Real Food Stories
The question of "what to eat" can feel endlessly confusing, especially when we contend with our own deeply ingrained beliefs and stories around food. Blame social media, the headline news, and let's not get started on family influences. Passed down from generations of women and men to their daughters, it's no wonder women are so baffled about how to stay healthy the older we get.
As a nutritionist and healthy eating chef, combined with her own personal and professional experience, Heather Carey has been connected to years of stories related to diets, weight loss, food fads, staying healthy, cooking well, and eating well. Beliefs around food start the day we try our first vegetables as babies and get solidified through our families, cultures, and messages we receive throughout our lifetime.
We have the power to call out our food beliefs so we can finally make peace with what we eat and get on with enjoying the real food and lives we deserve. Listen in to find out how to have your own happy ending to your real food story. Connect with Heather at heather@heathercarey.com or visit her website at www.heathercarey.com or www.greenpalettekitchen.com
Real Food Stories
124. How a Plant-Forward Diet Changed Everything for Alisia Essig
What would you do if your 37-year-old husband had a stroke out of the blue—while raising six kids, including twin babies? That’s the moment Allie’s world turned upside down and became the start of a total shift in how her family approached food, health, and healing.
Frustrated by vague advice like “eat a heart-healthy diet,” Allie dove into the research and discovered the power of a plant-centered plate—especially the role of fiber and accessible plant-based proteins in reducing inflammation and supporting her husbands recovery. Now, as a plant-based nutritionist Alisia shares how her husband’s health dramatically improved, what actually worked in her busy kitchen, and why perfection isn’t the goal—progress is.
Whether you're curious about plant-based eating for energy, heart health, or longevity, this episode is full of simple, doable inspiration. Be sure to give it a listen!
Grab Alisia's FREE one week plant based meal guide HERE
Find Alisia on You Tube HERE
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Hello everybody and welcome back to the Real Food Stories podcast. Today we are talking all about plant-based eating. Founder of PlantWise and the creator of plant-based courses and coaching. As a mother of six children, allie found herself rushing to the emergency room with her then 37-year-old husband, who had suffered a stroke. After multiple tests, doctors found no clear answers and encouraged their family to eat a heart-healthy diet by avoiding saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol and to eat more fiber. Allie dived deep into the research and found that eating a plant-based diet would not only decrease her husband's risk of stroke, but also decrease all types of chronic disease. She now combines her almost two decades of experience with a proven plant-based formula. So, hi, ali, welcome to the show. I'm really excited to dive into plant-based eating because this is my thing too, and definitely in my wheelhouse, and I know a lot of people change their lifestyle because of a significant health issue, and your story is definitely something I want to hear more about. So talk to me more about your husband and what exactly happened, right?
Speaker 2:I know it's it's. It's crazy, it's something that you would never I never even saw myself even doing what I'm doing now and I wouldn't have gone and been doing what I'm doing without this experience. But we have six children, we live in Washington DC and when I was pregnant with my last two kids they were twins my husband gained the twin baby weight, just like I did. You know we'd we'd gain the weight and and we were eating, I would say, a healthy version of, like the standard American diet. I wasn't, you know, we weren't going out to eat that much. And I will say, with when you're pregnant, like it's just whatever, you just you're surviving, especially with twins. You're just surviving.
Speaker 1:I understand that I have twins too, and I know that very well that you're just in survival mode, so I get that.
Speaker 2:So, true, there was a lot of. There was a lot of cheese, there was a lot of, just like easy, simple, but it's still like more homemade. I wasn't eating a lot of processed foods, let's put it that way, and afterwards, um, except for maybe, like the ice cream at night. But after, uh, we were trying to lose the weight and I did what most people do, and they find some program online, and this program, it was a great one. I think it actually helped prepare me for the next step in my life. But this program was macro-based. It was high protein. You're trying to get a certain amount of protein grams every single day and a certain amount of fat and just kind of keep it around that realm. They gave us recipes. It was great, and here's the thing it was working. We were both losing weight, and I think this is important to understand that, yes, it is true that anytime you lose weight, you're always going to be healthier, but we want to find a way where you're losing weight and reducing your risk of chronic disease, and sometimes those two don't always go hand in hand. And so I think it was great. We were feeling good. Everything was going great until October 1st 2019.
Speaker 2:I got that phone call and that phone call was from his coworkers that they said something was wrong with my husband. They weren't sure what was going on. They sent him to the ER and they just said you should probably rush over there and meet him there. So I had no idea what to expect. They said something was going on with his vision. So I'm thinking like what the heck? Like what is this? And when I ran to, luckily my neighbor came was watching my kids, you know and then I was able to run into the ER. I remember opening the door, scanning the room, looking for my husband. I see him in a wheelchair. He slumped over and my 37-year-old husband looked like he was 80. It was crazy just how he looked and his face was slightly drooping, and especially his eye. And my heart knew immediately like whoa, he looks like he's having a stroke. But what my heart knew immediately, it took the doctor's hours and tons of tests to find out and we kept asking all the time is this because of stress? I mean, he's an attorney, we live in Washington DC, we have six kids. We just had twin babies. There's a lot going on. The babies were like eight months old at that time and I'll never forget what the doctor said. He said this is not because of stress, there is something deeper going on here.
Speaker 2:And they concluded the same thing that we had, and that was that it was a true stroke, that it was impacting his vision. We thought that, miraculously, his vision would just come back overnight. And never did his. His face did improve like this, the slooping, this, whatever you know, like how his side of his face is going down. That did get a little better. But even to this day you can still see, you know, like one eyebrows down a little bit more than the other. It's not very obvious, which is great, but the vision didn't come back. It took a while.
Speaker 2:And so in the hospital we were, we ran a ton of tests. It was like was it genetic history? Is there a hole in his heart Cause? That's really common cause of stroke for people his age Uh, was there a heart arrhythmia, like what could be going on? And every single test came back negative. So we're sitting here like, okay, well, what do we do? And they said well, because you've had one stroke, you're highly likely to probably have another one in the future. So it's really important for you to follow a heart healthy diet.
Speaker 2:And the most frustrating thing was that in the hospital, like, this is a heart healthy diet avoid trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, eat more fiber, avoid alcohol. I'm like great, what do I make for dinner? Like what the heck is this? You know what? What foods are found Like? Why can't you just tell me these are the foods you should avoid? They have to specify saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol. And I had to then myself go and do the research and there was a lot of mistrust. I'm like, but I've heard this and I'm not sure if that's correct, because people are saying that this isn't true and maybe the low fat diet trend actually isn't right. So wait, but I'm supposed to. It's so confusing. It's so confusing and I think that's where we went home and because it had just been my husband's stroke, it probably would not have turned out the way it did.
Speaker 2:But when you add on to the fact that my husband's going through this, and a couple of years before that, my father actually had a heart attack and he was just 55. And when he had his heart attack he didn't get a second chance. There was no okay, you had a heart attack. Now you need to follow heart healthy diet. He was gone, he passed away. There was no warning, and so, and and and on top of that, my grandma, her husband, also passed away from you know similar, similar situation.
Speaker 2:And so I was looking at this like I don't want to be like my grandma, I don't want to be like my mom. I actually have a second chance. What's in my power, what can I do? Because I thought we were following a healthy diet, we were losing weight. So what is a diet that not only helps you have a healthy weight but also minimizes your risk of heart disease, your risk of stroke, your risk of other chronic diseases? And is there one? Is there a diet plan that, if you follow you get all of those benefits you know, not just weight loss?
Speaker 2:And it really really made me look at food in such a different perspective, because before then it was all about how do I eat to lose weight, how do I eat? And now it's like, ooh, how do I eat to, yes, have a healthy weight, but also live the longest life possible in the healthiest way possible? And what I found is that you have to center your meals around plants. You don't have to be perfectly vegan. You don't have to be perfectly vegetarian, you don't have to be but you have to center your meals around plants. And how do you do that? And that was the other question too. It's like, well, but again I was given no direction besides just avoid this, avoid this.
Speaker 2:But it's like how do you eat more fiber? How do you? Because the number one nutrient deficiency in America right now is fiber. It's fiber, and fiber only comes from plants, and so we clearly all need to be prioritizing plants. But how? How do you do that at breakfast? How do you do that at lunch? How do you do that dinner?
Speaker 2:And I found that it's just a super simple framework that every time you look down at your meal, it's like okay, do I have a fruit, do I have a vegetable, do I have a whole grain?
Speaker 2:Because, again, plants are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes. So am I consuming that in every single meal? And that really transformed not only our health. My husband kept losing weight. In fact, he lost even more weight without trying. After that, we finally not only lost the baby weight, but now, currently right now he's a healthier weight than when we got married, and he was never even overweight or obese, but it's just prioritizing those plants. It makes it so much easier. You don't have to count calories, but calories count, and so the best way to not have to count calories is to just eat less calorie dense foods, which are fruits and vegetables. And then his triglycerides went down, his cholesterol went down and, most importantly, after five months of eating more of a plant forward diet not perfect, not perfectly vegan, not perfect anyway but his vision came back, and so I'm like the proof is in the results, is in the fruit, right. And that for us was like okay, there's something here, and I wish more people knew about it or realized the power in these small and simple things.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a lot to unpack. I mean, a lot happened to you, you know. I mean just just starting from your husband being so young, I mean, that's you know, having a stroke in your thirties is not something that most people I think I imagine even doctors are not expecting most people. I think I imagine, even doctors are not expecting, you know, and and so that. So that alone must've been a real shock.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they were like yeah, you're, this is not something we see all the time, but it's happening more and more. That's the other thing they did say. While this is not very common, it is becoming more common than it ever has been before. Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not nutritionists right, is becoming more common than it ever has been before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not nutritionists, right? So they're going to give you medications, and that's what they're good at, and they're going to tell you, just stop eating saturated fat. But what does that mean? I mean, what does that mean and you have six kids at home? What does that mean when you want to make dinner and feed your entire family? And so it sounds like you had to really do a lot of your own research. And also you know that there was no real obvious reason why he had the stroke that you know you, so you could. There was, like that felt, I imagine, very out of your control. But the thing that is in all of our controls is what we put into our mouths every day. Right, we all have to eat, and, and we have total control over it, and that's great. I mean, that's very powerful. And so it sounds like you also then had a very powerful experience because so much improved with your husband.
Speaker 2:Right and, like I said, we're already improving. But it was more than just the weight loss. It was his cholesterol, it was his triglycerides. There's so much more that you want to be able to eat a diet that isn't just helping you lose weight, it's also lowering the cholesterol, and sometimes that does go hand in hand, like no question.
Speaker 1:Well, so many people go on diets to right.
Speaker 1:They're not thinking about their health, they're thinking about their weight loss Exactly, and I'm sure that the original diet that you went on sounded healthy I mean when you were on social media and all the influencers and macros and high protein, and I mean it's dizzying and you get caught up in beliefs that that's what we should be doing, but really it I, and I know this for a fact too it all comes back to plant-based eating. We have to eat plants, yes, and I think you know, like, talk to me a little bit about this, because I know, for a lot of women especially that I talk to, or just people in general, that I mean I'm going to take that back. Men too, I mean, when I even like my, my grown sons, if I I say like we're going to have tofu or something for dinner, they're like I mean, they're so plant based kind of averse. They need meat, you know, they need like Right, and I and I think that there is a lot of confusion over what plant based means.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:That that it's just eating lettuce and kale and and there's no protein in there and there's no like it's not filling and it's taste boring. Did you feel like that when you first started on this journey?
Speaker 2:Oh, 100%. I think I was terrified of tofu, like I was, I've heard. I believed all the things that everyone said, plus cooking it was it's a learning curve like to actually make it taste good. It definitely was a learning curve, that's for sure. And, and so I, but I did know this.
Speaker 2:I, with a lot of the research, is like, yes, you, protein is important, but right now we were looking at healing, I wasn't looking at building muscles. You know, and I and I the more research that I've done since then was like it doesn't matter the source of protein. If you're trying to build more muscle mass, you can get that from plant protein, and plants have all of the amino acids. We just need a variety of plants, and I think that that's something that that, yes, it is true what they say about protein. If you're looking to build muscle, it is important to consume more, but it doesn't have to be as high as we think it is the research on do we need to be consuming one gram of protein per pound of body weight? Is that factually correct? And the truth is, there is no difference, at least not statistically significant, between 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight lean, not your current, your lean body weight and one gram per pound. While that doesn't sound like a big deal 0.8 to one I mean that that little bit, instead of putting so much protein on your plate, you're missing out on the plants, you're missing out on the fiber. You're missing all these things. And even just eating a little bit less, not as high, and adding in that fiber, that's what's going to help prevent heart disease, prevent, you know, all of these other issues that could be happening. So we want to have balance of protein and fiber.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of talk about the protein and you can get it from plants. Uh, you do have to be more mindful and think about it. Uh, you know when you're consuming and you and, but at first we didn't, we didn't even worry about that. I was like I'm just going to swap out the meat for beans, because I know the longevity research shows that if you eat at least a cup of beans a day, it increases your lifespan by four years. And at that point I wanted my husband's vision back. I didn't care about his rippling muscles, you know, it's like let's just get you so you can see.
Speaker 2:And, and we added beans, so it was just the easiest way to like enter into this world is anytime I would be eating a chicken base meal, like, let's say, cashew chicken, a recipe that my family knows and loves. I would just swap out the chicken for chickpeas. That's it. Is it less than protein? Yes, but did it help get my husband's vision back? Yes, now I do think more about protein. But now I have figured out how to cook with tofu, how to cook with tempeh, how to use soy curls and TVP and all these things.
Speaker 2:But that's like plant-based eating. You know, level two, I think at the beginning, especially if you're on a healing journey, it's just important to get the plants in you. And then level two is like, okay, what type of? How can I mix up my protein? And if it's chicken or fish every once in a while, or eggs or nonfat Greek yogurt, that's okay. Like that's the beauty of it. You don't have to be vegan to see the results, as long as you're getting a variety of plants, as long as you're getting at least 30 different plants in your diet within a week. Like that's where they found that you're going to have the healthiest gut microbiome, that's where you're finding those benefits. So if you need to ease into it before you can really start to transition. And even if you stay at that level, that's going to be so much healthier than just focusing on a heck of a ton of protein, and especially animal protein, because you're putting yourself at risk of the number one killer in America, which is heart disease.
Speaker 1:So, okay, many questions. I want to go back a little bit, but let's talk about animal protein and the detriments of animal protein, because I know animal protein is a very quick source of all the amino acids, correct, right? And when we eat a piece of chicken, chicken breast, that has all the amino acids, and so it's a very good source of protein, not necessarily of other things. And when we eat plant-based proteins, we want to make sure that, like beans don't have all the amino acids. We want to combine them with, maybe a whole grain, right, and that would so we want. So you have to plan a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Well, and they've, they've, they've actually discounted that. I'm glad you brought this up because that's a that was a thought. But here's the cool thing They've discounted that research that as long as overall you have a varied diet, you don't need to think about each individual meal that your body can pull from different amino acids, even whatever's in your gut Like it can pull from that. So you don't have to think every meal needs to be a complete protein. It's just eating a variety. Overall you'll get a good mix and so that's nice. You don't have to stress like, okay, in this one meal I actually didn't get all nine essential amino acids. No, your body can, it's smart, it can figure it out.
Speaker 1:So you don't need it per meal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, but in general, here's the thing that I think a lot of people don't understand, and that is they think that you have to eat muscle to gain muscle, and it's not true. Your body is going to separate the animal muscle or the animal protein into the nine essential amino acids period and that's the building blocks it will use to build the muscle, and whether that comes from plants or animal protein, it doesn't matter. Your body's still able to build muscle from that place. But also, when you consume animal protein, it's not just that what's in the food, it's how you're cooking the food. And when you cook meat at high temperatures and that's just pan frying, that's grilling it, that's smoking it.
Speaker 2:I know smokers are really popular right now. You know to smoke your meat. It tastes amazing, no question, but you're producing what's called HCAs and PAHs on your meat and those are carcinogens. They're carcinogenic. And the grill marks on your meat that that's a carcinogen, you know, and it's different than on the grill marks on plants. There's something about the DNA in animal meat versus grill marks on plants that produces a higher amount of these HCA's and PAH's, or advanced glycation end products, age's, and that creates more inflammation in your body. It's a carcinogen.
Speaker 2:And when you're consuming these day in and day out, even lunch meats, lunch meats are processed meat. Processed meats are group one carcinogen. Bacon ham, you know, you think like, okay, it was Easter dinner, I'm going to make ham, no big deal. But really you're exposing yourself to a group one carcinogen. It's known to contribute to colon cancer and and so many other things that you are ingesting in your body I think we're not aware of, and every once in a while it's not a big deal. But when it's every day, two to three times a day, you're putting yourself at a greater risk of these things. And right now heart disease is the number one killer. Number two is cancer and it's getting up there, it's inching almost as high as heart disease. So we just want to be more mindful that the protein we're putting in our body. Is it helping us live longer or could it be hindering the process? And is there a better source of protein to get the same results you want? If it's more muscle, you can do that from plant protein.
Speaker 1:Right, we don't want to strive for perfect, because there is no perfect, but to really make the focus on this plant-based protein and then, as what do you want to call it? A treat or just an every once in a while that you have something animal protein is, I think, definitely the way that we need to go. And yes, heart disease and cancers are definitely rising. I mean, they're not going away. And the one thing I've said that before that we can control that is in our control is what we put into our bodies and that's our food, so we can definitely have an influence over that.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about fiber. You mentioned fiber at the beginning, that it is the one nutrient that is that we are really really chronically low in in this country. Right, and I totally agree with you and I almost see it more like, maybe on social media, just things out in the universe that there's such a focus on getting protein. We're so focused on this hyper amount of protein, especially for women in midlife, because we're losing muscle and we should be mindful of our protein, but no one's talking about fiber. I agree with you. I mean, which is just the number one, I think, most important nutrient as well. So tell me a little bit about that. Was that something, when you had the experience with your husband, that came up for you rather than just like plant-based, but more that fiber?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and on the list that we were given to follow a heart healthy diet. It was like eat more fiber. And the first thought that came to my mind was so do I just go to the store and buy like fiber one bars? Like how do I do this? And then I literally had to go home and be like how do I eat more fiber? And it's like more fruits and vegetables. Oh, fiber only comes from fruits and vegetables. Even the fiber in the fiber one bar came from a fruit or vegetable, and there's two types of fiber.
Speaker 2:I think it's really important to understand there's insoluble fiber and there's soluble fiber, and this is why it's really unique. There's a lot of people demonizing fruit, for example, fiber, and this is why it's really unique. There's a lot of people demonizing fruit, for example, but fruit is generally higher in insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is what helps you feel full Like. Think of chia seeds when you put them in water and how they bulk up and turn into like a pudding. That's insoluble fiber, and I like to tell the people I work with every time, at the end of your meal, especially lunch and dinner, like to top it off with a piece of fruit. That fruit is going to help you feel more full. It's going to give you like, be more satiating because of that insoluble fiber. So if it's an apple after lunch, you know, or an orange after dinner, whatever it is, that fruit is key in helping you not to overeat.
Speaker 2:And the second thing is the insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is think of it like the bones of a plant. That's going to be how it stays upright. Plants don't have bones, they have fiber, especially that insoluble fiber. The cool thing about that is, when you consume insoluble fiber, it acts like a scrub brush. It goes throughout your digestive tract and just scrubs it out. It helps clean things out, and what it's pulling out is excess estrogen, which is really important around this time in our life, right, excess hormones. It's also pulling out excess cholesterol, and every time it gives you bulk to your stool, and every time you go number two, you have a bowel movement. Your liver has to use cholesterol to help with make bile, and so that's why when you're consuming more plants, it just naturally lowers your cholesterol because you're having to use more cholesterol to go to the bathroom more often. So there's so many benefits just from that.
Speaker 2:But on top of it, we didn't understand much about the gut microbiome before around 2006, because we just didn't have the technology. It'd be like going outside at nighttime looking up at the sky and seeing the stars with your naked eye. We see stars, but we don't understand the depth of that. And around 2006, we finally had the technology to understand the depth of your gut microbiome. What we saw with our naked eye, now we see with a microscope and can see all of your microbes that are there, your gut microbes. And what happens is when you eat fiber, it's like their favorite food, and these microbes produce what's called short chain fatty acids.
Speaker 2:Short chain fatty acids are acetate, butyrate, propionate, and they're known to go throughout your body to help strengthen your gut lining, to help you feel full, to help reduce your risk of cancer, to help reduce your risk of heart disease.
Speaker 2:They are like magic fairies that go throughout your body and just help you reduce inflammation. They are the most anti inflammatory molecules yet discovered. And that only happens when you eat fiber. And that only happens when you eat plants. And that's why, instead of planning our meals around okay, well, what's the meat, what's the protein how about we first think, well, what are the plants that I'm going to be eating, and then maybe I can do a side dish of you know of of protein, or just at least make sure I'm getting adequate protein. But when it comes to older age, we're so focused on the protein. But really what matters most is strength training, because you can't eat your way to bigger muscles. You can't. You have to do the strength training, especially for women over 40, in order to maintain the muscle mass. It's not just the protein that you're eating.
Speaker 1:That's a very good point. I know that that we're all so I mean, I just see it so hyper-focused on protein, but you have to actually move your body and get yourself strong and you could eat all the protein in the world and it wouldn't make a difference unless you're actually moving and doing something.
Speaker 1:Right. So back to fiber for a second. Yeah, I mean, there's so much about our microbiome that is just coming up and that we still don't know a lot about, you know, but we do know that plants feed your microbiome in a healthy way. What are your feelings on fiber from cereals and powders and you know, those quick sources of fiber?
Speaker 2:and powders and those quick sources of fiber. Yeah, I think they still are great. You're still going to get the benefits of the fiber, but you're not getting the benefits of what the other molecules that plants offer. For example, if you were to eat an orange, yes, you'll get the fiber and you'll get the vitamin C and you'll get the polyphenols and you'll get the antioxidants. So when you separate it, you're just getting the fiber.
Speaker 2:Is that better than no fiber? 100%? Will that help you stay full? Yes, will it help minimize your blood sugar spikes? Yes, in fact, I wore a continuous blood sugar monitor on my arm and I just experimented for two weeks.
Speaker 2:It was so fun and I wanted to see okay, if I eat vegetable, if I have a salad before eating pizza, how does that influence my blood sugar spike? Yes, it 100% minimize my blood sugar spike. It's like, okay, well now what if I have just a fiber supplement? Will it minimize my blood sugar spike? Yes, 100%, it minimized my blood sugar spike. But what's the difference between the salad and just the fiber supplement is I'm getting the extra nutrients, the polyphenols, the antioxidants, like all these other extras in the actual whole food form. So I think any step towards health is going to be a step towards health, but why take a little baby step when you can take leaps and bounds by just eating full plant foods, you know? And so, in that sense, we always want to prioritize plants, and then supplements can supplement, which is exactly what it's for.
Speaker 1:It can supplement an already healthy plant forward diet and I mean that's supplement. That should not be the focus on your diet as the food source Right.
Speaker 2:Which is interesting. I will say this with plant-based foods. The one downside to plant-based foods is that it does come with fiber, and so sometimes, for example, if you're just using beans for your protein, your body may not absorb all of the protein in those beans because of the fiber. Like, the fiber is going to help it run through your system a lot faster, so so sometimes these supplements like if you're having a plant-based protein powder or even a whey-based protein powder your body will absorb all of that protein, versus one that is paired with a lot of fiber. Your body may not absorb all of it. So if you are really concerned about that and the older you are, the less effective your digestive system is, the less appetite you have. You know you're maybe you're not eating as much just because you lost your appetite. So that's where the supplements can come in handy. And, yes, we want to make sure you're getting adequate protein. So in that case, eat your beans and have, have a little bit of protein powder so that you're getting your needs met.
Speaker 1:Are there protein powders that you like better than others?
Speaker 2:Yes, but I also feel like they all are fine as long as they have been third-party tested to make sure there's no heavy metals. I think that's important. But anyone that you like the flavor, I really love a variety of different brands Like I'm fine with as long as I feel like it's been third-party tested, then I'll. I'll consume a variety. I get a lot of, I think, just just just having a YouTube channel like people reach out to you and say, hey, can I send you this? I'm like yeah, sure, so I've tried a bunch of different ones and I think they all are great, like there's none that I'm like okay, there have been a couple that are disgusting, but in general, as long as you like the flavor of it, it's great.
Speaker 2:And sometimes, like I said, for people, I want to make sure that every time you look down at your meal you're getting a fruit, a vegetable whole grain and a protein source. And sometimes in a plant-based diet that protein source isn't going to be adequate. So you can almost like have a dessert of, say, a banana and some protein powder mixed up with water. It's a delicious dessert, a way to top it off so that you feel full and you're also getting adequate protein, where maybe your lentils and rice and veggie dish just didn't have as much as you might need. I always tell women at least look at your plate, make sure there's at least 20 grams, 20 grams of protein total, and if you can't get it from just plants, then yeah, that's okay to use a supplement. It's okay. You're not going to do it with every meal, you don't need to do it every single time, but maybe at the end of the day, just to make sure you hit at least 60 grams of protein in that day. Then it's a great way so that you're not deficient.
Speaker 1:So that's a good question. So you're telling women to focus on 20 grams of protein here and you know 60 grams total. If you're just starting out, just like many of my clients, you know, and they don't even know what a gram of protein is, how do you start that with them? How do you just give that first like introduction as to like how to know what your plate should look like? And you know, just have an idea of like I'm looking at my plate and I have quarter of it is beans of some chickpeas. How do I know that's 20 grams of protein?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's definitely some tricks to the trade. Once you look it up you can kind of figure it out, but usually it's like a cup of beans, which is kind of a lot. You know, like a, so a cup of beans, you're going to get 20 grams. But here's the thing when you combine whole grains with beans like say, you have quinoa and you have beans, then there's a decent amount of protein in quinoa, so you don't have to eat as many beans. So it is kind of the accumulation and I love technology and it's like why not utilize it for your good? So I will tell chat GPT here's the recipe that I just made how much protein is in my serving. It's so quick, it's so fast. And then it's like oh okay, it's good to know you don't. Again, you want at least 60 grams. We want to get the RDA versus the recommended daily allowance. For most women that's anywhere between 50 to 60. I always say aim a little higher just to make sure that you're getting it. Again, this is adequate protein. This is not a high protein diet. This is just making sure that you're feeling satiated, you're getting adequate protein, and so you just put your food into chat GPT without having to put a lot of energy into it, just to see kind of where you're at.
Speaker 2:I always tell people just keep track for three days, keep track of what are you eating, you know, and make sure one of those days is on a weekend, because sometimes our weekends can be totally different than what we're eating during the day, during the week. And then you have an idea of kind of the things that you're eating over and over, like I know my oatmeal, for example. My oatmeal has about 10 grams of protein total without me doing much. But so then I'll add 10 grams of protein powder, so half of a scoop of protein powder, and I know I'm hitting my 20 grams. So that's a great way. Where it's like, okay, I'm not getting enough with just oatmeal and berries, and I like frozen rice cauliflower in my oatmeal too, so that's my vegetable.
Speaker 2:And then for lunch, again, I'll do the same thing. Well, this is what I had for lunch. Maybe I just need to have a little bit of dessert of Greek yogurt and berries afterwards, and so you can add that in. Or if you're completely vegan, you can do plant-based yogurt but add in some protein powder to the plant-based yogurt. I wish they had Greek plant-based yogurt. That's a whole other topic for another day. But they don't, and so sometimes you can do the protein powder there or just Greek yogurt For dinner. Same thing. It's like okay, usually if you're consuming a little bit of tofu or tempeh or TVP, you're going to hate your protein. But if you're just using beans, you might either have to eat more beans or add more of a processed protein source like a protein powder.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay, you just mentioned TVP, so that's something from my way past, like back in, like I actually haven't even heard that mentioned in years. Which is textured vegetable protein? Right yeah, proteins that I think a lot of people don't think about, like seitan, tofu, tempeh how do you get people to, how do you get your clients to be open to that? Because I mean, I know for me, when I mentioned the word tofu to so many people and I love tofu and I've been eating it my whole life and I love it because it's so versatile.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's really so versatile. So, and that's the good thing about it, and it's high in, it's great protein and-.
Speaker 2:So many nutrients? Yes.
Speaker 1:And so many nutrients and calcium and there's so many other things that come with it. But how do you, how do you get your clients to be open to trying tofu?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1:So tofu is, I think, an obvious one, but I don't know if people, most people, even know about tempeh and seitan and these are, yeah, these are things that I I mean when I went to cooking school, like when you know, like this is how I learned about them, cooking school. Like when you know, like this is how I learned about them. That was years ago. So how do you get your your clients to to be open?
Speaker 2:Well, I started with the not cause. A lot of people are like tofu, the tech, they can't do the texture. So I cream tofu, I just put it in my blender and turn it into like mostly like a cream, and then I add in maple syrup and I add in like coconut extract and all of a sudden I'm eating the most delicious coconut high protein yogurt. You know like it's a great way to have a high protein yogurt is just blend tofu, just blend it. If you think about it, this is what I tell my clients. A lot of them can't get over the soy thing.
Speaker 2:First of all, a lot of that research has been disproven. I mean, look at it. Tofu has been consumed for over 2000 years in Asian countries. If there was an issue with tofu, if it really did create man boobs, do you think we would have discovered that like in these Asian countries 2000 years ago? Yes and heck, I would love it if it could create boobs for me. I would absolutely love it. That's not the case, right? It's not something to be feared and if so, it would be the most popular supplement on the market if it was true.
Speaker 1:I mean the link between breast cancer and soy has definitely been debunked. I know, but that belief still lingers. I know that it does.
Speaker 2:It does, and they've actually found that it's quite the opposite. The soy should be your breast friend, like. It is so good for breast health, for reducing your risk of breast cancer, but in general. So you can start with soy milk right, just like I really. I swapped out regular milk for almond milk at first, but it's so low in protein that I started experimenting with soy milk and now I consume soy. My husband still doesn't like the taste of it, but the rest of my family love it, so that's a really easy way. It's nutritionally equivalent to cow's milk. Soy milk and cow's milk very nutritionally equivalent.
Speaker 2:But I like to tell my clients think about it. On a standard American diet you're eating milk for breakfast, you're probably having cheese in your lunch, maybe like a sandwich, and then for dinner you're having something with cream in it. You just consumed how many servings of dairy and you're worried about one serving of soy. If you really think about it, we're eating the same food over and over and over in a different way when it comes to dairy, like whether then on top of that yogurt, then on top of that. So it's like why don't we just mix it up? Why don't we just add in one serving of soy. It's not going to hurt you, it's going to help you. And if you need to consume it in a different form, just like there's cheese and then there's cream, you can take soy, you can take tofu and you can mix it into like a yogurt.
Speaker 2:I really like a tofu Alfredo sauce that I make. It's delicious, it's creamy. So instead of using cream for Alfredo, I'm just using tofu. It's higher in protein, it's better for you, it's lower in saturated fat. So experiment with other recipes that aren't just the typical cubed tofu version, because a lot of people just cannot handle the texture, and I get that.
Speaker 2:And then, when it comes to things like TVP, it's such a great way to save money. Like TVP, just throw it in. Just throw in a fourth of a cup into your rice. You know you have to rehydrate it. So what TVP is texture vegetable protein is when you make, like soy, a soy based oil, you they take the beans and they separate the oil and then what's left is this high protein substance that can't be turned into tofu, because tofu or soy curls. They maintain the whole soybean, um, but soy chunks and TVP have the oil separated from it. It's kind of the by-product of making oil and the cool thing is it's super high in protein and low in fat and so you can just add a little bit.
Speaker 2:In fact, back in the day you probably heard of this you know when you would make like ground beef, people would put in half TVP with your ground beef and that's actually incredibly health promoting. It makes the food go longer. So if that's what you need to do at first, do that. Try that out. It makes the ground beef go further and be healthier for you.
Speaker 2:And some people don't like it because it's processed. But I'm like, if you're eating processed protein powders, how are you against TVP? Because it's less of a process and it's a whole food that just has the oil taken out of it, like the fat taken out of defatted. It's actually defatted, soy flour is what it is. So it and it's. You just rehydrate it. It's flavorless. That's a problem with tofu, um, and with soy things and even seitan. They're all completely flavorless. You have to add in the flavor and if you do that right, once you figure that out, it's like it can be delicious. But you have to add it in. You can't just eat it plain. It's disgusting, it's flavorless, just like eating a chicken breast without anything on it.
Speaker 1:You're like it's not that great, right? Exactly, yeah, right. And that is the good thing about it is that something like tofu can take on a variety of different flavors. But yes, people just need to be more open to it and willing, I guess. So now you've got a family of six kids, I'm sure with a variety of pickiness and you know and taste, preferences and everything. How did that go for you when you transitioned to? You know, probably out of chicken nuggets and into other plant-based foods.
Speaker 2:Right. It's funny because kids complain about food no matter what, and that's what I realized. Like I would make meals before and they'd complain about it. Then I make meals now. They complain about it. They're going to complain. That's just kids. But what was fascinating is seeing the difference in their health. Like, for example, I had a daughter before my husband's stroke. She would just eat chicken nuggets and cucumbers, like, and mac and cheese, Like that was her favorite thing. And I was surviving with twins. I was not thinking about her health. I was like, okay, if that's what you want to eat, sure I'll make that, you know.
Speaker 1:And I remember thinking I thought I'd be a much healthier mom than this, but I just I'm in survival mode Like I just can't. Six kids is a lot. I mean I had three kids and that was a lot, so six kids is like a juggle yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, especially when you have twin babies, like let's be honest, it's rough. It's rough Like there's so much going on and there's so much. So then afterwards, when we're starting to eat more plants, I just stopped buying the chicken nuggets and so I would, and she would eat rice. So it was like she was eating a lot more brown rice and then a lot more beans. And this child, it was fascinating. Her hair, it like she started growing twice the amount of hair. So she looked like a lion, like she had kind of thin hair and then all of a sudden she's like growing like almost a second head of hair out of it and I have pictures. I'm like this is insane and you could see like the growth of it, like just having her eat more plants, like what it did for for her hair. You know it was, it was wild and to this day she has the thickest, most beautiful hair of all time. But she's more picky than my other kids.
Speaker 2:So I would make a meal and I say, okay, that's fine, if you don't want to eat it, then you can have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I'm not cooking another meal, you know, you can grab something from the fridge and so sometimes that drives me nuts, because sometimes I'll be like I'm just gonna have a sandwich. No, I made dinner, eat my dinner. But in general I wasn't making two meals. I wasn't going to accommodate that. I was like this is we're doing this for your dad. We want to make sure that he you know he's healthy, and we're all going along with it. And they would ask mom, what are you gonna buy? When are you going to buy more cheese? I'm like oh yeah, I forgot, I'll get to it later. I was never like we're never going to have cheese again. And I still, to this, know I go to like a church event and they have all this food left over. Like I'll take it home and I'll let them eat it. I'm not very strict on like you can never eat this again, and I think that's really important is to give them that flexibility. It's just like this is the food that I'm providing, this is the food that I'm cooking and and you can take it or leave it Right. But most of the time they're hungry and they're.
Speaker 2:It's amazing how adaptable kids are. You'd be surprised that when it's the only option, like over time, they do change their taste buds. They are going to start liking things that they didn't like before. They may never like tomatoes, but they'll like tomato sauce, you know, or whatever. Like it's crazy how, in different forms, they they they're more adaptive to it, but they'll still complain. It's never going to go away. They'll still be like I don't like this dinner.
Speaker 2:And you just, you know and and honestly, I have started, I was really. We were really healthy at first, and now, as I've started a business and I'm doing all these things, I will buy, like the, the plant-based chicken nuggets that I really liked, the Morningstar brand, and they honestly, I think they taste exactly the same. So my kids don't feel like they're missing out on anything. I'm like these literally taste exact same, and sometimes not every day not it wasn't like I was in the past, but like on a Friday night, instead of getting pizza. Like, yes, guys, we'll eat this and I'll cut up some potatoes, we'll have that in fries, but it's such a healthier variety no-transcript.
Speaker 1:A little flexibility, but. But the but the mindset and the knowing that this is what is best for your health, I think is so important. This is not just about losing weight and gaining muscle and all that, but it's your overall health, exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have a really great example of your husband and your daughter's hair.
Speaker 2:It's wild. It's wild, and I think that's like the message too. Just by small and simple things, great things come to pass, right, and I think, when it comes to nutrition, the small and simple things are just eat a vegetable, eat a fruit, eat a whole grain with every meal. Make sure you have 20 grams of protein. It's so simple, we all know it, but are we doing it? This is nothing groundbreaking, this is nothing like I've come up with this new diet plan. No. And are we eating a vegetable with breakfast? Probably not. Are we eating a fruit after lunch and dinner? Probably not. But those small, simple things. They'll help you lose weight. They'll help you maintain a healthy weight and making sure that you're getting at least the RDA protein help you feel more satiated. And adding more beans is going to help you live a longer life and you're getting the variety of antioxidants, polyphenols and all these things. You're going to get the cold, like a common cold, less frequently because you're strengthening your immune system, like.
Speaker 2:There's just so many benefits to to prioritizing plants first and then, if you want, to have a little bit of animal products. In fact, there was a study, so Dr Greger is like one of the biggest plant-based doctors and I was at a medical conference and I heard him say something off the cuff that I'm like, oh my gosh. He just said that Because people always want to know, like, how much meat or animal products can I have without it having a negative effect on my diet? And off the cuff he was like well, pretty much five servings a month isn't going to change your health outcomes. That much. That's once a week. That's having meat once a week. No big deal. It was interesting and I think there's a lot of nuance to that. Some have shown that, okay, well, maybe fatty fish will be a little bit healthier than, obviously, red meat, maybe that. But there's, there's a lot of nuance in food for sure. But I think everyone agrees that if you just prioritize plants you're going to be in a good spot, you know, especially when it comes to longevity.
Speaker 1:So we'll have to come up with something that's equivalent to, like, meatless Monday, because that's been such a big thing right, like as long as you're eating meatless once a week which doesn't even make sense, right, because we should be eating meatless six days a week and maybe you'll have meat once a week, so there should be some kind of a like meat Sundays, right.
Speaker 2:And back in the day, like a couple hundred years ago, like the poor people, that was a poor person's diet. They could only afford meat once a week. Turns out that's actually more health promoting Right. Yes For celebrations, special occasions, things like that. Like the blue zones, people who live in the blue zones they're not all completely vegan. They do eat meat sparingly, Sparingly means occasionally a little bit to like flavor the dish, but it's not the main force.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, and that's actually one. Our last good point is that it's expensive to eat animal products. Right, it's so much cheaper to eat, and rice is nothing. I mean, you buy dried beans and you buy a package of brown rice. It's like a couple dollars. Yeah, it's so much more economical. Oh yeah, it really is. So All's really. It's so much more economical? Oh, yeah it really is so ali, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate you um talking with me about your story and and the benefits of plant-based eating. This has been, I think, really great and to show that it's not that difficult to to do this right. You have a family of six, you're a busy mom and you can.
Speaker 2:You are doing it, so that's great, and the reason I'm doing it is because you don't have to be perfect. Plant-based doesn't mean perfect. I am. I have a vegan YouTube channel and I am not completely vegan, like. It just shows you that like, even though, yes, I have it that way, cause when people are searching up recipes, it's just like a common search term is vegan, but you can find the health benefits without having to be perfect. It's not all or nothing. It really isn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great, good, good last words. How can people get in touch with you?
Speaker 2:So the easiest way to find me is on YouTube. You can search plant wise. So I named my business plant wise because I like to teach the why behind eating more plants. So W-H-Y-S yes, I was going to say that W-H-Y-S right, w-h-y-s yeah. So I'm on YouTube for plant wise for any recipes I have. In fact, the last recipe I just filmed yesterday was $2 vegan meals that my kids will actually eat. There's just so many great ideas that work and that have worked for our family.
Speaker 2:If you want delicious recipes, or even just go to my website, plantwisecom. My most popular recipe is called lasagna soup. Every non-meat eater loves it. It's a great option. So I have recipes there. I also have my membership where I help women who coach them through it, because at the end of the day, you know what to eat, but why you're not eating is like a whole different thing why you're not eating that way is so many layers right Emotional eating, like all of these other layers and so we help pull back those layers and really support you and help you through the process of doing what you already know you need to do.
Speaker 2:But we give you that additional support and help and guidance through my membership. So anyone who's listening to this, I'm happy to give them a free 30-day trial if they would love to learn more about that membership, and I'll give you that link, Heather, that you can include in your show notes.
Speaker 1:Great Well, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's an honor being here. Thank you so much for having.