If you are just starting your plant-based diet, there are a few things to learn as quickly as you can. This lifestyle can be a little challenging to get used to, but the following guide will help make things a bit easier.
Focus on Protein
One important thing to keep in mind is that since you are decreasing animal-based products you’re reducing meat consumption, which doesn’t contain inhibitory substances. This makes the protein in animal products more bioavailable. This means you have to ensure that your plant-based diet emphasizes protein-rich foods that are prepared and processed correctly.
More importantly, you need to make sure you are adding a plant based protein powder to your meals. Lentils, dark leafy vegetables, broccoli, and fermented tofu are just some things you should include in your diet. It’s easy to become protein deficient if you don’t take this part seriously.
Expand Your Recipes
Greatly reducing animal products means you are going to have to rethink your dishes, which may seem hard at first, but you can get the hang of this change over time. For example, since you probably won’t be eating eggs, you can substitute them with flaxseed in many dishes.
Instead of eating sour cream, you can consider fermented oats, which has a similar taste. You might also want to start experimenting with garbanzo beans because people have made all sorts of food with these magical beans, like burgers, meatballs, and many other foods. Most of the time, you can find plant-based alternatives for the ingredients in your favorite recipes.
Get an App
There are apps you can download to help you transition from your regular diet to this new one. Some of these apps show you good substitutes to try. Other apps offer great recipes you can try. Some apps connect you to other people who are practicing this plant-based diet.
Having a community online to give you support and inspire you to continue this diet, even when you feel a little lost, is more valuable than you could imagine. Most of these apps are free, so you have no reason to not download these tools. Now, you are probably going to have to explore the features each app offers until you find one you are happy with.
Substitute Your Fats
Okay, another important thing to remember is that a plant-based diet may reduce the amount of fat you consume. Meat contains a lot of fat and the body needs some fat, and you need to consume it in moderation.
The problem is some people eat too much fat or eat the wrong kind of fat. Now that you are switching to a plant-based diet, you can get fat from things like avocado, olive oil, safflower oil, and coconut oil, just to name a few.
Search for Restaurants
Sometimes, you don’t have time to cook at home, and you’ll need an alternative. There are plenty of restaurants that serve plant-based foods as this diet is getting quite popular. Be sure to search out the best ones near you. You don’t want to wait until the last minute to find a good restaurant.
It may even be a good idea to visit some of these places now so that you can figure out which restaurant prepares food the way you like. The more you cook, the more you’ll see that cooking vegetables is an art, so make sure you test some of these places out so that you know where to go when you’re hungry.
These are just some things you need to remember as you venture into this new lifestyle. It may be a good idea to talk to a dietitian as he or she may have some additional suggestions for you.
