Meeting nutrient needs and planning a healthy vegan diet are easy when you build menus around seven core food habits. This presentation answers common questions about meeting protein and calcium requirements,which types of foods are essential in vegan diets, when to supplement, and how to make the best choices regarding fat intake.

Virginia Messina, MPH, RD is a dietitian specializing in vegan nutrition. She is the author of seven books including the recent Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-based Diet. (Da Capo Press, 2011)

A long-time vegan herself, Ginny aims to share the best and most up-to-date information on vegan diets and to make healthy and compassionate eating an easy and realistic option for everyone. She writes about these issues on her blog www.TheVeganRD and as the National Vegan Examiner. She is also a frequent guest blogger for food and health blogs.

Ginny has co-authored the American Dietetic Association’s Position on Vegetarian Diets as well as the first textbook on vegetarian diets written for health professionals. She has taught nutrition to dietetics students at Central Michigan University, was the director of nutrition for a medical clinic serving 50,000 patients at George Washington University, and was a dietitian for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). She has also worked for Loma Linda University and was a cholesterol specialist with the National Cholesterol Education Program. She serves on advisory boards to PCRM and the Vegetarian Resource Group.

In addition to her work as a vegan dietitian, Ginny volunteers at her local animal shelter, serves as a board member of a local spay/neuter outreach organization and spends her leisure time reading, gardening, learning piano, and knitting with plant fibers.

RELEVANT LINKS:
iTunes: Episode #002 – Vegan Nutrition with Virginia Messina, MPH, RD
Archived Meetup Event – The Seven Habits of Healthy Vegans by Virginia Messina, MPH, RD – Vegan Chicago