Vegan Diet in Ecuador

Converting to a vegan diet is not something I ever really contemplated. It’s definitely not something I thought would happen whilst traveling through South America.

I’ve never really liked eating meat. My mother told me as a child I would never want to eat the red meat that was served to me. Every time I ate red meat my body didn’t feel good. My stomach would swell, I would feel lethargic and it wasn’t until I reached my late twenties that I realised red meat was hindering my body rather than helping it.

For the past few years I’ve significantly reduced the amount of meat I eat. I completely stopped eating red meat and only ate very small quantities of chicken and pork, but continued to enjoy seafood which I love.

I was happy with this style of eating. Whilst I wasn’t strictly vegetarian as I continued to eat fish and very occasionally chicken if it was served to me, I felt good living on more fruit and vegetables. Dairy was still a large part of my diet. I love cheese, milk and yoghurt and have always heard that I need to eat dairy products for my calcium requirements.

When I arrived here in Ecuador I met my novio who is vegetarian. He has been a strict vegetarian his whole life and has never consumed meat products. Like me, my novio loves dairy. Fruit, granola and yoghurt for breakfast and cheese empanadas for lunch are delicious and we both thoroughly enjoy eating this way. For me it was great to be with someone who is vegetarian. I love being able to cook the vegetarian food that I want to eat with someone who also enjoys a vegetarian life. Whilst I enjoy seafood, especially on the coast of South America, I was happy to cut it out for a while and try a vegetarian life.

Delicious vegan breakfast

Then a few weeks ago we watched a documentary film called Forks Over Knives. Looking at the health problems of different countries and comparing them with population’s dietary habits, the film examines the claim that many degenerative diseases that affect us can be controlled or reversed by rejecting a menu of animal-based and processed foods.

To us it was an interesting insight that we really are what we eat. So after watching the film and discussing the vegetarian based life that we were already living, we decided to try and cut out all animal products completely.

Our home-made vegetarian sushi is the best!

The first couple of days were difficult. No more yoghurt on our fruit salad, no more cheese in our salads, no more hot chocolate for me (major devastation). As a diabetic I struggled during that first week to find enough carbohydrates to keep my sugar levels up. I hadn’t realised how much of my diet consisted of dairy and how high it would keep my sugar levels. As I said, that first week was a struggle. I found that I needed to reduce the amount of insulin I was taking each day to balance my new vegan based diet. But as I thought about it, I realised that reducing the amount of insulin I’m injecting is probably a good thing.

Following a vegan diet is not necessarily easy in Ecuador. We found that when eating breakfast in a cafe or lunch in a restaurant cheese is added to almost everything. Bolon for breakfast made from plantain and cheese is delicious, vegetarian pizza doesn’t exist here without cheese, and almost all empanadas are filled with cheese. So we did the best we could. Trying to reduce the amount of animal products in our diets is what we were aiming for, and it was okay if occasionally we couldn’t avoid some dairy.

Then I got food poisoning after eating a cheese empanada on the street. For three days I didn’t really eat anything and when my stomach could finally take some food it was fruit and vegetables. Even now a week and a half later, I feel sick at the thought of cheese empandas. Being so unwell and my body emptying itself of all food gave me a desire to only eat healthy good food. So for the past week I have found it much easier to follow the vegan style of eating. I don’t want to eat cheese at all. I’m happy drinking my tea black and whilst I do miss hot chocolate, the craving for it isn’t as strong as it was.

Yesterday morning we ate eggs for breakfast. We hadn’t eaten any for weeks but here in Quito breakfast consists of fried eggs with green plantain cakes and it tasted really good. Adjusting to a vegan lifestyle is a slow process for us, but one that I am already seeing the benefits of. My body feels good. I have a lot of energy, I’m enjoying a huge variety of fruits and vegetables and since cutting out dairy weight is falling off of me. All of my clothes are too big. I joke that I will need to eat some cake so that I can put some fat back on and fit my clothes, as my backpacker budget doesn’t include a new wardrobe.

So I’m going to try and stick to my vegan diet. Ecuador has so many fruits and vegetables I have never even heard of that I love trying and cooking with. Sure it’s difficult sometimes to avoid animal products completely, and yes I will eat eggs for breakfast occasionally because I want to, but I feel great and I want to stay this way.