Curious about plant-based diets?

Have you ever been curious about incorporating more plants into your diet or perhaps even going plant based altogether? There are many reasons why plant based diets have been gaining popularity recently, and as a proud vegan, I am happy to see this trend. I decided to live plant based and eventually transitioned into a vegan diet for a couple of reasons. My reasons include animal welfare and the difference I notice in my overall health.

Now I’m not here to tell anyone how and what they should eat, this is a unique and personal decision. However, I do believe that incorporating more plant-based foods can be worked into just about anyone’s diet, and you are free to define (or not) what plant-based living means to you. Here are a few things to know before dipping your toes into the plant based world.

First, what kind of plant-based diet works for you?

a.     Flexitarian diet – a flexitarian is someone who follows a vegetarian or vegan diet a few days a week. This could be 2 days a week or 6 days a week. Flexitarians do still eat meat, but they have drastically reduced their consumption. If you are following a flexitarian diet for 4 days a week or more, you are following a diet that is plant based. The cool thing about a Flexitarian diet is that you are benefiting from the health improvements that come from a vegetarian/vegan diet and you are reducing your footprint on the world, while still keeping all of your options open.                                                  

b.     A Pescatarian Diet – a pescatarian is someone who does not eat meat but does eat fish and seafood. Pescatarians will often also consume eggs and dairy. They have a diet that is primarily vegetable based and therefore they are following a plant-based diet.

c.     A Vegetarian Diet – I think of a vegetarian as someone who does not eat anything with a face. They might choose to consume eggs or dairy but do not consume meat or fish. They exist on plants and grains for the most part and are most definitely a plant-based diet.

d.     A Vegan Diet – a vegan consumes nothing that is animal based. No meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey etc. They are 100% plant based. 

There is no right or wrong way to start a plant based diet. The right plant based diet, or shift towards incorporating more plants into your diet is a personal journey, so focus on finding a balance that works for you and don’t be afraid to shift your eating habits along the way. I used to thrive on a vegetarian diet and found benefit to incorporating eggs and dairy, but have recently transitioned to a fully vegan diet.

My boyfriend loves all the vegetarian food that I make but does find sometimes he just needs a little meat, and that is also okay.

I have friends who are thriving on a vegan diet. Everyone is unique.

The second thing to be aware of is your nutrient intake. We can get 99% of nutrients from food when following a plant-based diet. However we do need to pay attention to what we are eating to make sure we are hitting all our targets.

The key nutrients to watch for are

1.     Protein – plant-based protein are not complete proteins. This means that the majority of plant- based proteins do not contain all of the amino acids we need. There are 20 amino acids that make up protein and 9 of them our body cannot produce on its own.  If you are following a plant-based diet just be sure to use a wide variety of proteins. For example, beans and lentils compliment each other!

2.     Vitamin B12 – B12 is a vitamin that comes almost exclusively from animal sources. So, if you are following a plant-based diet make sure to focus on your B12 intake. I simply take a B vitamin daily and make sure I have some fortified cereal and non-dairy milk. 

3.     Iron – women specifically can be at higher risk for iron deficiency (this is due to menstruation). The truth is there are 2 types of iron. The first is heme (from animal sources) and the second is non heme (plant sources). Animal sources are absorbed easier, so if you are going plant based make sure you get double the daily iron recommendation! Taking a supplement is great for this.

Whether or not you are interested in exploring shifting your diet towards plant-based living or not, we could all benefit from incorporating more plants into our daily meals, and there are many health benefits that come with this shift. Research has shown that people who follow a plant-based diet have lower rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke risk. 

I also understand that going plant-based can be scary. You may think that you could never give up bacon or live without eggs. I used to struggle with the thought of giving up cheese, but slowly overtime I have been able to transition and now I love cashew cheese. If you are considering going plant based, my advice to you is to start small – if you were to cut out all meat except bacon, you are still making a difference to your health and to the environment.

If you find it too hard to say no steak forever try going flexitarian and reducing your meat consumption to 4 days a week.

Some food for thought: if everyone in the US went vegetarian for one day a week they would save 100 billion gallons of water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.2 million tonnes, and save 1.4 billion animals. The good news is, plant-based living can be as flexible as you want. Plant-based living in any form can help the planet. If you want to go small, try adding a meatless Monday to your routine!

If at any point you want to talk about going plant-based, you can feel free to reach out to me directly at jess@crushcamp.com. I would love to help you come up with a strategy to sustainably transition to a plant based diet.