It’s that time of year again when everyone starts to think about New Year’s resolutions and good intentions for the year ahead. If one of your resolutions is to eat a more plant-based whole foods diet, whether simply eating a meat-free meal a week or as ambitious as removing animal products from your diet completely, I have ten tips to help make the transition a little easier.
My Plant-Based Backstory
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of using the start of the New Year as a resolution catalyst, but I am a big fan of setting personal goals whatever the season. So you want to set a resolution at 4 pm on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in April on the way home from the supermarket? Sure, go for it!
But a few years ago, I decided that 2019 was going to be an alcohol-free year for me and not only that, I would also switch to a 100% vegan diet. Radical, I know. While I did manage to successfully achieve the booze-free year, it turned out that cutting all animal products out of my diet at the same time was a step too far. However, this experiment allowed me to think hard about what food I was putting into my body, learn a lot about what happens when you eat plants, and most importantly, feel the incredible energy I gained when I ate this way. Three years later, I am still not 100% vegan, but I eat a mostly plant-based diet and have never felt better.
The Science Bit
Research has shown that eating a diet rich in plants has multiple health benefits. First, plants are jam-packed full of fibre, something that many adults and children who eat western diets are deficient in as much as half (in the United States, for example). Plants are also essential for lowering cholesterol, regulating blood sugar levels, maintaining a healthy microbiome and ensuring that we feel full, minimising the risk of overeating. In turn, this decreases our risk of developing many chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease and many cancers. In fact, there is strong evidence that these diseases could be controlled and even, in some cases, reversed by adopting this kind of diet. And as if that wasn’t enough, a 2017 study found that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a 20 per cent reduction in the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.
Be an Eco-Warrior
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use”.
This quote from a 2019 Oxford University study had such an impact on me. Most of us make concerted efforts to live a more environmentally-friendly way of life, but by simply making some tiny changes to our diet, our individual impact can dramatically increase. For example, it is estimated that if every family ate just one red meat-free dinner a week, it would have the same effect as taking 16 million cars off the road. Just let that sink in for a moment …
OK, I am convinced:
Where do I start with a more plant-based diet in Switzerland?
There is no denying that the argument favouring a plant-based diet is fairly compelling. But it has to be done properly, focusing on whole foods, not processed foods. And believe me, there are just as many processed vegan foods as there are non-vegan!
It is super important that you make sure you are getting all your nutritional needs, but the good news is that this is fairly straightforward with a bit of planning. Too many, it seems, like a huge change to switch to this way of eating, but in reality, you can gain many health benefits from just making a few small changes here and there. So here are my top 10 tips to help make 2022 the year you become best friends with plants!
Meal plan and decide in advance on plant-based days
This can be very helpful when you first decide to change how you eat. Making the decision ahead of time makes you more accountable and more likely to stick to it. It also really helps when compiling shopping lists!
Switch from dairy to plant milk
This has been one of the easiest changes for me to make. At first, you will silently grieve for creamy dairy as you drink your cuppa or eat your cereal, but it’s amazing how quickly your taste changes and now I do not enjoy dairy milk in my tea!
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- Favourite Swiss Plant Milk: My personal favourite is the natural organic variety part of Coop’s brilliant Karma range. They also have delicious almond milk if that flavour suits you better.
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Switch butter for plant oils
There are so many choices available now when it comes to healthy cooking oils. Extra Virgin Olive oil is already a staple in many people’s kitchens, but you could also use vegetable, canola, coconut or even avocado blends! Just make sure that the one you choose is high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
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- Favourite Oils: I use coconut oil for frying and flaxseed oil (mixed with a little apple cider vinegar) for salads on a daily basis
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Look for vegan options on restaurant menus
This was a real game-changer for me as it allowed me to try some delicious new flavour combinations without the hassle of seeking out new recipes, buying ingredients and making the food myself. In fact, once the food arrived at the table, family and friends often regretted not choosing vegan themselves!
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- Vegan Restaurants in Switzerland: I am very keen to try is ‘Roots’ in Zurich. They have six exclusively vegetarian/vegan restaurants|cafes across the city and their menu looks amazing!
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Make a daily smoothie
Whether you make them yourself or decide to purchase a ready-made powder mix smoothies are an easy and quick way to get a big hit of plant goodness.
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- Favourite Green Smoothie Powder: I use Athletic Greens which I receive on subscription from New Zealand – the best green smoothie powder I have ever found. As a locally sourced alternative in Switzerland, Balz & Rolf stock a Super Green mix which I am super interested to try.
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Eat lots of lovely legumes
Whether it’s beans, chickpeas, lentils, or all of the above; this wonderful food group will provide you with vitamins, vital protein and heaps of fibre. In longevity studies, no other food group was a higher predictor of a long, healthy life. Canned ready-to-eat legumes are widely available, but make sure you rinse them first as they can be a little high in sodium.
Find a good vegan chocolate
In 2019, when I started to change my diet, good vegan chocolate was very hard to find. But now the shelves seem to be full of new brands all vying for our attention! I have to confess, I am a bit of a chocoholic, so finding a delicious alternative was a priority for me, and now I am happy to say that I rarely come across a terrible one. They are still much more expensive than regular chocolate, of course, but there is definitely more demand, so hopefully, they will become more affordable in the years to come.
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- Favourite Swiss Vegan Chocolate: My current go-to brand is the range by Veganz (a company that makes delicious vegan food and commits to several of the UN sustainable development goals). Just thinking about their original coconut flavour is making my mouth water!
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Experiment with herbs and spices
One of the things I was most surprised about was how many herbs and spices are used in many of the vegan recipes I have experimented with over the years. When you begin, it will take a little while for your palate to adapt to the new flavours, but after a while, you will become addicted to adding a little smoky flavour or a herby hit to elevate your meals to a new level.
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- Swiss Recommendations: I love the organic mixes and individual herbs and spices by Swiss Alpine Herbs. I am also keen to try some of the amazing gourmet salt blends by Zurich based Smiqql to add an interesting twist.
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Stock up on healthy snack options
Make it less likely that you will reach for processed snacks by making sure you keep a good stock of nuts, seeds and fruit/veggies. Store everything in easy to use containers and pre-wash all your fresh produce, so it is always ready to eat when hunger strikes!
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- Snack suggestions: I never run out of cashew nuts, hummus and a mix of washed and chopped carrots, cucumbers and celery.
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Buy frozen fruit and veggies for convenience
Don’t shy away from the frozen food aisle at the supermarket. Fruit and vegetables are often now frozen very quickly after harvest, so the vitamin content remains high. They are also very convenient to store at home and reduce the risk of wasting fresh food.
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- Swiss brand I love: I usually opt for the Coop Bio brand Naturaplan as they always cook very well and hold their form.
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Unfortunately, society today tends to follow an ‘all or nothing type of mentality. Still, when it comes to plant-based eating, it is important to remember that you are making a difference every time you choose plants over animal products -a difference to your health as well as the health of our planet. Give it a go – whether it be just 2 or 3 of my tips or all 10 of them. You might be surprised how just a few small changes can make you feel so good!
