What are you eating?

I have followed a plant-based diet for over 30 years and don’t feel in any way my health has been impeded by the choice to avoid animal products if anything I have only benefited from removing these products from my diet.

However not everyone feels this way. I am unsure of when our dietary choices got so complicated; was it in the 1970’s when supermarkets came about, and our food choices moved from the farmers plot to pre-packaged for ‘so called’ convenience. But did this convenient food come at a cost?

When you scan a supermarket isle; some of the so-called food is a little questionable and why are so many foods now fortified with vitamins and minerals? What has been taken out that we need to put so much goodness back in? Or what are we not eating that all foods now need to have added goodness added to them? Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Simply Eat

The basis of a ‘healthy’ plant-based diet is all in the name, Plants. Simple food. Food grown with integrity and eaten seasonally for the highest nutritional value. Food for health more than it is about ethics (but this does play a role in food awareness and environmental wellness).

If you are not eating animal products (the food type where apparently you get all the nutrients, you need) what plant-based foods should you be eating?

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Legumes
• Root vegetables
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Wholegrains
• Pseudograins

No artificial preservatives or flavours and certainly no added colours (or sugars to get your taste buds excited about the next bite).

The Inconvenient Diet

Foods in season; foods sourced locally and foods with a short expiry date; yep, foods that are basically predominantly fresh like fruit and vegetables. Food that requires more attention than a microwave meal and foods that taste well like food.

It can be difficult being a plant-based vegan; its time consuming, the food takes up a lot of room in the fridge, but the benefits outweigh some of these so-called negatives. Nothing is more inconvenient than buying a large bunch of spinach and then on return home having to do something with it other than watch it wilt away over a short period only to end up in the compost bin or even worse, the garbage bin.

From the Ground up

To be a no meat athlete who adopts a plant-based diet you need to take responsibility for your meals; actually, anyone and everyone needs to take responsibility for their meals; sourcing, preparing, and cooking is not a chore it’s an investment in your health, your future, and your current energy levels.

When you think about how your source your energy and how you consume it how do you feel about your response? Food is a journey; you are constantly navigating your way through the different trends and flavours but ultimately the reoccurring theme throughout all of this is plants. And plenty of them.

The foundations of your lifestyle diet are somewhat simple really; eat mostly plants, choose wholegrains over refined and consume foods with little to no ingredients, preservatives, flavours, and colours.

We may not always get our food choices right but that’s what balance is all about isn’t it?