I get annoyed easily. Just ask my friends. I'm often ranting on Facebook about 100 different things.One area that really gets me fired up are the endless and idiotic myths surrounding plant based eating.
I'm sure you've heard the basic ones about getting enough protein or B12 or how milk is good for bones. I hear other, less common ones that drive me crazy so I'm going to debunk them right here, right now.
"Eating a plant based diet is expensive"
Complete and utter bullshit. Any diet can be expensive if you want it to be. If you choose to buy 100% organic or lots of prepared and processed convenience food then you can easily inflate your grocery bill but the truth is this - whole plant based foods are the least expensive foods int he entire store. Potatoes, rice, beans, lentils, fruits, and veggies are all very affordable and downright cheap.
How do you keep the budget in check?
* Only buy organics when necessary. There are about a dozen fruits/veggies that you should buy organic but if you feel you can't afford it then don't worry about it. Eating a non-organic veggie is better than not eating a veggie at all! I won't pay $7 for a bag of apples. I just won't.
* Shop online. Hitting the internet is a great way to save money. I buy a vast majority of my products online thru websites like Amazon, VitaCost, iHerb, Anuts and Bulk Foods I can buy my raw cashews and nutritional yeast at a fraction of the cost I'd pay locally. I can get my protein powder, cacao and maca half the price online. Many of these places even have free shipping when you reach a certain dollar amount. I subscribe to Amazon Prime so all of my orders are shipped free with 2 day shipping!
* Buy in bulk. Buying in bulk online or locally can save you money! Some grocery stores have bulk items like nuts, beans and grains. Check into your local warehouse store. I like to buy some of my produce at our local warehouse store because I can get large quantities at a lower price. I also buy some of my spices at the warehouse store. They also have great things like nut butters, coconut oil, nut and dried fruit.
* Shop around. Check out the various stores in your area. I go to various stores each month. We have a produce store, a regular grocery where I can find things like the plant based meats and mayo, Aldi is a great store for basics like pasta and beans and the warehouse store.
* Recognize that some items are specialty items. Yes, some ingredients can be pricey but you aren't buying them every week. Some ingredients you need to replace every few months so the cost per use is affordable. You might get sticker shock at the beginning of your plant based transition because you want to buy several of these items at the same time. Buying online can help with that. Search out the best prices.
* Don't rely on convenience foods. Yes it's handy to have a box of veggie burgers or Gardein Beefless Tips in the freezer but don't eat those things more than once or twice a week. the only exception to that is the Field Roast brand or any other brands that are isolated soy free... those can be eaten more often.
* Learn to cook. Don't whine, just do it. Taking control of the food that goes into your body is empowering. Making your own veggie burgers, your own soup, your own salad dressing .. it means controlling the ingredients and that is 100% win. It doesn't take much to set aside a couple hours to make some food that you can throw in the freezer or fridge. Seriously.
"Desserts without eggs, butter and milk are gross!"
Complete and utter bullshit. I hear this from people that have never even tried a plant based dessert or those that have tried one and it wasn't good so they think all plant based desserts are bad. Look, there are bad plant based recipes just like there are bad non-plant based recipes. just because you'd have one bad cupcake doesn't mean that all cupcakes are bad. In fact, I think plant based desserts are far superior to those containing eggs, cow butter and cow milk. Why? You've taken out some of the guilt factor. Plant based desserts have no cholesterol. That right there is a win! yes, you can have plant based desserts that are junky .. ones that contain lots of sugar and fat but you can also have plant based desserts that contain a nice dose of protein like a tofu based french silk pie or bean based brownies! Don't wrinkle your nose up .. both are delicious and you'd never know the tofu or beans were in there!
How do you find success with plant based desserts?
* Don't reinvent the wheel. If you take your beloved great grandmothers recipe for her famous cake and try to veganize it, you'll probably be disappointed in the outcome. Instead, search online for a recipe that is similar. There hasn't been one thing that I haven't been able to find a recipe for since I went plant based 11 years ago. Look for well-known bloggers, cookbook writers and chefs. They've done the work for you! Just like with non-plant based recipes, you might need to try a few to find a recipe that works to your tastes. My husband's favorite cake is a spice cake with a cream cheese frosting. I found a very simple cake recipe online and he says it's the best spice cake he's ever had. I found a frosting recipe that is very cream cheese like in flavor without even using vegan cream cheese! The tangy flavor is created using spices.
* Stop the comparisons and be fair. You have to evaluate every recipe individually. You can't compare desserts to one another when they are all different. It's like if you walked into a bakery and got a vanilla cupcake and a chocolate one and you decided you liked the chocolate one better.. that doesn't mean the vanilla one isn't good. It's personal taste. You might love the chocolate one and someone else might think it was dry. Don't base your entire opinion on just your opinion. I've made desserts before that I thought were kinda dry or kinda whatever else and I've had five other people tell me they were fantastic and ask for the recipe.
* Don't be an ingredient snob. You may see ingredients in plant based desserts that you've never seen used in non-plant based desserts. You may see applesauce, flax 'eggs', egg replacer powder, beans, and tofu. Don't be obnoxious and turn your nose up just because it's different. I'm not saying you have to love the outcome but be willing to at least TRY those recipes.
"I can't give up pizza, nachos and mac & cheese!"
You don't have to. I eat those things on a very regular basis. When I think about what I've 'given up' by going plant based, I think about the animal fat that is no longer running through my veins, that I am free of animal hormones and free from worrying about animal diseases that come from eating flesh. I think about no longer consuming hen periods and the pus filled secretions of cows. That's pretty gross. I gladly gave that up.
Let me tell you - I was a HUGE cheese lover. I loved cheese. Loved it. Now? I don't miss it at all.
While there are many plant based cheese brands available, I actually prefer my pizza without any at all. I order mine with extra sauce, mushrooms and black olives and then I sprinkle on my own homemade cashew cheese. It's incredibly satisfying and not heavy like a pizza with cow cheese always was. I enjoy loaded nachos made with plant based taco meat or even shredded Beyond Meat chick'n strips, homemade cheese sauce, guacamole, salsa, tomatoes, onions, black olives, beans and whatever else! I also have a few delicious mac & cheese recipes I make. Some are made with a cashew sauce, some with a sauce made with broth and nutritional yeast that gets thick and bubbly! I can also make chickpea enchiladas, burritos, lasagna made with a cashew cheese filling, black bean burgers, tempeh bacon ... there is nothing I can't create using plant based foods and the high point is that they are healthy!!
"I couldn't live with cutting out whole food groups"
OK, flesh is NOT a food group. The USDA lists 5 food groups - protein, fruits, vegetables, grains and 'dairy', which translates to calcium rich foods and the only reason dairy is still listed is because the industry has such a strong foothold with the government that you'll never see them dump cow dairy from their recommendations. Never.
ALL food except oil and sugar has protein in it. It's nutritionally impossible to not get the protein you need as long as you are consuming enough calories each day.
The government even lists non-animal based foods under it's protein heading - nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, tofu, tempeh, TVP and plant based convenience foods. Calcium is found in fortified drinks like juices and plant based milks, foods such as beans, dark greens, tofu, nuts, seeds, grains and fortified foods like oatmeal. Eating cow dairy for calcium is a ridiculous choice seeing as how evidence shows that animal protein actually leeches the calcium out of your bones and makes them more susceptible to breakage. Caffeine, cigarettes, salt, soda and alcohol ALL cause calcium loss and causes problems with absorption.
"A plant based diet is extreme and restrictive"
Complete and utter bullshit. I'm not sure why choosing to eat the dead flesh from an animal or the secretions of other species, the eggs of various creatures. the bodies of sea creatures hauled up from the depths became the norm on this planet. It's mind boggling that I'm the weird one because I eat plants.
Let me say that again ....... I eat plants.
My plant based diet is far from extreme. You eat lots of plant based foods whether you realize it or not. Baked potatoes, spaghetti marinara, french fries, sorbet, nut butters and jams, pastas and more.
The amazing thing is that plant based foods contain no cholesterol. Did you know the body makes it's own cholesterol? Surely, you understand that when you eat chunks of a cow, you are consuming his or her cholesterol. Pretty gross. I mean, if you aren't already grossed out that you're noshing on flesh, muscle, veins, tendons, blood, the secretions of other species and what is essentially a hen period (eggs).. maybe consuming the cholesterol of someone else doesn't bother you. I call eating flesh extreme and primitive.
My plant based diet is far from restrictive. I don't live my life saying 'I can't have that' .. I can have anything I want but I make the right choices instead. I try not to eat junky processed food and I do not eat anything that came from an animal. I eat pretty much everything else. If I asked you to make a list of the things you ate on a regular basis, I think you'd find that YOUR diet is rather restrictive. Most flesh eaters have a rotating menu of about 15 things. You tend to eat the same flesh over and over. You tend to make the same side dishes over and over. You tend to make the same desserts over and over. Flesh eaters close themselves off from the wonders of the plant based world. Have you even tried half of the fruits, veggies and grains available in the store? I'm guessing not.
Let me tell you .... there is nothing I can't do with plants. I can make ANYTHING. There hasn't been one thing that I've not been able to make in the 11 years I've been eating a plant based diet. From omelets to ice cream, cheesecake to nachos, cakes to cookies, french toast to burgers, cheese to chik'n nuggets!
"If you were trapped on a deserted island, would you eat the wild animals there?"
OK, so this is one of the dumbest questions plant eaters are subjected to. I guess the question is 'if you had to consume animal products to survive, would you?' If I'm on an island that is supporting wildlife then there is food available. What do you think they are eating? I'd follow them and find their food source and we would share. I'm going to turn this question around to the meat eaters... if you lived in a place where food choices were abundant, would you chose to kill an animal for no reason?
If you had to consume plant foods to survive, would you? The difference between your scenario and mine is that yours would never happen to me. I'm never, ever going to be trapped on an island. However, mine is happening right this second. Every single day, you choose food that comes from murder, torture, rape, abuse and neglect. Ask yourself WHY.