‘Vegan’ Does Not = Eating Fruit For Every Meal

Water melon from Flickr via Wylio — © 2006 Hajime NAKANO, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

So there is a trend that worries me somewhat…

I’ve watched a tonne of YouTube videos that have ‘vegan’ in the title and are instructional in nature, and I have something I NEEEED to say.

In my opinion, the absolute vast majority of these videos are great, and it’s heart-warming to see so many people so clued up on the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of vegan. I’m also hugely jealous of the production values, editing skills, and just sheer confidence of the creators of these videos – but really enjoy watching them despite the ol’ green-eyed monster!

Yet some of them really concern me.

Some of these vloggers, if you watch their ‘what I eat in a day’ videos, eat nothing but fruit. Perhaps a nut here and there.

Of course, if you’re eating mainly fruit, then it’s pretty much a raw diet. My thoughts on raw in more detail are here.

I’m not naming any names or trying to take anyone down, I’m just genuinely concerned.

To be fair, some of these people DO look healthy, and report that their blood work is great. If this is true then good for them. But there are definitely others who don’t look like eating 95% fruit is serving them.

It’s popular and trendy diet plans like ’80/10/10′ and ‘Raw Till 4,’ (both encourage you to eat hyyyuuuuuge amounts of fruit for – supposedly – maximal health and fitness), that seem to have inspired this way of eating.

As a plant-based nutritionist I wouldn’t recommend eating a mostly fruit diet. Yes, of course it’s better than eating the standard US or UK diet full of chicken, fries, burgers and cheese etc, and maybe some people can live on it. But it’s not something I would recommend doing.

These are ALL the reasons these videos concern me:

Health-wise, we know the optimal diet is based around whole grains and starchy root veg. Brown rice, whole wheat products, whole spelt products, oats, quinoa, corn, potato, sweet potato, squash – these types of foods should be the foundation of most meals. After this come beans and legumes, and your veggies on the side.

Fruit appears as dessert; or a snack; or maybe PART of breakfast.

Where do I get off spouting this?

It’s true, I’m a nutritionist not a doctor…

…So I follow the advice of these guys who are:

Dr John McDougall, has practised medicine for many years and successfully treated hundreds, if not thousands of patients with a whole food, plant-based diet, with whole, starchy carbs as the basis. This is what he says on the matter.

The very accomplished and eminent Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, who again, has treated hundreds if not thousands of people successfully with the same diet Dr McDougall prescribes, has this to say on the subject.

Here is what Dr T Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, thinks of diets such as 80/10/10 that espouse a raw, fruit-heavy way of eating.

All these guys say THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE proving that eating mostly fruit is optimal for health.

However – there IS scientific, peer-reviewed evidence proving that a whole food, plant-based diet with a focus on grains and potatoes etc, IS.

I also have personal experience of eating just fruit. About 26 years ago, I’m not going to say I had an eating disorder because I was never diagnosed and I managed to get out of it on my own with no medical help; but I wanted to lose weight, so I started JUST eating watery fruits and veg, knowing that with this regime I could only lose weight as these foods are basically just water and would go straight through me.

Well I lost weight alright, and I lost my period too (if you’re a female human, you NEED your period so everything can function as it should).

Everything went back to normal eventually when I added starchy plant foods back to my diet, but for a while there, I was not the healthiest!

This isn’t to say that it doesn’t work for some people, perhaps it does, I don’t know. But I don’t understand scientifically how it could be a good idea long term.

The other thing is – what kind of climate do you live in? In Chinese medicine (not that I’m an expert, but a close friend is a Chinese Herbalist) they believe that some foods are cooling and some are warming.

Tropical fruits, for example, are believed to have a very cooling effect. If you live in a cold climate it doesn’t make sense to be eating lots of mangoes, watermelons and dragon fruit that are meant to cool you down.

The couple of fruit-heavy vloggers I’ve seen who DO look healthy, I believe DO live in hotter climates.

If you live in the UK, Northern or Eastern Europe, East US, or anywhere where the temperatures can drop; eating fruit all day just ISN’T gonna cut it. You need your stews, chilli’s and curries to warm you and fill you up.

Also – how expensive is eating 3 melons for breakfast, 6 mangoes for lunch, 2 dragon fruit as a snack; and 4 oranges, 2 more melons and 3 dates for dinner? Tropical fruit isn’t cheap and with the amounts people are eating in order to fulfill their caloric intake, the cost must rack up pretty quickly. Compare the price of six decent mangoes with a 2kg bag of lentils that will last you months!

The final reason these ‘fruity’ videos concern me, is that, to me, they are somewhat misrepresenting a vegan diet. If these vloggers called themselves ‘fruitarians’ instead of ‘vegans’ this would be helpful, so people don’t think that this is a typical version of a vegan diet.

Veganism and plant-based diets are, at last, gaining traction. More and more people are interested. But imagine a person who eats a meat and dairy-heavy diet that starts to be curious about veganism and wants to learn more. So they whack ‘vegan’ into the YouTube search engine. Then imagine the first video they see is someone who tells them that eating 3 melons for breakfast and 12 mangoes for lunch is the way to be vegan. I worry this is off-putting. Lots of people think vegans are weird anyway. I don’t believe the ‘fruity’ vegans are helping this perception any.

If YOU are the meat-eater tentatively looking for info on going vegan and want to do it healthfully, then type ‘whole food, plant-based’ into your search engine; or read anything by the doctors I mention above – these dudes are the real deal; they’ve done the science and published it. They’ve witnessed hundreds of times over how healing a whole food, plant-based diet is and they live to spread the message.

And if you need any help transitioning….YOOHOO!!!!!! You know I’m here to help you. I offer my programs, and have addressed lots of the common questions and stumbling blocks around going vegan here in my blog posts.

Let me know if there’s anything I haven’t talked about yet that you’d like me to, and I’ll get to it in one of my next posts.

Here’s What To Do If Your Parents Aren’t On Board With You Being Vegan

Last week, in this post, I gave all the reasons your folks might’ve been a tad wary when you told them you were going vegan – or why they are still wary since you became vegan.

Now, I’m not promising that the following suggestions are going to turn your parents vegan overnight; but they may help to keep peace, relieve tension around your new lifestyle, and just make them comfortable with it.

If, right now, you’re thinking that it’s not up to you to keep the peace and that they should be automatically accepting of your choices because they are YOUR choices – read my post from last week again.

Think of it this way; the more your parents feel secure that your new lifestyle will not change certain things they hold dear, and the more they are convinced that you are healthy and happy; the more peaceful your life will be, so you’re really doing this for YOU!…If you see what I mean.

If your parents are totally cool with you being vegan and if your dad just made you a soy matcha latte to wash down the quinoa and black bean soup your mum made you? Good for you! You are one lucky mofo – be grateful!

This post is for the rest of us whose parent(s) have not yet been enlightened to the benefits and joys of plant-based living!

When you tell your parents you’re going vegan, what first hits them may be sub-conscious fears that they aren’t able to fully verbalise. Sometimes irrational fears crop up just because something is ‘different’, (which veganism is, in their eyes), and they can be difficult to express. If you think it might help, show them my post from last week to see if they relate to any of the fears I listed.

On the other hand, they may realise exactly what they are feeling which might make them defensive. Depending on their generation, they may not be comfortable with ‘the feels’ and would rather be defensive than talk about how you going vegan is affecting them.

However they react – you can cleverly pre-empt any negativity and neutralise it with your stun gun of reason!

ZAP!

KERPOW!!!

Exactly like that.

Use whatever within the following information applies to them and what you think will resonate most:

I talked about food memories last week, and how your parents have many memories of you that relate to food; whether celebratory food, or of you all eating a beloved family dish etc.

Remind your parents that the most important part of these memories is not the food. It’s being together WHILE eating the food; it’s the communal participation in something. Often, the food in question isn’t necessarily even LIKED by all of the party; it’s purely about being together. For example, even before I was vegan, I haaaated pretty much all Christmas food. Christmas pudding, turkey, Christmas cake, the lot. I’d rather have had a curry any day! But I loved being AT Christmas dinners. Why? Because we were all together, laughing and joking, being Christmassy, pulling crackers etc…But, food-wise, it wouldn’t have mattered if I was vegan or not for the amount of food I ate, it wouldn’t have been noticed. What mattered was the being together and celebrating.

Reassure them that you will still participate in celebratory family meals to come, and you’ll either help by suggesting and helping make fabulous plant-based dishes with them, or you’ll bring some with you for everyone to share. Paint an exciting picture of all the new memories there are to be made.

The best way to stealthily attract people (even parents!) to veganism, is to lead by example.

Explain to your parents carefully WHY you’re doing what you’re doing. Be sure not to say that you think they should do it too, just say that you’ve discovered this information, and it’s made you want to try it, and you’d appreciate their support. Breathe, be calm, and don’t talk over the top of them. I know it can be difficult (God knows I do!) but this is for the long-term benefit of everyone. If they see you are calm, focussed and reasonable, they’ll have more faith in your decision.

- Involve them. Sometimes parents might get weird and feel judged if you start living your life differently to how they do. The best thing to do is to get them involved. Go shopping with them, make fun dishes with them, and let them see that you are eating amazing, healthy, vibrant food. Buy them a copy of your favourite vegan recipe book (make sure it’s one with lush, mouth-watering pics!).

Did you used to go fishing or hunting with your dad? Did you used to bake something at an annual event with your mum? (I know – this is sooo gendered, but it still happens!)

There are plenty of new bonding plant-based activities you can ritualise. For example, if I visit my dad’s house in winter, he’ll always roast us some chestnuts. Nothing better than cracking open freshly roasted chestnuts on a cold day. This is something we did before I was vegan, and luckily this didn’t need to change. Yay for chestnuts!

It doesn’t matter what the bonding activity is, if it’s gentle and meditative and leaves room for talking AND shared silence, then it’s effective. If you went fishing with your dad, it wasn’t really THAT much about the fishing, was it? It was more about being in nature, sitting quietly, mulling things over, being contemplative, and having a feeling of achievement if you caught something. Well you can get all that with many different activities that DON’T involve animal cruelty.

You can go foraging for mushrooms and wild herbs, picking berries etc. How about vegan beer or vegan wine tasting?

The same with cooking a particular dish in the kitchen if this is a family ritual. It doesn’t matter what the dish is. Maybe you could just veganise whatever it was?

- Assure your parents you are well informed on the nutrition side of things – show them my protein post if they try and pick the old protein argument! Assure them that it’s as simple as making sure you eat a range of different coloured veg, fruit, beans and legumes, with lots of energy-giving whole grains and you’ll be fine – BETTER than fine in fact!

This is a good one! Remind them that there are (depending on their generation) plenty of things their parents ate that they now wouldn’t dream of eating. For example; my grandparents would’ve eaten lard, bread and dripping (I have no idea either!), spam, and they cooked everything in animal fat. My parents wouldn’t eat any of this now because they’ve learned that these foods are unhealthy. People DO better when they KNOW better. This is all you are doing – which as you’ve just shown them, is something they have done themselves.

Bottom line – keep talking. Keep making them (or showing them how to make) tasty food. If you find a great vegan restaurant, take them. If they have health questions, email them facts from reputable websites (anything by Dr T Colin Campbell, Dr Michael Greger, Dr John Mcdougall, PCRM). Talk with them, share information with them (you don’t have to share everything, just anything you think they might relate to; if one of them has a cholesterol issue for example, you could explain how it’s only animal products that contain cholesterol and that plant foods don’t contain any), and involve them.

You’ll soon get those walls down – and you never know what might happen. It might end up being THEM whining about all the Tofurky being sold out at Christmas!

Here’s Why Your Parents Are Not Thrilled About You Being Vegan

Ha! This is a juicy subject.

There are ways to talk about being vegan with regular non-vegans: then there are parents.

How the dynamics can shift!

If you have parents that were completely on board with your decision to go vegan, and in actual fact wanted to go vegan with you JUST to support you – yay you! And can your parents adopt me please?

But DON’T be downhearted if this didn’t happen to you; the above scenario is definitely the exception, not the norm.

Now you know as well as I do that if your parents are giving you crap about going or being vegan, it doesn’t mean they are shitty parents – far from it.

I mean, they could be shitty parents; I don’t know them; but most likely they are not.

What it means, is one or several of these things:

Your parents taught you how to eat. They fed you your first foods. For most of us, they decided exactly what your body was going to ingest for at least the first 16 years of your life (sneaky candy splurges aside 🙂 ). They completely informed your food likes and dislikes, and passed their own tastes on to you.

You going vegan is making them feel that you think they were, and are, wrong. That you’ve moved on from, and away from them and the life they gave you

Your parents watched with pride as you ate your first boiled egg on your own, ate your first shellfish, and your first piece of French cheese. They have many profound memories that surround you and food. They fear these memories will be negated; that they’ll not now mean as much to you as they do to them.

Don’t forget that the whole food association thing goes further back than you and your parents. Your parents learned about food from THEIR parents, and they have many food memories associated with THEM. And your grandparents would’ve taken on THEIR parents’ food habits, and so on. This goes a loooong way back, baby. You going vegan, in the minds of your parents, is just changing (and ruining) everything.

Your parents knew you loved spaghetti and meatballs/cheesecake/pineapple-upside-down-cake, and liked to make it for you when you visited. They fear that they won’t have the same way of connecting with you through food as they used to; that you won’t ever again feel pleasure because of something they cooked especially for you.
Maybe you used to go fishing with your dad (why don’t mums go fishing?) and bring the fish home and cook it. Maybe you and your mum or dad always made a special non-vegan dish together at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Food and the acquiring and preparing of it has always been a bonding familial experience for many of us.

When you initially tell your parents you’re going vegan, they may well fear that that’s the end of something they cherished and always looked forward to (it’s most definitely NOT, but I’ll talk about communication with veganism-averse parents in another post).

This next one is common:

Your parents brought you into this world and wiped your poopy butt; wiped snot from your nose and cleaned your ears and belly-button. Much as they love you and as much as you are the centre of their world, you will NEVER know better than them (about anything!) in their minds, no matter how old and clever you get.

Now, there are not many bigger authorities on a plant-based diet than Dr Neal Barnard of PCRM, but even HE tells this story about his mother being uninterested in going plant-based, even though he’d written fifteen books on the subject and had many times carefully explained to her about how it would lower her elevated cholesterol levels. It was only when, due to her experimenting with going plant-based for a few weeks, her own doctor noticed an improvement in her cholesterol level and told her she was doing the right thing, that she acknowledged that this diet was best for her health. As Dr Neal Barnard says – sometimes the source has to be unbiased. Lots of parents just won’t take information from their offspring, no matter how accomplished.

From my own experience, it’s happened several times that I’ll give my mother a specific piece of dietary advice hundreds of times over a period of years, and I’ll be blown off with a derisory ‘hmmm, that’s nice.’ Then one day she’ll tell me excitedly about how a man she just got talking to down the road told her the EXACT SAME PIECE OF INFORMATION, and how it must be true and she will try implementing it in her own life.

Bless her.

Or something.

Yes, it’s always a facepalm inducing moment.

Your parents are not health and nutrition experts (oftentimes even if they are doctors or dieticians!), and are not informed on how a plant-based diet is actually and factually the optimal diet for health and wellness. They are the people that care for you the most in the world, and they just fear that you might be risking your health.
They are probably also influenced by all the negative connotations associated with the word ‘vegan,’ and fear that you will become isolated socially and become a massive pain in the ass to people and lose friends.

In another post I’ll talk about how to communicate with your parents about veganism, based on the above stumbling blocks.

Fret not; it’s not difficult when you understand the reasons WHY they are freaking. These reasons are mostly just unfounded fears, and there is nothing that a little bit of meaningful communication, sharing of information and creative thinking can’t overcome.

There’s No Such Thing As Vegan Food, It’s All Just Food.

Fried artichoke hearts with marinara and ranch dipping sauce, from Sage Bistro, LA. Perfect example of 'food.' — Fried artichoke hearts with marinara and ranch dipping sauce, from Sage Bistro, LA. Perfect example of ‘food.’

Just so we’re clear – there is no such thing as ‘vegan’ food.

So why do we often hear phrases like..

‘I tried vegan food but I didn’t like it’

‘I could never eat vegan food; it’s really dry and rubbery’

‘Come to our party, there will be vegan food’

What is this ‘vegan’ food?

Ok, hands up, I’m also guilty of using the term ‘vegan food’ for ease of expression on occasion, but it’s a term that is grossly overused by vegans and non-vegans alike.

Do we say vegan carrot? Vegan strawberry? Vegan olive? Er…no.

Food that vegans eat, non-vegans often eat too!

The word vegan already, to some ears, sounds like something from another planet; so using ‘vegan food’ to mean, well, just food, isn’t really gonna attract anyone to it. Which is a shame if the food in question is a gorgeous Ethiopian Berber lentil stew, or black-eyed pea fritters with Creole sauce, or salted caramel ice cream.

It’s not surprising someone invented the term ‘plant-based.’ It’s more specific, and everyone knows we all already eat plants, so it’s not as alien-sounding.

Maybe we should even quit using the word ‘food’ to mean anything other than plant-based food!

For if we believe that non-human animals aren’t ours to eat or take bodily secretions from; then we really don’t see meat, dairy, fish and eggs as edible; i.e., as food.

If we could all switch our perception thus – just think! We wouldn’t even need the word ‘vegan’ – there would just be people who ate food, and others who ate food and animals. It may have the effect of bringing home to people just what they are eating.

If you think ‘vegan foods’ means fake meats; soy protein burgers etc, you may have a point. It’s true that these products were made specifically with vegetarians and vegans in mind.

But bear in mind that most vegans, after a period of transitioning to a vegan diet, don’t tend to eat this kind of thing often. It can be helpful for some people when they first go vegan to eat foods that resemble the meat-based foods they used to eat. But after a while of experimenting with all the veg, beans, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds etc – it’s common to start to naturally move away from the fake stuff and make real foods the basis of your diet the most often.

I only tend to eat a seitan or a gardein dish (gardein is another plant-protein with a meat-like texture) on holiday. I DO eat veggie burgers but they’re made from spicy brown rice and pumpkin seeds, so they are just really GOOD food. Hey – maybe we should reclaim the word ‘burger’ too?

And as for some people saying ‘vegan food’ is tasteless or dry etc – well guess what? Lots of non-vegan food is tasteless and dry! I remember many a dry, overcooked piece of meat on my plate, or something cooked in milk that had gone off, or cheap disgusting vanilla ice-cream where the food colouring was so intense it was practically glow-in-the-dark!

Of course there is bad ‘vegan food’ just as there is bad non-vegan food. Why the double standard? If food is badly sourced and badly made, then it’s crap – vegan or not! At least if ‘vegan food’ is bad, no one had to die and the environment wasn’t ruined for something that everyone hated anyway.

I believe in the future perceptions WILL change around what constitutes ‘food’ and what does not. They will HAVE to if we are to survive on this planet – as anyone who has seen the documentary Cowspiracy, or read Comfortably Unaware by the dedicated and brilliant Dr Richard Oppenlander will tell you.

But in the meantime if you hear anyone refer to an animal product-free dish as ‘vegan food,’ try and find a polite way of saying…

…’dude, it’s just food.’

10 Top Tips For Happy Vegan Travel!

If you’re a new vegan and wondering how you’ll cope being vegan when you travel, worry not – I’ve got you covered every which way of the compass you could travel!!!

I’ve previously written about how not to go hungry on plane trips here, so that’s the beginning of your journey sorted (some of the snack ideas would of course apply to road and train trips too).

We vacation in America two or three times a year, and everywhere we’ve been absolutely spoiled with vegan options. It’s definitely one of the reasons we return again and again.

Nothing beats being able to walk into a restaurant that is MADE FOR YOU! Where you don’t have to question the wait staff or read labels; you can just kick back and be ‘normal’!

What I love, possibly even more than a vegan restaurant, is a non-vegan restaurant that has a separate vegan menu. It’s good for non-vegans to see huge plates of delicious, colourful food being served to vegans to bust that tenacious old myth that vegan food is boring.

Even a few vegan options clearly marked on a menu is very welcome, assuming the options are yum and imaginative, not just a token offering (hello, ubiquitous roasted Mediterranean veg!)

Obviously big ‘western’ cities have lots of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants. But what do you do if you’re going to a country that doesn’t even have a fringe understanding of veganism; or where refusing any animal food at all would be perceived as rude; and where you understand NOT A WORD of the local language?

There doesn’t seem to be many places in the world where it’s not possible to eat vegan. Many countries have lots of staple dishes that are vegan anyway, and you’d be hard-pressed to find somewhere that didn’t sell fresh fruit and veg. It’s not always easy to eat HEALTHY vegan food – but assuming you’re on vacation or a short business trip, the odd plate of fries or bag of chips won’t kill you!

Personally, I’ve eaten well as a vegan in Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, France and Spain, and there are ways and means to eat well pretty much everywhere.

Well, what are they?

1. Acquaint yourself with the Happy Cow website

Happy Cow lists all the vegan restaurants, vegan-friendly restaurants, and health stores (where you can pick up vegan snacks) in a place.

There aren’t many regions that won’t have at least a couple of listings (I just randomly tried Haiti, Tangiers and Havana, and there were a couple of listings for each!)

Make Happy Cow your first port of call.

2. Think about renting a hotel suite with a full kitchen, or an apartment so you can cook ‘at home’

There are plenty of hotel chains that do suite rooms with full kitchens. If there aren’t too many vegan dining out options where you’re going, then shop at a local market or supermarket and cook in!

Otherwise, try renting out an apartment, house or villa through Airbnb or one of the other travel websites. I’ve used Airbnb several times in New York, LA, and I’m just about to do it again in Tennessee. There is no better way to experience living like a native than shopping for your dinner with everyone else in the town.

3. If you have to stay in a regular hotel room, ask for a refrigerator / microwave

Most hotel rooms these days either come equipped with a refrigerator and/or a microwave – OR a fridge is available on request. Keep the fridge stocked with fresh fruit, nuts, bread, and any vegan snacks you come across.

4. The travel kettle is your new best friend

Pack a small travel kettle, and you’ve got the fixin’s for miso soup, ANY powdered soup, porridge, some types of noodles, and some instant meals that just require hot water (Mcdougalls soup pots for example). Just make sure to have an adaptor if the electricity sockets are different at your destination!

5. Sometimes it’s all about sides and appetisers baby!

As mentioned, lots of staple foods in many European, African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries are vegan by default. If all the mains on a menu contain meat or fish; look for sides or appetisers (‘meze’ in some countries) based on beans, lentils or veg, and order several of these instead. Some may contain yoghurt, but you should find enough that don’t.

6. Are you all about the ‘fly & flop’? Pick a hotel with a buffet

‘Fly & flops’ are usually located in sunny climes, and sunny climes always have fantastic fruit, and salad vegetables right? Fill up at the hotel buffet on fresh produce, good breads, bean dishes, hummus and salsa.

7. Ooh, this one’s long! If you’re going somewhere where the culture is very different to the one you’re familiar with, you will need to make some decisions

What do I mean by this?

Well, for example: Once, in rural Upper Egypt, we were invited to someone’s house, where the mother of the family had cooked us a fabulous meal. Luckily, plenty of it was plant-based by default, so we could tuck in heartily without offending anyone.

Over the meal however, the subject came up that I was vegan, and my Egyptian friend (whose mother had prepared the spread) said that the filling of the delicious stuffed hot cabbage leaves we were eating – which was a herby, spicy rice – had probably been cooked in a meat broth.

Now I’d already eaten some, and had intended having more.

What did I do?

I chose to overlook the fact that meat broth had probably been used.

Why?

Look, its one thing if you’re in the States at a Mexican restaurant and ask the wait staff if the beans have been cooked in animal broth or fat. You are in the US, and Mexican chefs and waitstaff have probably already come across this question before.

However, the context I found myself in that day in Egypt was completely different. Already, the concept of ‘vegan’ was insane to them – it was explained to me that only poor people ate NO meat. I understood that if my friend’s mother had used animal products in our food, it’s because she wanted very much to please us. There was a donkey (that was all ribs) tied up outside the house, and sick stray kittens all over the place. It wasn’t me that was going to cause a massive paradigm shift in understanding that day or even make anyone think that veganism was a credible lifestyle. Complaining about the food would’ve just been mightily ungracious and rude.

I managed to avoid the meat, but continued to eat veg and beans that may or may not have been cooked in meat stock.

It’s quite common in African, Asian and South American countries for beans to be cooked in meat stock and you therefore might find yourself having to make the decision that ‘what the eye doesn’t see won’t harm you,’ i.e., if animal products are not visible, then go ahead and eat the beans and veg you come across.

This is completely your call. My motto is ‘do what you can.’ To me, veganism isn’t about being perfect, or about starving to make a point. It’s about doing as much as is reasonably possible to avoid unnecessary cruelty and environmental destruction. If I can’t see dairy, eggs, fish or meat in a dish that looks like veg and beans, and this dish is likely the best I’ll get all day, I’ll eat it.

You might feel differently. Like I said; your call.

8. Familiarise yourself with words for ‘no meat,’ ‘no milk,’ ‘no butter’ etc in the language of your host country

I went to Valencia, Spain a few years ago, and I’ll never forget ‘sin carne,’ ‘sin leche,’ ‘sin queso’, ‘sin mantequilla,’ ‘sin heuvos,’ ! Learning the words for meat, cheese, butter, eggs and fish (and the word for ‘vegan’ if there is one!) in the language of the place you are visiting, will help you better avoid these foods.

9. Don’t overlook street food

There is often great street food available in lots of countries, much of it vegan; and because you can watch it being made, it is fresh and you can see exactly what goes into it. Though you may need to make the ‘do I overlook it if I can’t see it?‘ decision, as per Tip number 8.

10. Pre-pack dried non-perishable goodies

If you are going somewhere where you truly anticipate finding vegan food to be a problem, hit up your health store (or supermarket with a good health aisle). Grab some good quality nut/date/seed/fruit bars; fill a few bags with nuts and dried fruit from the bulk bins; get some powdered miso; and breadsticks are versatile, light and last a while, so get some of these too. Any vegan cookies in this shop? Buy some. Some small sachets of soy sauce would be a good idea also.

You can intersperse these protein-filled snacks with (well-washed) local fresh produce when you can. Your destination may well have a grain as the base of its traditional dishes, i.e. rice; so if you can, have plain rice, tomatoes or other available vegetables and flavour with the soy sauce sachets.

Happy travels, send us a postie!

8 Things You Need To Do BEFORE Going Vegan

produce for the week from Flickr via Wylio — © 2009 Peyri Herrera, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio

I’m assuming here that you’re going vegan cold Tofurky!

But if you’re easing into a plant-based lifestyle at a gentler pace (which I wholeheartedly encourage if you think this is best for you), these tips will also apply, though perhaps at different stages.

1. Inform yourself well on plant-based nutrition

Before you run for the hills because you didn’t expect to have to study – RELAX.

It’s not complicated and will not take long, I promise. Here is a good starting point.

The reason this is top priority is because there are lots of people who go vegan without being sufficiently informed on nutrition, and as a result relapse back into meat-eating because they feel like they are missing an important nutrient.

Being well nourished on a vegan diet WILL become second nature to you much quicker than you think.

There is NO nutrient in meat that isn’t available from a healthier source in plants (before you say vitamin B12 – vitamin B12 is a bacteria that animals ingest, it’s not actually FROM animals, and we can supplement this easily).

Therefore, with a little studyin’ (not much, honest!), or a little help from a coach (Hi there!) there is no reason to be undernourished and every reason to enjoy your best health ever!

2. Do a big-azz shop.

You’ll need lots of gorge-looking food at home to inspire you, and so you’ve always got enough stuff on hand to whip up something yum – even if it’s dead simple.

I don’t care whether you shop at a farmers market, at Whole Foods, Lidls or Walmart. Doesn’t matter.

Include: Lots of colourful fresh produce (don’t forget potatoes, both sweet and the white variety; avocados and squashes); a good selection of grains (brown rice, quinoa, wholewheat pasta, oats etc); beans (chickpeas, red kidney beans etc); lentils, nuts and seeds, and some decent wholewheat bread. Dips like hummus, guacamole and salsa are great for snacks. Maybe some olives to stick in a pasta dish…

3. Get some answers to the questions and comments you’ll inevitably get when people find out you’ve gone vegan.

Don’t worry, you really don’t get bombarded with aggressive questions when people find out you have this new lifestyle, in fact the most common question is ‘what made you go vegan‘ so you’ll already have your answer for that.

But, whether its internet trolls, paid shills or actual friends and family who are misinformed about a plant-based diet, you’ll need answers to lots of questions and comments that you’ll come across. Whether it’s the PROTEINPROTEINWHEREDOYOUGETYOURPROTEIN??? Or ‘But lions eat gazelles it’s the circle of life don’t you know…’ if you are armed with knowledge you’ll be confident and assured in your responses.

This post and this one will help you get started, but there is plenty of info online. If my voice doesn’t resonate, try this Gary Yourofsky talk, or this one by Colleen Patrick Goudreau.

You don’t have to learn this all at once; you can always read up as you’re going along. If you’re making a lifestyle shift as impactful as going vegan, then you are probably motivated and firm in your intention and a few silly comments won’t bother you or sway you from your path anyway – it’s just satisfying to have that knowledge to draw on those times when you need it.

There’s a lot of dodgy health info around as well so you’ll need to know what’s good and what’s really serving some animal-product based corporate interest.

4. Avoid animal products.

Well, duh! I’m trying to do that anyway, hence the whole VEGAN thing?

What I mean is, clear them out of your space. If you still have some eggs/butter/cheese in the kitchen – get rid. When you’ve been vegan a while, you’ll be fine those times you have to be around animal products, but until your taste buds adapt to your new diet, get temptation out of your face.

5. Whatever the word ‘treat’ means for you – make absolutely sure to have plenty of it around

The last thing you want to feel is treat-less. You’re gonna feel pretty damn hard-done-by if you see everyone else gorging on yummies and there’s nothing for you. This is the easiest way to give up. No matter what your ‘treat’ is, make sure you have plenty on hand in the first few weeks of going plant-based.

If your particular ‘treat’ food isn’t vegan – veganise it. Google ‘vegan (your yumminess here)’

For example, one of my treats is chocolate (I know, how pedestrian!), so I had to find amazing vegan chocolate. Luckily, it turns out the best chocolate is vegan anyway; I just had to steer clear of the milky, over-sweet stuff.

6. Plan for some kitchen time.

Yes, there are vegan ready meals and even vegan meal delivery services now (Cheers Beyonce!), but it’s a great idea to get into the kitchen and find a repertoire of new meals you enjoy, so you’re never at a loss for a great meal.

I’d say you need 6 dishes or so to start off with. After you’ve made each recipe a couple of times you’ll know it by heart and you’ll be able to whip it up in no time. It may take a bit of trial and error finding dishes that work and that you love, but once you’ve found a selection of meals you like, you’ll have a great foundation. After that, when you get a bit of free time, find another dish to add to the rotation.

Here are three of the dishes in MY rotation that are delicious and easy, but you’ll want to find some for yourself to suit your tastes.

Black bean and quinoa soup

Sweet potato chilli

Ethiopian red lentil soup

7. Have some ‘can’t be bothered’ meal ideas ready.

Sometimes you’ll need a quick solution.

You may have had to go late night shopping and there’s no time to cook. Or you’ll just have had ‘one of those days’ – you come home and you really CANNOT be arsed cooking a meal from scratch. You couldn’t focus on what you were doing anyhow.

It’s easy for new vegans to relapse on days like these and just dial a pizza.

Think baked/mashed potato and baked beans (mashed is quicker if you’re really short on time); or baked/mashed sweet potato, corn on the cob and a steamed green veg.

If even that would take too long – you’ll find vegan ready meals at your local supermarket. In the UK try Dee’s Wholefoods , and the Bol range – some of which are vegan. In the US, Whole Foods has several ranges of vegan ready meals, and bigger supermarkets stock some in their health sections.

Keep a couple in always, for when you really have no energy left to cook.

8. Set your intention.

Set your intention to become vegan (in whatever time frame you intend to do it), but be kind to yourself and KNOW that there may be mistakes or ‘cheats’ along the way.

Obviously you’re not willing these things to happen, it’s just that even with the best intentions, they often do – you may buy a product that seems vegan, then later realise it wasn’t.

I did this with falafel once. I was starving and bought some falafel to eat cold, then later realised they had egg in them. Now this is ridiculous. Falafel should NEVER contain egg, that’s why I didn’t take much notice of the list of ingredients when I bought them. But it turned out they did.

You may find yourself with a group of friends who are sampling a cheese board, and not be able to resist taking a piece of cheese.

These slip-ups do NOT negate your intention to be vegan. Be kind to yourself and move on. Tomorrow is another day. Hell, the next hour is a new hour!

You WILL get to a place where these incidents barely happen.

Pain Quotidien UK; A Review

Having visited the US lots in the past 10 years, and having consulted Happy Cow a bazillion times to find vegan restaurants (or restaurants with vegan options) in various towns and cities, I’ve long been aware of the Pain Quotidien chain of rustic, casual bakery/restaurants.

I’ve just read they are Belgian of origin, but the headquarters are now in New York. You can find them in London; many cities in the US; Paris, Belgium and Australia; and you can find franchises of PQ in places such as Japan, Brazil, UAE and Spain.

To vegans they are known for having very clearly marked vegan options on all their menus, and to others for having communal tables in their spaces (don’t panic Brits! They have smaller, private tables too. Or is it just me that gets nervous at the word communal 🙂 )

The vegan options are not just salad or hummus and celery sticks, but proper, grown-up starters and main courses that feel like they would rival the non-vegan dishes in taste and texture.

I have no idea why I didn’t try them out for the longest time.

Earlier this year, I finally got around to trying my first Pain Quotidien in Los Angeles (the Larchmont branch).

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t discovered them earlier!

The space was attractive, with a little shop selling some of their own artisanal products – jams, chutneys etc. The garden was beautiful, full of sweet-smelling flowers – but this was Los Angeles, you wouldn’t get this everywhere!

I opted for some lentil soup and salad, which were both substantial and thoughtfully flavoured. The salad wasn’t too heavily dressed (this is a common mistake in restaurants!), it was just perfect. My partner had a killer tofu scramble, and I washed my meal down with some delicious house chai with almond milk.

The hot drinks are served in bowls, which I love; it reminds me of when I lived in the south of France.

I was really impressed with the food, value, service and ambience at this Pain Quotidien and will always bear PQ in mind now when looking for somewhere to eat in the US.

So how does Pain Quotidien UK measure up?

Well, I can only truly speak of one branch, I have no idea if it’s representative or not, though there are elements that are the same in every PQ – the wooden chairs and tables, the rustic atmosphere, the communal seating etc.

The menus are all similar but there are variances based on locale and season. There always does seem to be solid vegan options however, this doesn’t change.

On the rainy August Bank Holiday Monday, after an event that ended up being a washout at the Royal Festival Hall, we decided to try the local (Royal Festival Hall) branch of Pain Quotidien, for a late lunch.

This particular branch is very close to Waterloo station, so as well as the space you see in the above photo, there’s also a basement level hall under the actual railway arches, which adds a nice local touch.

The vegan options are clearly marked on the menu with a carrot sign, like so:

As well as a vegan soup and a couple of decent vegan salads (forgot to take a photo – one had quinoa, taboulé, raw vegetables, avocado and organic rapeseed oil and the other was freshly shaved fennel, raw slaw, chickpeas and basil vinaigrette – no iceberg lettuce here!), they have a couple of vegan ‘tartine’ options:

The other was also avocado toast but with lemon and cumin.

These were the hot dishes, or mains (the chilli seems to be available at most locations):

Some straight-up sides:

And desserts:

They also do breakfasts, and vegan choices include porridge, fruit salad and granola.

Now I’m a huge lover of chilli, and have wanted to try PQ’s version since I learned they had one, so my choice was easy. My partner went for the quinoa cake. We figured we couldn’t go wrong adding a side of roasted baby potatoes!

This was a bean chilli, But I think I counted just 3 beans in the entire dish!

I ADORE chilli and it’s a great dish to veganise because it really doesn’t need meat. The beans carry the flavour marvellously, and if you have enough beans in there (you can chuck some corn in there too if you want to add another texture) you don’t need anything else.

Unfortunately, this chilli contained a tonne of – I’m guessing it was soy protein or TVP? Now a little of this would have been fine, especially if there were more beans for variance of texture.

But whoever made this dish had been a bit heavy-handed with the soy protein, or maybe this is just the PQ recipe? It felt like a meat-eater had made it and thought ‘I’ll chuck a tonne of this meat-substitute in ‘cos that’s what vegans want.’ It definitely made for an, um, ‘over-chewy’ experience.

Yet…the actual taste was great. It absolutely came up to scratch flavour-wise. The guacamole that came with it was good too.

The soy sour cream was completely superfluous, and tasted more like soy yoghurt. Then one of the wait-staff told us it actually WAS soy yoghurt.

The dish came with a couple slices of bread, and it was strange that it was served with regular butter when it’s a vegan dish! I get that non-vegans may order this dish too, but maybe give us some vegan spread, and if someone wants regular butter they’ll ask?

This was the quinoa cake. You know, it was ok. It tasted just fine. But I don’t know how they came up with it. The beetroot ‘caviar’ tasted just like mashed-up beetroot, and the carrot hummus tasted just like, well, mashed-up carrot.

Because these things are nice enough in and of themselves, this dish was, uh, nice enough. The quinoa cake was lightly flavoured with herbs, and not as dry as it perhaps looks. It was slightly weird to me that the cake was hot and the other elements were cold, but maybe this is a thing, I don’t know.

The roasted baby potatoes were great, but I thought roast potatoes were supposed to be a bit browner and crunchier? Look, they were good, let’s leave it at that.

I LOOOVVED my matcha latte! Hurrah! But can I have one final moan and say it could’ve been a bit hotter?

My partner enjoyed his coffee 🙂

I’m always thrilled to see agave available as a sweetener. This has been available for years in many US cafes, but I think it’s the first time I’ve seen it here,

Verdict:

If my experience of PQ in Los Angeles was pretty representative of all US branches – I’d say it’s an excellent choice for snacks, breakfasts, brunches, lunches and early dinners (they tend to close earlier than regular restaurants).

Service was second-to-none, as was the freshness, taste and value of the food.

If you find one with outdoor seating in a pretty space as we did, even better.

I’ll ALWAYS consider PQ while in the US if there is no dedicated vegan restaurant available, and you know what? Maybe even if there is.

As for PQ UK (which maybe should be PQ London – it’s the only city in the UK with branches) I’d still consider it. It wasn’t bad, it’s just that nothing was great, and a few things just niggled. It’s so great to not feel niggled when dining out!

I don’t know how much the fact that I’d consider it is due to there not being many other options.

Next time I’d probably stick to a soup and salad, which I’m sure they’d do well.

The service at this particular branch, like the food, was just ok. The ambience was nice, especially in the basement arches, and they do have free wifi – but it was painfully slow, so maybe not great for working, just playing.

For the portion sizes, it’s definitely overpriced, and there is a discretionary 12.5% service charge added onto the bill. The wait staff told us they get 70% of this and the restaurant gets 30%.

I will say that I definitely want to pass by and grab a matcha latte to go. They’re a whole quid cheaper to take out, and extra hot, it’ll be yummy.

Have you visited PQ anywhere, specifically for the vegan options? How did YOU find it? Does my review hit home? Or you think I’m being a bit of a grumpy-pants?

Hit reply and let me know!

Why You Shouldn’t Care About ‘Sticking Out’ As A Vegan, But What To Do If You DO!

Colour clash from Flickr via Wylio — © 2013 Ruth Hartnup, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

At the end of last year, articles like this one were written about a study that showed that out of those who go vegetarian or vegan, 84% end up going back to old habits.

One of the main reasons cited is that people didn’t like ‘sticking out’ or being different.

I’m not sure how accurate this study was, but even if there are a certain number of vegans who relapse for this reason, I understand this. Of course it can be disheartening to not feel a part of something that our friends and family are all part of. We live in a largely non-vegan world and there are reminders of this EVERYWHERE.

But here is why you should never let fear of ‘sticking out’ get in the way:

1. You ‘stick out’ already.

You do!

You are a unique being borne from an inexplicable collision of energies and information. There are precisely no others on the planet like you, nor will there ever be. You have quirks and idiosyncrasies and weirdnesses all your own.

Vegan or not, you’re an original already. So there!

2. Awareness of veganism is on the rise.

I post a round-up of plant-based and vegan news every week, and I can tell you for sure that even in the relatively short time I’ve been doing this, there are more vegan-related articles each week than ever.

New vegan restaurants are opening ALL the time; often, thrillingly, in the most unlikely places. More and more sports people and athletes are going vegan; more celebrities than ever are going vegan and talking about it; and more people than ever are going vegan for a week, month, whatever, and writing about it, with very positive results.

Right now, vegans are from the future, this is why you might feel you stick out. But the future has a habit of becoming the past ridiculously fast, and with interest in veganism growing exponentially minute by minute it seems, it will soon enough be mainstream.

My point is, even if you feel you stick out now, you’ll not stick out for long, and you’ll be ahead of the curve to boot!

3. Some people are always gonna think you’re weird.

You aren’t gonna please everyone, ever. Don’t worry about it! There’s a saying that goes…’If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no-one,’ meaning, if you’re trying to please and fit in with everyone, you’re not actually connecting with anyone.

Always speak your truth (when asked!), and even when it seems that everyone disagrees with you, you’ll be surprised how many seeds of curiosity you’ve sparked, and how most people will respect and secretly admire you for voicing a different way of thinking.

4. Where would we be without Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, the Suffragettes?

Yes, these are great people who we all revere, but ultimately, they were just ordinary people like us who saw injustice and spoke out against it; not great extroverts who particularly wanted to be different. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be as prominent in your cause as these people were in theirs; just speaking your truth when it’s appropriate is enough.

5. Know that sticking out doesn’t mean you think you are ‘better’ than anyone else.

It just means you simply decided to live in alignment with new values you gained through information you happened to come across.

If we are wise we DO change our opinions and ways of doing things when we find better information; this is all you’ve done. If anyone tries to lay the ‘you think you’re better…’ shtick on you, this is testament to their insecurity with their life choices, nothing else.

…But if you DO find yourself feeling a little, well, different – do these things:

6. It’s the way you frame it.

You can frame it as ‘Oy…I’m different, I stick out.’

Or:

‘I have the courage to live in accordance with my values of compassion to all beings, and with awareness of the needs of the planet, ensuring it is liveable for future generations. I also live in such a way that optimises my health, so I can work and serve others better and more efficiently, and not have to keep focussing on petty health issues. The way I live helps combat world hunger – my food does not eat food that could be fed to starving people.’

Granted, it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easy as ‘I stick out,’ but isn’t it hella cooler ?

7. Remember, everyone has issues.

Don’t forget – EVERYBODY ON THE PLANET has (or has had) issues that make them feel isolated.

NO-ONE escapes the issues. Sometimes these issues are small, sometimes not.

I’m not trying to say ‘some have it worse so quit whining;’ or to diminish your issue of feeling different, living as a vegan here on Planet Bacon as you do – trust me, I live here too, I get it. But it’s a fact that there are some truly awful reasons why some people feel alienated from the rest of the planet.

We as vegans are ‘different’ because we’re lucky enough to have come across, understood and internalised information that is life-changing (for us and the animals), planet enhancing, hunger reducing and, many believe, world-peace promoting.

Some say this information finds you when you’re ready.

Maybe it’s worth feeling a little ‘different’ for?

8. Revisit your initial inspirations continually.

Whether it was Earthlings, Forks Over Knives or Cowspiracy; or one of the incredible talks (Melanie Joy, Gary Yourovsky), or books on veganism; you got the information that motivated you to go vegan from somewhere.

Go back to this inspiration whenever you need morale and to get reinvigorated.

This ALWAYS works.

9. Find like minds.

Once upon a time you may well have been the only vegan in the village – now THAT would have been lonely.

Thank God for the internetz!

You can find your people with a quick consult with Professor Google.

Connect with other vegans via social media, find local vegan meetups, look out for local vegan potlucks. These new connections will help you stop feeling like you ‘stick out’ as much, because you’ll be part of a whole vegan community.

(I just read about an excellent vegan support group in Washington DC, if there’s not one near you, maybe you could start one).

Above all, keep on ‘sticking out’ – trust me, the planet and the animals need your difference!

Should You Go Vegan Cold Turkey (Um..Cold Turnip? Cold Tortilla?) Or Gradually?

Wild Turkeys from Flickr via Wylio — © 2013 Robert Engberg, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

It’s a turkey (a wild one!), and it’s in the snow so it has to be cold – d’yageddit? Am I trying too hard?

There’s a lot of debate as to whether it’s best to go vegan gradually, or to jump in head-first.

Hmmmm. I can see it from both sides. I’ve known several people who have cut out a few meats, then all meats, then milk, then other dairy, then eggs, and finally cheese (Ha! It’s often cheese that’s last!).

This definitely works for some. It’s kind of what I did, though my trajectory was really just vegetarian for a short while, then vegan.

The real answer to the above question is – do whatever’s right for you.

BUT BUT BUT…

The opinions of Dr Neal Barnard (founder of PCRM, author of Reversing Diabetes) , and Dr T Colin Campbell (Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, author of the China Study, Whole, and contributor to the documentaries Forks Over Knives and Plant Pure Nation), which make sense and which I tend to agree with, are as follows –

Giving up animal products can be likened to giving up smoking in the following sense; we know it’s better to go cold turkey than to cut down and try and gradually reduce the amount you smoke…

Because…

…If you have even a little bit of nicotine in your system, this is going to want to be ‘fed’ – you are always going to crave more. This is borne out by the fact that if someone attempting to quit smoking cracks and has one cigarette, they often just give up and just relapse back into smoking habitually.

As I’ve written about previously, cheese, and to a lesser extent, other dairy products are addictive due to the opiate -like effects of the casomorphins they contain.

If you have even a small amount of dairy in your system, then just like tobacco you’re always going to crave more at some point.

Yet if you quit all dairy at the same time, your body may at first kick up a bit of a fuss while it detoxes from mucous-forming cow’s milk products (don’t worry if it does, this won’t last long), but then it will adjust to not having it and will become accustomed to the new foods you are consuming.

As your body acclimatises, you’ll realise how much lighter and clear-headed you feel, and maybe other things as well, like better digestion, better skin, your weight will be maintained easier – in fact a whole host of benefits may occur.

Obviously these benefits come quicker if you give up all dairy at once.

Now we all like rewards and pay-offs, and even though the knowledge that you are not contributing to animal cruelty, environmental damage and world hunger may be the prime reason for your lifestyle shift, it doesn’t hurt to have good health benefits as a pleasant side-effect to keep you extra full of positive feelings about your new path.

The other reason it may be better to dive straight in, is because animal products have different tastes, textures, and ‘mouth feel’ to plant foods. It takes approximately 21 days to break a habit and acquire a new (better) one. If you are still eating some animal products, you’ll still be eating a certain amount of fat and certain types of textures. Plant foods tend to have different textures and ‘mouth feel’ to animal products. If you eliminate the animal food textures, you’ll get used to the new ones quicker.

This, by the way, is also the answer to the question – do I need to be 100% plant-based to achieve optimal health i.e. perhaps 95% plant-based is enough (there’s no evidence saying that if you have some tuna once a fortnight you’ll have lesser health than someone who is 100% plant-based), but it’s maybe easier to do it 100% so you don’t keep craving animal products and so your body gets accustomed more rapidly.

Once you are used to the beautiful and varied tastes and textures of plant foods; animal foods will seem heavy, fatty and cloying. If you were to try meat or dairy after a 21 day period of not eating it, chances are very high it would taste disgusting.

Conclusion:

– If you can, go 100% plant-based straight away.

– If you can’t go cold turkey, then give up either meat OR dairy.

Then, when you’re ready, give up the other. This is a more effective measure than giving up SOME meat and SOME dairy, as your body will acclimatise quicker to the elimination of a single animal-food group if it’s eliminated at once, rather than gradually.

– If you want to move towards a vegan diet but can’t do either of these things, don’t let this stop you. As I mention at the top of the post, plenty of people have done it little by little in a way THEY feel comfortable with, and succeeded. This could be you, too.

How Do You Get Enough Protein As A Vegan? (Yes, I know! But It’s Still An Issue!)

Protein® from Flickr via Wylio — © 2011 Ilias Bartolini, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

I’ve been blogging for almost two years on all things vegan and I’ve never yet written a post on protein.

Why?

Because SO many excellent vegan educators have written on it before me, and I genuinely thought we were past that. I thought there was enough info out there with the truth on how much and what sort of protein we actually need and how we’ve all been led to believe a shedload of garbage concerning this.

I was wrong. The protein issue is still coming up frequently.

I’m still seeing comments under vegan articles like ‘we need animal protein or we get weak and tired,’ or ‘I’ve never seen a vegan that didn’t look pale and sickly.’ Never mind the fact that there are plenty of healthy and strong vegans out there (including these ultra-strong guys); the oft-spouted ‘pale and sickly vegan’ shizzle comes from the belief, as erroneous as it is deeply entrenched, that we need a certain amount and certain sort of protein (i.e. meat) for strength.

Admittedly, I DO live in a bit of a vegan bubble, and I reckon I underestimated just how profoundly ingrained the whole ‘YOU NEED PROTEIN FROM MEAT OR YOU WILL DIE’ thing was.

My bad.

If you are a new vegan and wondering where you’ll get your protein, or more likely, if you are coming up against this question from concerned friends and family, this is for you.

What’s the deal with ‘complete’ and incomplete protein?

Protein is an essential macronutrient and we need it, this much is true.

It is composed of amino acids that are essentially building blocks for every function in our bodies

There are 20 amino acids, 8 of which are essential to our bodies – i.e., they cannot be synthesised.

Some people may tell you that meat is a ‘complete’ protein (i.e. contains all the necessary amino acids), and that plant protein isn’t, and think they’ve won the protein argument.

It is true that plant food doesn’t always contain all the amino acids, but it’s also a fact that we don’t need to eat complete proteins.

We can eat foods that contain the amino acids separately, and our bodies are clever enough to put the pieces together themselves. Rice and beans combined, for example, are an excellent way to get the full complement of amino acids, (lots of world cultures have known this forever, think of chana masala and rice in India, or rice and beans in Cuba); beans and wholewheat works great too – think beans on toast, or wholewheat pasta dishes that contain beans. See? It’s as simple as that. And the steamed broccoli you have on the side? Well that actually contains more protein per calorie than beef!

However, please don’t think you need to pay lots of attention to food combining in order to get enough protein, you really don’t. Eat whole, plant-based foods and you’ll easily be getting enough – without the health risks associated with animal protein!

How much protein do we need?

Just remember, it serves the meat and dairy industries well to have us believe that we need as much protein as possible.

We actually need about 10% of our daily calories to come from protein, a little more if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or an athlete.

Considering that around 11% of the calories in brown rice come from protein, 40% of the calories in leafy greens come from protein, and 5% of the calories in a banana come from protein, it’s not difficult to reach your daily protein needs.

It’s actually harder to NOT reach them than it is to reach them!

How best to get that protein?

It also serves the meat and dairy industries to have us believe that there is only protein in animal products.

Some people even know there is protein in plant foods (food scientists and dieticians for example) yet they still believe (thanks to meat and dairy industry advertising) that animal products are the BEST source of protein.

Just look at the food plate the United States Department of Agriculture and the US government (who subsidise the meat industry) use for dietary recommendations to the public.

This plate graphic does not represent the fact that there is plenteous and sufficient protein for us in vegetables, grains and fruit without needing the meat. To be fair, in the text on the USDA website they do include nuts and seeds as protein, but many people don’t read the information on the website. They just focus on this graphic and think that ‘protein’ means meat – which was very possibly the intention.

This graphic does little but perpetuate the idea that protein = meat and meat only.

Those with interests in livestock agriculture have, quite frighteningly, well and truly achieved making this belief mainstream.

As we’ve seen above, protein is in all whole foods.

Getting enough protein on a vegan diet is NO PROBLEM AT ALL!!!!

As well as the brown rice, bananas and greens mentioned above, other protein superstars are beans, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh.

Just eat a variety of whole foods and you’ll be good.

**Look, I really need convincing – is there any chance at all of becoming protein deficient on a vegan diet?**

Anyone heard of kwashiorkor?

Kwashi-WHAA..?

Exactly.

Yet you’ve surely heard of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. This is because these are diseases of excess – which are the majority of diseases we suffer from in the western world.

Kwashiorkor is the medical term for protein deficiency. You haven’t heard of it ‘cos it doesn’t happen where you are. It is a disease of ‘lack’ as opposed to ‘excess.’ It can happen to emaciated children in parts of Africa, or in singular cases of seriously neglected children here, but that’s it.

I can bet you don’t know anyone who’s had it.

Yet there are millions of vegetarians and vegans NOT suffering from kwashiorkor. There are all the HUGE herbivores – cows, gorillas, elephants, horses etc – all NOT suffering from kwashiorkor.

To the people who say ‘well, I was vegetarian but I felt weak and tired all the time so I had to go back to eating meat and the first time I bit into a steak I burst into tears of joy as I could feel the strength returning to my body’ – if you were feeling weak as a vegetarian or vegan, this was NOT a protein issue, but something else; very likely an iron issue. Possibly not enough energy-giving complex-carbohydrates were consumed; or maybe it was the fact that they just weren’t eating enough nutrient-dense food. If you just take the meat out of your diet and don’t replace it with nutrient-dense whole foods, you may have energy or strength problems, but this won’t be because of lack of protein.

Are there any dangers in consuming too much protein?

Li’l bit!

Too much protein is highly detrimental to us. Excess protein (specifically animal protein) is linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, cancers, and kidney disease.