July 1, 2025 • 51 mins
What would you do if your 37-year-old husband had a stroke out of the blue—while raising six kids, including twin babies? That’s the moment Allie’s world turned upside down and became the start of a total shift in how her family approached food, health, and healing.
Frustrated by vague advice like “eat a heart-healthy diet,” Allie dove into the research and discovered the power of a plant-centered plate—especially the role of fiber and accessible plant-based proteins in reducing inflammation and supporting her husbands recovery. Now, as a plant-based nutritionist Alisia shares how her husband’s health dramatically improved, what actually worked in her busy kitchen, and why perfection isn’t the goal—progress is.
Whether you're curious about plant-based eating for energy, heart health, or longevity, this episode is full of simple, doable inspiration. Be sure to give it a listen!
Grab Alisia's FREE one week plant based meal guide HERE
Find Alisia on You Tube HERE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Real Food
Stories podcast.
Today we are talking all aboutplant-based eating.
Founder of PlantWise and thecreator of plant-based courses
and coaching.
As a mother of six children,allie found herself rushing to
the emergency room with her then37-year-old husband, who had
(00:22):
suffered a stroke.
After multiple tests, doctorsfound no clear answers and
encouraged their family to eat aheart-healthy diet by avoiding
saturated fats, trans fats,cholesterol and to eat more
fiber.
Allie dived deep into theresearch and found that eating a
plant-based diet would not onlydecrease her husband's risk of
stroke, but also decrease alltypes of chronic disease.
(00:45):
She now combines her almost twodecades of experience with a
proven plant-based formula.
So, hi, ali, welcome to theshow.
I'm really excited to dive intoplant-based eating because this
is my thing too, and definitelyin my wheelhouse, and I know a
lot of people change theirlifestyle because of a
(01:07):
significant health issue, andyour story is definitely
something I want to hear moreabout.
So talk to me more about yourhusband and what exactly
happened, right?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know it's it's.
It's crazy, it's something thatyou would never I never even
saw myself even doing what I'mdoing now and I wouldn't have
gone and been doing what I'mdoing without this experience.
But we have six children, welive in Washington DC and when I
was pregnant with my last twokids they were twins my husband
gained the twin baby weight,just like I did.
(01:37):
You know we'd we'd gain theweight and and we were eating, I
would say, a healthy version of, like the standard American
diet.
I wasn't, you know, we weren'tgoing out to eat that much.
And I will say, with whenyou're pregnant, like it's just
whatever, you just you'resurviving, especially with twins
.
You're just surviving.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I understand that I have twins too, and I know that
very well that you're just insurvival mode, so I get that.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, true, there was a lot of.
There was a lot of cheese,there was a lot of, just like
easy, simple, but it's stilllike more homemade.
I wasn't eating a lot ofprocessed foods, let's put it
that way, and afterwards, um,except for maybe, like the ice
cream at night.
But after, uh, we were tryingto lose the weight and I did
what most people do, and theyfind some program online, and
(02:31):
this program, it was a great one.
I think it actually helpedprepare me for the next step in
my life.
But this program wasmacro-based.
It was high protein.
You're trying to get a certainamount of protein grams every
single day and a certain amountof fat and just kind of keep it
around that realm.
They gave us recipes.
It was great, and here's thething it was working.
We were both losing weight, andI think this is important to
understand that, yes, it is truethat anytime you lose weight,
(02:53):
you're always going to behealthier, but we want to find a
way where you're losing weightand reducing your risk of
chronic disease, and sometimesthose two don't always go hand
in hand.
And so I think it was great.
We were feeling good.
Everything was going greatuntil October 1st 2019.
(03:13):
I got that phone call and thatphone call was from his
coworkers that they saidsomething was wrong with my
husband.
They weren't sure what wasgoing on.
They sent him to the ER andthey just said you should
probably rush over there andmeet him there.
So I had no idea what to expect.
They said something was goingon with his vision.
So I'm thinking like what theheck?
Like what is this?
And when I ran to, luckily myneighbor came was watching my
(03:37):
kids, you know and then I wasable to run into the ER.
I remember opening the door,scanning the room, looking for
my husband.
I see him in a wheelchair.
He slumped over and my37-year-old husband looked like
he was 80.
It was crazy just how he lookedand his face was slightly
drooping, and especially his eye.
And my heart knew immediatelylike whoa, he looks like he's
(03:58):
having a stroke.
But what my heart knewimmediately, it took the
doctor's hours and tons of teststo find out and we kept asking
all the time is this because ofstress?
I mean, he's an attorney, welive in Washington DC, we have
six kids.
We just had twin babies.
There's a lot going on.
The babies were like eightmonths old at that time and I'll
never forget what the doctorsaid.
He said this is not because ofstress, there is something
(04:20):
deeper going on here.
And they concluded the samething that we had, and that was
that it was a true stroke, thatit was impacting his vision.
We thought that, miraculously,his vision would just come back
overnight.
And never did his.
His face did improve like this,the slooping, this, whatever
(04:40):
you know, like how his side ofhis face is going down.
That did get a little better.
But even to this day you canstill see, you know, like one
eyebrows down a little bit morethan the other.
It's not very obvious, which isgreat, but the vision didn't
come back.
It took a while.
And so in the hospital we were,we ran a ton of tests.
It was like was it genetichistory?
Is there a hole in his heartCause?
That's really common cause ofstroke for people his age Uh,
(05:02):
was there a heart arrhythmia,like what could be going on?
And every single test came backnegative.
So we're sitting here like,okay, well, what do we do?
And they said well, becauseyou've had one stroke, you're
highly likely to probably haveanother one in the future.
So it's really important foryou to follow a heart healthy
diet.
And the most frustrating thingwas that in the hospital, like,
(05:22):
this is a heart healthy dietavoid trans fat, saturated fat,
cholesterol, eat more fiber,avoid alcohol.
I'm like great, what do I makefor dinner?
Like what the heck is this?
You know what?
What foods are found Like?
Why can't you just tell methese are the foods you should
avoid?
They have to specify saturatedfat, trans fat, cholesterol.
And I had to then myself go anddo the research and there was a
(05:45):
lot of mistrust.
I'm like, but I've heard thisand I'm not sure if that's
correct, because people aresaying that this isn't true and
maybe the low fat diet trendactually isn't right.
So wait, but I'm supposed to.
It's so confusing.
It's so confusing and I thinkthat's where we went home and
(06:06):
because it had just been myhusband's stroke, it probably
would not have turned out theway it did.
But when you add on to the factthat my husband's going through
this, and a couple of yearsbefore that, my father actually
had a heart attack and he wasjust 55.
And when he had his heartattack he didn't get a second
chance.
There was no okay, you had aheart attack.
Now you need to follow hearthealthy diet.
(06:27):
He was gone, he passed away.
There was no warning, and so,and and and on top of that, my
grandma, her husband, alsopassed away from you know
similar, similar situation.
And so I was looking at thislike I don't want to be like my
grandma, I don't want to be likemy mom.
I actually have a second chance.
What's in my power, what can Ido?
Because I thought we werefollowing a healthy diet, we
(06:49):
were losing weight.
So what is a diet that not onlyhelps you have a healthy weight
but also minimizes your risk ofheart disease, your risk of
stroke, your risk of otherchronic diseases?
And is there one?
Is there a diet plan that, ifyou follow you get all of those
benefits you know, not justweight loss?
(07:09):
And it really really made melook at food in such a different
perspective, because beforethen it was all about how do I
eat to lose weight, how do I eat?
And now it's like, ooh, how doI eat to, yes, have a healthy
weight, but also live thelongest life possible in the
healthiest way possible?
And what I found is that youhave to center your meals around
(07:31):
plants.
You don't have to be perfectlyvegan.
You don't have to be perfectlyvegetarian, you don't have to be
but you have to center yourmeals around plants.
And how do you do that?
And that was the other questiontoo.
It's like, well, but again Iwas given no direction besides
just avoid this, avoid this.
But it's like how do you eatmore fiber?
How do you?
Because the number one nutrientdeficiency in America right now
(07:54):
is fiber.
It's fiber, and fiber onlycomes from plants, and so we
clearly all need to beprioritizing plants.
But how?
How do you do that at breakfast?
How do you do that at lunch?
How do you do that dinner?
And I found that it's just asuper simple framework that
every time you look down at yourmeal, it's like okay, do I have
a fruit, do I have a vegetable,do I have a whole grain?
(08:15):
Because, again, plants arefruits, vegetables, whole grains
, nuts, seeds, legumes.
So am I consuming that in everysingle meal?
And that really transformed notonly our health.
My husband kept losing weight.
In fact, he lost even moreweight without trying.
After that, we finally not onlylost the baby weight, but now,
(08:36):
currently right now he's ahealthier weight than when we
got married, and he was nevereven overweight or obese, but
it's just prioritizing thoseplants.
It makes it so much easier.
You don't have to countcalories, but calories count,
and so the best way to not haveto count calories is to just eat
less calorie dense foods, whichare fruits and vegetables.
(08:57):
And then his triglycerides wentdown, his cholesterol went down
and, most importantly, afterfive months of eating more of a
plant forward diet not perfect,not perfectly vegan, not perfect
anyway but his vision came back, and so I'm like the proof is
in the results, is in the fruit,right.
And that for us was like okay,there's something here, and I
(09:18):
wish more people knew about itor realized the power in these
small and simple things.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Wow, that's a lot to unpack.
I mean, a lot happened to you,you know.
I mean just just starting fromyour husband being so young, I
mean, that's you know, having astroke in your thirties is not
something that most people Ithink I imagine even doctors are
not expecting most people.
I think I imagine, even doctorsare not expecting, you know,
(09:46):
and and so that.
So that alone must've been areal shock.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh yeah, they were like yeah, you're, this is not
something we see all the time,but it's happening more and more
.
That's the other thing they didsay.
While this is not very common,it is becoming more common than
it ever has been before.
Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not nutritionists
right, is becoming more commonthan it ever has been before.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not
nutritionists, right?
So they're going to give youmedications, and that's what
they're good at, and they'regoing to tell you, just stop
eating saturated fat.
But what does that mean?
I mean, what does that mean andyou have six kids at home?
What does that mean when youwant to make dinner and feed
your entire family?
(10:26):
And so it sounds like you hadto really do a lot of your own
research.
And also you know that therewas no real obvious reason why
he had the stroke that you knowyou, so you could.
There was, like that felt, Iimagine, very out of your
control.
But the thing that is in all ofour controls is what we put
(10:49):
into our mouths every day.
Right, we all have to eat, and,and we have total control over
it, and that's great.
I mean, that's very powerful.
And so it sounds like you alsothen had a very powerful
experience because so muchimproved with your husband.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Right and, like I said, we're already improving.
But it was more than just theweight loss.
It was his cholesterol, it washis triglycerides.
There's so much more that youwant to be able to eat a diet
that isn't just helping you loseweight, it's also lowering the
cholesterol, and sometimes thatdoes go hand in hand, like no
question.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, so many people go on diets to right.
They're not thinking about theirhealth, they're thinking about
their weight loss Exactly, andI'm sure that the original diet
that you went on sounded healthyI mean when you were on social
media and all the influencersand macros and high protein, and
(11:48):
I mean it's dizzying and youget caught up in beliefs that
that's what we should be doing,but really it I, and I know this
for a fact too it all comesback to plant-based eating.
We have to eat plants, yes, andI think you know, like, talk to
(12:09):
me a little bit about this,because I know, for a lot of
women especially that I talk to,or just people in general, that
I mean I'm going to take thatback.
Men too, I mean, when I evenlike my, my grown sons, if I I
say like we're going to havetofu or something for dinner,
they're like I mean, they're soplant based kind of averse.
(12:31):
They need meat, you know, theyneed like Right, and I and I
think that there is a lot ofconfusion over what plant based
means.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That that it's just eating lettuce and kale and and
there's no protein in there andthere's no like it's not filling
and it's taste boring.
Did you feel like that when youfirst started on this journey?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Oh, 100%.
I think I was terrified of tofu, like I was, I've heard.
I believed all the things thateveryone said, plus cooking it
was it's a learning curve liketo actually make it taste good.
It definitely was a learningcurve, that's for sure.
And, and so I, but I did knowthis.
I, with a lot of the research,is like, yes, you, protein is
(13:15):
important, but right now we werelooking at healing, I wasn't
looking at building muscles.
You know, and I and I the moreresearch that I've done since
then was like it doesn't matterthe source of protein.
If you're trying to build moremuscle mass, you can get that
from plant protein, and plantshave all of the amino acids.
We just need a variety ofplants, and I think that that's
something that that, yes, it istrue what they say about protein
(13:37):
.
If you're looking to buildmuscle, it is important to
consume more, but it doesn'thave to be as high as we think
it is the research on do we needto be consuming one gram of
protein per pound of body weight?
Is that factually correct?
And the truth is, there is nodifference, at least not
statistically significant,between 0.8 grams of protein per
(14:01):
pound of lean body weight lean,not your current, your lean
body weight and one gram perpound.
While that doesn't sound like abig deal 0.8 to one I mean that
that little bit, instead ofputting so much protein on your
plate, you're missing out on theplants, you're missing out on
the fiber.
You're missing all these things.
And even just eating a littlebit less, not as high, and
adding in that fiber, that'swhat's going to help prevent
(14:23):
heart disease, prevent, you know, all of these other issues that
could be happening.
So we want to have balance ofprotein and fiber.
There's a lot of talk about theprotein and you can get it from
plants.
Uh, you do have to be moremindful and think about it.
Uh, you know when you'reconsuming and you and, but at
first we didn't, we didn't evenworry about that.
I was like I'm just going toswap out the meat for beans,
(14:44):
because I know the longevityresearch shows that if you eat
at least a cup of beans a day,it increases your lifespan by
four years.
And at that point I wanted myhusband's vision back.
I didn't care about hisrippling muscles, you know, it's
like let's just get you so youcan see.
And, and we added beans, so itwas just the easiest way to like
(15:04):
enter into this world isanytime I would be eating a
chicken base meal, like, let'ssay, cashew chicken, a recipe
that my family knows and loves.
I would just swap out thechicken for chickpeas.
That's it.
Is it less than protein?
Yes, but did it help get myhusband's vision back?
Yes, now I do think more aboutprotein.
But now I have figured out howto cook with tofu, how to cook
(15:29):
with tempeh, how to use soycurls and TVP and all these
things.
But that's like plant-basedeating.
You know, level two, I think atthe beginning, especially if
you're on a healing journey,it's just important to get the
plants in you.
And then level two is like,okay, what type of?
How can I mix up my protein?
And if it's chicken or fishevery once in a while, or eggs
or nonfat Greek yogurt, that'sokay.
Like that's the beauty of it.
You don't have to be vegan tosee the results, as long as
(15:50):
you're getting a variety ofplants, as long as you're
getting at least 30 differentplants in your diet within a
week.
Like that's where they foundthat you're going to have the
healthiest gut microbiome,that's where you're finding
those benefits.
So if you need to ease into itbefore you can really start to
transition.
And even if you stay at thatlevel, that's going to be so
much healthier than justfocusing on a heck of a ton of
(16:12):
protein, and especially animalprotein, because you're putting
yourself at risk of the numberone killer in America, which is
heart disease.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So, okay, many questions.
I want to go back a little bit,but let's talk about animal
protein and the detriments ofanimal protein, because I know
animal protein is a very quicksource of all the amino acids,
correct, right?
And when we eat a piece ofchicken, chicken breast, that
(16:41):
has all the amino acids, and soit's a very good source of
protein, not necessarily ofother things.
And when we eat plant-basedproteins, we want to make sure
that, like beans don't have allthe amino acids.
(17:02):
We want to combine them with,maybe a whole grain, right, and
that would so we want.
So you have to plan a littlebit more.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Well, and they've, they've, they've actually
discounted that.
I'm glad you brought this upbecause that's a that was a
thought.
But here's the cool thingThey've discounted that research
that as long as overall youhave a varied diet, you don't
need to think about eachindividual meal that your body
can pull from different aminoacids, even whatever's in your
gut Like it can pull from that.
So you don't have to thinkevery meal needs to be a
complete protein.
(17:29):
It's just eating a variety.
Overall you'll get a good mixand so that's nice.
You don't have to stress like,okay, in this one meal I
actually didn't get all nineessential amino acids.
No, your body can, it's smart,it can figure it out.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So you don't need it per meal.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, yeah, but in general, here's the thing that I
think a lot of people don'tunderstand, and that is they
think that you have to eatmuscle to gain muscle, and it's
not true.
Your body is going to separatethe animal muscle or the animal
protein into the nine essentialamino acids period and that's
the building blocks it will useto build the muscle, and whether
(18:04):
that comes from plants oranimal protein, it doesn't
matter.
Your body's still able to buildmuscle from that place.
But also, when you consumeanimal protein, it's not just
that what's in the food, it'show you're cooking the food.
And when you cook meat at hightemperatures and that's just pan
frying, that's grilling it,that's smoking it.
(18:26):
I know smokers are reallypopular right now.
You know to smoke your meat.
It tastes amazing, no question,but you're producing what's
called HCAs and PAHs on yourmeat and those are carcinogens.
They're carcinogenic.
And the grill marks on yourmeat that that's a carcinogen,
you know, and it's differentthan on the grill marks on
plants.
There's something about the DNAin animal meat versus grill
(18:49):
marks on plants that produces ahigher amount of these HCA's and
PAH's, or advanced glycationend products, age's, and that
creates more inflammation inyour body.
It's a carcinogen.
And when you're consuming theseday in and day out, even lunch
meats, lunch meats are processedmeat.
Processed meats are group onecarcinogen.
Bacon ham, you know, you thinklike, okay, it was Easter dinner
(19:12):
, I'm going to make ham, no bigdeal.
But really you're exposingyourself to a group one
carcinogen.
It's known to contribute tocolon cancer and and so many
other things that you areingesting in your body I think
we're not aware of, and everyonce in a while it's not a big
deal.
But when it's every day, two tothree times a day, you're
(19:33):
putting yourself at a greaterrisk of these things.
And right now heart disease isthe number one killer.
Number two is cancer and it'sgetting up there, it's inching
almost as high as heart disease.
So we just want to be moremindful that the protein we're
putting in our body.
Is it helping us live longer orcould it be hindering the
process?
And is there a better source ofprotein to get the same results
(19:56):
you want?
If it's more muscle, you can dothat from plant protein.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, we don't want to strive for perfect, because
there is no perfect, but toreally make the focus on this
plant-based protein and then, aswhat do you want to call it?
A treat or just an every oncein a while that you have
something animal protein is, Ithink, definitely the way that
(20:23):
we need to go.
And yes, heart disease andcancers are definitely rising.
I mean, they're not going away.
And the one thing I've saidthat before that we can control
that is in our control is whatwe put into our bodies and
that's our food, so we candefinitely have an influence
over that.
(20:44):
Let's talk about fiber.
You mentioned fiber at thebeginning, that it is the one
nutrient that is that we arereally really chronically low in
in this country.
Right, and I totally agree withyou and I almost see it more
like, maybe on social media,just things out in the universe
(21:08):
that there's such a focus ongetting protein.
We're so focused on this hyperamount of protein, especially
for women in midlife, becausewe're losing muscle and we
should be mindful of our protein, but no one's talking about
fiber.
I agree with you.
(21:28):
I mean, which is just thenumber one, I think, most
important nutrient as well.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat.
Was that something, when youhad the experience with your
husband, that came up for yourather than just like
(21:48):
plant-based, but more that fiber?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, and on the list that we were given to follow a
heart healthy diet.
It was like eat more fiber.
And the first thought that cameto my mind was so do I just go
to the store and buy like fiberone bars?
Like how do I do this?
And then I literally had to gohome and be like how do I eat
more fiber?
And it's like more fruits andvegetables.
Oh, fiber only comes fromfruits and vegetables.
Even the fiber in the fiber onebar came from a fruit or
(22:13):
vegetable, and there's two typesof fiber.
I think it's really important tounderstand there's insoluble
fiber and there's soluble fiber,and this is why it's really
unique.
There's a lot of peopledemonizing fruit, for example,
fiber, and this is why it'sreally unique.
There's a lot of peopledemonizing fruit, for example,
but fruit is generally higher ininsoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is what helpsyou feel full Like.
(22:34):
Think of chia seeds when youput them in water and how they
bulk up and turn into like apudding.
That's insoluble fiber, and Ilike to tell the people I work
with every time, at the end ofyour meal, especially lunch and
dinner, like to top it off witha piece of fruit.
That fruit is going to help youfeel more full.
It's going to give you like, bemore satiating because of that
insoluble fiber.
So if it's an apple after lunch, you know, or an orange after
dinner, whatever it is, thatfruit is key in helping you not
(22:57):
to overeat.
And the second thing is theinsoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is think of itlike the bones of a plant.
That's going to be how it staysupright.
Plants don't have bones, theyhave fiber, especially that
insoluble fiber.
The cool thing about that is,when you consume insoluble fiber
, it acts like a scrub brush.
(23:17):
It goes throughout yourdigestive tract and just scrubs
it out.
It helps clean things out, andwhat it's pulling out is excess
estrogen, which is reallyimportant around this time in
our life, right, excess hormones.
It's also pulling out excesscholesterol, and every time it
gives you bulk to your stool,and every time you go number two
(23:40):
, you have a bowel movement.
Your liver has to usecholesterol to help with make
bile, and so that's why whenyou're consuming more plants, it
just naturally lowers yourcholesterol because you're
having to use more cholesterolto go to the bathroom more often
.
So there's so many benefitsjust from that.
But on top of it, we didn'tunderstand much about the gut
(24:00):
microbiome before around 2006,because we just didn't have the
technology.
It'd be like going outside atnighttime looking up at the sky
and seeing the stars with yournaked eye.
We see stars, but we don'tunderstand the depth of that.
And around 2006, we finally hadthe technology to understand
the depth of your gut microbiome.
What we saw with our naked eye,now we see with a microscope
(24:23):
and can see all of your microbesthat are there, your gut
microbes.
And what happens is when youeat fiber, it's like their
favorite food, and thesemicrobes produce what's called
short chain fatty acids.
Short chain fatty acids areacetate, butyrate, propionate,
and they're known to gothroughout your body to help
strengthen your gut lining, tohelp you feel full, to help
(24:44):
reduce your risk of cancer, tohelp reduce your risk of heart
disease.
They are like magic fairies thatgo throughout your body and
just help you reduceinflammation.
They are the most antiinflammatory molecules yet
discovered.
And that only happens when youeat fiber.
And that only happens when youeat plants.
And that's why, instead ofplanning our meals around okay,
(25:04):
well, what's the meat, what'sthe protein how about we first
think, well, what are the plantsthat I'm going to be eating,
and then maybe I can do a sidedish of you know of of protein,
or just at least make sure I'mgetting adequate protein.
But when it comes to older age,we're so focused on the protein
.
But really what matters most isstrength training, because you
can't eat your way to biggermuscles.
(25:25):
You can't.
You have to do the strengthtraining, especially for women
over 40, in order to maintainthe muscle mass.
It's not just the protein thatyou're eating.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
That's a very good point.
I know that that we're all so Imean, I just see it so
hyper-focused on protein, butyou have to actually move your
body and get yourself strong andyou could eat all the protein
in the world and it wouldn'tmake a difference unless you're
actually moving and doingsomething.
Right.
(25:55):
So back to fiber for a second.
Yeah, I mean, there's so muchabout our microbiome that is
just coming up and that we stilldon't know a lot about, you
know, but we do know that plantsfeed your microbiome in a
healthy way.
What are your feelings on fiberfrom cereals and powders and
(26:21):
you know, those quick sources offiber?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
and powders and those quick sources of fiber.
Yeah, I think they still aregreat.
You're still going to get thebenefits of the fiber, but
you're not getting the benefitsof what the other molecules that
plants offer.
For example, if you were to eatan orange, yes, you'll get the
fiber and you'll get the vitaminC and you'll get the
polyphenols and you'll get theantioxidants.
So when you separate it, you'rejust getting the fiber.
Is that better than no fiber?
100%?
Will that help you stay full?
(26:48):
Yes, will it help minimize yourblood sugar spikes?
Yes, in fact, I wore acontinuous blood sugar monitor
on my arm and I justexperimented for two weeks.
It was so fun and I wanted tosee okay, if I eat vegetable, if
I have a salad before eatingpizza, how does that influence
my blood sugar spike?
Yes, it 100% minimize my bloodsugar spike.
It's like, okay, well now whatif I have just a fiber
(27:11):
supplement?
Will it minimize my blood sugarspike?
Yes, 100%, it minimized myblood sugar spike.
But what's the differencebetween the salad and just the
fiber supplement is I'm gettingthe extra nutrients, the
polyphenols, the antioxidants,like all these other extras in
the actual whole food form.
So I think any step towardshealth is going to be a step
(27:31):
towards health, but why take alittle baby step when you can
take leaps and bounds by justeating full plant foods, you
know?
And so, in that sense, wealways want to prioritize plants
, and then supplements cansupplement, which is exactly
what it's for.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
It can supplement an already healthy plant forward
diet and I mean that'ssupplement.
That should not be the focus onyour diet as the food source
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Which is interesting.
I will say this withplant-based foods.
The one downside to plant-basedfoods is that it does come with
fiber, and so sometimes, forexample, if you're just using
beans for your protein, yourbody may not absorb all of the
protein in those beans becauseof the fiber.
Like, the fiber is going tohelp it run through your system
a lot faster, so so sometimesthese supplements like if you're
(28:31):
having a plant-based proteinpowder or even a whey-based
protein powder your body willabsorb all of that protein,
versus one that is paired with alot of fiber.
Your body may not absorb all ofit.
So if you are really concernedabout that and the older you are
, the less effective yourdigestive system is, the less
appetite you have.
You know you're maybe you'renot eating as much just because
(28:52):
you lost your appetite.
So that's where the supplementscan come in handy.
And, yes, we want to make sureyou're getting adequate protein.
So in that case, eat your beansand have, have a little bit of
protein powder so that you'regetting your needs met.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Are there protein powders that you like better
than others?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yes, but I also feel like they all are fine as long
as they have been third-partytested to make sure there's no
heavy metals.
I think that's important.
But anyone that you like theflavor, I really love a variety
of different brands Like I'mfine with as long as I feel like
it's been third-party tested,then I'll.
I'll consume a variety.
I get a lot of, I think, justjust just having a YouTube
(29:33):
channel like people reach out toyou and say, hey, can I send
you this?
I'm like yeah, sure, so I'vetried a bunch of different ones
and I think they all are great,like there's none that I'm like
okay, there have been a couplethat are disgusting, but in
general, as long as you like theflavor of it, it's great.
And sometimes, like I said, forpeople, I want to make sure that
every time you look down atyour meal you're getting a fruit
, a vegetable whole grain and aprotein source.
(29:55):
And sometimes in a plant-baseddiet that protein source isn't
going to be adequate.
So you can almost like have adessert of, say, a banana and
some protein powder mixed upwith water.
It's a delicious dessert, a wayto top it off so that you feel
full and you're also gettingadequate protein, where maybe
your lentils and rice and veggiedish just didn't have as much
(30:15):
as you might need.
I always tell women at leastlook at your plate, make sure
there's at least 20 grams, 20grams of protein total, and if
you can't get it from justplants, then yeah, that's okay
to use a supplement.
It's okay.
You're not going to do it withevery meal, you don't need to do
it every single time, but maybeat the end of the day, just to
make sure you hit at least 60grams of protein in that day.
Then it's a great way so thatyou're not deficient.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
So that's a good question.
So you're telling women tofocus on 20 grams of protein
here and you know 60 grams total.
If you're just starting out,just like many of my clients,
you know, and they don't evenknow what a gram of protein is,
how do you start that with them?
How do you just give that firstlike introduction as to like
(31:01):
how to know what your plateshould look like?
And you know, just have an ideaof like I'm looking at my plate
and I have quarter of it isbeans of some chickpeas.
How do I know that's 20 gramsof protein?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, there's definitely some tricks to the
trade.
Once you look it up you cankind of figure it out, but
usually it's like a cup of beans, which is kind of a lot.
You know, like a, so a cup ofbeans, you're going to get 20
grams.
But here's the thing when youcombine whole grains with beans
like say, you have quinoa andyou have beans, then there's a
decent amount of protein inquinoa, so you don't have to eat
as many beans.
So it is kind of theaccumulation and I love
(31:40):
technology and it's like why notutilize it for your good?
So I will tell chat GPT here'sthe recipe that I just made how
much protein is in my serving.
It's so quick, it's so fast.
And then it's like oh okay,it's good to know you don't.
Again, you want at least 60grams.
We want to get the RDA versusthe recommended daily allowance.
For most women that's anywherebetween 50 to 60.
I always say aim a littlehigher just to make sure that
(32:02):
you're getting it.
Again, this is adequate protein.
This is not a high protein diet.
This is just making sure thatyou're feeling satiated, you're
getting adequate protein, and soyou just put your food into
chat GPT without having to put alot of energy into it, just to
see kind of where you're at.
I always tell people just keeptrack for three days, keep track
of what are you eating, youknow, and make sure one of those
(32:28):
days is on a weekend, becausesometimes our weekends can be
totally different than whatwe're eating during the day,
during the week.
And then you have an idea ofkind of the things that you're
eating over and over, like Iknow my oatmeal, for example.
My oatmeal has about 10 gramsof protein total without me
doing much.
But so then I'll add 10 gramsof protein powder, so half of a
scoop of protein powder, and Iknow I'm hitting my 20 grams.
So that's a great way.
Where it's like, okay, I'm notgetting enough with just oatmeal
(32:50):
and berries, and I like frozenrice cauliflower in my oatmeal
too, so that's my vegetable.
And then for lunch, again, I'lldo the same thing.
Well, this is what I had forlunch.
Maybe I just need to have alittle bit of dessert of Greek
yogurt and berries afterwards,and so you can add that in.
Or if you're completely vegan,you can do plant-based yogurt
(33:13):
but add in some protein powderto the plant-based yogurt.
I wish they had Greekplant-based yogurt.
That's a whole other topic foranother day.
But they don't, and sosometimes you can do the protein
powder there or just Greekyogurt For dinner.
Same thing.
It's like okay, usually ifyou're consuming a little bit of
tofu or tempeh or TVP, you'regoing to hate your protein.
(33:33):
But if you're just using beans,you might either have to eat
more beans or add more of aprocessed protein source like a
protein powder.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Okay, Okay, you just mentioned TVP, so that's
something from my way past, likeback in, like I actually
haven't even heard thatmentioned in years.
Which is textured vegetableprotein?
Right yeah, proteins that Ithink a lot of people don't
(34:05):
think about, like seitan, tofu,tempeh how do you get people to,
how do you get your clients tobe open to that?
Because I mean, I know for me,when I mentioned the word tofu
to so many people and I lovetofu and I've been eating it my
whole life and I love it becauseit's so versatile.
(34:30):
I mean, it's really so versatile.
So, and that's the good thingabout it, and it's high in, it's
great protein and-.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
So many nutrients?
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
And so many nutrients and calcium and there's so many
other things that come with it.
But how do you, how do you getyour clients to be open to
trying tofu?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
So tofu is, I think, an obvious one, but I don't know
if people, most people, evenknow about tempeh and seitan and
these are, yeah, these arethings that I I mean when I went
to cooking school, like whenyou know, like this is how I
learned about them, cookingschool.
Like when you know, like thisis how I learned about them.
That was years ago.
So how do you get your yourclients to to be open?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Well, I started with the not cause.
A lot of people are like tofu,the tech, they can't do the
texture.
So I cream tofu, I just put itin my blender and turn it into
like mostly like a cream, andthen I add in maple syrup and I
add in like coconut extract andall of a sudden I'm eating the
most delicious coconut highprotein yogurt.
You know like it's a great wayto have a high protein yogurt is
(35:33):
just blend tofu, just blend it.
If you think about it, this iswhat I tell my clients.
A lot of them can't get overthe soy thing.
First of all, a lot of thatresearch has been disproven.
I mean, look at it.
Tofu has been consumed for over2000 years in Asian countries.
If there was an issue with tofu, if it really did create man
boobs, do you think we wouldhave discovered that like in
these Asian countries 2000 yearsago?
(35:54):
Yes and heck, I would love itif it could create boobs for me.
I would absolutely love it.
That's not the case, right?
It's not something to be fearedand if so, it would be the most
popular supplement on themarket if it was true.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I mean the link between breast cancer and soy
has definitely been debunked.
I know, but that belief stilllingers.
I know that it does.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It does, and they've actually found that it's quite
the opposite.
The soy should be your breastfriend, like.
It is so good for breast health, for reducing your risk of
breast cancer, but in general.
So you can start with soy milkright, just like I really.
I swapped out regular milk foralmond milk at first, but it's
so low in protein that I startedexperimenting with soy milk and
(36:36):
now I consume soy.
My husband still doesn't likethe taste of it, but the rest of
my family love it, so that's areally easy way.
It's nutritionally equivalentto cow's milk.
Soy milk and cow's milk verynutritionally equivalent.
But I like to tell my clientsthink about it.
On a standard American dietyou're eating milk for breakfast
, you're probably having cheesein your lunch, maybe like a
(36:57):
sandwich, and then for dinneryou're having something with
cream in it.
You just consumed how manyservings of dairy and you're
worried about one serving of soy.
If you really think about it,we're eating the same food over
and over and over in a differentway when it comes to dairy,
like whether then on top of thatyogurt, then on top of that.
So it's like why don't we justmix it up?
Why don't we just add in oneserving of soy.
(37:19):
It's not going to hurt you,it's going to help you.
And if you need to consume itin a different form, just like
there's cheese and then there'scream, you can take soy, you can
take tofu and you can mix itinto like a yogurt.
I really like a tofu Alfredosauce that I make.
It's delicious, it's creamy.
So instead of using cream forAlfredo, I'm just using tofu.
(37:40):
It's higher in protein, it'sbetter for you, it's lower in
saturated fat.
So experiment with otherrecipes that aren't just the
typical cubed tofu version,because a lot of people just
cannot handle the texture, and Iget that.
And then, when it comes tothings like TVP, it's such a
great way to save money.
Like TVP, just throw it in.
Just throw in a fourth of a cupinto your rice.
(38:03):
You know you have to rehydrateit.
So what TVP is texturevegetable protein is when you
make, like soy, a soy based oil,you they take the beans and
they separate the oil and thenwhat's left is this high protein
substance that can't be turnedinto tofu, because tofu or soy
curls.
They maintain the whole soybean, um, but soy chunks and TVP
(38:25):
have the oil separated from it.
It's kind of the by-product ofmaking oil and the cool thing is
it's super high in protein andlow in fat and so you can just
add a little bit.
In fact, back in the day youprobably heard of this you know
when you would make like groundbeef, people would put in half
TVP with your ground beef andthat's actually incredibly
(38:45):
health promoting.
It makes the food go longer.
So if that's what you need todo at first, do that.
Try that out.
It makes the ground beef gofurther and be healthier for you
.
And some people don't like itbecause it's processed.
But I'm like, if you're eatingprocessed protein powders, how
are you against TVP?
Because it's less of a processand it's a whole food that just
(39:07):
has the oil taken out of it,like the fat taken out of
defatted.
It's actually defatted, soyflour is what it is.
So it and it's.
You just rehydrate it.
It's flavorless.
That's a problem with tofu, um,and with soy things and even
seitan.
They're all completelyflavorless.
You have to add in the flavorand if you do that right, once
you figure that out, it's likeit can be delicious.
But you have to add it in.
(39:28):
You can't just eat it plain.
It's disgusting, it'sflavorless, just like eating a
chicken breast without anythingon it.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
You're like it's not that great, right?
Exactly, yeah, right.
And that is the good thingabout it is that something like
tofu can take on a variety ofdifferent flavors.
But yes, people just need to bemore open to it and willing, I
guess.
So now you've got a family ofsix kids, I'm sure with a
(39:55):
variety of pickiness and youknow and taste, preferences and
everything.
How did that go for you whenyou transitioned to?
You know, probably out ofchicken nuggets and into other
plant-based foods.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Right.
It's funny because kidscomplain about food no matter
what, and that's what I realized.
Like I would make meals beforeand they'd complain about it.
Then I make meals now.
They complain about it.
They're going to complain.
That's just kids.
But what was fascinating isseeing the difference in their
health.
Like, for example, I had adaughter before my husband's
stroke.
She would just eat chickennuggets and cucumbers, like, and
(40:35):
mac and cheese, Like that washer favorite thing.
And I was surviving with twins.
I was not thinking about herhealth.
I was like, okay, if that'swhat you want to eat, sure I'll
make that, you know.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
And I remember thinking I thought I'd be a much
healthier mom than this, but Ijust I'm in survival mode Like I
just can't.
Six kids is a lot.
I mean I had three kids andthat was a lot, so six kids is
like a juggle yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, especially when you have twin babies, like
let's be honest, it's rough.
It's rough Like there's so muchgoing on and there's so much.
So then afterwards, when we'restarting to eat more plants, I
just stopped buying the chickennuggets and so I would, and she
would eat rice.
So it was like she was eating alot more brown rice and then a
lot more beans.
And this child, it wasfascinating.
(41:16):
Her hair, it like she startedgrowing twice the amount of hair
.
So she looked like a lion, likeshe had kind of thin hair and
then all of a sudden she's likegrowing like almost a second
head of hair out of it and Ihave pictures.
I'm like this is insane and youcould see like the growth of it
, like just having her eat moreplants, like what it did for for
(41:38):
her hair.
You know it was, it was wildand to this day she has the
thickest, most beautiful hair ofall time.
But she's more picky than myother kids.
So I would make a meal and I say, okay, that's fine, if you
don't want to eat it, then youcan have a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich.
I'm not cooking another meal,you know, you can grab something
from the fridge and sosometimes that drives me nuts,
because sometimes I'll be likeI'm just gonna have a sandwich.
(41:58):
No, I made dinner, eat mydinner.
But in general I wasn't makingtwo meals.
I wasn't going to accommodatethat.
I was like this is we're doingthis for your dad.
We want to make sure that heyou know he's healthy, and we're
all going along with it.
And they would ask mom, whatare you gonna buy?
When are you going to buy morecheese?
I'm like oh yeah, I forgot,I'll get to it later.
I was never like we're nevergoing to have cheese again.
And I still, to this, know I goto like a church event and they
(42:25):
have all this food left over.
Like I'll take it home and I'lllet them eat it.
I'm not very strict on like youcan never eat this again, and I
think that's really importantis to give them that flexibility
.
It's just like this is the foodthat I'm providing, this is the
food that I'm cooking and andyou can take it or leave it
Right.
But most of the time they'rehungry and they're.
It's amazing how adaptable kidsare.
(42:46):
You'd be surprised that whenit's the only option, like over
time, they do change their tastebuds.
They are going to start likingthings that they didn't like
before.
They may never like tomatoes,but they'll like tomato sauce,
you know, or whatever.
Like it's crazy how, indifferent forms, they they
they're more adaptive to it, butthey'll still complain.
It's never going to go away.
They'll still be like I don'tlike this dinner.
(43:06):
And you just, you know and andhonestly, I have started, I was
really.
We were really healthy at first, and now, as I've started a
business and I'm doing all thesethings, I will buy, like the,
the plant-based chicken nuggetsthat I really liked, the
Morningstar brand, and theyhonestly, I think they taste
exactly the same.
So my kids don't feel likethey're missing out on anything.
I'm like these literally tasteexact same, and sometimes not
(43:29):
every day not it wasn't like Iwas in the past, but like on a
Friday night, instead of gettingpizza.
Like, yes, guys, we'll eat thisand I'll cut up some potatoes,
we'll have that in fries, butit's such a healthier variety
(44:11):
no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
A little flexibility, but.
But the but the mindset and theknowing that this is what is
best for your health, I think isso important.
This is not just about losingweight and gaining muscle and
all that, but it's your overallhealth, exactly.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, you have a really great example of your
husband and your daughter's hair.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
It's wild.
It's wild, and I think that'slike the message too.
Just by small and simple things, great things come to pass,
right, and I think, when itcomes to nutrition, the small
and simple things are just eat avegetable, eat a fruit, eat a
whole grain with every meal.
Make sure you have 20 grams ofprotein.
It's so simple, we all know it,but are we doing it?
(45:07):
This is nothing groundbreaking,this is nothing like I've come
up with this new diet plan.
No.
And are we eating a vegetablewith breakfast?
Probably not.
Are we eating a fruit afterlunch and dinner?
Probably not.
But those small, simple things.
They'll help you lose weight.
They'll help you maintain ahealthy weight and making sure
that you're getting at least theRDA protein help you feel more
(45:28):
satiated.
And adding more beans is goingto help you live a longer life
and you're getting the varietyof antioxidants, polyphenols and
all these things.
You're going to get the cold,like a common cold, less
frequently because you'restrengthening your immune system
, like.
There's just so many benefits toto prioritizing plants first
and then, if you want, to have alittle bit of animal products.
(45:48):
In fact, there was a study, soDr Greger is like one of the
biggest plant-based doctors andI was at a medical conference
and I heard him say somethingoff the cuff that I'm like, oh
my gosh.
He just said that Becausepeople always want to know, like
, how much meat or animalproducts can I have without it
having a negative effect on mydiet?
And off the cuff he was likewell, pretty much five servings
(46:09):
a month isn't going to changeyour health outcomes.
That much.
That's once a week.
That's having meat once a week.
No big deal.
It was interesting and I thinkthere's a lot of nuance to that.
Some have shown that, okay,well, maybe fatty fish will be a
little bit healthier than,obviously, red meat, maybe that.
But there's, there's a lot ofnuance in food for sure.
But I think everyone agreesthat if you just prioritize
(46:32):
plants you're going to be in agood spot, you know, especially
when it comes to longevity.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
So we'll have to come up with something that's
equivalent to, like, meatlessMonday, because that's been such
a big thing right, like as longas you're eating meatless once
a week which doesn't even makesense, right, because we should
be eating meatless six days aweek and maybe you'll have meat
once a week, so there should besome kind of a like meat Sundays
(46:59):
, right.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And back in the day, like a couple hundred years ago,
like the poor people, that wasa poor person's diet.
They could only afford meatonce a week.
Turns out that's actually morehealth promoting Right.
Yes For celebrations, specialoccasions, things like that.
Like the blue zones, people wholive in the blue zones they're
not all completely vegan.
They do eat meat sparingly,Sparingly means occasionally a
(47:21):
little bit to like flavor thedish, but it's not the main
force.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Exactly, yeah, and that's actually one.
Our last good point is thatit's expensive to eat animal
products.
Right, it's so much cheaper toeat, and rice is nothing.
I mean, you buy dried beans andyou buy a package of brown rice
.
It's like a couple dollars.
Yeah, it's so much moreeconomical.
Oh yeah, it really is.
(47:45):
So All's really.
It's so much more economical?
Oh, yeah it really is so ali,thank you so much.
I really appreciate you umtalking with me about your story
and and the benefits ofplant-based eating.
This has been, I think, reallygreat and to show that it's not
that difficult to to do thisright.
(48:07):
You have a family of six,you're a busy mom and you can.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
You are doing it, so that's great, and the reason I'm
doing it is because you don'thave to be perfect.
Plant-based doesn't meanperfect.
I am.
I have a vegan YouTube channeland I am not completely vegan,
like.
It just shows you that like,even though, yes, I have it that
way, cause when people aresearching up recipes, it's just
like a common search term isvegan, but you can find the
health benefits without havingto be perfect.
(48:35):
It's not all or nothing.
It really isn't.
Speaker 1 (48:38):
Yeah, that's great, good, good last words.
How can people get in touchwith you?
Speaker 2 (48:43):
So the easiest way to find me is on YouTube.
You can search plant wise.
So I named my business plantwise because I like to teach the
why behind eating more plants.
So W-H-Y-S yes, I was going tosay that W-H-Y-S right, w-h-y-s
yeah.
So I'm on YouTube for plantwise for any recipes I have.
In fact, the last recipe I justfilmed yesterday was $2 vegan
(49:05):
meals that my kids will actuallyeat.
There's just so many greatideas that work and that have
worked for our family.
If you want delicious recipes,or even just go to my website,
plantwisecom.
My most popular recipe iscalled lasagna soup.
Every non-meat eater loves it.
It's a great option.
So I have recipes there.
I also have my membership whereI help women who coach them
(49:29):
through it, because at the endof the day, you know what to eat
, but why you're not eating islike a whole different thing why
you're not eating that way isso many layers right Emotional
eating, like all of these otherlayers and so we help pull back
those layers and really supportyou and help you through the
process of doing what youalready know you need to do.
But we give you that additionalsupport and help and guidance
(49:51):
through my membership.
So anyone who's listening tothis, I'm happy to give them a
free 30-day trial if they wouldlove to learn more about that
membership, and I'll give youthat link, Heather, that you can
include in your show notes.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Great Well, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Yeah, it's an honor being here.
Thank you so much for having.
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Real Food
Stories podcast.
Today we are talking all aboutplant-based eating.
Founder of PlantWise and thecreator of plant-based courses
and coaching.
As a mother of six children,allie found herself rushing to
the emergency room with her then37-year-old husband, who had
(00:22):
suffered a stroke.
After multiple tests, doctorsfound no clear answers and
encouraged their family to eat aheart-healthy diet by avoiding
saturated fats, trans fats,cholesterol and to eat more
fiber.
Allie dived deep into theresearch and found that eating a
plant-based diet would not onlydecrease her husband's risk of
stroke, but also decrease alltypes of chronic disease.
(00:45):
She now combines her almost twodecades of experience with a
proven plant-based formula.
So, hi, ali, welcome to theshow.
I'm really excited to dive intoplant-based eating because this
is my thing too, and definitelyin my wheelhouse, and I know a
lot of people change theirlifestyle because of a
(01:07):
significant health issue, andyour story is definitely
something I want to hear moreabout.
So talk to me more about yourhusband and what exactly
happened, right?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know it's it's.
It's crazy, it's something thatyou would never I never even
saw myself even doing what I'mdoing now and I wouldn't have
gone and been doing what I'mdoing without this experience.
But we have six children, welive in Washington DC and when I
was pregnant with my last twokids they were twins my husband
gained the twin baby weight,just like I did.
(01:37):
You know we'd we'd gain theweight and and we were eating, I
would say, a healthy version of, like the standard American
diet.
I wasn't, you know, we weren'tgoing out to eat that much.
And I will say, with whenyou're pregnant, like it's just
whatever, you just you'resurviving, especially with twins
.
You're just surviving.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I understand that I have twins too, and I know that
very well that you're just insurvival mode, so I get that.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, true, there was a lot of.
There was a lot of cheese,there was a lot of, just like
easy, simple, but it's stilllike more homemade.
I wasn't eating a lot ofprocessed foods, let's put it
that way, and afterwards, um,except for maybe, like the ice
cream at night.
But after, uh, we were tryingto lose the weight and I did
what most people do, and theyfind some program online, and
(02:31):
this program, it was a great one.
I think it actually helpedprepare me for the next step in
my life.
But this program wasmacro-based.
It was high protein.
You're trying to get a certainamount of protein grams every
single day and a certain amountof fat and just kind of keep it
around that realm.
They gave us recipes.
It was great, and here's thething it was working.
We were both losing weight, andI think this is important to
understand that, yes, it is truethat anytime you lose weight,
(02:53):
you're always going to behealthier, but we want to find a
way where you're losing weightand reducing your risk of
chronic disease, and sometimesthose two don't always go hand
in hand.
And so I think it was great.
We were feeling good.
Everything was going greatuntil October 1st 2019.
(03:13):
I got that phone call and thatphone call was from his
coworkers that they saidsomething was wrong with my
husband.
They weren't sure what wasgoing on.
They sent him to the ER andthey just said you should
probably rush over there andmeet him there.
So I had no idea what to expect.
They said something was goingon with his vision.
So I'm thinking like what theheck?
Like what is this?
And when I ran to, luckily myneighbor came was watching my
(03:37):
kids, you know and then I wasable to run into the ER.
I remember opening the door,scanning the room, looking for
my husband.
I see him in a wheelchair.
He slumped over and my37-year-old husband looked like
he was 80.
It was crazy just how he lookedand his face was slightly
drooping, and especially his eye.
And my heart knew immediatelylike whoa, he looks like he's
(03:58):
having a stroke.
But what my heart knewimmediately, it took the
doctor's hours and tons of teststo find out and we kept asking
all the time is this because ofstress?
I mean, he's an attorney, welive in Washington DC, we have
six kids.
We just had twin babies.
There's a lot going on.
The babies were like eightmonths old at that time and I'll
never forget what the doctorsaid.
He said this is not because ofstress, there is something
(04:20):
deeper going on here.
And they concluded the samething that we had, and that was
that it was a true stroke, thatit was impacting his vision.
We thought that, miraculously,his vision would just come back
overnight.
And never did his.
His face did improve like this,the slooping, this, whatever
(04:40):
you know, like how his side ofhis face is going down.
That did get a little better.
But even to this day you canstill see, you know, like one
eyebrows down a little bit morethan the other.
It's not very obvious, which isgreat, but the vision didn't
come back.
It took a while.
And so in the hospital we were,we ran a ton of tests.
It was like was it genetichistory?
Is there a hole in his heartCause?
That's really common cause ofstroke for people his age Uh,
(05:02):
was there a heart arrhythmia,like what could be going on?
And every single test came backnegative.
So we're sitting here like,okay, well, what do we do?
And they said well, becauseyou've had one stroke, you're
highly likely to probably haveanother one in the future.
So it's really important foryou to follow a heart healthy
diet.
And the most frustrating thingwas that in the hospital, like,
(05:22):
this is a heart healthy dietavoid trans fat, saturated fat,
cholesterol, eat more fiber,avoid alcohol.
I'm like great, what do I makefor dinner?
Like what the heck is this?
You know what?
What foods are found Like?
Why can't you just tell methese are the foods you should
avoid?
They have to specify saturatedfat, trans fat, cholesterol.
And I had to then myself go anddo the research and there was a
(05:45):
lot of mistrust.
I'm like, but I've heard thisand I'm not sure if that's
correct, because people aresaying that this isn't true and
maybe the low fat diet trendactually isn't right.
So wait, but I'm supposed to.
It's so confusing.
It's so confusing and I thinkthat's where we went home and
(06:06):
because it had just been myhusband's stroke, it probably
would not have turned out theway it did.
But when you add on to the factthat my husband's going through
this, and a couple of yearsbefore that, my father actually
had a heart attack and he wasjust 55.
And when he had his heartattack he didn't get a second
chance.
There was no okay, you had aheart attack.
Now you need to follow hearthealthy diet.
(06:27):
He was gone, he passed away.
There was no warning, and so,and and and on top of that, my
grandma, her husband, alsopassed away from you know
similar, similar situation.
And so I was looking at thislike I don't want to be like my
grandma, I don't want to be likemy mom.
I actually have a second chance.
What's in my power, what can Ido?
Because I thought we werefollowing a healthy diet, we
(06:49):
were losing weight.
So what is a diet that not onlyhelps you have a healthy weight
but also minimizes your risk ofheart disease, your risk of
stroke, your risk of otherchronic diseases?
And is there one?
Is there a diet plan that, ifyou follow you get all of those
benefits you know, not justweight loss?
(07:09):
And it really really made melook at food in such a different
perspective, because beforethen it was all about how do I
eat to lose weight, how do I eat?
And now it's like, ooh, how doI eat to, yes, have a healthy
weight, but also live thelongest life possible in the
healthiest way possible?
And what I found is that youhave to center your meals around
(07:31):
plants.
You don't have to be perfectlyvegan.
You don't have to be perfectlyvegetarian, you don't have to be
but you have to center yourmeals around plants.
And how do you do that?
And that was the other questiontoo.
It's like, well, but again Iwas given no direction besides
just avoid this, avoid this.
But it's like how do you eatmore fiber?
How do you?
Because the number one nutrientdeficiency in America right now
(07:54):
is fiber.
It's fiber, and fiber onlycomes from plants, and so we
clearly all need to beprioritizing plants.
But how?
How do you do that at breakfast?
How do you do that at lunch?
How do you do that dinner?
And I found that it's just asuper simple framework that
every time you look down at yourmeal, it's like okay, do I have
a fruit, do I have a vegetable,do I have a whole grain?
(08:15):
Because, again, plants arefruits, vegetables, whole grains
, nuts, seeds, legumes.
So am I consuming that in everysingle meal?
And that really transformed notonly our health.
My husband kept losing weight.
In fact, he lost even moreweight without trying.
After that, we finally not onlylost the baby weight, but now,
(08:36):
currently right now he's ahealthier weight than when we
got married, and he was nevereven overweight or obese, but
it's just prioritizing thoseplants.
It makes it so much easier.
You don't have to countcalories, but calories count,
and so the best way to not haveto count calories is to just eat
less calorie dense foods, whichare fruits and vegetables.
(08:57):
And then his triglycerides wentdown, his cholesterol went down
and, most importantly, afterfive months of eating more of a
plant forward diet not perfect,not perfectly vegan, not perfect
anyway but his vision came back, and so I'm like the proof is
in the results, is in the fruit,right.
And that for us was like okay,there's something here, and I
(09:18):
wish more people knew about itor realized the power in these
small and simple things.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Wow, that's a lot to unpack.
I mean, a lot happened to you,you know.
I mean just just starting fromyour husband being so young, I
mean, that's you know, having astroke in your thirties is not
something that most people Ithink I imagine even doctors are
not expecting most people.
I think I imagine, even doctorsare not expecting, you know,
(09:46):
and and so that.
So that alone must've been areal shock.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh yeah, they were like yeah, you're, this is not
something we see all the time,but it's happening more and more
.
That's the other thing they didsay.
While this is not very common,it is becoming more common than
it ever has been before.
Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not nutritionists
right, is becoming more commonthan it ever has been before.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and then you know, I mean, doctors are not
nutritionists, right?
So they're going to give youmedications, and that's what
they're good at, and they'regoing to tell you, just stop
eating saturated fat.
But what does that mean?
I mean, what does that mean andyou have six kids at home?
What does that mean when youwant to make dinner and feed
your entire family?
(10:26):
And so it sounds like you hadto really do a lot of your own
research.
And also you know that therewas no real obvious reason why
he had the stroke that you knowyou, so you could.
There was, like that felt, Iimagine, very out of your
control.
But the thing that is in all ofour controls is what we put
(10:49):
into our mouths every day.
Right, we all have to eat, and,and we have total control over
it, and that's great.
I mean, that's very powerful.
And so it sounds like you alsothen had a very powerful
experience because so muchimproved with your husband.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Right and, like I said, we're already improving.
But it was more than just theweight loss.
It was his cholesterol, it washis triglycerides.
There's so much more that youwant to be able to eat a diet
that isn't just helping you loseweight, it's also lowering the
cholesterol, and sometimes thatdoes go hand in hand, like no
question.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, so many people go on diets to right.
They're not thinking about theirhealth, they're thinking about
their weight loss Exactly, andI'm sure that the original diet
that you went on sounded healthyI mean when you were on social
media and all the influencersand macros and high protein, and
(11:48):
I mean it's dizzying and youget caught up in beliefs that
that's what we should be doing,but really it I, and I know this
for a fact too it all comesback to plant-based eating.
We have to eat plants, yes, andI think you know, like, talk to
(12:09):
me a little bit about this,because I know, for a lot of
women especially that I talk to,or just people in general, that
I mean I'm going to take thatback.
Men too, I mean, when I evenlike my, my grown sons, if I I
say like we're going to havetofu or something for dinner,
they're like I mean, they're soplant based kind of averse.
(12:31):
They need meat, you know, theyneed like Right, and I and I
think that there is a lot ofconfusion over what plant based
means.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That that it's just eating lettuce and kale and and
there's no protein in there andthere's no like it's not filling
and it's taste boring.
Did you feel like that when youfirst started on this journey?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Oh, 100%.
I think I was terrified of tofu, like I was, I've heard.
I believed all the things thateveryone said, plus cooking it
was it's a learning curve liketo actually make it taste good.
It definitely was a learningcurve, that's for sure.
And, and so I, but I did knowthis.
I, with a lot of the research,is like, yes, you, protein is
(13:15):
important, but right now we werelooking at healing, I wasn't
looking at building muscles.
You know, and I and I the moreresearch that I've done since
then was like it doesn't matterthe source of protein.
If you're trying to build moremuscle mass, you can get that
from plant protein, and plantshave all of the amino acids.
We just need a variety ofplants, and I think that that's
something that that, yes, it istrue what they say about protein
(13:37):
.
If you're looking to buildmuscle, it is important to
consume more, but it doesn'thave to be as high as we think
it is the research on do we needto be consuming one gram of
protein per pound of body weight?
Is that factually correct?
And the truth is, there is nodifference, at least not
statistically significant,between 0.8 grams of protein per
(14:01):
pound of lean body weight lean,not your current, your lean
body weight and one gram perpound.
While that doesn't sound like abig deal 0.8 to one I mean that
that little bit, instead ofputting so much protein on your
plate, you're missing out on theplants, you're missing out on
the fiber.
You're missing all these things.
And even just eating a littlebit less, not as high, and
adding in that fiber, that'swhat's going to help prevent
(14:23):
heart disease, prevent, you know, all of these other issues that
could be happening.
So we want to have balance ofprotein and fiber.
There's a lot of talk about theprotein and you can get it from
plants.
Uh, you do have to be moremindful and think about it.
Uh, you know when you'reconsuming and you and, but at
first we didn't, we didn't evenworry about that.
I was like I'm just going toswap out the meat for beans,
(14:44):
because I know the longevityresearch shows that if you eat
at least a cup of beans a day,it increases your lifespan by
four years.
And at that point I wanted myhusband's vision back.
I didn't care about hisrippling muscles, you know, it's
like let's just get you so youcan see.
And, and we added beans, so itwas just the easiest way to like
(15:04):
enter into this world isanytime I would be eating a
chicken base meal, like, let'ssay, cashew chicken, a recipe
that my family knows and loves.
I would just swap out thechicken for chickpeas.
That's it.
Is it less than protein?
Yes, but did it help get myhusband's vision back?
Yes, now I do think more aboutprotein.
But now I have figured out howto cook with tofu, how to cook
(15:29):
with tempeh, how to use soycurls and TVP and all these
things.
But that's like plant-basedeating.
You know, level two, I think atthe beginning, especially if
you're on a healing journey,it's just important to get the
plants in you.
And then level two is like,okay, what type of?
How can I mix up my protein?
And if it's chicken or fishevery once in a while, or eggs
or nonfat Greek yogurt, that'sokay.
Like that's the beauty of it.
You don't have to be vegan tosee the results, as long as
(15:50):
you're getting a variety ofplants, as long as you're
getting at least 30 differentplants in your diet within a
week.
Like that's where they foundthat you're going to have the
healthiest gut microbiome,that's where you're finding
those benefits.
So if you need to ease into itbefore you can really start to
transition.
And even if you stay at thatlevel, that's going to be so
much healthier than justfocusing on a heck of a ton of
(16:12):
protein, and especially animalprotein, because you're putting
yourself at risk of the numberone killer in America, which is
heart disease.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So, okay, many questions.
I want to go back a little bit,but let's talk about animal
protein and the detriments ofanimal protein, because I know
animal protein is a very quicksource of all the amino acids,
correct, right?
And when we eat a piece ofchicken, chicken breast, that
(16:41):
has all the amino acids, and soit's a very good source of
protein, not necessarily ofother things.
And when we eat plant-basedproteins, we want to make sure
that, like beans don't have allthe amino acids.
(17:02):
We want to combine them with,maybe a whole grain, right, and
that would so we want.
So you have to plan a littlebit more.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Well, and they've, they've, they've actually
discounted that.
I'm glad you brought this upbecause that's a that was a
thought.
But here's the cool thingThey've discounted that research
that as long as overall youhave a varied diet, you don't
need to think about eachindividual meal that your body
can pull from different aminoacids, even whatever's in your
gut Like it can pull from that.
So you don't have to thinkevery meal needs to be a
complete protein.
(17:29):
It's just eating a variety.
Overall you'll get a good mixand so that's nice.
You don't have to stress like,okay, in this one meal I
actually didn't get all nineessential amino acids.
No, your body can, it's smart,it can figure it out.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So you don't need it per meal.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, yeah, but in general, here's the thing that I
think a lot of people don'tunderstand, and that is they
think that you have to eatmuscle to gain muscle, and it's
not true.
Your body is going to separatethe animal muscle or the animal
protein into the nine essentialamino acids period and that's
the building blocks it will useto build the muscle, and whether
(18:04):
that comes from plants oranimal protein, it doesn't
matter.
Your body's still able to buildmuscle from that place.
But also, when you consumeanimal protein, it's not just
that what's in the food, it'show you're cooking the food.
And when you cook meat at hightemperatures and that's just pan
frying, that's grilling it,that's smoking it.
(18:26):
I know smokers are reallypopular right now.
You know to smoke your meat.
It tastes amazing, no question,but you're producing what's
called HCAs and PAHs on yourmeat and those are carcinogens.
They're carcinogenic.
And the grill marks on yourmeat that that's a carcinogen,
you know, and it's differentthan on the grill marks on
plants.
There's something about the DNAin animal meat versus grill
(18:49):
marks on plants that produces ahigher amount of these HCA's and
PAH's, or advanced glycationend products, age's, and that
creates more inflammation inyour body.
It's a carcinogen.
And when you're consuming theseday in and day out, even lunch
meats, lunch meats are processedmeat.
Processed meats are group onecarcinogen.
Bacon ham, you know, you thinklike, okay, it was Easter dinner
(19:12):
, I'm going to make ham, no bigdeal.
But really you're exposingyourself to a group one
carcinogen.
It's known to contribute tocolon cancer and and so many
other things that you areingesting in your body I think
we're not aware of, and everyonce in a while it's not a big
deal.
But when it's every day, two tothree times a day, you're
(19:33):
putting yourself at a greaterrisk of these things.
And right now heart disease isthe number one killer.
Number two is cancer and it'sgetting up there, it's inching
almost as high as heart disease.
So we just want to be moremindful that the protein we're
putting in our body.
Is it helping us live longer orcould it be hindering the
process?
And is there a better source ofprotein to get the same results
(19:56):
you want?
If it's more muscle, you can dothat from plant protein.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, we don't want to strive for perfect, because
there is no perfect, but toreally make the focus on this
plant-based protein and then, aswhat do you want to call it?
A treat or just an every oncein a while that you have
something animal protein is, Ithink, definitely the way that
(20:23):
we need to go.
And yes, heart disease andcancers are definitely rising.
I mean, they're not going away.
And the one thing I've saidthat before that we can control
that is in our control is whatwe put into our bodies and
that's our food, so we candefinitely have an influence
over that.
(20:44):
Let's talk about fiber.
You mentioned fiber at thebeginning, that it is the one
nutrient that is that we arereally really chronically low in
in this country.
Right, and I totally agree withyou and I almost see it more
like, maybe on social media,just things out in the universe
(21:08):
that there's such a focus ongetting protein.
We're so focused on this hyperamount of protein, especially
for women in midlife, becausewe're losing muscle and we
should be mindful of our protein, but no one's talking about
fiber.
I agree with you.
(21:28):
I mean, which is just thenumber one, I think, most
important nutrient as well.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat.
Was that something, when youhad the experience with your
husband, that came up for yourather than just like
(21:48):
plant-based, but more that fiber?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, and on the list that we were given to follow a
heart healthy diet.
It was like eat more fiber.
And the first thought that cameto my mind was so do I just go
to the store and buy like fiberone bars?
Like how do I do this?
And then I literally had to gohome and be like how do I eat
more fiber?
And it's like more fruits andvegetables.
Oh, fiber only comes fromfruits and vegetables.
Even the fiber in the fiber onebar came from a fruit or
(22:13):
vegetable, and there's two typesof fiber.
I think it's really important tounderstand there's insoluble
fiber and there's soluble fiber,and this is why it's really
unique.
There's a lot of peopledemonizing fruit, for example,
fiber, and this is why it'sreally unique.
There's a lot of peopledemonizing fruit, for example,
but fruit is generally higher ininsoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is what helpsyou feel full Like.
(22:34):
Think of chia seeds when youput them in water and how they
bulk up and turn into like apudding.
That's insoluble fiber, and Ilike to tell the people I work
with every time, at the end ofyour meal, especially lunch and
dinner, like to top it off witha piece of fruit.
That fruit is going to help youfeel more full.
It's going to give you like, bemore satiating because of that
insoluble fiber.
So if it's an apple after lunch, you know, or an orange after
dinner, whatever it is, thatfruit is key in helping you not
(22:57):
to overeat.
And the second thing is theinsoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is think of itlike the bones of a plant.
That's going to be how it staysupright.
Plants don't have bones, theyhave fiber, especially that
insoluble fiber.
The cool thing about that is,when you consume insoluble fiber
, it acts like a scrub brush.
(23:17):
It goes throughout yourdigestive tract and just scrubs
it out.
It helps clean things out, andwhat it's pulling out is excess
estrogen, which is reallyimportant around this time in
our life, right, excess hormones.
It's also pulling out excesscholesterol, and every time it
gives you bulk to your stool,and every time you go number two
(23:40):
, you have a bowel movement.
Your liver has to usecholesterol to help with make
bile, and so that's why whenyou're consuming more plants, it
just naturally lowers yourcholesterol because you're
having to use more cholesterolto go to the bathroom more often
.
So there's so many benefitsjust from that.
But on top of it, we didn'tunderstand much about the gut
(24:00):
microbiome before around 2006,because we just didn't have the
technology.
It'd be like going outside atnighttime looking up at the sky
and seeing the stars with yournaked eye.
We see stars, but we don'tunderstand the depth of that.
And around 2006, we finally hadthe technology to understand
the depth of your gut microbiome.
What we saw with our naked eye,now we see with a microscope
(24:23):
and can see all of your microbesthat are there, your gut
microbes.
And what happens is when youeat fiber, it's like their
favorite food, and thesemicrobes produce what's called
short chain fatty acids.
Short chain fatty acids areacetate, butyrate, propionate,
and they're known to gothroughout your body to help
strengthen your gut lining, tohelp you feel full, to help
(24:44):
reduce your risk of cancer, tohelp reduce your risk of heart
disease.
They are like magic fairies thatgo throughout your body and
just help you reduceinflammation.
They are the most antiinflammatory molecules yet
discovered.
And that only happens when youeat fiber.
And that only happens when youeat plants.
And that's why, instead ofplanning our meals around okay,
(25:04):
well, what's the meat, what'sthe protein how about we first
think, well, what are the plantsthat I'm going to be eating,
and then maybe I can do a sidedish of you know of of protein,
or just at least make sure I'mgetting adequate protein.
But when it comes to older age,we're so focused on the protein
.
But really what matters most isstrength training, because you
can't eat your way to biggermuscles.
(25:25):
You can't.
You have to do the strengthtraining, especially for women
over 40, in order to maintainthe muscle mass.
It's not just the protein thatyou're eating.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
That's a very good point.
I know that that we're all so Imean, I just see it so
hyper-focused on protein, butyou have to actually move your
body and get yourself strong andyou could eat all the protein
in the world and it wouldn'tmake a difference unless you're
actually moving and doingsomething.
Right.
(25:55):
So back to fiber for a second.
Yeah, I mean, there's so muchabout our microbiome that is
just coming up and that we stilldon't know a lot about, you
know, but we do know that plantsfeed your microbiome in a
healthy way.
What are your feelings on fiberfrom cereals and powders and
(26:21):
you know, those quick sources offiber?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
and powders and those quick sources of fiber.
Yeah, I think they still aregreat.
You're still going to get thebenefits of the fiber, but
you're not getting the benefitsof what the other molecules that
plants offer.
For example, if you were to eatan orange, yes, you'll get the
fiber and you'll get the vitaminC and you'll get the
polyphenols and you'll get theantioxidants.
So when you separate it, you'rejust getting the fiber.
Is that better than no fiber?
100%?
Will that help you stay full?
(26:48):
Yes, will it help minimize yourblood sugar spikes?
Yes, in fact, I wore acontinuous blood sugar monitor
on my arm and I justexperimented for two weeks.
It was so fun and I wanted tosee okay, if I eat vegetable, if
I have a salad before eatingpizza, how does that influence
my blood sugar spike?
Yes, it 100% minimize my bloodsugar spike.
It's like, okay, well now whatif I have just a fiber
(27:11):
supplement?
Will it minimize my blood sugarspike?
Yes, 100%, it minimized myblood sugar spike.
But what's the differencebetween the salad and just the
fiber supplement is I'm gettingthe extra nutrients, the
polyphenols, the antioxidants,like all these other extras in
the actual whole food form.
So I think any step towardshealth is going to be a step
(27:31):
towards health, but why take alittle baby step when you can
take leaps and bounds by justeating full plant foods, you
know?
And so, in that sense, wealways want to prioritize plants
, and then supplements cansupplement, which is exactly
what it's for.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
It can supplement an already healthy plant forward
diet and I mean that'ssupplement.
That should not be the focus onyour diet as the food source
Right.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Which is interesting.
I will say this withplant-based foods.
The one downside to plant-basedfoods is that it does come with
fiber, and so sometimes, forexample, if you're just using
beans for your protein, yourbody may not absorb all of the
protein in those beans becauseof the fiber.
Like, the fiber is going tohelp it run through your system
a lot faster, so so sometimesthese supplements like if you're
(28:31):
having a plant-based proteinpowder or even a whey-based
protein powder your body willabsorb all of that protein,
versus one that is paired with alot of fiber.
Your body may not absorb all ofit.
So if you are really concernedabout that and the older you are
, the less effective yourdigestive system is, the less
appetite you have.
You know you're maybe you'renot eating as much just because
(28:52):
you lost your appetite.
So that's where the supplementscan come in handy.
And, yes, we want to make sureyou're getting adequate protein.
So in that case, eat your beansand have, have a little bit of
protein powder so that you'regetting your needs met.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Are there protein powders that you like better
than others?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yes, but I also feel like they all are fine as long
as they have been third-partytested to make sure there's no
heavy metals.
I think that's important.
But anyone that you like theflavor, I really love a variety
of different brands Like I'mfine with as long as I feel like
it's been third-party tested,then I'll.
I'll consume a variety.
I get a lot of, I think, justjust just having a YouTube
(29:33):
channel like people reach out toyou and say, hey, can I send
you this?
I'm like yeah, sure, so I'vetried a bunch of different ones
and I think they all are great,like there's none that I'm like
okay, there have been a couplethat are disgusting, but in
general, as long as you like theflavor of it, it's great.
And sometimes, like I said, forpeople, I want to make sure that
every time you look down atyour meal you're getting a fruit
, a vegetable whole grain and aprotein source.
(29:55):
And sometimes in a plant-baseddiet that protein source isn't
going to be adequate.
So you can almost like have adessert of, say, a banana and
some protein powder mixed upwith water.
It's a delicious dessert, a wayto top it off so that you feel
full and you're also gettingadequate protein, where maybe
your lentils and rice and veggiedish just didn't have as much
(30:15):
as you might need.
I always tell women at leastlook at your plate, make sure
there's at least 20 grams, 20grams of protein total, and if
you can't get it from justplants, then yeah, that's okay
to use a supplement.
It's okay.
You're not going to do it withevery meal, you don't need to do
it every single time, but maybeat the end of the day, just to
make sure you hit at least 60grams of protein in that day.
Then it's a great way so thatyou're not deficient.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
So that's a good question.
So you're telling women tofocus on 20 grams of protein
here and you know 60 grams total.
If you're just starting out,just like many of my clients,
you know, and they don't evenknow what a gram of protein is,
how do you start that with them?
How do you just give that firstlike introduction as to like
(31:01):
how to know what your plateshould look like?
And you know, just have an ideaof like I'm looking at my plate
and I have quarter of it isbeans of some chickpeas.
How do I know that's 20 gramsof protein?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, there's definitely some tricks to the
trade.
Once you look it up you cankind of figure it out, but
usually it's like a cup of beans, which is kind of a lot.
You know, like a, so a cup ofbeans, you're going to get 20
grams.
But here's the thing when youcombine whole grains with beans
like say, you have quinoa andyou have beans, then there's a
decent amount of protein inquinoa, so you don't have to eat
as many beans.
So it is kind of theaccumulation and I love
(31:40):
technology and it's like why notutilize it for your good?
So I will tell chat GPT here'sthe recipe that I just made how
much protein is in my serving.
It's so quick, it's so fast.
And then it's like oh okay,it's good to know you don't.
Again, you want at least 60grams.
We want to get the RDA versusthe recommended daily allowance.
For most women that's anywherebetween 50 to 60.
I always say aim a littlehigher just to make sure that
(32:02):
you're getting it.
Again, this is adequate protein.
This is not a high protein diet.
This is just making sure thatyou're feeling satiated, you're
getting adequate protein, and soyou just put your food into
chat GPT without having to put alot of energy into it, just to
see kind of where you're at.
I always tell people just keeptrack for three days, keep track
of what are you eating, youknow, and make sure one of those
(32:28):
days is on a weekend, becausesometimes our weekends can be
totally different than whatwe're eating during the day,
during the week.
And then you have an idea ofkind of the things that you're
eating over and over, like Iknow my oatmeal, for example.
My oatmeal has about 10 gramsof protein total without me
doing much.
But so then I'll add 10 gramsof protein powder, so half of a
scoop of protein powder, and Iknow I'm hitting my 20 grams.
So that's a great way.
Where it's like, okay, I'm notgetting enough with just oatmeal
(32:50):
and berries, and I like frozenrice cauliflower in my oatmeal
too, so that's my vegetable.
And then for lunch, again, I'lldo the same thing.
Well, this is what I had forlunch.
Maybe I just need to have alittle bit of dessert of Greek
yogurt and berries afterwards,and so you can add that in.
Or if you're completely vegan,you can do plant-based yogurt
(33:13):
but add in some protein powderto the plant-based yogurt.
I wish they had Greekplant-based yogurt.
That's a whole other topic foranother day.
But they don't, and sosometimes you can do the protein
powder there or just Greekyogurt For dinner.
Same thing.
It's like okay, usually ifyou're consuming a little bit of
tofu or tempeh or TVP, you'regoing to hate your protein.
(33:33):
But if you're just using beans,you might either have to eat
more beans or add more of aprocessed protein source like a
protein powder.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Okay, Okay, you just mentioned TVP, so that's
something from my way past, likeback in, like I actually
haven't even heard thatmentioned in years.
Which is textured vegetableprotein?
Right yeah, proteins that Ithink a lot of people don't
(34:05):
think about, like seitan, tofu,tempeh how do you get people to,
how do you get your clients tobe open to that?
Because I mean, I know for me,when I mentioned the word tofu
to so many people and I lovetofu and I've been eating it my
whole life and I love it becauseit's so versatile.
(34:30):
I mean, it's really so versatile.
So, and that's the good thingabout it, and it's high in, it's
great protein and-.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
So many nutrients?
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
And so many nutrients and calcium and there's so many
other things that come with it.
But how do you, how do you getyour clients to be open to
trying tofu?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
So tofu is, I think, an obvious one, but I don't know
if people, most people, evenknow about tempeh and seitan and
these are, yeah, these arethings that I I mean when I went
to cooking school, like whenyou know, like this is how I
learned about them, cookingschool.
Like when you know, like thisis how I learned about them.
That was years ago.
So how do you get your yourclients to to be open?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Well, I started with the not cause.
A lot of people are like tofu,the tech, they can't do the
texture.
So I cream tofu, I just put itin my blender and turn it into
like mostly like a cream, andthen I add in maple syrup and I
add in like coconut extract andall of a sudden I'm eating the
most delicious coconut highprotein yogurt.
You know like it's a great wayto have a high protein yogurt is
(35:33):
just blend tofu, just blend it.
If you think about it, this iswhat I tell my clients.
A lot of them can't get overthe soy thing.
First of all, a lot of thatresearch has been disproven.
I mean, look at it.
Tofu has been consumed for over2000 years in Asian countries.
If there was an issue with tofu, if it really did create man
boobs, do you think we wouldhave discovered that like in
these Asian countries 2000 yearsago?
(35:54):
Yes and heck, I would love itif it could create boobs for me.
I would absolutely love it.
That's not the case, right?
It's not something to be fearedand if so, it would be the most
popular supplement on themarket if it was true.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I mean the link between breast cancer and soy
has definitely been debunked.
I know, but that belief stilllingers.
I know that it does.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
It does, and they've actually found that it's quite
the opposite.
The soy should be your breastfriend, like.
It is so good for breast health, for reducing your risk of
breast cancer, but in general.
So you can start with soy milkright, just like I really.
I swapped out regular milk foralmond milk at first, but it's
so low in protein that I startedexperimenting with soy milk and
(36:36):
now I consume soy.
My husband still doesn't likethe taste of it, but the rest of
my family love it, so that's areally easy way.
It's nutritionally equivalentto cow's milk.
Soy milk and cow's milk verynutritionally equivalent.
But I like to tell my clientsthink about it.
On a standard American dietyou're eating milk for breakfast
, you're probably having cheesein your lunch, maybe like a
(36:57):
sandwich, and then for dinneryou're having something with
cream in it.
You just consumed how manyservings of dairy and you're
worried about one serving of soy.
If you really think about it,we're eating the same food over
and over and over in a differentway when it comes to dairy,
like whether then on top of thatyogurt, then on top of that.
So it's like why don't we justmix it up?
Why don't we just add in oneserving of soy.
(37:19):
It's not going to hurt you,it's going to help you.
And if you need to consume itin a different form, just like
there's cheese and then there'scream, you can take soy, you can
take tofu and you can mix itinto like a yogurt.
I really like a tofu Alfredosauce that I make.
It's delicious, it's creamy.
So instead of using cream forAlfredo, I'm just using tofu.
(37:40):
It's higher in protein, it'sbetter for you, it's lower in
saturated fat.
So experiment with otherrecipes that aren't just the
typical cubed tofu version,because a lot of people just
cannot handle the texture, and Iget that.
And then, when it comes tothings like TVP, it's such a
great way to save money.
Like TVP, just throw it in.
Just throw in a fourth of a cupinto your rice.
(38:03):
You know you have to rehydrateit.
So what TVP is texturevegetable protein is when you
make, like soy, a soy based oil,you they take the beans and
they separate the oil and thenwhat's left is this high protein
substance that can't be turnedinto tofu, because tofu or soy
curls.
They maintain the whole soybean, um, but soy chunks and TVP
(38:25):
have the oil separated from it.
It's kind of the by-product ofmaking oil and the cool thing is
it's super high in protein andlow in fat and so you can just
add a little bit.
In fact, back in the day youprobably heard of this you know
when you would make like groundbeef, people would put in half
TVP with your ground beef andthat's actually incredibly
(38:45):
health promoting.
It makes the food go longer.
So if that's what you need todo at first, do that.
Try that out.
It makes the ground beef gofurther and be healthier for you
.
And some people don't like itbecause it's processed.
But I'm like, if you're eatingprocessed protein powders, how
are you against TVP?
Because it's less of a processand it's a whole food that just
(39:07):
has the oil taken out of it,like the fat taken out of
defatted.
It's actually defatted, soyflour is what it is.
So it and it's.
You just rehydrate it.
It's flavorless.
That's a problem with tofu, um,and with soy things and even
seitan.
They're all completelyflavorless.
You have to add in the flavorand if you do that right, once
you figure that out, it's likeit can be delicious.
But you have to add it in.
(39:28):
You can't just eat it plain.
It's disgusting, it'sflavorless, just like eating a
chicken breast without anythingon it.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
You're like it's not that great, right?
Exactly, yeah, right.
And that is the good thingabout it is that something like
tofu can take on a variety ofdifferent flavors.
But yes, people just need to bemore open to it and willing, I
guess.
So now you've got a family ofsix kids, I'm sure with a
(39:55):
variety of pickiness and youknow and taste, preferences and
everything.
How did that go for you whenyou transitioned to?
You know, probably out ofchicken nuggets and into other
plant-based foods.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Right.
It's funny because kidscomplain about food no matter
what, and that's what I realized.
Like I would make meals beforeand they'd complain about it.
Then I make meals now.
They complain about it.
They're going to complain.
That's just kids.
But what was fascinating isseeing the difference in their
health.
Like, for example, I had adaughter before my husband's
stroke.
She would just eat chickennuggets and cucumbers, like, and
(40:35):
mac and cheese, Like that washer favorite thing.
And I was surviving with twins.
I was not thinking about herhealth.
I was like, okay, if that'swhat you want to eat, sure I'll
make that, you know.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
And I remember thinking I thought I'd be a much
healthier mom than this, but Ijust I'm in survival mode Like I
just can't.
Six kids is a lot.
I mean I had three kids andthat was a lot, so six kids is
like a juggle yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, especially when you have twin babies, like
let's be honest, it's rough.
It's rough Like there's so muchgoing on and there's so much.
So then afterwards, when we'restarting to eat more plants, I
just stopped buying the chickennuggets and so I would, and she
would eat rice.
So it was like she was eating alot more brown rice and then a
lot more beans.
And this child, it wasfascinating.
(41:16):
Her hair, it like she startedgrowing twice the amount of hair
.
So she looked like a lion, likeshe had kind of thin hair and
then all of a sudden she's likegrowing like almost a second
head of hair out of it and Ihave pictures.
I'm like this is insane and youcould see like the growth of it
, like just having her eat moreplants, like what it did for for
(41:38):
her hair.
You know it was, it was wildand to this day she has the
thickest, most beautiful hair ofall time.
But she's more picky than myother kids.
So I would make a meal and I say, okay, that's fine, if you
don't want to eat it, then youcan have a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich.
I'm not cooking another meal,you know, you can grab something
from the fridge and sosometimes that drives me nuts,
because sometimes I'll be likeI'm just gonna have a sandwich.
(41:58):
No, I made dinner, eat mydinner.
But in general I wasn't makingtwo meals.
I wasn't going to accommodatethat.
I was like this is we're doingthis for your dad.
We want to make sure that heyou know he's healthy, and we're
all going along with it.
And they would ask mom, whatare you gonna buy?
When are you going to buy morecheese?
I'm like oh yeah, I forgot,I'll get to it later.
I was never like we're nevergoing to have cheese again.
And I still, to this, know I goto like a church event and they
(42:25):
have all this food left over.
Like I'll take it home and I'lllet them eat it.
I'm not very strict on like youcan never eat this again, and I
think that's really importantis to give them that flexibility
.
It's just like this is the foodthat I'm providing, this is the
food that I'm cooking and andyou can take it or leave it
Right.
But most of the time they'rehungry and they're.
It's amazing how adaptable kidsare.
(42:46):
You'd be surprised that whenit's the only option, like over
time, they do change their tastebuds.
They are going to start likingthings that they didn't like
before.
They may never like tomatoes,but they'll like tomato sauce,
you know, or whatever.
Like it's crazy how, indifferent forms, they they
they're more adaptive to it, butthey'll still complain.
It's never going to go away.
They'll still be like I don'tlike this dinner.
(43:06):
And you just, you know and andhonestly, I have started, I was
really.
We were really healthy at first, and now, as I've started a
business and I'm doing all thesethings, I will buy, like the,
the plant-based chicken nuggetsthat I really liked, the
Morningstar brand, and theyhonestly, I think they taste
exactly the same.
So my kids don't feel likethey're missing out on anything.
I'm like these literally tasteexact same, and sometimes not
(43:29):
every day not it wasn't like Iwas in the past, but like on a
Friday night, instead of gettingpizza.
Like, yes, guys, we'll eat thisand I'll cut up some potatoes,
we'll have that in fries, butit's such a healthier variety
(44:11):
no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
A little flexibility, but.
But the but the mindset and theknowing that this is what is
best for your health, I think isso important.
This is not just about losingweight and gaining muscle and
all that, but it's your overallhealth, exactly.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, you have a really great example of your
husband and your daughter's hair.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
It's wild.
It's wild, and I think that'slike the message too.
Just by small and simple things, great things come to pass,
right, and I think, when itcomes to nutrition, the small
and simple things are just eat avegetable, eat a fruit, eat a
whole grain with every meal.
Make sure you have 20 grams ofprotein.
It's so simple, we all know it,but are we doing it?
(45:07):
This is nothing groundbreaking,this is nothing like I've come
up with this new diet plan.
No.
And are we eating a vegetablewith breakfast?
Probably not.
Are we eating a fruit afterlunch and dinner?
Probably not.
But those small, simple things.
They'll help you lose weight.
They'll help you maintain ahealthy weight and making sure
that you're getting at least theRDA protein help you feel more
(45:28):
satiated.
And adding more beans is goingto help you live a longer life
and you're getting the varietyof antioxidants, polyphenols and
all these things.
You're going to get the cold,like a common cold, less
frequently because you'restrengthening your immune system
, like.
There's just so many benefits toto prioritizing plants first
and then, if you want, to have alittle bit of animal products.
(45:48):
In fact, there was a study, soDr Greger is like one of the
biggest plant-based doctors andI was at a medical conference
and I heard him say somethingoff the cuff that I'm like, oh
my gosh.
He just said that Becausepeople always want to know, like
, how much meat or animalproducts can I have without it
having a negative effect on mydiet?
And off the cuff he was likewell, pretty much five servings
(46:09):
a month isn't going to changeyour health outcomes.
That much.
That's once a week.
That's having meat once a week.
No big deal.
It was interesting and I thinkthere's a lot of nuance to that.
Some have shown that, okay,well, maybe fatty fish will be a
little bit healthier than,obviously, red meat, maybe that.
But there's, there's a lot ofnuance in food for sure.
But I think everyone agreesthat if you just prioritize
(46:32):
plants you're going to be in agood spot, you know, especially
when it comes to longevity.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
So we'll have to come up with something that's
equivalent to, like, meatlessMonday, because that's been such
a big thing right, like as longas you're eating meatless once
a week which doesn't even makesense, right, because we should
be eating meatless six days aweek and maybe you'll have meat
once a week, so there should besome kind of a like meat Sundays
(46:59):
, right.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And back in the day, like a couple hundred years ago,
like the poor people, that wasa poor person's diet.
They could only afford meatonce a week.
Turns out that's actually morehealth promoting Right.
Yes For celebrations, specialoccasions, things like that.
Like the blue zones, people wholive in the blue zones they're
not all completely vegan.
They do eat meat sparingly,Sparingly means occasionally a
(47:21):
little bit to like flavor thedish, but it's not the main
force.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Exactly, yeah, and that's actually one.
Our last good point is thatit's expensive to eat animal
products.
Right, it's so much cheaper toeat, and rice is nothing.
I mean, you buy dried beans andyou buy a package of brown rice
.
It's like a couple dollars.
Yeah, it's so much moreeconomical.
Oh yeah, it really is.
(47:45):
So All's really.
It's so much more economical?
Oh, yeah it really is so ali,thank you so much.
I really appreciate you umtalking with me about your story
and and the benefits ofplant-based eating.
This has been, I think, reallygreat and to show that it's not
that difficult to to do thisright.
(48:07):
You have a family of six,you're a busy mom and you can.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
You are doing it, so that's great, and the reason I'm
doing it is because you don'thave to be perfect.
Plant-based doesn't meanperfect.
I am.
I have a vegan YouTube channeland I am not completely vegan,
like.
It just shows you that like,even though, yes, I have it that
way, cause when people aresearching up recipes, it's just
like a common search term isvegan, but you can find the
health benefits without havingto be perfect.
(48:35):
It's not all or nothing.
It really isn't.
Speaker 1 (48:38):
Yeah, that's great, good, good last words.
How can people get in touchwith you?
Speaker 2 (48:43):
So the easiest way to find me is on YouTube.
You can search plant wise.
So I named my business plantwise because I like to teach the
why behind eating more plants.
So W-H-Y-S yes, I was going tosay that W-H-Y-S right, w-h-y-s
yeah.
So I'm on YouTube for plantwise for any recipes I have.
In fact, the last recipe I justfilmed yesterday was $2 vegan
(49:05):
meals that my kids will actuallyeat.
There's just so many greatideas that work and that have
worked for our family.
If you want delicious recipes,or even just go to my website,
plantwisecom.
My most popular recipe iscalled lasagna soup.
Every non-meat eater loves it.
It's a great option.
So I have recipes there.
I also have my membership whereI help women who coach them
(49:29):
through it, because at the endof the day, you know what to eat
, but why you're not eating islike a whole different thing why
you're not eating that way isso many layers right Emotional
eating, like all of these otherlayers and so we help pull back
those layers and really supportyou and help you through the
process of doing what youalready know you need to do.
But we give you that additionalsupport and help and guidance
(49:51):
through my membership.
So anyone who's listening tothis, I'm happy to give them a
free 30-day trial if they wouldlove to learn more about that
membership, and I'll give youthat link, Heather, that you can
include in your show notes.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
Great Well, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Yeah, it's an honor being here.
Thank you so much for having.
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