Embracing a wholefoods plant-based diet has many health, ethical, and environmental benefits. Studies have shown that a plant-based diet is linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. A plant-based diet is abundant in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and can thus contribute to your overall well-being, enhanced immune function, and sustained energy levels.
Secondly, choosing a plant-based diet is a powerful way to reduce your ecological footprint. Animal agriculture is a significant contributor to deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Choosing plant-based alternatives promotes a more humane approach to food consumption, reducing the demand for animal exploitation. This ethical shift towards plant-based living supports a vision of a more compassionate and sustainable food system.
While some of our team members were doing our reSET fasting-mimicking program, others embarked on a vegan challenge. Three of our team members did a 7-Day vegan meal plan challenge and reflected on their journey.Â
Here is how it went!
Courtney
It's been way easier than I thought it would be! I was surprised to see that we already eat many close-to-vegan meals so we didn't need to make super huge changes, which made it a lot easier on my kids. My approach was to stick close to their favorites, but just slightly tweak them to remove the meat or dairy. As an example last night I made our much-loved gochugang stir fry, but just without the chicken and with extra broccoli (their favorite vegetable) instead - easy! My kids have learned a lot about the impact of meats on the environment at school, so they've loved finding ways to add other sources of protein like tofu and beans to our standard meals.Â
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Avoiding dairy has taken a bit more work as I've found myself turning to grab a piece of cheese as an easy snack! The trick to solving for this was making sure that I proactively stocked enough snacking alternatives like nuts to pick up instead. All in all, I think I've found a few swaps that will stick long-term (like oat milk in my coffee), and I'm going to aim to keep introducing more and more plant-based alternatives to the family. Now that my kids are on board, the next target is my husband!
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Sonja
I am a vegetarian who often eats a vegan diet plan, so this was not such a big change for me. I did have to take more time on Sunday to plan my meals, as any convenient last minute option that you find around Zürich is often not vegan. I appreciated this extra planning though, it is something I need to get better at doing every week! To gain inspiration for my dinners, I used our Eat by Alex online recipes, and the Deliciously Ella cookbook. I think eating vegan at home can be a really fun challenge to push the creativity in your diet! I find it easier when my go to snacks and meals are vegan. Some of my favourite yummy vegan snacks are frozen grapes, Medjool dates with dark chocolate, and wasabi nuts. I totally understand it sounds impossible to cut out both meat and dairy (I personally can’t quite give up cheese) but I encourage everyone to try some vegan recipes when they can! It is a great way to support your health, help the environment, and try something new.
Chris
I have actually been eating wholefoods vegan for over 2 weeks now. I did this to get back on track after Christmas, and improve my digestive health. So far, it went smoothly. Because I am eating wholefoods that are high in fiber, I am fuller for longer, despite eating less calories and less saturated fats. I definitely notice that I have more energy throughout the day, which enables me to work harder. My focus is better and longer. I also noticed improvement in my cognitive health, I can think more clearly and I am generally more alert.
We encourage you to do a vegan challenge or add more plant-based meals to your diet, and see how you feel!
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Curious to learn more about plant-based nutrition?
Here are some links to educational blog posts on a wholefoods and plant-based diet.