Frequently Asked Questions

If you’re hungry on a plant based diet, you’re doing it wrong. Because most plant based foods have far fewer calories than their animal counterparts, you may have a hard time getting enough calories.

Of course, if you eat high calorie foods without exercising to burn them off, you might consume too many calories. That’s why it’s so important to eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of plant based foods and a wide variety of colors. Our free plant based meal plan attempts to make that easy for you.

Absolutely. The protein deficiency myth was created by accident and used by the animal ag industry to justify addiction to meat, and to continue their highly profitable businesses. There’s a lot more money to be made from a cow than from the plants the cow eats.

Cows are the most popular source of meat, yet cows are 100% herbivore. They only eat plant based foods and they have no problem growing all of the protein consumed by meat-eaters.

Humans are biological herbivores, but we’ve adapted to be omnivores, meaning we can eat pretty much anything. However, we’re perfectly capable of getting all the protein we need from plants, especially now that we understand the plant based diet so much better.

Here’s a great article on the topic of protein and plant based diets: The Protein Myth.

Absolutely not! In fact, a plant based diet is full of flavor and color. Once you’ve been off of meat, dairy and eggs for a week or two, you’ll start to notice an increase in your taste bud sensitivity. Almost everyone who makes the switch reports this experience.

Once you give up animal products, you’ll need to find replacements for your traditional main course. These veg-based replacements are often full of new flavors and spices that make the dishes taste new and amazing. And to make your conversion process easier, several food companies have developed meatless “meat” that taste a lot like the real thing.

With our plant based meal plan, your tastebuds will have new and exciting experiences on a weekly basis!

Yes. Some vegetables have calcium, and most non-dairy milks like soy, oat, almond milk and the other nut milks are fortified with calcium. In fact, the cashew milk I prefer has 40% more calcium than dairy milk.

You should get your levels tested by your doctor if you’re concerned about it, but most people need far less calcium when eating a plant based diet than those who consume dairy. It seems counterintuitive thanks to the decades of false and misleading diary ads, but it’s true.

Dairy leaches calcium from your bones due to its high protein (casein) content, so you need more of it to offset the calcium loss it creates. Eating a whole-food plant-based diet means you need less calcium than the dietary recommendations, which were heavily influenced by the dairy industry in their attempt to increase our dairy intake (and their corporate profits).

You might. B12 these days mostly comes from animal products, but it’s also found in some fortified foods like Nutritional Yeast and Vegan Yogurt. B12 is an important vitamin for your overall health so it’s not good to be low on it.

Animal products are high in iron, but so are the heartier vegetables like spinach, beans and lentils so you might not need an iron supplement. D3 is made by our bodies when the sun hits our skin. If you wear a lot of sunscreen or don’t go out much, you might need a D3 supplement.

The only way to know for sure is to go to your doctor and get your blood tested. Tell your doctor you’re eating a plant based/vegan diet (listen to the lecture about why you’re wrong) and ask if you need to do anything special to make up for not eating meat, dairy or eggs. Just remember that most general practitioners have ZERO training in nutrition. It’s ok to question their advice or to get a second opinion from a doctor who is educated on the healthy, plant based way of eating (WOE).