiteWave Foodsparent company of vegan brands Silk, So Delicious, Vega, and Alpro. It has since innovated its product portfolio to include additional vegan lines such as Good Plants (part of its Light & Fit brand) and a coconut milk-based version of its popular Oikos yogurt. Last year, Danone opened the largest vegan yogurt production plant in the country, an 180,000-square-foot facility in DuBois, PA.

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Danone Invests $10 Million in Vegan Creamer Brand - VegNews

London, United Kingdom-based brand Oliver Co. has launched the worlds first vegan leather accessories made from a combination of apple waste and wood. Created by 27-year-old Matt Oliver, Oliver Co. aims to become the most sustainable accessories brand on the planet without compromising on style or functionality. The companys first collection of vegan wallets and cardholders are created using its innovative wood leather material (made from thin sheets of wood bonded to fabric using an environmentally friendly adhesive) and apple leather (created using 50-percent apple waste and 50-percent polyurethane).

Our journey of becoming a vegan brand started with our concern about the environmental and ethical impact of the leather industry, Oliver told VegNews. At the same time, there were a number of incredible innovations in vegan bio-based materials being developed all around the world. It became an easy choice for us and one that has become integral to the company. Oliver Co. is already working on future collections, which include clutch bags, pouches, and laptop cases made with apple leather.

Please support independent vegan media and get the very best in news, recipes, travel, beauty, products, and more. Subscribe now to the worlds #1 plant-based magazine!

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London Brand Creates Vegan Leather Accessories From Apple Waste and Wood - VegNews

There are countless delicacies where veggies are the star (Shutterstock)

Are you considering giving up on meat? Well, it is obviously greener on the vegetables side and there are countless delicacies where veggies are the star.

ALSO READ: Five foods that are good for hyperactive kids

While going vegan widens your exploration margins, there are a few things you need to think about if you are considering veganism:

Protein power

You have to ensure that you have enough protein in your diet to meet your bodys demands and requirements. Good news is, you can readily find all the vitamins and minerals you need from your vegetarian diet.

To ensure that you get the full complements of proteins, you can consider eating varied sources. You can eat beans, seeds, pulses, nuts and even grains.

Calcium intake

Now that dairy will no longer be an option, you need to figure out how to add calcium to your diet. There are consequential health impacts of low calcium in diets including high risk of osteoporosis - which is higher in vegans.

You can easily incorporate calcium in your diet by thinking about what you are eating. A good place to start would be to get fortified dairy alternative milks instead of the unprocessed nut milks that are not calcium fortified.

ALSO READ: Seven interesting uses of tea bags other than prepping tea

Other common sources of calcium are the green leafy vegetables, such as kales, nuts and dried fruit. Consider variety in your vegan diet (Shutterstock)

Other nutrients

There are nutritional concerns that are associated with having a vegan diet.

Being low in iodine is a common side effect of a vegan diet and it can cause thyroid problems. To curb this, you can consider using iodide salt to cook. Another way would be to throw in sea vegetables to your diet from time to time.

For zinc, you may need to include dried beans in your diet as they are rich in the mineral. For omega 3 fatty acids, you can consider adding some flax seeds, soybean oil or walnuts to your diet.

Iron levels

If you have a history of anemia, you may have to consult your doctor before you start your vegan diet since consuming iron in a complete plant based diet can be a challenge.

ALSO READ: Seven food items you should never refrigerate

To ensure you have some iron in your diet, you can consider regularly having some fortified cereals, beans, lentils, leafy green vegetables, sesame seeds and dried fruits.

You can add in some vitamin C sources, such as fruit juice, as the vitamin C helps in the absorption of more iron.

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Variety

Knowing how to cook only a couple of plant based dishes can be quite restrictive.

In as much as you could be getting satisfied by taking your limited options, they will not be covering your nutritional needs.

A good tip would be to consider looking up some vegan recipes online or getting a vegan cookbook.

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The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Evewoman.co.ke

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What to know before going vegan - The Standard