Why Your Body Loves Plants
Over the past decade, plant-based diets have risen in popularity due to the research pointing to it's BIG benefits on the body, your health and our environment.
Eating more fruits, veggies, seeds and grains help your body in a ton of different ways:
1. Maintain good cellular health (ie. help fight disease like certain cancers) & reduce your risk of heart
2. Support organ function and toxin elimination
3. Reducing inflammation in the body
4. Gut Health: getting a higher level of fibre in your diet promotes a healthy gut, which is essential for both physical and mental health
5. A healthy plant-based diet packed with veggies, fruits and protein boosts both your immunity and energy
6. Help you maintain a healthy body weight
7.Skin Glow
Diets that are heavy in plant foods have been used for centuries by ancient roman gladiators, professional athletes, and even bodybuilders starting in the 80s.The Netflix show The Game Changers is great watch if you're curious. Below are tips for upping the plant game in your diet and a few delicious recipes that re-create traditional meat-heavy faves.
It's Not All or Nothing
A plant-based diet may seem daunting, but if you focus on steps and progress not all or nothing. Going 100% plant-based isn't right for everyone. A great way to start is aiming for a ratio of 75/25:
Make 75% of your meals plant-based / 25% that have a mix of other foods like meat, dairy and seafood proteins. For example:
Breakfast: your Blended Smoothie
Snack: Greek Yogurt with Granola
Lunch: Veggie Bowl, Blended Soup or Salad with plant-based proteins (chickpeas, lentils, tofu). If you're adding meat or seafood proteins, keep it to smaller 2 to 3 oz portions.
Snack: Hummus and Veggies or your Blended Chia Bowl
Dinner: Roasted Salmon with Quinoa & Roasted Root Veggies.
Know Your Plant-Based Proteins
There's no shortage of plant-based proteins out there.....
Beans and legumes: Per 1/2 cup, chickpeas have 19 grams of protein and lentils have 9 grams.
Soy: Tofu (11g/serving), fortified soymilk (8g/serving), and edamame beans (9g/serving)
Tofu Tip: cut your tofu block into 4ths and freeze them in a container overnight. When the tofu is thawed it becomes more spongy and porous and can easily soak up a marinade or dressing.
Seeds: per 3 Tbsp, hemp seeds have 10g of protein, Chia seeds 6g of protein and flax seeds 6 grams.
Vitamin & Mineral Check
Whichever diet is best for you, making sure you're getting enough of each essential nutrient is important. Here are some flags for the plant-focused:
Vitamin B12: vital for nearly every organ in the body and blood flow circulation. B12 levels is something plant and meat-eaters should all watch out for.
Iron: a mineral that is essential to help the body carry oxygen from the lungs to other parts if the body. Women need 8-18mg of iron per day while men only need 8-11g per day. For max absorption combine iron rich foods with Vitamin C.
Vitamin D: crucial for maintaining healthy bones and teeth, and also a key player in mental health. Though Vitamin D can be soaked up from a 10 minute sun bath, mushrooms also contain a fair amount. 4.9 IU per 1 cup of mushrooms. A daily supplement is needed by most, especially in darker seasons.
Omegas: healthy fats that help in the fight against heart disease and support mental health.
The Omega-3 daily recommendation is 250-500mg/ day, 28g of chia seeds contains 4915mg of omega-3.
The Omega-6 daily recommendation is 12-17g, 3.5 ounces of walnuts contains 38 grams.
Plan Your Meal Prep
When you're learning a new way of eating, planning is essential to ensure that you are incorporating enough protein, minerals, vitamins, and calories to keep you satiated.
Making veggies and plant proteins the star of your meal is the go-to rule for more Vegan/Vegetarian eating. Here are a couple of veg-for-meat swap recipes we love:
Pulled BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich
Lentil Walnut Tacos
Check out our top blends for supporting a plant-based diet.
While all of our blends are 100% plant-based, some have more of the essential nutrients noted above than others.
Here are our top picks, all 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 more.
BLENDED FOR VEGAN DIETS
If you're interested in plant-based recipes, please email us.
