It’s no secret that fruits & vegetables are good for you. But the public perception is that they’re good for you because they’re low in calories & keep you full. Hunny, that’s not even the best part! Fruits & vegetables provide constituents of nutrition that cannot be sourced otherwise in equal terms. It’s hard to ignore the variety of nutritional supplements available that claim to be exactly the same - or even better - than the real thing. Like a tub of green powder that claims to replace a full days worth of green veg in sludge form. So much easier than washing, prepping & cooking! Theoretically, the micronutrient profile may be comparable, but there are many many factors that can affect the absorption of these (& other just as important) constituents. Ultimately, these factors impact the amount we can actually get from the food we eat. So let’s get it.
Is plant forward different than plant based? YES. Plant based & vegan fit into the same category nutritionally, however plant based seems to be the term for choosing an animal-product-free lifestyle for health or nutritional reasons whereas vegan is making the lifestyle choice for ethical reasons, or so it used to be. Plant based meals & lifestyles have become more popular in recent years, especially months. At the restaurant I work at, we have an entire plant based section of our menu (& its not small) that has great popularity, for example.
My theory is that looming environmental ruin from climate change & the release of Canada’s Food Guide last year, which emphasizes plant based protein sources, is driving this shift. Visit the Health Canada website to check out the (underused/underappreciated) interactive tool or contact me to learn more about the research behind it. I was in my final clinical internship placement when the guide was released & therefore was involved in a lot of discussion, criticism & practicality of implementation of the new guide, so I can really chat your ear off (but only if you want me to because not everyone thinks the food guide is the coolest thing ever).
The line between these two subgroups of herbivores has started to blur. Plant based or vegan, whichever you identify with, is cool with me. I tried out veganism for about three weeks one time in my second year of university before accidentally buying a jar of curry sauce with milk in it & fully gave up after that. I gave up because it was so much work to read the label of absolutely everything I put in my shopping cart, not to mention so much money to buy vegan products!
I couldn’t stand the idea that I was never going to have a smoked salmon bagel ever again (naturally that’s all I thought about because diets make you fixate on cravings, & I was still in the diet mentality at this time), so it was easier to just give up. I went back to eating as I normally would have, said being vegan is hard & a lot of work & that was that. However, as I moved through my degree, my cooking, budgeting & critical thinking skills improved. I found myself eating accidentally vegan for weeks on end. This happened because I cooked using the ingredients I had in my fridge, which were unintentionally plant based items, that I bought because they were nutritious & yummy. I read the labels now for other info. I like to make my own curry sauces, but if a product I’m buying is made with chicken vs. vegetable broth, am I still gonna buy it? As long as its low sodium, you bet I am.
To me, plant forward & accidentally vegan can be used interchangeably. There is no need to throw out your jar of mayo to replace it with a vegannaise, no need to swear off red meat or poultry forever, or give up a nice fillet of Atlantic salmon when following a plant forward lifestyle. No need to give up your full fat dairy lattes (personal staple) if that’s what you so choose. The bottom line is to add more plants, as many as you can, in innovative ways (that taste delicious) to maximize the ability for your body to extract nutrients from food as they move through your system.
The more nutrients you put in from plants, the more variety you are introducing to your diet, the better chance you have of getting full use/maximum absorption of them. Variety is so important because of different chemical breakdown of foods, different metabolic & digestive processes, different bioavailability of nutrients & different combinations of all of these reasons to maximize your chance of being nourished. Again, this is in theory, because in reality there are unexplained factors as well as unique & uncontrollable barriers to absorption each individual will face.
As with any diet that eliminates entire food groups, risk of inadequacy, malnutrition & restrictive behaviours is a concern for veganism/plant based lifestyles. If you are a vegan or vegetarian, I encourage you to seek guidance from an RD (doesn’t have to be me!) to ensure balance & optimal nutrition. In reference to the discussion around supplements, there are absolutely situations that supplements are necessary, however would not be my preferred method to achieve optimal nutrition, personally or with clients. Food first!!! Get your greens in by eating more green plants.
So here I am to help you get more plants in your diet without even realizing how many more plants you’re eating. Keep your eyes peeled on my Instagram & recipe pages for some great plant based & plant forward ideas.
For the love of carbs,
Emily Paige