Wellness Wednesday: Going More Plant-Based

Posted by Deanna Embury · January 27, 2020

Plant-Focused Eating: Not An All-or-Nothing Game

If your health goals include cleaning up your diet & eating more plant-based foods, but the idea of going vegan is just not your game, this post is for you. We're giving you some quick starter tips and breaking down the different less-meat-more-veggie diets.

Any of these tips are great 'rules of thumb' to follow when transitioning to a less-meat diet:

The 80% rule: No more than 20% of your diet comes from animals sources (including byproducts - dairy etc).
Max one-meal-a-day: No more than one meal a day includes meat or animal source products.
Reduce portions: Keep meat servings to 3oz or less.
Make it delicious: There are some incredible vegan & vegetarian cookbooks - try out a few new dishes every week.
Switch it Up: Start swapping regular dairy with nut cheeses and milks (oh hey, oat mylk lattes!).

Pro tip: vegan doesn't always mean healthy - watch out for fried and highly processed 'substitute' foods that can be packed with sodium, sugar and artificial ingredients.

Breaking Down More-Veg Diets

Unsure (or totally confused) about all the different vegetarian diets? Here's a quick breakdown:

Lacto Vegetarian – a vegetarian diet in which you eat dairy products but not eggs
Ovo Vegetarian – a vegetarian diet in which you eat eggs but not dairy products
Flexitarian – a mostly vegetarian diet, but you occasionally eat meat
Pescatarian – a vegetarian diet with the exception of fish/seafood
Vegetarian (Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian) – a vegetarian diet in which you eat dairy products and eggs
Vegan* – a vegetarian diet in which you do not eat any type of animal products or byproducts of animals.
Raw Vegan* – a vegan diet that consists of only plant-based foods that are unprocessed and have not been heated above 115F/46C
Macrobiotic* – a pescatarian diet that primarily focuses on consuming organic whole grains, vegetables, and beans

*if making a change to a primarily vegan diet, it's recommended that you monitor your Vitamin B12, Omega-3, Zinc, Calcium, and Iron levels & ensure you are getting enough plant-based proteins.

Enviro-Bonus: animal farming & manufacturing, along with food waste, have a significant (negative) impact on our environment. Cutting your meat and dairy consumption is not only good for your health but for the planet's too.

Smoothies that Support a Vegan Diet While all Blended smoothies are vegan, we've developed several blends that provide the extra nutrition support ideal for vegan diets. Our goal is to help you eat the right foods, in the right combinations, for both essential nutrient intake and absorption.

Here are our top picks for one-a-day plant-based diet support. All are packed with 14-20 grams of protein*, 60%-90% of your Iron RDI, and very high in the following: Vitamins A, B12, C, K, Folate, Magnesium, Manganese, Calcium and tons of other good-for-you vitamins & minerals.

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