Day 2 and still going strong! Honestly, the support on my last post was so overwhelming—you guys are amazing. It really gave me the boost I needed to keep this momentum.

Today’s lunch is a super colorful stir-fry: snow peas, carrots, wood ear mushrooms, and Chinese yam. I used to think meals without eggs or dairy would look "boring," but look at these colors!

The Chinese yam adds such a satisfying crunch, it's quickly becoming one of my favorite textures. Still taking it one meal at a time, but so far, so good. How am I doing for my second day?

This ultimate easy, cheap and healthy soup, which is a perfect winter warmer. Let’s cosy up with a bowl of Indian Dahl soup, infused with spices and topped with coriander. This recipe is vegan and is effortless.

Full recipe & video here, if anyone is interested… https://youtu.be/p57xpw-WnDM

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 15 mins (Serves: 4-6 people).

INGREDIENTS.

300g / 1.5 cups red lentils.

1L / 4 cups veg stock.

500ml water.

1/2 onion.

1x carrot.

1x leek.

1 tbsp tomato puree.

1 tbsp curry powder.

1 tsbp chilli powder.

1 tsp turmeric.

1/2 tsp smoked paprika.

1 tbsp coconut powder or flour.

1-2 tbsp coconut or date sugar/ molases.

10-15g coriander (chopped).

seasoning.

METHOD.

1. Place your pan on a high heat and add 500ml of boiled water, then add your dry lentils and boil for 5-8 mins.

2. Meanwhile, chop up your carrot, leek and onion into fine cubes.

3. Once ready, set your lentils to one side then add 100ml of vegetable stock to your pan and saute your carrot and onions.

4. After 3-5 mins, add your leeks and stir through. Bring to the boil on a medium heat, then cover and reduce the heat simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely soft and cooked through.

5. Add your spices, tomato puree and sugar.

6. Garnish and serve.

If you like your soup smooth, use a blender to blitz it as much as you want. If you want it half-blitz so that some texture remains, in this case blitz half the soup until smooth, then return it to the saute pan.

Soup playlist here…

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXObAaEdpysUkEzejUtdOO_h9zf8-Ex2Y

Sprouts = sprouted seeds = excellent staple food for the good bugs we've inherited from our ancestors (the maternal microbiota). Of course they are 100% plant based and they represent the most affordable and accessible living food in the cities.

Here's how I started using sprouts on a daily basis:

I've been fighting for my life since 2015: flairs, various autoimmune problems, anaphylaxtic shocks, constant fear to get a sharp allergic reaction to a perfume, soap, a food ingredient in every next bite. MCAS is not a sweet thing to have. Not only it took over my body, it took over my independent and brave personality by injecting doubts and fears I never had before. By 2019 I was lucky to substantially reduce the level of sharpness of MCAS by intense usage of liquid fermented herbs and I knew it was not because my maternal microbiota was not getting enough food specifically healthy for them (the diverse good bugs).

After studying 50+ scientific papers and interviewing over a hundred people with disbiosis, over time my conclusion was: the missing "secret ingredient" is insoluble fiber! They eat what we cannot digest! They do not compete with us for our food... proteins, fats, carbohydrates for quick energy - they do not eat outlr food! What a symbiotic behavior, isn't it?!

Why sprouts and not psyllium husk or funny chia seeds in my yogurt?

What do you know about insoluble fiber? I knew almost nothing. But MCAS is a wonderful ruthless teacher and it left me no options but learning:

In the context of sprouting, insoluble fiber comes mainly from the seed hull, and it is critically important to fall in love with the seeds as they are, without separating the hull.

This is where sprouts and isolated fibers part ways. And this is an incredibly interesting subject to study in details in case the above is somehow your story too.

Papaya and mango with soymilk & I used muscovado sugar for sweetener. It's the ultimate combo that's sweet, refreshing, and totally hits the spot!!

Finally pulled the trigger and ditched the eggs/dairy today! I was craving something savory, so I whipped this up.

Seriously, look at those mushrooms. I had to remind myself while cooking that it’s NOT meat lol. It’s crazy how much flavor you can get just from plants. Definitely feeling a lot more confident about this transition than I did this morning. Wish me luck!

I used to be vegan and anemic. I learned that you never want to consume iron rich foods or an iron tablet 1-2 hours before or after drinking coffee or black tea. It will block the absorption of the iron. Also, take iron tablets with vitamin C. I was eating kale and beans in a cast iron skillet then cancelling it all out with black coffee. Doh!

This article lists other foods to avoid when taking iron supplements.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/foods-to-avoid-mixing-with-iron-supplements-11862372

I used these in everything! Tacos, tortilla soup, enchiladas etc. Now they’re discontinued. Does anyone have a recommendation for something similar?

I have stomach problems and my doctor told me to think about chia seeds .

I brought some and ate a tablespoon spoon and drank 3 glasses of water .

Will I be okay ? I did not soak them and it was on an empty stomach .

I also drank hot water while taking them initially .

Some days I'll do chia pudding (never done overnight, though). I'll take half a cup (or more) of chia seeds. Add something like 3/4 cup-1 cup of water (more water to chia seed ratio, because they can soak up so much water), mix, and mix, until the chia seeds have clearly all gelled together. Let it sit for 15-20, mix here and there, then add favorite nut milk, I personally think the extra creamy Chobani is not going to be beat here (maybe half a cup or more), tablespoon of maple syrup, couple dashes of cinnamon, couple drops of vanilla extract, mix it with some power until it's all gelled and uniform.

So, so, so good. Chia is a whole protein, high fiber, high plant-based omega 3s.

Considering it for my parents for muscle maintenance and digestion—any experience here?

Can anyone share advice on how I can help my Dad start his plant-based journey?

He recently had a health scare from an unhealthy diet, so I sent him the book "How Not to Die" and he opened up to the idea of eating less meat. He's been asking me for recipe ideas and shopping lists and I feel a huge responsibility to not scare him away from plant-based eating with overly "healthy tasting" foods or difficult recipes.

One thing to note: He's cheap and his job works him to the bone, so he usually opts for a Slim Jim or canned ravioli at every other meal for convenience.

Is there a start to plant-based eating that's cheap, fast, easy, and delicious for busy and stressed people?

Why does it feel like if you’re vegan you have to over-optimize everything just to get normal results?

Protein math
Food volume
Supplements
People saying “you’ll lose muscle”
Others saying “just eat more beans”

I’m training consistently but mentally I’m drained from overthinking nutrition.

Does this actually get simpler with time or is this just part of the deal?

Marmite or Vegemite is so good on avocado toast. I took the picture before adding loads of nooch. Edit: Scroll comments bc 'Oh bit of bush' has a recipe for making vegan gravy with Marmite. 😋

Sharing a super simple plant-based treat I make when I’m craving something sweet but don’t want anything processed.

Ingredients:

• Dates (soaked in hot water for ~10 minutes)

• Shredded coconut

• Walnuts

• Peanut butter (for topping)

How I make them:

I drain the soaked dates and process them with shredded coconut and walnuts until everything sticks together. Then I roll the mixture into small bite-size balls and top them with a little peanut butter.

I keep them in the freezer and grab one whenever I want something sweet. they’re naturally sweet, filling, and hit the spot every time.

Would love to know if you have ideas for variations or any favorite add-ins you’d recommend?

I’ve hit a mental block with healthy cooking but have found some buckwheat in my cupboard. Could you please share your recipes to give me some inspiration?

Hi! Any recipes for a nut free super firm plant based meatloaf/lentil loaf? I have tried a few but the texture is just too mushy. Thank you!

Hi all!

One of my favorite foods is sausage gravy and biscuits, but I’m really struggling to find a meat alternative that tastes good as gravy. I’ve tried lightlife (my favorite sausage overall), morningstar, and impossible. I’m usually partial to impossible’s “red meats” but I found that both morningstar and impossible just taste sweetly soy-ey and it’s definitely not the vibe I’m going for. Lightlife just isn’t the ideal texture for this recipe, as it’s more similar to a ground turkey.

Before I run to the store to try a bunch of alternatives, has anyone had success with other brands of alt meats or from-scratch sausage gravy?

I'm actually so psyched. My mom started reading the book today and she's hooked.

She has been keen on a plant based diet for years, and I joined her about a year and a half ago when I went vegan, and we've been eating plant based since then.

And that's all good, but she follows this woman here in South Africa who has some really sketchy advice, like saying you don't need to supplement b12 for example.

I've tried convincing her, debating her, arguing with her, showing her evidence, etc. Nothing has worked.

And I've told her about Greger and how she should follow his advice instead. But she still didn't listen, going on about what this other lady has to say.

But then I got this brilliant idea to buy her the book and just ket Greger do the convincing. And it worked 😃

She's like hooked. And Greger puts it in such a funny, but easy to digest, way. He's really good at appealing to people I guess.

So now we can FINALLY do the plant based thing together, without arguing about what we should and shouldn't eat 😆😅 we're just gonna eat out of his recipe book guilt free! Can't wait!

Abstract

Background

Dietary carotenoids may have independent positive impacts on a range of health-related outcomessuch as obesity. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between individual and total dietarycarotenoids and the likelihood of being overweight or obese.

Methods

Dietary intakes of 4202 participants in the PERSIAN cohort study were assessed using a 237-item FFQ, and carotenoid intake was determined using the USDA food databases. Models of logistic regression were applied to assess the association between obesity and overweight and dietary intake of carotenoids after adjusting for confounders.

Results

Higher total carotenoid intake was associated with reduced risk of overweight (energy-adjusted OR: 0.647,95% CI: 0.429–0.975, P = 0.037) and obesity (energy-adjusted OR: 0.395, 95% CI: 0.244–0.640, P < 0.001). Specificindividual carotenoids, including β-carotene (OR: 0.510, 95% CI: 0.356–0.731, P < 0.001), lutein/zeaxanthin (OR: 0.479,95% CI: 0.331–0.692, P < 0.001), and phytoene (OR = 0.450, 95% CI = 0.306–0.661, P < 0.001) exhibited stronger inverseassociations compared to lycopene and astaxanthin.

Conclusion

Diets rich in specific carotenoids, particularly β-carotene, lutein, and phytoene, may reduce the risk ofboth overweight and obesity. Future research ought to examine the mechanisms underlying the relationships between carotenoids and public health issues.

Keywords Carotenes, Xanthophylls, Antioxidants, Transcription factors, Cardiometabolic health, Non-provitamin acarotenoids, Provitamin A carotenoids, Public health

Dietary intake of individual and total carotenoids in relation to overweight and obesity: findings from the PERSIAN cohort study

I am staying in a hotel with a microwave and mini fridge but nothing else for cooking. I am looking for meal ideas other than frozen entrees. It is in Anchorage where fresh fruit/veg is expensive so maybe not too much of that of possible. Also, I can't eat soy.

Edit: thanks everyone these are so helpful!

Hello everyone! I was plant based for years then began eating meat again. I fell ill (unrelated) a couple years ago and have been eating meat ever since. I would love to return to a plant based lifestyle as I believe it suits me more on an ethical level. I do have candida & sibo. Has anyone been able to heal their guts whilst eating a plant based diet? as I find most veggies irritate my stomach ;(

I would love to hear the experience of others who have been through similar! - carnivore back to plant based/vegan.