I’ve Experimented with Various Diets
I’ve tried numerous diets over the years, including raw vegan, gluten-free, fruitarian, and plant-based keto. Currently, I follow a plant-based diet, emphasizing organic whole foods. I find that being overly strict with one’s diet can lead to difficulties and even unhappiness. Therefore, I follow the 90/10 rule: I eat strictly plant-based 90% of the time, with the remaining 10% allowing for occasional raw goat or sheep cheese, but never meat or eggs. Additionally, I practice intermittent fasting, regular exercise, meditation, and take supplements to ensure nutritional balance.
Quick Tips to Start a Plant-Based Diet
A plant-based diet focuses on consuming whole, natural vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains while reducing or eliminating animal-based foods. Here are a few tips to help you transition:
Keep It Simple: Opt for foods free from additives, preservatives, or synthetic ingredients. It’s even better if you can make everything from scratch.
Healthy Snacks: Stock up on healthy snacks like carrot sticks, sugar snap peas, bananas with almond butter, nuts, or homemade trail mix for when you get hungry.
Natural Sweeteners: Replace cane sugar with raw honey, pure maple syrup, or stevia leaf in your recipes, coffee, or tea.
Variety: Rotate new vegetables and fruits into your diet to keep your meals exciting and to maximize nutrient intake.
Meal Prep: Set aside a few hours each week to prepare food in bulk, ensuring you always have clean, healthy options available.
Mind Your Micros: Certain vitamins, such as iron and B12, can be harder to get on a plant-based diet. Incorporate foods rich in these nutrients or take high-quality supplements.
What Is a Plant-Based Diet?
A plant-based diet focuses on foods derived from plants — vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds — while minimizing or excluding animal products. Although similar to vegetarian and vegan diets, a plant-based diet places a stronger emphasis on eating whole, natural foods and avoiding processed options like tofu, seitan, or packaged items, even if they are technically vegan or vegetarian.
Plant-Based vs. Vegan & Vegetarian
Plant-based diets differ from vegan or vegetarian diets in key ways. Lacto-ovo vegetarians consume dairy and eggs, while vegans avoid all animal products and typically refrain from using animal-derived items. Both vegans and vegetarians may include processed foods in their diets, which can lead to an unhealthy diet if consumed excessively. In contrast, those on a plant-based diet focus on whole foods in their natural form, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Some may choose to include small amounts of animal products, but they are not a significant part of their diet.
Processed vs. Unprocessed Food
A common point of confusion is whether processed foods can be included in a plant-based diet. Vegetarians and vegans often eat processed foods like store-bought pasta, bread, crackers, or soy-based meat substitutes. However, these are not considered whole foods and are not central to a plant-based diet. Instead, a plant-based diet prioritizes unprocessed, whole foods and avoids added sugars, although natural sweeteners like raw honey, pure maple syrup, and stevia leaf are acceptable.
What Should You Eat?
Not all plant-based diets are created equal. When following a whole food plant-based diet, aim to eat foods in their natural state. Cooked foods and those made from whole grains are acceptable, such as whole grain sprouted bread. Always check ingredient lists to avoid chemicals, additives, colorings, and artificial flavorings. Choose organic whenever possible, and if cost is a concern, refer to the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists to prioritize organic purchases.
Vegetables
Vegetables should be the cornerstone of any plant-based diet. Some of the most nutrient-dense options include:
Leafy Greens: Kale, spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, arugula, lettuce, microgreens.
Cruciferous Vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes.
Other Non-Starchy Vegetables: Eggplants, bell peppers, avocado, okra.
Squashes: Zucchini, pumpkin, winter squash, butternut squash.
Tubers and Starchy Vegetables: Sweet potatoes, parsnips, cassava, daikon, Jerusalem artichoke, ginger, beets.
Fruit
Fruit, including juices, dried fruit, and fresh fruit, is also an important part of a plant-based diet. Drinking fruit juice is fine, especially if you juice the fruits yourself or avoid added sugars. Whole fruit is preferable for its fiber content. Dried fruit is acceptable, but limit it if you want to reduce sugar intake or lose weight. Low-sugar fruits include avocados, strawberries, grapefruit, raspberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, oranges, limes, olives, and tomatoes.
Legumes
Legumes are rich in macronutrients and micronutrients, serving as a vital protein source for plant-based eaters. Include beans (black beans, kidney beans, lima beans, chickpeas, adzuki beans), peas (green peas, snap peas, split peas, snow peas, black-eyed peas), and lentils (red lentils, yellow lentils, green lentils, orange lentils, black lentils).
Whole Grains
All grains begin whole, but processing removes parts of the seed or kernel, as well as protein. White flour and white rice, for example, lose their bran and germ, along with many micronutrients. Opt for whole grains such as oats, millet, wild or brown rice, amaranth, buckwheat, teff, sorghum, and unrefined flours from these sources.
Fats
Many healthy fats and oils can be part of a plant-based diet. Always look for organic options, including cold-pressed oils (avocado, sesame, extra virgin olive oil), coconut oil, nuts, and seeds.
Nuts & Seeds
Nuts and seeds are excellent snacks and can also be integrated into meals. Include seeds (quinoa, chia, sesame, flaxseed, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds) and nuts (pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, cacao, hazelnuts, coconut).
Foods to Avoid
To maximize the benefits of a whole, plant-based diet, avoid the following foods: meat, processed meat, seafood, poultry, pork, dairy, eggs, soda, energy drinks, foods with added sugar, refined flour, hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, and highly processed oils.
Plant-Based Foods to Avoid
Although technically allowed, it’s beneficial to limit or avoid these foods for better health: corn, white potatoes, white rice, grains containing gluten, soybeans, and genetically modified (GMO) foods.
Example Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan
Here’s a sample meal plan to illustrate what a plant-based diet might look like:
Day One
Breakfast: Fresh fruit topped with coconut flakes.
Lunch: Spinach salad with sliced almonds, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes with homemade vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner: Spicy mushroom stir-fry.
Day Two
Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit and nuts.
Lunch: Quinoa salad with lemon basil dressing, fresh fruit.
Dinner: Green lentil salad with spiced carrots, side salad.
Day Three
Breakfast: Whole grain sprouted bread with homemade sunflower butter.
Lunch: Coconut chickpea curry.
Dinner: Vegan chili with paprika parsnip fries and lemon cashew cream.
Health Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet
While not everyone adopts a plant-based diet for weight loss, it can be a beneficial side effect. People often start a plant-based diet for health reasons, such as reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, or to support a more sustainable planet. Here are some benefits you might experience:
Helps You Lose Weight
A plant-based diet can aid in weight loss. Research indicates that vegetarians generally have a lower body weight than those who eat both meat and vegetables. Studies show that those following vegetarian diets lose more weight compared to meat-eaters, with vegans losing even more. Vegetarian weight-loss diets also provide a sense of fullness comparable to meat-inclusive diets.
Improves Your Heart Health
Plant-based diets can improve cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol levels and balancing blood pressure. Diets high in meat, dairy, and unhealthy fats can clog arteries, while vegetarian diets can lower levels of LDL (“bad” cholesterol). Low-carb, high-protein plant-based diets with healthy fats offer additional heart health benefits, potentially lowering blood sugar and blood pressure.
Boosts Your Energy
Many people on a plant-based diet report increased energy and vitality. This boost can enhance your ability to engage in activities you love and lead a fuller life. For example, people with osteoarthritis experienced significantly more energy, greater mobility, and less pain after just two weeks on a plant-based diet compared to a standard American diet.
Improves Digestion
A plant-based diet can positively affect your gut microbiome, fostering depression-busting, obesity-fighting probiotics. Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and non-dairy yogurt introduce healthy intestinal bacteria. Prebiotics from foods like garlic, bananas, onions, and radishes further support a healthy gut.
Environmental Benefits
Adopting a plant-based diet is also gentler on the environment. Livestock farming contributes significantly to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing meat consumption, you can lower resource consumption and avoid exposure to bovine antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals.
Nutrients to Be Aware of on a Plant-Based Diet
While a plant-based diet offers numerous benefits, it’s important to ensure adequate intake of certain nutrients to avoid deficiencies.
