If you’re following a whole food plant-based diet – and if you’re anything like me – you’re probably eating your fair share of tossed green salads. Perhaps you’ve tried different types of lettuces, such as romaine, red leaf, and butterhead, and maybe you’ve tried adding those baby salad green mixes which are now available in…
Nutrition Info
Can You Raise Healthy Kids on a Plant-Based Diet?
Whether you’re new to a whole food plant-based diet or have been whole food plant-based for a long time, you may have some questions and concerns when it comes to raising plant-based kids. After all, the dietary wisdom we’ve inherited as a culture – which is advanced by numerous nutrition policy recommendations – is that…
Anti-Inflammatory Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet
The science keeps getting louder and stronger all the time – chronic inflammation in your body is never a good thing and can only cause problems. The good news is that there is something you can do about that. In addition to exercise and other positive lifestyle changes, such as good sleep and maintaining adequate…
Coconut Sugar and Evaporated Cane Juice: Health Foods or Hype?
In our last Plant-Based Cooking “sugar” article, “Two Healthy Sweeteners You Need to Know About,” (fourth in my series on sweeteners), we discovered that two relatively uncommon natural sweeteners, date sugar and blackstrap molasses, are the only sweeteners with any kind of significant nutritional content. They’re excellent choices for natural sugars – when and if…
Fight Sugar Cravings with Plant-Based Nutrition
Sugar Cravings Can Be a Sign of Mineral Deficiencies (This is the second in a series of articles on the perils of added sugar. Be sure to check out the first article, “12 Tips for Avoiding Added Sugar On A Plant-Based Vegan Diet.”) If you’re like most people, you probably struggle from time to time…
12 Tips for Avoiding Added Sugar On A Plant-Based Vegan Diet
(This is the first in a series of articles on the perils of added sugar. Be sure to check out the second article, “Fighting Sugar Cravings with Plant-Based Nutrition”). One of the hardest things for many people to give up on a plant-based diet is sugar. It’s a rare person in our society who doesn’t…
Gentle Lentils: Nutrition and Health Benefits
Lentils, a dietary staple of world cuisines such as Indian, Nepalese, Greek and Italian, are a wonderful and sometimes-overlooked plant-based food. Lentils come in many varieties ranging in color from black and various shades of brown to red, orange, yellow and slate green. As you can see below, there are many nutrition and health benefits…
The Science of Smoothies: Rick Bruess’ Superfood Smoothie for Your Health
Rick Bruess takes it in stride when his wife of 33 years, Laura, teases him about how long it takes him to make his signature “Superfood Smoothie” each morning for breakfast (see the complete recipe below). The retired Boulder couple are long-time vegans and competitive runners, and the Superfood Smoothie is essential for fueling their…
3 High-Protein Plant Foods You Need to Know About
These days it can seem like everyone is jumping on the high-protein bandwagon. In fact, some folks may even hesitate when it comes to adopting a healthy, whole foods vegan plant-based lifestyle due to concerns about getting enough vegan protein. You can rest assured, however, that whatever your reasons for needing abundant protein – whether…
A Vegan’s Guide to Vitamin D: How to Make Sure You’re Getting Enough
Most Vitamin D Is Not Vegan-Friendly Did you know that most Vitamin D3 supplements are not vegan? That’s right. If you look on the label, you’ll see the word “lanolin” in the “supplement facts” section. “Lanolin” might sound innocuous enough, but it’s actually a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of woolly mammals. Lanolin is…
Plant-Based Nutrition: Getting It Right
If you’re new to eating a plant-based diet, you may be concerned that you’re not getting the right nutrition. At the outset, you should know that a diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and seeds will, for the most part, contains more than enough nutrition to keep you healthy…
Am I Getting Enough Protein on a Plant-Based Diet?
COMMON MISCONCEPTION It’s a common misconception that anyone eating a plant-based diet is deficient in protein. What’s not so well-known is that there are a plethora of options when it comes to excellent sources of plant-based protein which you can see from the chart below. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein, is 0.8 grams of…
Nutritarian Pyramid
What is Nutritarianism? You may have seen me mention the concept of nutritarianism in previous posts. “Nutritarian” is a term created by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, which, in his words, means: “Simply put, a nutritarian is a person who strives for more micronutrients per calorie in their diet-style.” Per this definition, this type of eating stresses…
Got Questions About Eating a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet?
Here are 13 common questions about eating a plant-based vegan diet. And, you might have other myths or beliefs that make you question if eating a plant-based diet is for you so read my article, “15 Mindsets: Eating a Plant-Based Diet.” 1. How is a PLANT-BASED diet different from these other labels: Vegan, Vegetarian, Nutritarian,…
