If you're gonna run with Vegans it helps to know someof the lingo. That's the purpose of this Vegan Lexicon. We're going to try and take some of the mystery out of some of the terms used by Vegans and Vegetarians alike. If you have a term that you think should be added, Send it here. Be sure to include the word or term, pronunciation (if applicable) and the definition.

Animal (an-ne-mal): Generally described as 1) An organism distinguished from a plant by such structural and functional characteristics, such as the ability to move. or 2) A living being other than a human being. Also distinguished from plants as a being having a central nervous system. Ffish are indeed animals.

Miso (mee' - zoh, or mee' - soh): a thick paste, made from fermented soy beans and grains, that is used a lot in Asian cooking. It is a thick fine paste that comes in a variety of colors depending on what grains are used and the amount of time it is fermented for. Usually it is brown (ranging from light to dark), yellow, or reddish - brown. It has a salty taste - somewhat like soy sauce, but the flavor is different. It has great nutritional value. It is high in protein - because it is a combo of soybeans and grains it contains 8 essential amino acids and 9 nonessential a.a.'s. It is also high in vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, iron, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium. It is also an aid to digestion because it contains natural digestive enzymes and lactic acid bacteria (these aid in the fermentation process). Finally, miso is a third source of vitamin B12 for vegans.

Nutritional yeast (pronounced just like it's spelled): another of the only sources of vitamin B12 for vegans. Nutritional yeast is yellowish in color and usually comes in flakes. You can purchase it in bulk at just about any health food store. It tastes and smells a lot like normal bread yeast, but it is different. It can be used to make a really good sauce that is the closest vegan thing to cheese I have ever found.

Seitan: (say' - tan, or sih - tan') : a meat substutute made from wheat gluten, extracted from whole wheat. The texture can be a lot like chicken when cooked well. Seitan can be used to make a mean vegan mushroom stroganoff. It is one of the richest sources of vitamin E known and also a good source of B complex vitamins (problably not B12 though - I'm not sure)

Tempeh (tem' - pay) : a meat substutite made from fermented soy beans. The soybeans are mashed up and allowed to change with a rhizopus mold, the resulting flavor is somewhat sharp and tangy. It can be cooked in many ways. It almost resembles ground beef but it is white or yellowish-white (the chunks are slightly larger than those of ground beef). it can be formed into patties and grilled, or fried. It can also be marinated before cooking - BBQ sauce (without worchester sauce) is especially good. It is one of the few natural sources of vitamin B12 known to vegans - due to the action of rhizopus mold.

TVP: (tee-vee-pee): Texturized Vegetable Protien. Used to make many meat substitutes.

Vegan: (Vee-gun): a strict vegetarian, one that consumes no animal food or dairy products. Also one who does not use any animal products (i.e. leather, wool..)

Vitamin B12: The hot topic in the nutritionality of veganism. Vitamin B12, or cyanocobalamin, is a chemical that is only found in animal cells and yeast/mold cells. As far as I know, no plant cells contain vitamin B12. A vegan's only source of this molecule is from bacteria, yeast, or mold cells, because on a structural level these cells are similar to ours. If a vegan is so stubborn as to avoid yeast or bacterial products, they are screwed because it is their only source of vitamin B12 that is not animal derived (I'll come back to this later). (Not to mention the fact that they are constantly destroying bacteria on a constant basis merely because they have an immune system and because just about nothing that anyone can eat is completely sterilized.) The best three sources of vitamin B12 to vegans are miso, tempeh, and nutritional yeast.