"Everything you need to thrive you can get on a plant based diet"
Join me and my guest plant-based nutritionist and the proud owner of Yumfu, Callum Weir. His vegan journey began out of ethical considerations, but it quickly evolved as he witnessed firsthand the numerous health benefits of a plant-based diet. This revelation sparked a new passion for nutrition and highlighted the connection between our diet and overall well-being.
Callum gives us his unique perspective on nutrition as he is from England, but now lives in Australia. Together, we have a great conversation dispelling common myths like our favorite, "you can't get enough protein eating nothing but plants". Welcome Callum!
If you want to connect with Callum, visit the following:
Instagram: @yumfu.life
Website: www.yumfu.life
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Plant-Centered and Thriving
Podcast.
I'm your host, ashley Kitchens.
I'm a plant-based registereddietitian and virtual nutrition
mentor.
I was raised on an Angus CattleFarm, grew up with a lot of GI
issues and used the power ofplant-based eating to promote
healing.
Here you'll find inspiration,ideas and encouragement for your
(00:23):
own plant-based journey.
I'm so thrilled you're heretoday.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the showPlant-Centered Listener.
My name is Ashley and I am yourhost today, and I am so excited
that you're here for anotherstory of how someone went
plant-based and he also happensto be a plant-based nutritionist
(00:44):
.
So you bet that we get intothose common questions when it
comes to going plant-based, likehow to even respond to where do
you get your protein, whetheror not you should worry about it
.
We also talk about soy and ifsoy is safe to eat and, if so,
how much.
What does it actually mean tobe plant-based and what's the
difference between goingplant-based and being vegan?
(01:05):
I really enjoyed ourconversation there.
We also talk about doesplant-based contain all the
nutrients you need?
So we go through these thingsat the end, but first we talk
about Callum's story, and beforewe dive into that, I do want to
introduce Callum, who is aplant-based nutritionist and the
proud owner of Yumfoo, and he'salso a journalist contributing
(01:28):
to various vegan magazines,probably some that you've seen
or even read yourself.
His vegan journey began out ofethical considerations, which we
talked about, and it quicklyevolved as he witnessed
firsthand the numerous healthbenefits of a plant-based diet.
This revelation sparked hispassion for nutrition further
(01:51):
than it was already,highlighting the intricate
connection between the foodsthat we're eating and our
overall well-being.
Now Callum helps others achievetheir health and fitness goals
by navigating the empoweringworld of plant-based nutrition.
Callum goes through his story.
He talks about a wild incidentthat happened in Budapest that
(02:13):
just further pushed him towardsgoing plant-based.
So please join me in welcomingCallum to the show.
Callum, welcome to the show.
I am so excited that you'rehere today.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an absolute pleasure to behere.
I'm actually really excited.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yay, well, I was so excited, so we know each other
from Instagram basically, which,I feel like, is how we're a lot
of our plant-based friends hangout not necessarily in real
life but online, but you'rebased in.
You're currently in Australiaright now, right.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I'm currently in Sydney.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I know obviously a little bit about you, what you
do, but I would love for you tokind of just explain more what
you like, a little bit aboutyourself and what you do.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I own Yumfoo, which is aplant-based nutrition company.
I am a plant-based nutritionist, however, never intended to be
a plant-based nutritionist.
I was never on the cards.
I don't even know how I gothere myself, to be fair.
However, growing up, I grew upwith my mum as a vegetarian and
(03:17):
I grew up with my dad as a meateater.
However, my mum slowly as Ican't remember the age I was
maybe 10, 11, went back toeating me.
So I knew what vegetarians were, because I know from a very
young age people aren't too surewhat a vegetarian is or a vegan
.
That didn't exist.
I had no idea and basicallyfrom there.
So I knew what it was and Ijust carried on eating meat as
(03:41):
you do.
But you grow up with it andyou're kind of like I was having
issues and I didn't have thatcognitive dissonance.
It was there because at somepoints I knew what was happening
and at some points I just kindof ignored it and I was like you
know, here's what it is and youjust don't really do anything
about it.
And then there was a few kindof standout moments that I
(04:02):
remember along the way of goingout and meeting other people
that are like my teenagers, andsomebody was wearing like a
peter t-shirt Is it Peter, peter, one of the two, I don't know
how you pronounce it.
It was like a little cartoonchicken saying I don't want to
be a nugget and I was likethat's really cool, I love that.
And asked a few questions andthis girl was a vegetarian and I
(04:24):
was like, okay, and I was veryopen to eating a more vegetarian
lifestyle and I always wantedto go along that way, but never
did anything about it.
I think it was just in my mindand skip forward a few years.
I then kind of opened up to theidea of it again and started
eating more vegetarian foods andI was like you know what?
I'm going to go vegetarian.
(04:45):
But vegetarian in my mind waspescetarian.
At that time, however, I waslike you know what?
I'm actually going to cut outall animals now, so going to cut
out the fish.
And then I was like vegetarian,that's fine, I'll be fine.
And then I was in Budapest withmy friends and all of a sudden,
I ate this like veggie burgerwith a lot of cheese on it and I
(05:08):
feel sorry for my friends thatwere there at that time, because
that is when I realized Ibecame lactose intolerant, and
severely.
I was probably lactoseintolerant beforehand, but
there's something on a cheesethat just ruined me and I was
like, okay, like I need to run,and this is in a public place,
so it was very embarrassing.
(05:28):
So I went to my mates are youokay?
I'm like I am not okay, like Idon't know how I'm feeling.
This is horrible.
And at this time I didn'trealize this was the cheese.
I was like maybe it's just theburger, but I was like it's
harder to get food poisoningfrom a burger made out of beans.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yes, and usually it doesn't like happen for like
hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
It sounds like this was like fairly soon after it
was maybe like 10, 20 minuteslater.
So I hadn't even had time todigest the food and I was like I
am in pain.
So that settled down after awhile.
Like there was like a lot ofpain.
I took some tablets and I waslike you know, we're good to go
and I just carried on.
(06:12):
My day.
Next day did exactly the samething and I was like, oh my God,
what's going on.
So I then kind of got home, Iwent to a doctor and they were
like you're probably lactoseintolerant.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Like it's very likely that you're lactose intolerant.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And I was like, okay, that's given me that push to
then cut out trees.
And I was then herring aroundmy friends that were still more
in a vegan lifestyle and I waslike, just cut out the eggs,
just don't have that idea.
I wasn't a massive fandom inthe first place and that's how
that happened.
That's how I kind of became avegan.
(06:46):
And then I was then getting allthose questions.
So I was like you know, youknow where do you get your
protein, things like that.
And from that I was like youknow what?
I'm going to delve intonutrition, because I was always
also a yo-yo diet.
When I was younger, I wasn't inthe best shape or anything like
that.
I would just go from like trendto trend to trend and see what
(07:07):
works, and nothing ever worked.
Either way, it's a loose bit,you know.
Gain it back.
So I started to delve intonutrition, studied that and then
all of a sudden after I waslike I'm not going to do
anything with this, this is formyself.
And next thing I know I've gota business.
That's amazing, that's how thathappened.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So this, like it changes, sounds like it started
with the pita shirt.
I mean, obviously your mom wasvegetarian for a little while.
Then that pita shirt, like kindof you know, triggered
something.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, I think as well with a from that age as well, I
did see, I saw that pita shirtand then I saw the.
I saw a few animal videosonline, like you know, the
slaughterhouse videos and stuff.
They don't particularly want tosee, but they stay in your mind
.
So I was also very aware ofwhat was going on and it was
(07:58):
just that shit, that shift thatneeded to happen and
unfortunately it did take a fewmore years after that, but it
does for some, it does for a lotof people.
You have to keep keep likethings need to happen for that
to happen, and so that workedout for me.
So, yeah, it was the pita shirtand then it was the
(08:20):
slaughterhouse videos back thenand they kind of stayed in my
mind and I was always very opento foods.
I didn't want to eat meat inthe first place and I thought I
had to eat meat, because I hadto eat meat is how I was going
to.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Of course yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Literally the only reason I was still eating it at
this point was, at this pointthere wasn't the alternatives
that there is now, and I wasn't.
I wasn't aware of the beans andlagoons and that protein,
because that's also not given toyou as general knowledge as the
young person.
So I'm like, oh, if I don't eatanything, I'm going to die, I'm
going to die, and so, yeah,that's how that's how it started
(08:54):
.
So it was really from an ethicalstandpoint.
But then I think the the thenwhen the electrocintolera came
in, it became more of a healthstandpoint as well, and then
later on down the line thenutrition came along as well for
that.
So that was very much on health.
But the ethical side was theside that I went with first, as
(09:14):
much as I didn't really know itat the time.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Right, right, yeah, absolutely.
I want to go back to the beansthing really quickly, because I
feel like, growing up, the onlything that we're taught as a kid
with beans is that they justmake you gassy and that's it so,
and then there's no desire toeat them.
So, like, well, I don't want to, you know, be passing gas in
class.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So yeah, there's.
So a very English tradition isbeans on toast as well, so we
grew up with this constantly,but we're only told that, like
it doesn't give you gas, itdoesn't really.
There's not much else to it asbread butter, you know, cheese
and beans.
That is what it is, and itsounds very bland and boring to
the rest of the world, but it islike a superior food is
(09:52):
incredible it's.
It's made me have to do it,right, however.
So I was eating that and justkind of, you don't, you don't
know that there's protein in it,but it doesn't say.
It says on the back of a can,but no one's reading the back of
a can of beans off the time.
So, yeah, I just I was like, oh, this is there's nothing.
There's nothing in these.
(10:12):
These are just kind of like youknow, your, as you would your
your salad or anything else thatyou'd kind of have as a side.
You just think of them as aside dish.
Yeah, yep, and that was, yeah,it didn't really think anything
of it, and then later in thatline of like, oh, these things
are keeping me alive.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Heck, yes, oh, my goodness, and I feel like we
need to take Callum's advice andmaybe go try some like really
good beans on toast when we goto a restaurant or, you know,
find an English restaurant ormake them ourselves and do it
right.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I've seen a few videos where people I assume
they're doing it right and Ithink there's ways to really
annoy an English person.
And that's making tea wrong,and that's making beans and
toast wrong.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
How was that?
Because you were in the UK atthe time when you went
vegetarian and then vegan, likehow was that transition?
Because I know, yeah, theoptions weren't great back then.
But how did you kind of findthings as you went along?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So going along like.
Luckily, I knew people thatwere vegetarian and we had two
kind of like alternative brandshere and that was corn and that
was linen carton as well, andthat really the only two things
that existed.
You could get like a bean andchickpea burger and things like
that, which most people turnnose upon, but I actually really
like those things.
They I sometimes I don't wantan alternative or didn't want an
(11:32):
alternative.
I wanted something that waskind of a fail, healthier.
So back then it was very much.
There wasn't cheeses.
All these things were startstarting to kind of like
gradually grow, but there wasn'treally anything around us like
yet as veggie burgers, maybeveggie nuggets and then your
(11:53):
kind of whole foods.
So I really kind of stuck tothe whole foods.
I had a lot of love for tofuthat appeared.
I was like, well, this is goingto be awful.
And now my favorite food.
And then Tempeh startedexisting in the UK and I was
(12:15):
eating a lot of that.
I still would have had thealternatives at that point when
they started gradually coming in, but then I realized I wasn't
too overly keen on the taste ofthem.
Like, I eat them once in awhile, but if I want a.
If I wanted a burger, I didn'twant a burger.
The taste it like somethingthat I was trying to move away
from at that point.
(12:36):
So then, yeah, there wasn'treally.
So when those things came in Ididn't really I try them, but
most of the time I kind of leavethem.
But I was quite happy.
I'm quite a simplistic eater aswell.
So like for me, tofu, beans,rice and think like just the
other bits like UK on stuff onthe side which sounds like some
(12:56):
people would not know, but to meI'm so happy with that.
Like I'm very simple when itcomes to my food and that's fine
, whereas the others I'm not.
I'm not overly worried about ifI could just have like a bowl
of rice and stuff, I'd be happy,but I'm not writing to give me
why it needs that's true.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Rice is fantastic, but, yeah, we can't just live on
off of rice, unfortunately,yeah.
So I'm actually curious too,because you've lived in both the
UK and Australia what kind ofdifferences like have you
noticed with like being plantbased?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh, such a huge difference.
So England is like the capitalof like vegan veganism.
London's like, I think, numberone in the world for your vegan
food.
You got vegan Burger King.
You got vegan McDonald's.
You got vegan literallyeverything you think of.
Your KFC has like vegan options, which is mind blowing.
I don't think, however, manyyears ago, that I'd ever see
those yeah, those kind of places.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Isn't there like a whole McDonald's that has a
whole like vegan menu orsomething in London?
Yeah, that's the.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Burger King yeah, they got a whole.
So in I know in Leicester Squarethey changed that their main
Burger King to completely veganone to what in green?
Everything inside went greenand they had like like their
burgers and their whoppers andwhatever else and the nuggets
and stuff like that, everythingweren't vegan in there.
So I think England's veryprogressive in that way where I
(14:20):
think you can go to anywhere andthere'd be vegan, vegan options
or you'd have like rows androws of like vegan shops and
vegan eateries and, like youknow, your groceries, the
supermarkets and stuff like that, and even in supermarkets you
got a lot of things.
Australian.
Not so much there's in yourmain cities like Sydney and
Melbourne.
(14:40):
You've got a lot, you've got ahuge amount, but I don't know if
that's because purely down totourism or it's because it is
growing here slowly and I knowMelbourne is very good for it.
I think they were ready to likefall in the world for like
being a vegan city.
I think they came off of likeCalifornia.
However, sydney is stillcatching up.
(15:01):
So there we have quite a fewvegan restaurants, but in your
shops there's not so much goingon.
Like you can get like rows androws of tofu, but that's because
the Asian influence we havehere is very close.
And then you got like rows oftempeh and other things, but a
lot of the time it's like yourwhole foods that we're looking
for.
And then you go into, like yournorthern areas of like Australia
(15:24):
where it's very outback andthey never heard the word vegan.
Yeah, they did not, and it wasgoing on.
A lot of them are like cattleranchers out there or others,
literally like a town of likeyou know, 10 houses and a shop
and they're like, but they wouldwaddle enough.
Everywhere I've ever been, andeven in the middle of the
outback, they have alternativemilks.
(15:45):
So I don't understand.
They're like oh, I never heardof like a vegan or these things
that exist here, but everywhereyou have an alternative milk and
I've never been to a placewhere they haven't had one and
they normally have four on offer.
They normally have soy, almondand macca.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's amazing.
You know it's funny.
You say that because I was at ashow a few weeks ago and
someone we were like it was likea vegan booth basically, and we
had like vegan snacks anddifferent things and someone was
like, oh, I don't eat vegan,and I'm like in my head I'm like
but you don't like bread orbananas, like you know, just
like, come on, it's like thesame thing.
It's just yeah, no animalproducts involved.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So when people say that I've never eaten it, like I
would never eat vegan, I'm likethe majority of foods probably
is probably vegan, unless you'reeating like.
unless you're eating meat oryou're on a carnivore diet, then
you're very much eating likeyour fries or like your, your
bread or your like yourvegetables or your sides are
normally very much plant based.
(16:45):
They may have like butter onthem and stuff like that, but
the majority of food that you'reeating is plant based.
It's just you have that meatyoption and that's what you
imagine.
The main bit of the meal isbecause you want to leave
everything else.
But everything else aroundthere that you are reading is
very much vegan friendly.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Because you're a plant basednutritionist, I'm sure you get
asked these from clients or evenjust people on the street, or
if you're wearing like a veganshirt, you know, like the pita
shirt that you saw.
So I would love to go throughjust some of these common
questions and kind of just getyour your feedback on them, one
being I'm actually curious tosee how, or hear how, you
respond to when someone asks youwhere do you get your protein?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Of course it's the it's the common question.
I think it's it's.
Most people are asking it froma curious point of view and,
like I know, when I first wentover it used to be annoying
because I'd be like, why don'tyou know?
But a lot of the time it's very, very annoying because you are
growing up thinking you know me,and I'd like to point out to
(17:44):
them that obviously what you'reeating is amino acid buildups,
and then we'll explain those ofhow our body needs them.
We need these nine essentialsand every plant on this planet
has them in varying differentamounts.
So they may be like you know.
They may have, let's say, 80%in one and 100% in the other,
(18:04):
and that would count as anincomplete protein.
It's not incomplete, it's justvarying.
But it may be higher in calciumand I'm like but you're not
just eating isolated food on itsown, you're mixing and matching
and these things you'rebuilding and building, and
building and building.
Like, yeah, there's gonna besome foods that have very low
protein content, like your kale,for instance.
(18:25):
Some of the leaves that you'respinaching aren't gonna have a
huge amount.
They got them in there, but nota huge amount.
They're not gonna live onspinach.
No one's just eating spinach.
So once you mix and match yourfood over time, you're building
them.
Like we have a few completeproteins, that's fine.
If you're gonna eat soy everyday, if you want to say that,
that's fine, you can and youwill hit your markers with that.
(18:45):
But the rest of your time, likewhen I first realized about,
like, when I started like goinginto nutrition and just wrote
down what I was eating and thenput it into like chronometer, I
actually realized I was actuallyeating a lot more than I
actually actually needed as well.
So all these things have it inthere and you're slowly building
and building and building and Iwas having double the amount
(19:05):
that I needed, just by accident,and that's without even
measuring.
So when you are actually like,let's say you have a goal, like
you want, like you know, want tobe a bodybuilder, or you kind
of want to like, just build somemuscle and you do actually put
that in, you are creating somuch more than you probably
actually need.
So it's yeah, from like acurious mind of people.
I'm just like you know whatthis is the stimulus, the
(19:29):
stimulus structure.
This is how it works.
All these foods have it in thereand it's mixing and matching
and you just need to kind of bemindful of what you're eating.
If you're going to eat a saladevery like you know, breakfast,
lunch and dinner or somethingalong the lines of that, then
yeah, you're going to have avery low protein marker.
People do ask me that as wellLike, don't you live on protein
powders?
(19:49):
I'm like, no, no, I'm like.
But also, protein powdersaren't exclusive to vegans.
Protein powders have been soused constantly throughout time
by, like athletes, bodybuilders,people generally just going
into fitness.
They use every day and like thebigger market of it like
plant-based proteins is probablyabout 1% of the protein powders
.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Probably yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
So I'm like yeah, like feel free to add in a
protein powder if you stillthink you need more.
But protein is not as much ofan issue as people think it is.
Yeah, I think it's beenmarketed to be an issue.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Oh, I kind of like that.
I agree with you that it's beenhyped up to be a bigger issue
than what it is, and I thinkit's just because there's so so
much misinformation on socialmedia, online things that we're
still believing that were toldto us in the 70s and 80s that we
need to like, combine ourproteins and all these things,
when those myths have beenbusted for decades, but people
are still talking about thembecause they haven't been caught
(20:43):
up to what the science isactually saying now, which is we
don't have to worry about ourprotein, and the variety piece
that you're speaking to iswhat's really important.
You don't want to just live offof a salad every single day or
your only source of proteincoming from beans.
You want to make sure you getvariety in your diet and you'll
be fine.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It's.
So.
It was like until, like I'd say, seven or eight years ago, I'd
never really heard of the wordprotein Like it's become more
prevalent in this day and age.
When I started going to the gym, no one asked about protein not
a single person and when I wasyounger, I'd never heard the
word.
I didn't even know what proteinwas.
And as soon as you like, and Iwas being very much alive
(21:23):
without nutritional knowledge,when I wasn't eating, like when
it started not eating me and Ididn't have anything, I had no
nutritional knowledge whatsoever.
And all of a sudden, now I'vegot it, I'm like, oh, like it's
great, like I know where to getthese things from.
But nobody asked, nobody wasasking the questions back then.
It just seems like in the lastkind of like yeah, seven or
eight years, that people are nowkind of very much this, this
(21:46):
where you get any protein.
Why is this?
What is this?
Where do you get it from?
Whereas before no one get.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
No, no, you know what it's interesting.
You say that because if youzoom out and look at like the
last several decades, you knowwe were obsessed with fat for a
long, a long while, like beinglow fat.
That was, you know, maybebefore your time.
But then we were obsessed withcarbohydrates, being low carb,
and now we're obsessed withbeing very high protein.
And it's just interesting tokind of zoom out and just look
(22:12):
at this like wave that we'vebeen riding in our diet culture.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I suppose I think people overestimate how much you
need as well, and everybody'slike high protein now, which is
like great, yeah, that's great.
But why are you having thismuch Like?
What's your reasoning behind it?
Like, are you looking to buildmuscle?
If you're not, and you live ina very sedentary lifestyle, why
are you having 140 grams Likethere's no need?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No, absolutely not, Absolutely not.
I cannot agree more.
Okay, I love that we touched onthat.
So you had mentioned soy and aquestion I was going to ask you.
A common question that we hearis well, is soy safe to eat?
Can I have it every day?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Once again.
I think it's a lot ofmisinformation.
People will assume that all soyis GMO soy, when it's like
genetically modified, and thelarge majority of it is, but
that's not normally given tohumans, so that's normally given
to animal feed to kind of makethem to grow bigger.
Soy is absolutely safe to eatFrom anything any study that
(23:09):
I've read.
You could be eating it threetimes a day and I don't think
there's going to be any anyissues there.
I've never seen anything wherethe only study I've seen that
says those issues was done oncatfish, and that study is the
one that says that soy decreasestestosterone and gives you
(23:29):
estrogen.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Oh, interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
That was done in catfish.
If we were catfish, yeah, butwe're not, however human.
Try like human studies.
I haven't really shown, however, that you're going to be high
in estrogen or you're going tolose testosterone.
That's never been shown, that'snever been proven.
And also, soy has been prevalentin the Asian diet for like a
lot, however many thousand years, and most of them are
(23:54):
absolutely fine.
They're very much, very soybased where it is, like you know
, tofu, soy sauce, you knowtempes and other bits and pieces
that have soy, soy curls andlike you know your TVP bits and
pieces.
But I think people get onceagain they have, they hear
estrogen and they hearphytoestrogen and think that the
same thing.
They're not.
And I think, like estrogen, yes, and I'd be more worried if I
(24:18):
was drinking dairy which is fullof estrogen, right when it's
eating, eating a soybean.
It has phytoestrogens thatblock estrogen receptors.
But apart from that, soy, soyis a very healthy, nutritious.
It's being shown to, you know,reduce certain types of cancers
and diseases and stuff like that.
It's a very healthy food to beeating.
And there's no from what I'veseen, there's no upper dangerous
(24:41):
limit from anything I've seen.
So that could change in thefuture, and if that does change
in the future, that's great,we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Right.
Well, and going off of thatlike the only reason we don't
recommend, like, eating 20servings of soy a day is not
necessarily because there'sgoing to be harmful effects to
you, but because if you'reeating 20 servings of anything a
day, then you're not gettingvariety into your diet, and
variety, we know, is veryimportant, like we said, to get
all those amino acids anddifferent micronutrients.
So that is really the mostimportant thing there.
Yeah, I eat multiple servingsof soy a day and it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I will have like a breakfast, hopefully scramble,
and in the evening maybe I'llhave like some sort of junk, and
then on Saturday I'll look atbeef too.
I'm fine, I'm still alive and Ihaven't turned into a woman
yeah, which I've been toldthat's going to happen to me
many times by random trolls onInstagram and they're like oh,
you're going to grow boobs, andthat's another thing that you
(25:32):
get as well is that you're goingto grow man boobs, and I'm
still yet to see them.
I've been doing it for a longtime.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, yeah, and we've talked.
I remember I've talked with youabout this or somebody else,
but it's like if that was trulythe case, if people were going
to grow boobs from eating soy,there would be a market for that
and people would be makingbillions of dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Exactly why There'd be no need for plastic surgery.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
No Boob cups, literally a few portions of soy.
You got those.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
So for you and I know this is going to be defined
many different ways but whatdoes plant-based eating mean to
you?
Or when someone asks you whatdoes plant-based even mean, like
what do you say?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So plant-based eating .
When people mention that, Iwill be like veganism and
plant-based eating, two verydifferent things.
Yes, plant-based is manydifferent takes on it.
My version of plant-based iseating 100% plants, like I avoid
all animal products at allcosts, as much as I know
possible that there's nothing in.
So I will majority a wholefoods plant-based diet.
(26:30):
So that's what plant-basedmeans to me.
I know in some countriesplant-based means, you know, had
a bit of dairy or somethingelse to it and it's still
plant-based.
It doesn't involve a firstpiece of animal product, like an
animal product has, like asecondary beast, like cheese or
butter, but for me it is.
Everything is a plant, soeverything is 100% made from
(26:51):
plants, or as much as I knowpossible.
Whereas people stickplant-based and veganism in the
same.
I am both, but veganism is anethical lifestyle, whereas
people can, you know, eat aplant-based diet and not have
the ethics to water, or they canbe vegan and not have a whole
(27:11):
foods plant-based lifestyle thateaten a very much vegan diet.
So it's like, you know, oreosand things like that, which is,
which is also great if that'swhat you want to do, that's what
you want to do, but for me,those two things can go hand in
hand.
Some people they don't, but myplant-based, completely whole
foods, plant-based diet, as faras possible, that's what
plant-based, I would say, meansto me.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yep, I like that you made that distinction.
I also call myself aplant-based vegan, just because
I've learned so much about theanimal agriculture and the
environmental impacts of ourfood choices, and so it's so
much more than just for me whatstarted as health reasons.
But I think it's really good toknow kind of what the
difference is, because when Istarted going plant-based, it's
like, oh yeah, I'm also vegan,but it really it took a few
(27:52):
years to kind of figure out oh,that's what vegan is, like it is
.
It's, it's just a different wayof living.
So, okay, we touched on thisjust a little bit.
But does eating plant-basedgive you all the nutrients
except I know we need to talkabout one but does it give you
all the nutrients that you need?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Every essential nutrient that you need.
Yes, so, apart from B12, ifyou're eating enough nutritional
yeast, which I don't thinkanyone is yeah, those B12, four
to five foods, I assume that youmay you may be able to get
enough B12.
However, all the otheressential nutrients that you
need you can get from aplant-based diet, whether that
(28:33):
be like a whole foodsplant-based diet, maybe that be
like, you know, a vegan diet,full of, like alternatives and
stuff.
They will be four to five, likefour to five different foods in
different foods, but everythingthat you every vitamin, every
mineral, every macro,micronutrient you can get,
whether that be from your youknow, your proteins, your fats,
(28:55):
your amigas, you know, goingdown to your ions and the ones
that nobody knows of, like yourcopper, your like like Kohl-ion,
things like that, because mostpeople aren't aware that some of
these tiny ones exist, butmajority of those you are
getting from your daily dietanyway, like copper is.
I don't think copper deficiencyis a thing, because I think
most people, most people, getthat on a daily basis, just on
(29:19):
their natural foods, no matterwhat it is.
Yeah, there's some foods, somenutrients, that may need to be
slightly wary of, but that'salso depending on what the
person's eating.
So that would be I don't thinkthat's so much your protein, but
that's more your iron andthat's more your calcium and
things like that.
(29:39):
If you're not eating soy oryou're not eating your dark
leafy greens or you're nothaving any like plant milks,
that may be like fortified orlike beans, legumes, you may be
lacking in calcium, but if youdo have a well rounded diet,
you're going to be.
You're going to have those iron.
I feel like I know more peoplewith an iron deficiency that eat
(30:01):
me than I do that he plants.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yep, that's me.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Which really says something.
But I also think those peopleare eating a well rounded diet
as well, where they are eating,like you know, the legumes,
they're like iron rich foods andtheir pair of number of things
like vitamin C, or they'reavoiding caffeine before and
after meals.
Caffeine inhibits it.
So I think out like, if you're,if you're not following
(30:25):
guidelines, then yeah, you'relike iron can be slightly lower.
But if you're eating relativelyhealthy and you are eating your
vitamin C and eating a lot ofiron foods with your food would
be in each meal, and avoidingcaffeine, like how, four hour
after, you should be getting allthe iron in it as well.
The small ones that peopleforget about, which is like
(30:45):
iodine.
Iodine is a great one and it'shard to get on any diet.
It's not, it's not prevalent onany diet.
So that's not just a veganissue.
That's why iodine salt wascreated and it's put into like
bread and things like that.
However, if you're eating a lotof like seaweed or like sushi
roll paper stuff like that,you're getting a substantial
amount of iodine from oh, omegafreeze that's.
(31:07):
That's another one.
Yeah, there's various types ofOmega, but if you're eating once
again like seaweed or howky,you're getting a lot.
If you're eating your things,like your chia seeds and your
ground, your flax seeds and yourvarious other seeds as long as
they're ground up, you're stillgetting those, as far as,
obviously, how they don't, youdon't absorb the enough to
(31:30):
having all those.
They're getting converted intothe immediate you need and
obviously it does vary fromperson to person how much you
you absorb.
But if you're eating a onceagain, well rounded diet with,
like these bits and pieces inamongst every day, you're not
going to see issues.
I had people ask me the otherday like but where do you get
your creativity in from?
(31:50):
I'm like it's not an essentialnutrient.
Yeah, yeah, we create it.
So, yes, you're essentials.
Everything that you essentiallyneed to thrive, you can get on
a plant based diet.
Anything that's not essentialthat you don't need to thrive,
you sometimes you can't get aplant based diet, but that, once
again, they're not essential.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And again this goes back.
I get to like the variety beingso important.
I mean you can do any way ofeating quote wrong and so that's
why it is important, likeCallum was saying, to have a
well rounded plant based dietand also being mindful of your
vitamin B12 intake as well,which you can very, very
purposefully and intentionallyget from food.
But we always say thatsupplementation is the most
(32:30):
reliable source just becauseit's so easy and it's really
affordable.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I think, yeah, supplementation is going to be
the best source for it, becauseyou can be sprinkling
nutritional yeast on every,every meal as much as you want,
which is great.
However, I don't know how muchyou physically need to actually
get the amount of B12 that'ssuitable for you, so I'm never
going to recommend to anyone tosee how.
Just to just a nutritionalyeast.
(32:56):
Yeah, take it, just take asupplement.
People assume that B12 doescome from like animals.
It doesn't.
It's not.
It's not.
It's not a, it's not even avegan issue.
It's a worldwide issue becauseit's supplemented to animals as
well, or, if they are getting it, it's from the bacteria in the
soil, if they've got a rich landto be eating off, which, for
(33:16):
the majority of the time, whatwe've done to the world it's not
.
So it's very muchsupplementation is done to cows,
animals, us, so that it's not avegan issue when the small
percentage of a population isvegan and the rest are there
just of knocking them out.
(33:36):
They need as well.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Well, it goes to show that a lot of these issues
aren't actually just vegan orplant-based issues.
Like iron, you're no morelikely to have an iron
deficiency if you're plant-basedor vegan.
So again it just goes back tothe importance of eating a
well-rounded, plant-based dietto get everything that you need.
So do you actually dosupplement with anything in
particular?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
So I supplement B12.
If I'm having a week where I'mnot eating as much like Omega-3
sources as possible, I willthrow in a Omega-3 supplement.
But that's only if that's oneof those weeks where I literally
haven't had the time oranything in there or anything
that's going to be in therethat's going to give me those
sources.
But when I'm training I willthrow in a magnesium powder once
(34:18):
in a while, just to replenish.
But that's not essential orneeded, it's just to help your
body.
Oh, a protein powder once in awhile as well, apart from those,
oh, when I was in England, d3.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Wait when you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I feel like D3 is.
That's the one that we shouldprobably also be supplementing
is D3 for everyone?
Because even in Australia, eventhough we're like one of the
hottest places here in the world, if you're sitting inside an
office all day and not reallyseeing much sun, you can still
have a D3 deficiency or avitamin D deficiency.
(34:53):
So yeah, vitamin D.
I don't take as much here, butI will take.
However, if you are living in acountry like England, then
vitamin D3 is essential.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.
If you're in the States andyou're north of that Mason-Dixon
line, then you want to get yourvitamin.
I mean, everyone should begetting their vitamin D check,
but it's probably good to take avitamin D really for most
people in the winter, especiallybecause we're just not getting
that sun exposure like weusually do.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
I think that I think that's the only essential one,
apart from B12, that I wouldrecommend people taking If
they're not eating.
A variety of foods would bevitamin D and B12.
The others you can get fromyour diet.
However, if you want tosupplement them, go for it.
There's no issue insupplementation.
I think it's demonized a lot tosupplement.
(35:39):
However, people aresupplementing on a day-to-day
basis.
Literally the majority of thepopulation like supplementing in
some way, shape or form,whether they know it or not.
So don't be demonized bysupplementation.
If you need it, or it'ssomething that's going to help
you thrive, or it's going to addto your diet.
If you can't get everything in,then absolutely supplement.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Yeah, yeah, that's what it is.
It's a supplement to yourwell-rounded plant-based diet
and there's no shame in takingsupplements.
I am very pro-supplements.
I think they can be verybeneficial and, if you're an
athlete or not, there's so manybenefits to taking supplements
and I agree, there's absolutelyno shame in taking one.
So I appreciate that.
Ok, callan, if someone wants toconnect with you or work with
(36:24):
you because you are taking onclients, is that right?
Speaker 2 (36:26):
I am taking on clients, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
OK, all right.
Where is the best place forthem to do that?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
So the best place to do that would be mainly the
Instagram, which is yumfoodlife.
Also the website as well, whichis wwwyumfoodlife.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
OK, perfect, awesome.
We'll put those links in theshow notes.
That way, someone can easilyaccess you, your website,
connect with you on social media.
Yeah, callan puts up some funstuff on social media some
evidence-based, plant-basedinformation For those of you who
like that kind of stuff, andsome other videos, so you can
follow along there.
But, callan, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
I really, really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Perfect.
All right, we will catch you onthe next episode.
Thank you so much for listeningto the Plant-Centered and
Thriving podcast today.
If you found this episodeinspiring, please share it with
a friend or post it on socialmedia and tag me so I can
personally say thank you.
Until next time, keep thriving.
Welcome to the Plant-Centered and Thriving
Podcast.
I'm your host, ashley Kitchens.
I'm a plant-based registereddietitian and virtual nutrition
mentor.
I was raised on an Angus CattleFarm, grew up with a lot of GI
issues and used the power ofplant-based eating to promote
healing.
Here you'll find inspiration,ideas and encouragement for your
(00:23):
own plant-based journey.
I'm so thrilled you're heretoday.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the showPlant-Centered Listener.
My name is Ashley and I am yourhost today, and I am so excited
that you're here for anotherstory of how someone went
plant-based and he also happensto be a plant-based nutritionist
(00:44):
.
So you bet that we get intothose common questions when it
comes to going plant-based, likehow to even respond to where do
you get your protein, whetheror not you should worry about it
.
We also talk about soy and ifsoy is safe to eat and, if so,
how much.
What does it actually mean tobe plant-based and what's the
difference between goingplant-based and being vegan?
(01:05):
I really enjoyed ourconversation there.
We also talk about doesplant-based contain all the
nutrients you need?
So we go through these thingsat the end, but first we talk
about Callum's story, and beforewe dive into that, I do want to
introduce Callum, who is aplant-based nutritionist and the
proud owner of Yumfoo, and he'salso a journalist contributing
(01:28):
to various vegan magazines,probably some that you've seen
or even read yourself.
His vegan journey began out ofethical considerations, which we
talked about, and it quicklyevolved as he witnessed
firsthand the numerous healthbenefits of a plant-based diet.
This revelation sparked hispassion for nutrition further
(01:51):
than it was already,highlighting the intricate
connection between the foodsthat we're eating and our
overall well-being.
Now Callum helps others achievetheir health and fitness goals
by navigating the empoweringworld of plant-based nutrition.
Callum goes through his story.
He talks about a wild incidentthat happened in Budapest that
(02:13):
just further pushed him towardsgoing plant-based.
So please join me in welcomingCallum to the show.
Callum, welcome to the show.
I am so excited that you'rehere today.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an absolute pleasure to behere.
I'm actually really excited.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yay, well, I was so excited, so we know each other
from Instagram basically, which,I feel like, is how we're a lot
of our plant-based friends hangout not necessarily in real
life but online, but you'rebased in.
You're currently in Australiaright now, right.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I'm currently in Sydney.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I know obviously a little bit about you, what you
do, but I would love for you tokind of just explain more what
you like, a little bit aboutyourself and what you do.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I own Yumfoo, which is aplant-based nutrition company.
I am a plant-based nutritionist, however, never intended to be
a plant-based nutritionist.
I was never on the cards.
I don't even know how I gothere myself, to be fair.
However, growing up, I grew upwith my mum as a vegetarian and
(03:17):
I grew up with my dad as a meateater.
However, my mum slowly as Ican't remember the age I was
maybe 10, 11, went back toeating me.
So I knew what vegetarians were, because I know from a very
young age people aren't too surewhat a vegetarian is or a vegan
.
That didn't exist.
I had no idea and basicallyfrom there.
So I knew what it was and Ijust carried on eating meat as
(03:41):
you do.
But you grow up with it andyou're kind of like I was having
issues and I didn't have thatcognitive dissonance.
It was there because at somepoints I knew what was happening
and at some points I just kindof ignored it and I was like you
know, here's what it is and youjust don't really do anything
about it.
And then there was a few kindof standout moments that I
(04:02):
remember along the way of goingout and meeting other people
that are like my teenagers, andsomebody was wearing like a
peter t-shirt Is it Peter, peter, one of the two, I don't know
how you pronounce it.
It was like a little cartoonchicken saying I don't want to
be a nugget and I was likethat's really cool, I love that.
And asked a few questions andthis girl was a vegetarian and I
(04:24):
was like, okay, and I was veryopen to eating a more vegetarian
lifestyle and I always wantedto go along that way, but never
did anything about it.
I think it was just in my mindand skip forward a few years.
I then kind of opened up to theidea of it again and started
eating more vegetarian foods andI was like you know what?
I'm going to go vegetarian.
(04:45):
But vegetarian in my mind waspescetarian.
At that time, however, I waslike you know what?
I'm actually going to cut outall animals now, so going to cut
out the fish.
And then I was like vegetarian,that's fine, I'll be fine.
And then I was in Budapest withmy friends and all of a sudden,
I ate this like veggie burgerwith a lot of cheese on it and I
(05:08):
feel sorry for my friends thatwere there at that time, because
that is when I realized Ibecame lactose intolerant, and
severely.
I was probably lactoseintolerant beforehand, but
there's something on a cheesethat just ruined me and I was
like, okay, like I need to run,and this is in a public place,
so it was very embarrassing.
(05:28):
So I went to my mates are youokay?
I'm like I am not okay, like Idon't know how I'm feeling.
This is horrible.
And at this time I didn'trealize this was the cheese.
I was like maybe it's just theburger, but I was like it's
harder to get food poisoningfrom a burger made out of beans.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yes, and usually it doesn't like happen for like
hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
It sounds like this was like fairly soon after it
was maybe like 10, 20 minuteslater.
So I hadn't even had time todigest the food and I was like I
am in pain.
So that settled down after awhile.
Like there was like a lot ofpain.
I took some tablets and I waslike you know, we're good to go
and I just carried on.
(06:12):
My day.
Next day did exactly the samething and I was like, oh my God,
what's going on.
So I then kind of got home, Iwent to a doctor and they were
like you're probably lactoseintolerant.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Like it's very likely that you're lactose intolerant.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And I was like, okay, that's given me that push to
then cut out trees.
And I was then herring aroundmy friends that were still more
in a vegan lifestyle and I waslike, just cut out the eggs,
just don't have that idea.
I wasn't a massive fandom inthe first place and that's how
that happened.
That's how I kind of became avegan.
(06:46):
And then I was then getting allthose questions.
So I was like you know, youknow where do you get your
protein, things like that.
And from that I was like youknow what?
I'm going to delve intonutrition, because I was always
also a yo-yo diet.
When I was younger, I wasn't inthe best shape or anything like
that.
I would just go from like trendto trend to trend and see what
(07:07):
works, and nothing ever worked.
Either way, it's a loose bit,you know.
Gain it back.
So I started to delve intonutrition, studied that and then
all of a sudden after I waslike I'm not going to do
anything with this, this is formyself.
And next thing I know I've gota business.
That's amazing, that's how thathappened.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So this, like it changes, sounds like it started
with the pita shirt.
I mean, obviously your mom wasvegetarian for a little while.
Then that pita shirt, like kindof you know, triggered
something.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, I think as well with a from that age as well, I
did see, I saw that pita shirtand then I saw the.
I saw a few animal videosonline, like you know, the
slaughterhouse videos and stuff.
They don't particularly want tosee, but they stay in your mind
.
So I was also very aware ofwhat was going on and it was
(07:58):
just that shit, that shift thatneeded to happen and
unfortunately it did take a fewmore years after that, but it
does for some, it does for a lotof people.
You have to keep keep likethings need to happen for that
to happen, and so that workedout for me.
So, yeah, it was the pita shirtand then it was the
(08:20):
slaughterhouse videos back thenand they kind of stayed in my
mind and I was always very opento foods.
I didn't want to eat meat inthe first place and I thought I
had to eat meat, because I hadto eat meat is how I was going
to.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Of course yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Literally the only reason I was still eating it at
this point was, at this pointthere wasn't the alternatives
that there is now, and I wasn't.
I wasn't aware of the beans andlagoons and that protein,
because that's also not given toyou as general knowledge as the
young person.
So I'm like, oh, if I don't eatanything, I'm going to die, I'm
going to die, and so, yeah,that's how that's how it started
(08:54):
.
So it was really from an ethicalstandpoint.
But then I think the the thenwhen the electrocintolera came
in, it became more of a healthstandpoint as well, and then
later on down the line thenutrition came along as well for
that.
So that was very much on health.
But the ethical side was theside that I went with first, as
(09:14):
much as I didn't really know itat the time.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Right, right, yeah, absolutely.
I want to go back to the beansthing really quickly, because I
feel like, growing up, the onlything that we're taught as a kid
with beans is that they justmake you gassy and that's it so,
and then there's no desire toeat them.
So, like, well, I don't want to, you know, be passing gas in
class.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So yeah, there's.
So a very English tradition isbeans on toast as well, so we
grew up with this constantly,but we're only told that, like
it doesn't give you gas, itdoesn't really.
There's not much else to it asbread butter, you know, cheese
and beans.
That is what it is, and itsounds very bland and boring to
the rest of the world, but it islike a superior food is
(09:52):
incredible it's.
It's made me have to do it,right, however.
So I was eating that and justkind of, you don't, you don't
know that there's protein in it,but it doesn't say.
It says on the back of a can,but no one's reading the back of
a can of beans off the time.
So, yeah, I just I was like, oh, this is there's nothing.
There's nothing in these.
(10:12):
These are just kind of like youknow, your, as you would your
your salad or anything else thatyou'd kind of have as a side.
You just think of them as aside dish.
Yeah, yep, and that was, yeah,it didn't really think anything
of it, and then later in thatline of like, oh, these things
are keeping me alive.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Heck, yes, oh, my goodness, and I feel like we
need to take Callum's advice andmaybe go try some like really
good beans on toast when we goto a restaurant or, you know,
find an English restaurant ormake them ourselves and do it
right.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I've seen a few videos where people I assume
they're doing it right and Ithink there's ways to really
annoy an English person.
And that's making tea wrong,and that's making beans and
toast wrong.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
How was that?
Because you were in the UK atthe time when you went
vegetarian and then vegan, likehow was that transition?
Because I know, yeah, theoptions weren't great back then.
But how did you kind of findthings as you went along?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So going along like.
Luckily, I knew people thatwere vegetarian and we had two
kind of like alternative brandshere and that was corn and that
was linen carton as well, andthat really the only two things
that existed.
You could get like a bean andchickpea burger and things like
that, which most people turnnose upon, but I actually really
like those things.
They I sometimes I don't wantan alternative or didn't want an
(11:32):
alternative.
I wanted something that waskind of a fail, healthier.
So back then it was very much.
There wasn't cheeses.
All these things were startstarting to kind of like
gradually grow, but there wasn'treally anything around us like
yet as veggie burgers, maybeveggie nuggets and then your
(11:53):
kind of whole foods.
So I really kind of stuck tothe whole foods.
I had a lot of love for tofuthat appeared.
I was like, well, this is goingto be awful.
And now my favorite food.
And then Tempeh startedexisting in the UK and I was
(12:15):
eating a lot of that.
I still would have had thealternatives at that point when
they started gradually coming in, but then I realized I wasn't
too overly keen on the taste ofthem.
Like, I eat them once in awhile, but if I want a.
If I wanted a burger, I didn'twant a burger.
The taste it like somethingthat I was trying to move away
from at that point.
(12:36):
So then, yeah, there wasn'treally.
So when those things came in Ididn't really I try them, but
most of the time I kind of leavethem.
But I was quite happy.
I'm quite a simplistic eater aswell.
So like for me, tofu, beans,rice and think like just the
other bits like UK on stuff onthe side which sounds like some
(12:56):
people would not know, but to meI'm so happy with that.
Like I'm very simple when itcomes to my food and that's fine
, whereas the others I'm not.
I'm not overly worried about ifI could just have like a bowl
of rice and stuff, I'd be happy,but I'm not writing to give me
why it needs that's true.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Rice is fantastic, but, yeah, we can't just live on
off of rice, unfortunately,yeah.
So I'm actually curious too,because you've lived in both the
UK and Australia what kind ofdifferences like have you
noticed with like being plantbased?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh, such a huge difference.
So England is like the capitalof like vegan veganism.
London's like, I think, numberone in the world for your vegan
food.
You got vegan Burger King.
You got vegan McDonald's.
You got vegan literallyeverything you think of.
Your KFC has like vegan options, which is mind blowing.
I don't think, however, manyyears ago, that I'd ever see
those yeah, those kind of places.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Isn't there like a whole McDonald's that has a
whole like vegan menu orsomething in London?
Yeah, that's the.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Burger King yeah, they got a whole.
So in I know in Leicester Squarethey changed that their main
Burger King to completely veganone to what in green?
Everything inside went greenand they had like like their
burgers and their whoppers andwhatever else and the nuggets
and stuff like that, everythingweren't vegan in there.
So I think England's veryprogressive in that way where I
(14:20):
think you can go to anywhere andthere'd be vegan, vegan options
or you'd have like rows androws of like vegan shops and
vegan eateries and, like youknow, your groceries, the
supermarkets and stuff like that, and even in supermarkets you
got a lot of things.
Australian.
Not so much there's in yourmain cities like Sydney and
Melbourne.
(14:40):
You've got a lot, you've got ahuge amount, but I don't know if
that's because purely down totourism or it's because it is
growing here slowly and I knowMelbourne is very good for it.
I think they were ready to likefall in the world for like
being a vegan city.
I think they came off of likeCalifornia.
However, sydney is stillcatching up.
(15:01):
So there we have quite a fewvegan restaurants, but in your
shops there's not so much goingon.
Like you can get like rows androws of tofu, but that's because
the Asian influence we havehere is very close.
And then you got like rows oftempeh and other things, but a
lot of the time it's like yourwhole foods that we're looking
for.
And then you go into, like yournorthern areas of like Australia
(15:24):
where it's very outback andthey never heard the word vegan.
Yeah, they did not, and it wasgoing on.
A lot of them are like cattleranchers out there or others,
literally like a town of likeyou know, 10 houses and a shop
and they're like, but they wouldwaddle enough.
Everywhere I've ever been, andeven in the middle of the
outback, they have alternativemilks.
(15:45):
So I don't understand.
They're like oh, I never heardof like a vegan or these things
that exist here, but everywhereyou have an alternative milk and
I've never been to a placewhere they haven't had one and
they normally have four on offer.
They normally have soy, almondand macca.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's amazing.
You know it's funny.
You say that because I was at ashow a few weeks ago and
someone we were like it was likea vegan booth basically, and we
had like vegan snacks anddifferent things and someone was
like, oh, I don't eat vegan,and I'm like in my head I'm like
but you don't like bread orbananas, like you know, just
like, come on, it's like thesame thing.
It's just yeah, no animalproducts involved.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So when people say that I've never eaten it, like I
would never eat vegan, I'm likethe majority of foods probably
is probably vegan, unless you'reeating like.
unless you're eating meat oryou're on a carnivore diet, then
you're very much eating likeyour fries or like your, your
bread or your like yourvegetables or your sides are
normally very much plant based.
(16:45):
They may have like butter onthem and stuff like that, but
the majority of food that you'reeating is plant based.
It's just you have that meatyoption and that's what you
imagine.
The main bit of the meal isbecause you want to leave
everything else.
But everything else aroundthere that you are reading is
very much vegan friendly.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Because you're a plant basednutritionist, I'm sure you get
asked these from clients or evenjust people on the street, or
if you're wearing like a veganshirt, you know, like the pita
shirt that you saw.
So I would love to go throughjust some of these common
questions and kind of just getyour your feedback on them, one
being I'm actually curious tosee how, or hear how, you
respond to when someone asks youwhere do you get your protein?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Of course it's the it's the common question.
I think it's it's.
Most people are asking it froma curious point of view and,
like I know, when I first wentover it used to be annoying
because I'd be like, why don'tyou know?
But a lot of the time it's very, very annoying because you are
growing up thinking you know me,and I'd like to point out to
(17:44):
them that obviously what you'reeating is amino acid buildups,
and then we'll explain those ofhow our body needs them.
We need these nine essentialsand every plant on this planet
has them in varying differentamounts.
So they may be like you know.
They may have, let's say, 80%in one and 100% in the other,
(18:04):
and that would count as anincomplete protein.
It's not incomplete, it's justvarying.
But it may be higher in calciumand I'm like but you're not
just eating isolated food on itsown, you're mixing and matching
and these things you'rebuilding and building, and
building and building.
Like, yeah, there's gonna besome foods that have very low
protein content, like your kale,for instance.
(18:25):
Some of the leaves that you'respinaching aren't gonna have a
huge amount.
They got them in there, but nota huge amount.
They're not gonna live onspinach.
No one's just eating spinach.
So once you mix and match yourfood over time, you're building
them.
Like we have a few completeproteins, that's fine.
If you're gonna eat soy everyday, if you want to say that,
that's fine, you can and youwill hit your markers with that.
(18:45):
But the rest of your time, likewhen I first realized about,
like, when I started like goinginto nutrition and just wrote
down what I was eating and thenput it into like chronometer, I
actually realized I was actuallyeating a lot more than I
actually actually needed as well.
So all these things have it inthere and you're slowly building
and building and building and Iwas having double the amount
(19:05):
that I needed, just by accident,and that's without even
measuring.
So when you are actually like,let's say you have a goal, like
you want, like you know, want tobe a bodybuilder, or you kind
of want to like, just build somemuscle and you do actually put
that in, you are creating somuch more than you probably
actually need.
So it's yeah, from like acurious mind of people.
I'm just like you know whatthis is the stimulus, the
(19:29):
stimulus structure.
This is how it works.
All these foods have it in thereand it's mixing and matching
and you just need to kind of bemindful of what you're eating.
If you're going to eat a saladevery like you know, breakfast,
lunch and dinner or somethingalong the lines of that, then
yeah, you're going to have avery low protein marker.
People do ask me that as wellLike, don't you live on protein
powders?
(19:49):
I'm like, no, no, I'm like.
But also, protein powdersaren't exclusive to vegans.
Protein powders have been soused constantly throughout time
by, like athletes, bodybuilders,people generally just going
into fitness.
They use every day and like thebigger market of it like
plant-based proteins is probablyabout 1% of the protein powders
.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Probably yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
So I'm like yeah, like feel free to add in a
protein powder if you stillthink you need more.
But protein is not as much ofan issue as people think it is.
Yeah, I think it's beenmarketed to be an issue.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Oh, I kind of like that.
I agree with you that it's beenhyped up to be a bigger issue
than what it is, and I thinkit's just because there's so so
much misinformation on socialmedia, online things that we're
still believing that were toldto us in the 70s and 80s that we
need to like, combine ourproteins and all these things,
when those myths have beenbusted for decades, but people
are still talking about thembecause they haven't been caught
(20:43):
up to what the science isactually saying now, which is we
don't have to worry about ourprotein, and the variety piece
that you're speaking to iswhat's really important.
You don't want to just live offof a salad every single day or
your only source of proteincoming from beans.
You want to make sure you getvariety in your diet and you'll
be fine.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It's.
So.
It was like until, like I'd say, seven or eight years ago, I'd
never really heard of the wordprotein Like it's become more
prevalent in this day and age.
When I started going to the gym, no one asked about protein not
a single person and when I wasyounger, I'd never heard the
word.
I didn't even know what proteinwas.
And as soon as you like, and Iwas being very much alive
(21:23):
without nutritional knowledge,when I wasn't eating, like when
it started not eating me and Ididn't have anything, I had no
nutritional knowledge whatsoever.
And all of a sudden, now I'vegot it, I'm like, oh, like it's
great, like I know where to getthese things from.
But nobody asked, nobody wasasking the questions back then.
It just seems like in the lastkind of like yeah, seven or
eight years, that people are nowkind of very much this, this
(21:46):
where you get any protein.
Why is this?
What is this?
Where do you get it from?
Whereas before no one get.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
No, no, you know what it's interesting.
You say that because if youzoom out and look at like the
last several decades, you knowwe were obsessed with fat for a
long, a long while, like beinglow fat.
That was, you know, maybebefore your time.
But then we were obsessed withcarbohydrates, being low carb,
and now we're obsessed withbeing very high protein.
And it's just interesting tokind of zoom out and just look
(22:12):
at this like wave that we'vebeen riding in our diet culture.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I suppose I think people overestimate how much you
need as well, and everybody'slike high protein now, which is
like great, yeah, that's great.
But why are you having thismuch Like?
What's your reasoning behind it?
Like, are you looking to buildmuscle?
If you're not, and you live ina very sedentary lifestyle, why
are you having 140 grams Likethere's no need?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No, absolutely not, Absolutely not.
I cannot agree more.
Okay, I love that we touched onthat.
So you had mentioned soy and aquestion I was going to ask you.
A common question that we hearis well, is soy safe to eat?
Can I have it every day?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Once again.
I think it's a lot ofmisinformation.
People will assume that all soyis GMO soy, when it's like
genetically modified, and thelarge majority of it is, but
that's not normally given tohumans, so that's normally given
to animal feed to kind of makethem to grow bigger.
Soy is absolutely safe to eatFrom anything any study that
(23:09):
I've read.
You could be eating it threetimes a day and I don't think
there's going to be any anyissues there.
I've never seen anything wherethe only study I've seen that
says those issues was done oncatfish, and that study is the
one that says that soy decreasestestosterone and gives you
(23:29):
estrogen.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Oh, interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
That was done in catfish.
If we were catfish, yeah, butwe're not, however human.
Try like human studies.
I haven't really shown, however, that you're going to be high
in estrogen or you're going tolose testosterone.
That's never been shown, that'snever been proven.
And also, soy has been prevalentin the Asian diet for like a
lot, however many thousand years, and most of them are
(23:54):
absolutely fine.
They're very much, very soybased where it is, like you know
, tofu, soy sauce, you knowtempes and other bits and pieces
that have soy, soy curls andlike you know your TVP bits and
pieces.
But I think people get onceagain they have, they hear
estrogen and they hearphytoestrogen and think that the
same thing.
They're not.
And I think, like estrogen, yes, and I'd be more worried if I
(24:18):
was drinking dairy which is fullof estrogen, right when it's
eating, eating a soybean.
It has phytoestrogens thatblock estrogen receptors.
But apart from that, soy, soyis a very healthy, nutritious.
It's being shown to, you know,reduce certain types of cancers
and diseases and stuff like that.
It's a very healthy food to beeating.
And there's no from what I'veseen, there's no upper dangerous
(24:41):
limit from anything I've seen.
So that could change in thefuture, and if that does change
in the future, that's great,we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Right.
Well, and going off of thatlike the only reason we don't
recommend, like, eating 20servings of soy a day is not
necessarily because there'sgoing to be harmful effects to
you, but because if you'reeating 20 servings of anything a
day, then you're not gettingvariety into your diet, and
variety, we know, is veryimportant, like we said, to get
all those amino acids anddifferent micronutrients.
So that is really the mostimportant thing there.
Yeah, I eat multiple servingsof soy a day and it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I will have like a breakfast, hopefully scramble,
and in the evening maybe I'llhave like some sort of junk, and
then on Saturday I'll look atbeef too.
I'm fine, I'm still alive and Ihaven't turned into a woman
yeah, which I've been toldthat's going to happen to me
many times by random trolls onInstagram and they're like oh,
you're going to grow boobs, andthat's another thing that you
(25:32):
get as well is that you're goingto grow man boobs, and I'm
still yet to see them.
I've been doing it for a longtime.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, yeah, and we've talked.
I remember I've talked with youabout this or somebody else,
but it's like if that was trulythe case, if people were going
to grow boobs from eating soy,there would be a market for that
and people would be makingbillions of dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Exactly why There'd be no need for plastic surgery.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
No Boob cups, literally a few portions of soy.
You got those.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
So for you and I know this is going to be defined
many different ways but whatdoes plant-based eating mean to
you?
Or when someone asks you whatdoes plant-based even mean, like
what do you say?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So plant-based eating .
When people mention that, Iwill be like veganism and
plant-based eating, two verydifferent things.
Yes, plant-based is manydifferent takes on it.
My version of plant-based iseating 100% plants, like I avoid
all animal products at allcosts, as much as I know
possible that there's nothing in.
So I will majority a wholefoods plant-based diet.
(26:30):
So that's what plant-basedmeans to me.
I know in some countriesplant-based means, you know, had
a bit of dairy or somethingelse to it and it's still
plant-based.
It doesn't involve a firstpiece of animal product, like an
animal product has, like asecondary beast, like cheese or
butter, but for me it is.
Everything is a plant, soeverything is 100% made from
(26:51):
plants, or as much as I knowpossible.
Whereas people stickplant-based and veganism in the
same.
I am both, but veganism is anethical lifestyle, whereas
people can, you know, eat aplant-based diet and not have
the ethics to water, or they canbe vegan and not have a whole
(27:11):
foods plant-based lifestyle thateaten a very much vegan diet.
So it's like, you know, oreosand things like that, which is,
which is also great if that'swhat you want to do, that's what
you want to do, but for me,those two things can go hand in
hand.
Some people they don't, but myplant-based, completely whole
foods, plant-based diet, as faras possible, that's what
plant-based, I would say, meansto me.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yep, I like that you made that distinction.
I also call myself aplant-based vegan, just because
I've learned so much about theanimal agriculture and the
environmental impacts of ourfood choices, and so it's so
much more than just for me whatstarted as health reasons.
But I think it's really good toknow kind of what the
difference is, because when Istarted going plant-based, it's
like, oh yeah, I'm also vegan,but it really it took a few
(27:52):
years to kind of figure out oh,that's what vegan is, like it is
.
It's, it's just a different wayof living.
So, okay, we touched on thisjust a little bit.
But does eating plant-basedgive you all the nutrients
except I know we need to talkabout one but does it give you
all the nutrients that you need?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Every essential nutrient that you need.
Yes, so, apart from B12, ifyou're eating enough nutritional
yeast, which I don't thinkanyone is yeah, those B12, four
to five foods, I assume that youmay you may be able to get
enough B12.
However, all the otheressential nutrients that you
need you can get from aplant-based diet, whether that
(28:33):
be like a whole foodsplant-based diet, maybe that be
like, you know, a vegan diet,full of, like alternatives and
stuff.
They will be four to five, likefour to five different foods in
different foods, but everythingthat you every vitamin, every
mineral, every macro,micronutrient you can get,
whether that be from your youknow, your proteins, your fats,
(28:55):
your amigas, you know, goingdown to your ions and the ones
that nobody knows of, like yourcopper, your like like Kohl-ion,
things like that, because mostpeople aren't aware that some of
these tiny ones exist, butmajority of those you are
getting from your daily dietanyway, like copper is.
I don't think copper deficiencyis a thing, because I think
most people, most people, getthat on a daily basis, just on
(29:19):
their natural foods, no matterwhat it is.
Yeah, there's some foods, somenutrients, that may need to be
slightly wary of, but that'salso depending on what the
person's eating.
So that would be I don't thinkthat's so much your protein, but
that's more your iron andthat's more your calcium and
things like that.
(29:39):
If you're not eating soy oryou're not eating your dark
leafy greens or you're nothaving any like plant milks,
that may be like fortified orlike beans, legumes, you may be
lacking in calcium, but if youdo have a well rounded diet,
you're going to be.
You're going to have those iron.
I feel like I know more peoplewith an iron deficiency that eat
(30:01):
me than I do that he plants.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yep, that's me.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Which really says something.
But I also think those peopleare eating a well rounded diet
as well, where they are eating,like you know, the legumes,
they're like iron rich foods andtheir pair of number of things
like vitamin C, or they'reavoiding caffeine before and
after meals.
Caffeine inhibits it.
So I think out like, if you're,if you're not following
(30:25):
guidelines, then yeah, you'relike iron can be slightly lower.
But if you're eating relativelyhealthy and you are eating your
vitamin C and eating a lot ofiron foods with your food would
be in each meal, and avoidingcaffeine, like how, four hour
after, you should be getting allthe iron in it as well.
The small ones that peopleforget about, which is like
(30:45):
iodine.
Iodine is a great one and it'shard to get on any diet.
It's not, it's not prevalent onany diet.
So that's not just a veganissue.
That's why iodine salt wascreated and it's put into like
bread and things like that.
However, if you're eating a lotof like seaweed or like sushi
roll paper stuff like that,you're getting a substantial
amount of iodine from oh, omegafreeze that's.
(31:07):
That's another one.
Yeah, there's various types ofOmega, but if you're eating once
again like seaweed or howky,you're getting a lot.
If you're eating your things,like your chia seeds and your
ground, your flax seeds and yourvarious other seeds as long as
they're ground up, you're stillgetting those, as far as,
obviously, how they don't, youdon't absorb the enough to
(31:30):
having all those.
They're getting converted intothe immediate you need and
obviously it does vary fromperson to person how much you
you absorb.
But if you're eating a onceagain, well rounded diet with,
like these bits and pieces inamongst every day, you're not
going to see issues.
I had people ask me the otherday like but where do you get
your creativity in from?
(31:50):
I'm like it's not an essentialnutrient.
Yeah, yeah, we create it.
So, yes, you're essentials.
Everything that you essentiallyneed to thrive, you can get on
a plant based diet.
Anything that's not essentialthat you don't need to thrive,
you sometimes you can't get aplant based diet, but that, once
again, they're not essential.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And again this goes back.
I get to like the variety beingso important.
I mean you can do any way ofeating quote wrong and so that's
why it is important, likeCallum was saying, to have a
well rounded plant based dietand also being mindful of your
vitamin B12 intake as well,which you can very, very
purposefully and intentionallyget from food.
But we always say thatsupplementation is the most
(32:30):
reliable source just becauseit's so easy and it's really
affordable.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I think, yeah, supplementation is going to be
the best source for it, becauseyou can be sprinkling
nutritional yeast on every,every meal as much as you want,
which is great.
However, I don't know how muchyou physically need to actually
get the amount of B12 that'ssuitable for you, so I'm never
going to recommend to anyone tosee how.
Just to just a nutritionalyeast.
(32:56):
Yeah, take it, just take asupplement.
People assume that B12 doescome from like animals.
It doesn't.
It's not.
It's not.
It's not a, it's not even avegan issue.
It's a worldwide issue becauseit's supplemented to animals as
well, or, if they are getting it, it's from the bacteria in the
soil, if they've got a rich landto be eating off, which, for
(33:16):
the majority of the time, whatwe've done to the world it's not
.
So it's very muchsupplementation is done to cows,
animals, us, so that it's not avegan issue when the small
percentage of a population isvegan and the rest are there
just of knocking them out.
(33:36):
They need as well.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Well, it goes to show that a lot of these issues
aren't actually just vegan orplant-based issues.
Like iron, you're no morelikely to have an iron
deficiency if you're plant-basedor vegan.
So again it just goes back tothe importance of eating a
well-rounded, plant-based dietto get everything that you need.
So do you actually dosupplement with anything in
particular?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
So I supplement B12.
If I'm having a week where I'mnot eating as much like Omega-3
sources as possible, I willthrow in a Omega-3 supplement.
But that's only if that's oneof those weeks where I literally
haven't had the time oranything in there or anything
that's going to be in therethat's going to give me those
sources.
But when I'm training I willthrow in a magnesium powder once
(34:18):
in a while, just to replenish.
But that's not essential orneeded, it's just to help your
body.
Oh, a protein powder once in awhile as well, apart from those,
oh, when I was in England, d3.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Wait when you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I feel like D3 is.
That's the one that we shouldprobably also be supplementing
is D3 for everyone?
Because even in Australia, eventhough we're like one of the
hottest places here in the world, if you're sitting inside an
office all day and not reallyseeing much sun, you can still
have a D3 deficiency or avitamin D deficiency.
(34:53):
So yeah, vitamin D.
I don't take as much here, butI will take.
However, if you are living in acountry like England, then
vitamin D3 is essential.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.
If you're in the States andyou're north of that Mason-Dixon
line, then you want to get yourvitamin.
I mean, everyone should begetting their vitamin D check,
but it's probably good to take avitamin D really for most
people in the winter, especiallybecause we're just not getting
that sun exposure like weusually do.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
I think that I think that's the only essential one,
apart from B12, that I wouldrecommend people taking If
they're not eating.
A variety of foods would bevitamin D and B12.
The others you can get fromyour diet.
However, if you want tosupplement them, go for it.
There's no issue insupplementation.
I think it's demonized a lot tosupplement.
(35:39):
However, people aresupplementing on a day-to-day
basis.
Literally the majority of thepopulation like supplementing in
some way, shape or form,whether they know it or not.
So don't be demonized bysupplementation.
If you need it, or it'ssomething that's going to help
you thrive, or it's going to addto your diet.
If you can't get everything in,then absolutely supplement.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Yeah, yeah, that's what it is.
It's a supplement to yourwell-rounded plant-based diet
and there's no shame in takingsupplements.
I am very pro-supplements.
I think they can be verybeneficial and, if you're an
athlete or not, there's so manybenefits to taking supplements
and I agree, there's absolutelyno shame in taking one.
So I appreciate that.
Ok, callan, if someone wants toconnect with you or work with
(36:24):
you because you are taking onclients, is that right?
Speaker 2 (36:26):
I am taking on clients, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
OK, all right.
Where is the best place forthem to do that?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
So the best place to do that would be mainly the
Instagram, which is yumfoodlife.
Also the website as well, whichis wwwyumfoodlife.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
OK, perfect, awesome.
We'll put those links in theshow notes.
That way, someone can easilyaccess you, your website,
connect with you on social media.
Yeah, callan puts up some funstuff on social media some
evidence-based, plant-basedinformation For those of you who
like that kind of stuff, andsome other videos, so you can
follow along there.
But, callan, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
I really, really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Perfect.
All right, we will catch you onthe next episode.
Thank you so much for listeningto the Plant-Centered and
Thriving podcast today.
If you found this episodeinspiring, please share it with
a friend or post it on socialmedia and tag me so I can
personally say thank you.
Until next time, keep thriving.
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