A vegan diet does not include any foods of animal origin – i.e. no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, or other dairy products. Instead, a vegan diet is an eating plan which focuses on grains, cereals, vegetables, fruit, beans, dried peas, lentils, nuts and seeds.

A vegan diet can be safe for you. Since vegan foods can be lower in fat and/or calories, it's important that you choose foods wisely and eat enough food to support your growth and appetite!

For example, french fries and potato chips are technically part of a vegan diet, but they're not foods that you should be eating regularly. Instead of milk, you can drink fortified soy beverage. Fortified rice or almond beverages, as well as calcium-enriched orange juices provide calcium, but not any protein which you'll find in milk or fortified soy beverages.

As vegan alternatives to meat, you should be eating a variety of these foods: nuts, soy nuts, seeds, peanut butter, almond butter, tofu, tempeh, legumes (e.g. beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas), and soy meat substitutes like soy burgers or soy hot dogs.