Starters Guide To Transitioning To ‘Plant Only’ (Vegan)
Have you watched GAME CHANGERS? 💪🏼 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSpglxHTJVM
Are you ready to make the next step to a cruelty free lifestyle, but have no idea how to get the correct nutrients and what to make?🤦🏽♂️
Ok firstly…thank you! Thank you for committing to your own health. The planet and most importantly the beautiful animals that will no longer have to be raised and killed for your taste buds…
If you are on the edge and just starting here are some tips:
Dietary Transition Step by Step To A ‘Whole Food Plant Only Diet’ list:
- Remove all dairy products
- Remove all animal protein
- Remove eggs
- Remove all gluten-containing products
- Remove all acidic grains and processed foods
- Eat mostly RAW whole living fruits and vegetables as your foundation
When you have left the dairy, you are ready to let go of everything that comes from the animal kingdom. You are ready to eat a vegan plant only diet. This is very important for anyone who wants to get well or live well. The animal proteins are detrimental to our kidney health, and that also means the whole body’s health.
But what about your taste buds?! Does a life of plants only mean boring and tasteless?
NOPE❗️
Here are some swaps. First get to all plants using the steps above as a foundation….then clean up with real whole foods that haven’t been processed or high in fats and salts. Health Seekers this is for those moving from an animal products diet to plants only. If you are already on plants then the next step is whole foods mucus free foods only! No processed vegan junk which is not helpful to the planet 🌍 but obviously not as bad as the meat/egg/dairy industries so can be used to help you transition….
SWAP….. TO…..
MEAT – grilled portobello seasoned mushrooms/pulled king brown mushrooms sautéed in spices/jackfruit marinated/tempeh/tofu
SAUSAGES – vegan gluten free sausages
BACON – grilled and seasoned eggplant/coconut flesh seasoned and grilled or pan fried/coconut fakin bacon chips
MILK – hemp/almond/organic soy/macadamia/coconut/rice/oat/pumpkin/sunflower milk
YOGURT – available from coconut/almond/soy made into yoghurt soft or hard set with flavours or plain
CHEESE – available from almond/soy/coconut/macadamia/cashew made into Brie, Fetta, Gouda, Mozzarella, Cheddar, Cheese Squares/Strings, Blue Vain, Ash, Soft Spread
BUTTER – macadamia butter, avocado, nut/seed butter, cashew spread (replace nut butters for cow butter in baking or use apple sauce or a banana)
EGGS – chia seed egg (1tbs – 3 tbs water = 1 egg) apple sauce/egg replacer….nothing cannot be baked vegan!
CHOCOLATE – fair trade dark or coconut/almond/soymilk chocolate/carob
ICE CREAM – available from almond/soy/coconut/macadamia/rice milk made to ice cream or sorbet or gelato
PIZZA – vegan cheese topping or ask the restaurant to leave the cheese off
PESTO – leave the Parmesan out instead use nutritional yeast or without
CHEESE SAUCE – steamed white potato and carrots blended with nutritional yeast and turmeric
BOLOGNESE – just veggies or use crumbled hard tofu. Vegan cheese or grated macadamia nuts for Parmesan replacement
TACOS – walnut mince/tofu mince/ diced mushroom meat
BURGERS – chickpeas/quinoa/grated veggies/vegan burgers/falafel/jackfruit/portabella mushrooms
ROAST DINNERS – roast veggies, vegan gravy, vegan sausages, vegan Yorkshire puddings…vegan cheesy sauce!
FISH – walnut fake tuna (2 tbs tahini, lemon juice, 1 cup sunflower seeds finely chopped, 1 red pepper,1 sticks celery, parsley and dill to a taste chopped finely and mixed) or jack fruit, coconut amino fish sauce
JELLIES/GUMMIES/SWEETS – vegan sweets, jellies and vegan gummies/jelly beans and confectioners sweets are all available
BONE BROTH – celery juice on an empty stomach (does the same job without the cruelty)
FISH OIL – Algae oil/hemp seeds/DDR Prime/CBD/Frankincense
So that’s the taste buds sorted what about the nutrition side of things?
What About The Protein, Calcium, Mineral And Nutrients…?
Well we actually get more than our daily needs just from fruits and vegetables and greens and do not need to load up on hard to digest beans and legumes to hit our daily need of amino acids or essential fatty acids.
In fact …
The current daily value (%DV) for protein is 50 grams per day and is meant as a general goal for most people. 1 cup of fruit can provide between 1-10% of the DV for protein. High protein fruits include guavas, avocados, apricots, kiwifruit, blackberries, oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, raspberries, and peaches.
I have mocked up a rough daily guide of eating using Cron – O -Meter App of a fresh vegan balanced diet and it hits the daily quota in Fats, Protein, Carbohydrates and Minerals… bar Vitamin E (which you could add a few kiwis or sunflower seeds to make it up )… and Vitamin D (which you get from sunshine or can supplement if you live in a dark cold place) And if I was making the smoothie and salad (this was a choice of shop brought salads on the Cron – O -Meter App) I’d add herbs, more greens and green powders to bump up all of the minerals and amino acids too.
You can see that very little “protein” needed from beans/tofu/vegan burgers/seeds and nuts. Our daily needs are hit easily from fruits, greens and vegetables. I have used chickpeas here as many of you will need to feel like you are eating enough “protein” …but it’s not needed. In fact you only need 10% protein per day from seeds, sprouts, greens or legumes and 10% fats from say, avocado or hemp seeds and 80% of your nutrition from carbohydrates… like fruits and vegetables. If you took those chickpeas out and sprinkled seeds, you’d hit it. Or used more greens and herbs you’d hit it. Or for those raw and high fruits low fats…you’d be eating larger portions of fruits and hit it easily, but your fats would be lower which is ideal for detoxification.
So, An Example Day…👇🏼
Morning:
7.30 – Large Green Juice
8.00 – Watermelon 1/4-1/2
8.30 – Green Smoothie
Mid Morning:
10.30 – 6 dates
Lunch:
12.30 – large chickpea and pumpkin salad with cucumber and tomatoes lemon juice dressing
Afternoon Snack:
3.00 – 2 tsp tahini with celery sticks
2 apples
Dinner:
6.00 – Coz lettuce to dip into
large vegetable soup
After Dinner:
7.00 – 4 Brazil Nuts and 2 squares dark chocolate
Obviously the more processed and high fats and high complex carbs like bread, cakes, pasta and processed grains you consume the higher the fats and protein you will consume, taking your daily nutritional needs out of balance. You must make sure you are eaten enough moving to plants only as they move through the system faster and cleanse the body, so things will shift. This will settle as time goes on.
High protein and high fats are the cause of many sickness and disease and causes acidosis, so protein should be kept low as should fats and from whole foods sources like avocado and seeds like processed fats.
How Do You Get Enough Protein…?
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and a long chain. Protein must be broken down to an amino acid to be utilised and digested. So, we are cutting out the middle cow and just eating plants!
For those who say we don’t absorb nutrients from plants as well as flesh….how does a gorilla 🦍 get so strong? Or a horse 🐎 or a giraffe 🦒 ⁉️
Nine essential amino acids are needed for muscle growth so a variety of fruits and greens are best. There are 22 amino acids that exist, nine are essential and 11 are non-essential. These are what we need the most threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine. The distinction between essential and non-essential amino acids is somewhat cloudy, as some amino acids can be produced from others, it can get a little confusing and I am not a scientist hahah. Our bodies are designed to break down these macro and micro nutrients, when we consumed processed altered versions of natures foods i.e. concentrated, dense amounts of proteins, sugars or oils or salts the body reads these as toxins and store them to be eliminated. If they are coming in faster than can be expelled, we cause acidic build up, which creates pathogens and thus disease.
Some Plants High In The 9 Essential Amino Acids I’d suggest Are:
Seaweeds, Pumpkin, Peas, Sesame seeds, Watercress, Turnip greens, Sunflower seeds, Figs, Avocados, Raisins, Dates, Apples, Oranges, Grapefruit, Açai, Blueberries, Olives, Bananas, Leafy greens, Hemp seeds, Chia seeds, Cranberries, Quinoa, Kiwis, Parsley, Coriander, Avocados, Sprouts, Sprouted Chickpeas, Brazil nuts, Barley grass, Spirulina, Celery, Cauliflower, Cantaloupe, Teff, Quinoa, Sprouted Buckwheat, Flaxseeds, Papaya, Apricots (fresh and dried), Strawberries, Cucumbers, Coz lettuce…
But All fruits and vegetables and plants have some level of amino acids to build strong bodies accept Lychees…oddly.
When we eat a variety of fruits, greens and vegetables we are getting ALL WE NEED!
Nothing puts a toll on the kidneys, like having to break down those animal proteins;
Look at a full animal protein as a brick wall. It is a finished product, so to speak. It is made out of bricks, which are the amino acids in our body. They are the building blocks which are found in all fruits and vegetables, in all living plant foods…that that animal has eaten plants to make the protein. So, our body needs those amino acids/building blocks to build its own protein, to make muscle and tissue…not the finished protein.
When we eat that animal protein, the body first has to tear it apart, using a lot of energy. Then it has to get rid of the waste, the mortar.
This is where the kidneys come in, as they have to get rid of and get weakened with all that metabolic waste. High plant protein from too much nuts/tofu/legumes/beans will also strain the kidneys, so again we do not need to go over boards with nuts, seeds, legumes and beans when moving to a plant only diet. Less is more!!
Very simply put, all proteins that we ingest are a burden to our
kidneys, but nothing slams them as a steak or roast chicken does. So be aware. If you are hurting, or in any form of pain or inflammation, stop eating animals this very minute, and feel the difference. But you have made that choice now well done! So let’s move on…
We do not use complete proteins, we need only their parts to build our own unique proteins, thousands of them. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein as I said.
Proteins are harder for the body to use for energy in fact they drain energy robbing you of health…. your organism will burn proteins only when its preferred energy sources are not available (carbohydrates and fats i.e. whole food plants).
Our body gets all but 1/6 of the protein it needs from recycling old body tissue, especially when we fast or go in to ketosis which is why short term the Keto diets give results….but living in ketosis stresses the body long-term as it is not addressing the root cause. This 1/6 must come from essential amino acids we eat.
Some Protein Rich Plant Foods Are: (which is easily available for the cells to use for energy)
- spinach 49% calories from protein
- kale 45% calories from protein
- broccoli 45% calories from protein
- cauliflower 24% calories from protein
- green paper 22% calories from protein
- parsley 34% calories from protein
- cucumber 22% calories from protein
- lettuce 29% (let that sink in!) calories from protein
- cabbage 25% calories from protein
- tomatoes 18% calories from protein
- apricots 12% calories from protein
- peaches 9% calories from protein
- sunflower seeds 14% calories from protein
- watermelon 9% calories from protein
EAT YOUR GREENS AND GET YOUR KIDS TO EAT THIER GREENS DAILY!
- hemp seeds contain 22% calories from protein
- sprouts 44% calories from protein, an excellent source of protein and B12 so perfect vegan food especially Alfalfa
Yes you can get protein from fruit!
Let’s Compare That To Animal Products: (which is less bioavailable for the body to use as energy and is toxic and acidic)
- beef 25.8% calories from protein.
- chicken 23% calories from protein.
- eggs 12% calories from protein.
What About Getting B12…?
It’s a popular belief that if you are vegan you are automatically B12 deficient…but in fact a large amount of the globe is B12 defiant even if they eat red meat. And most are in need of a B12 supplement due to our clean lifestyle and lack of organic garden grown vegetables and lacking mineral rich soils. I recommend all my clients to research and find a good source to start taking as a minimum when we work on gut health. B12 is essential for the body and plays a part in gut health and healing, calming your nervous system, with weight loss, adrenal support, hormone balancing and thyroid function to mention a few.
The best bioavailable form of B12 is from soil, river water, unwashed raw organic vegetables, especially freshly picked un waxed organic apples, sprouts, dates, bananas and micro herbs and through a high quality ‘Adenosylcobal-Amin-methylcobelamin’ blend taken sub lingually. Found from a good naturopath or health food stores.
B12 plays an important part in the healing of Autism and recovery of the brain as it will help to calm the brain and support the body in its detoxification process.
When do you know if your deficient? 🌱a lack of B12 will result in fewer red blood cells. Exhaustion, anxiety, pale skin, sleep issues, a red tongue. In severe cases the nervous system diseases and symptoms occur includes a “pins and needles” sensation in the hands and or feet (which happened to me) as well as poor balance and mental depression (this can be severe or mild). You can almost guarantee an autistic child to be deficient. Testing can be done through your Doctor then take your results to a good naturopath.
Increasing your B12 now will help with protein absorption rather than eating more protein, which we now know is a myth!
We get B12 from the bacteria in the soils from eating organic plants. Did you know 95% of oxalates came from funguses and only 5% from plants…..it’s not always about what you put in, but how your body utilises and absorbs what you put in…and that is due to how strong your organs and glands are and how clean your body is! So much of Nutrition is based off isolated science or studies done not looking at the whole picture. Yes, we need X but taking it in pill form without addressing why we don’t have it to start with is not holistic health care. So once your gut is healthy and you are on an abundance of fruits and vegetables especially seaweed, which gives you your daily B12 needs…you may not need a B12 supplement. Till then best to take one.
What About Calcium For The Bones and Teeth…?
Eating meat and dairy floods the body with protein waste products. The kidneys then need to eliminate these acidic wastes, requiring calcium as a buffer in the process, leeching calcium from the bones. Calcium is continually lost in the urinary waste and may result in osteoporosis or bone loss. It has been showed now that people who consume dairy in large daily amounts over their lifetime tend to have osteoporosis. Contrary what we are taught!
Vegetable protein is much more easily absorbed (Bioavailable) into the bloodstream without the loss of calcium from eating animal.
Often, we seem to be low or high in calcium when in fact it is due to heavy metals that calcium gets drawn out of the bones and teeth and floats around the blood not being able to be utilised so is urinated out. This means it is present but cannot be used properly. This condition causes symptoms of both deficiency and excess at the same time because there can be a deficiency of available calcium, and an excess of bio-unavailable calcium at the same time. I do not suggest calcium supplements. The body does not cope well with large amount of nutrients not in a whole foods form being dumped into the body… so doesn’t utilise it and excretes most out effecting the bodies own balance to utilise more or produce more. K2 plays an important role with calcium too for healthy teethe and bones, as it acts like a public transportation system for calcium. You consume calcium through food like the rich foods I’ve mentioned above. Then vitamin K2 takes the calcium to where it needs to go. Without vitamin K2, calcium can end up hardening in your arteries as plaque, and deposits in the joints, arteries, kidneys, brain and elsewhere. K2 rich foods are greens, herbs, sprouts, asparagus, berries , grapes and prunes.
Vitamin D from the sun, the body easily absorbs vitamin D with just 15 minutes of exposure to sunshine per day… triggers ergosterol, which is transformed into vitamin D, which helps us absorb calcium from the foods we consume directly into our bloodstream. This will help take the pressure of the body from excuse protein until you can transition to a low fat high carb raw vegan lifestyle.
What About Getting Enough Minerals…?
When the gut is healed, and the glands and organs are strong and function optimally the glands can produce the correct balance of hormones to assimilate and absorb minerals and nutrients and utilise enzymes in foods and create enzymes. If this doesn’t happen, we become deficient. Adding in supplements alone without addressing why the organs and glands are not thriving is a temporary symptom-based solution. When we address the cause and use natural plants to re mineralise and we deal with supporting the glands and organs…. we address the roots not just the leaves of the tree. Certain foods like meat and eggs, alcohol, drugs, vaccines, sugar, over cooked foods and dairy remove minerals from the body or stop the body absorbing minerals. This must be addressed before we use supplements. No matter how much amazing food we put in….if the body isn’t functioning or it is overburdened we will not be thriving in Homeostasis.
Some High Mineral Rich Foods I Suggest Are:
Figs, Sea Moss, Bladderweck, Mesquite Powder, Pine Pollen, Shizandra Berry, Baobab Powder, Maca Powder, Barley Grass, E3, Alfalfia, Camu Camu, Ashwagandha, Dates, Apricots, Goji berries, Wild blueberries, Celery juice, Hemp seeds, Papaya and seeds, Mulberries, Coz lettuce- organic, Aloe Vera, Manuka Honey, Carob, Berries, Sprouts.
What About Omega 3 Fatty Acids For The Brain…?
Whole food fats are essential for the brain and cellular health and growing kids. Just like protein there is myth on how much we need. 10% is enough for adults!! 20% for toddlers and 30% for babies. Often most raw vegan diets or standard diets and especially meat and dairy based diets are high in the 40-60% fats!! We must keep them whole and low…processed plant oils are separated form the fibre and thus coat the intestines stopping nutrients being absorbed. Oils pull minerals from the body and use so much energy to digest them. Often these oils are imbalanced with too much omega 6 and 9 which is not needed and when too high inflammation occurs. Processed oils stop any nutrients they are coating being absorbed…i.e. the salad or burger etc. Oils putrefy and feed candida and parasites especially when mixed with fast digesting fruits or vegetables. This build up of undigested foods create an acidic environment for parasites to grow and fungus and moulds to grow out of balance (Candidia). This in turn weakened the junctures of the gut creating leaky gut. The only non plant food that can help that is an “incomplete” protein, is gelatine. Which is why Bone Broth diets work at first, but then when you introduce other foods the food combinations spike yeasts again and imbalance the body….this is a bandied effect supressing the symptoms. Using high proteins stimulates adrenaline and weakens the adrenal glands… as we are not designed to keep cortisol/adrenaline in the blood for prolonged periods. PLUS We don’t want to kill an animal just for this….so we can use pure organic straight celery juice, a variety of sprouts and greens and high fruits and vegetables to heal the gut and balance the body instead. Removing ALL oils from the diet even coconut oil or olive oil and using only whole food fats like avocado, olives or hemp seeds or flax seeds will feed your brain with healthy omega 3 fatty acids without feeding the bad bacteria and yeasts or causing leaky gut is a step to work towards once you are 100% plant based.
Whole Foods High In Omega 3 Fatty Acids I Suggest Are:
Avocado, Jackfruit, Duran, Hemp seeds, Dandelion Root, Flax seeds, Young Coconut, Brazil nuts (activated and germinated ) Seaweed, Figs, Dates, Alfalfa, Greens, Sunflowers seeds (activated and germinated ) Pumpkin seeds (activated and germinated ), Watermelon seeds, Papaya, Dates.
So now you are aware that a plant only diet gives you EVERYTHING YOU NEED!! And how easy it is to hit your daily quota without needing large amounts of legumes, beans, rice and nuts and seeds…just with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and some seeds etc…
Protein…Amino Acids!! Calcium, Minerals, Fats, Carbohydrates are main source of fuel…
So you can start to feel like you are thriving on plant powered!!
Kids need 20% fats 10% protein 70% Carbohydrates. Babies up to 30% fats…remember form whole foods!!
Please share this with those starting this lifestyle or those you wish to inspire to make this change.
Please note this is a guide based on my experience and education. Please listen to your own body and observe for yourself 🍃
Hannah Miles – Leading the Movement for ‘Detoxing & Natural Living’ for Families Touched by Health Conditions & Behavioural Challenges ✨