1. Live healthier by following a 100% plant-based lifestyle
2. Reduce in the process our impact on the planet’s resources
3. Eliminate animals’ suffering and stop the huge scale production of animal protein. 

The win-win-win is ideal in multiple ways. For instance, by cutting our consumption of animal proteins, we reduce the impact of massive meat production on the environment such as deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions AND we improve our health e.g. lower the risks of heart-related diseases and cancer. Also, by reducing the massive scale of animal farms, we reduce the risks of pandemics for humans AND we improve animal welfare.

Hence, my reasoning has been: “let me demonstrate that I become healthier on a plant-based diet and hopefully in the process I’ll inspire others to contribute to the triple win.” 

To validate this reasoning I went back to school, graduated as a food coach in June 2022, and followed a course from PNI Europe (introduction in “clinical psycho neuro immunology”, “KPNI” in Dutch). Both courses have convinced me to revise my standpoint to some extent.

I still do not eat meat!

However, I have reintroduced animal protein in my regimen. This is a departure from my idealistic win-win-win standpoint, so I feel the need to explain what and why I changed.

What Has Not Changed: A Solid Plant-Based Foundation

I still believe that a mostly plant-based approach to life is the way to go. From a human health point of view, our menu should be based on 80% alkaline ingredients, vegetables and fruits! This still needs to form the bulk of man’s diet. Why is explained here.

Considering the amount of unhealthy crap (sorry!) in processed food, I still believe that organic, pure, non-processed food is the way to go. Please read the ingredients of what you buy before you put in your mouth. Wheat? Avoid – see why here. 

Vegetable oils, like sunflower and peanut oil, beware! They contain Omega 6 fats which are responsible for low-grade inflammation.

To lower the logistics impact of the food system, I still go for mostly seasonal and local produce. That’s why I’m a customer of Boerschappen.

Still No Steak For Me!

Red meat like beef, pork, lamb… are still on my black (or red) list. I strongly advise against eating these foods. The biggest issue: they contain a molecule, Neug5Gc, which humans cannot synthesize, and that presents many issues. The largest risk is that Neu5Gc results in low-grade inflammation. See for instance “A red meat-derived glycan promotes inflammation and cancer progression”. Or just Google “Neu5Gc”.

Additionally, the molecule resembles the human Neu5Ga and that means that pathogens (viruses and bacteria) can sneak in our bodies and make us sick.

Bottom-line: red meat lowers your immune defences. 

Not Fake Meat Either!

I occasionally order a veggie hamburger in a restaurant but I don’t buy the fake meat products you find in supermarket. That’s 100% processed food, and the ingredients are most often unhealthy. 

Only exception: tempeh because it’s mostly pure and it is fermented. Fermented vegetables contain bacteria that are good for one’s microbiome.

What Has Changed: Some Animal Protein

This has been months in the making but here it is… I am no longer a vegetarian. Let alone that I have adopted a vegan lifestyle. I have not joined the dark side completely either. I still don’t buy meat and I very rarely eat it. However, I am back eating animal protein: a bit of cheese, eggs, fish, and seafood. 

Note, by the way, that the awful Neug5Gc molecule is also present in milk and cheese, in high quantities in goat cheese. Eating that from time to time is a risk I’m willing to take occasionally. Cheese 🧀 and wine 🍷remain my drug of choice. Oh yes, and chocolate 🍫 as well.

What Happened?

Let’s go back to the beginning. When I engaged on my “French Food Philosopher” journey I was convinced that going vegan was THE solution for the sustainability challenges our planet is facing. A great win-win-win was the ideal that motivated me: better human health through good food, much lower impact on natural resources, far less animal suffering.  

Doubt however was gnawing at me. My professors made it clear that vegans do not get enough vitamin B12 and Omega 3 fatty acids. And as I’m against industrial, processed products, I found it weird that one of the “wins” meant compromising with an important principle: having to eat processed foods. 

Furthermore, I found that eating legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas) to get to my daily intake of proteins felt unpleasant. After all, flatulence is not only socially awkward, but also a sign that your body is struggling to digest something. And in my case, there is a clear indication that I struggle to digest legumes. One of the reasons for that can be found here.

The PNI course has made it clear to me that lectins, one of the substances contained in legumes, are not a human’s friend. See for instance “The Problem With Lectins” in this article.  

As always, it’s not an “all of nothing” law. The point is that we cannot rely on legumes, grains, seeds and nuts to live healthy lives. We also need some intake of animal protein.

Changed Menu

Long story short: everyone’s body is unique. It’s up to you to find out what best works for your health. I won’t deny that animal proteins can be needed in a human’s diet. In my case I eat fish or seafood twice a week. Poultry? I’m still seating on the fence.  

Additionally, I use ghee (clarified butter) to cook – next to coconut and olive oil. And you’ll find butter, a bit of cheese and a little dairy on my menu. Not a humongous change, but a departure from my ideal “win” based on a 100% plant-based lifestyle. 

Should you want more information, scientific sources or otherwise, please drop me a note.

What common sense has known for centuries is increasingly demonstrated by scientific research. A well-maintained microbiome, having a wealth of bacterial bugs in your belly, is clearly positive for your body’s immunity. Reversely, an unhealthy gut is known to be the source of many physical and mental diseases. This list is very long, from benign or mild (skin rash, burping and farting, acid reflux, stress…) to serious and even life-threatening issues (Crohn’s, various cancers, Alzheimer’s…). 

The short of it is: want to leave a healthy, preferably long, life? Take care of your gut!

Have Chronic Pains? Pay Attention!

Here’s something you might want to try. It’s called food combinations.  I have tried this for a few weeks, and I see results already: I’ve lost a few pounds, my belly is flatter, I sleep better, my feces look better…

The theory behind food combinations is very simple. Macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats) are digested differently. Your body produces different enzymes for each sort of foods. Starches are digested by the enzyme amylase, among others. Amylase is present in your saliva. Fat is broken down by the enzyme lipase, made in the pancreas. Lactase breaks down dairy products. Proteases help digest proteins, like meat products and are produced in the stomach and pancreas…

Hopefully you get the picture: digestion is a complex process. The production of enzymes calls upon various organs: glands in your mouth, pancreas, liver, intestines. For each sorts of food various organs are used differently.

For more information, consult this article or this one.  

Food Combinations

For the body to process food efficiently and effectively we need to combine macronutrients wisely. This helps your body use a minimum amount of energy and absorb nutrients optimally. If you combine foods poorly, you exhaust your digestive organs AND miss nutritional benefits.

The bad news is that combining food healthily requires a radical new approach to preparing meals. There are a few good combinations and unfortunately, many bad ones. See below the illustration.

I am not making this theory up. It has been documented by Jan Dries, among other people, in various books. Jan is among other things the author of “The New Book of Food Combining: A Completely New Approach to Healthy Eating”. You can purchase this and other books by Jan on Amazon.com and Bol.com.

Good News!

The good news is that you can combine most vegetables anyway you want. There are a few exceptions as some vegetables are very rich in starch or fat so they fall in those categories. The way it works is that you may combine any category of food with another compatible one in the same meal. For instance:

• Breakfast – Overnight oats with plant-based milked (mostly water), avocado or any vegetable of your choice
• Lunch – A greens salad with nuts and seeds, with an egg omelette
• Diner – Stir fryed vegetables with rice.

In the illustration below you see a more comprehensive view of good and poor food combinations.

Fruit is a different story. Fruit is digested quickly, it leaves your stomach within approximately 20 minutes. You can best eat fruit separately, as an appetizer 20 minutes before any meal.   

What About Legumes?

Legumes, like white beans and chickpeas present an issue! They naturally are rich in protein and starch. As you can see in the drawing those two ingredients are incompatible in terms of food combination. This combination is also present in cereals but the ratio is better, the amount of protein in cereals is far lower than in the case of legumes.

In order to digest legumes well combine them with lots of vegetables. For instance mix a little bit of lentils in a salad with lots of green leafy vegetables.

A Good – and Tasty! – Food Combination Recipe

To make it clear that food combinations are compatible with a tasty meal, here’s an example. Thanks to Boerschappen again for the great ingredients and creative recipe!

The dish: celery medallions with truffle potatos, oven baked beets and (vegan) pesto.

Ingredients for two persons:

• 400 grams truffle potatoes
• 400 grams beets (the original recipe is with carrots but I replaced them)
• 200 grams celery
• Mustard, flour, water, pepper for seasoning
• Coriander / cilantro or whichever fresh herbs you have.

This foods combination is “green”:

1. Celery, beets, fresh herbs = vegetables 
2. Potatoes and flour = starch
3. Pesto = fat

Slice the beets in cubes and bake them in the oven on a tray for about 20 minutes. Boil the potatoes and cook them as you like.

Grate the celery. Mix that with a good spoonful of musterd, pepper, salt, some flour and water to bind the celery. Make little balls of the mixture. Throw the balls in a hot pan (use coconut or rice oil) and flatten the balls to create hamburger style paddies. Bake those 4 minutes on each side. 

Put celery medallions, sliced potatoes, beets on the plates, drizzle pesto. the chopped cilantro or other herbs on top. Enjoy!   

His website (nutritionfacts.org) is a donation-driven nonprofit, and he doesn’t offer any products. In fact, his main recommendation is to avoid any products and just eat whole, natural food!

“How Not to Die”

Greger is also a prolific author. It’s personal but I really enjoy his borderline cynical sense of humor. Check one of his videos on YouTube to get a taste. In his great book “How not to die” Dr. Greger demonstrates how nutrition and lifestyle choices help prevent the top causes of premature death. Each of the first fifteen chapters of the book describes which disease you do NOT want to die from: heart conditions, cancer, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, liver diseases, infections depression…

The Daily Dozen

In the second part of the book Greger goes in to explain how to put his recommendation in practice. He summarizes his recommendations of all the things you should try and fit into your daily routine: the Daily Dozen. It’s basically a checklist. There’s even a Daily Dozen app!

This checklist contains the building blocks essential to remain healthy, including in which quantity one should take them. Greger: “Each day, I recommend a minimum of three servings of beans (legumes), one serving of berries, three servings of other fruits, one serving of cruciferous vegetables, two servings of greens, two servings of other veggies, one serving of flaxseeds, one serving of nuts and seeds, one serving of herbs and spices, three servings of whole grains, five servings of beverages, and one serving of exercise.”

Let’s add B12 vitamin to this list. Greger clearly promotes veganism and B12 is the only vitamin the body cannot produce naturally. Trust me: although it takes some thinking, it is easy to check all the boxes every day.

Winter Lasagna Recipe

Allow me to help you with your servings of flaxseeds, herbs, cruciferous vegetables, greens and other vegetables with this “tricolore lasagna”. To challenge myself I experimented with vegan bechamel and made this recipe gluten-free.

Start by chopping broccoli. Greger states that the full benefits of this cruciferous vegetable’s enzymes are released when you cut this veggie 45 minutes before you cook or eat it. To boost the cruciferous content, I added brussel sprouts with I halved so they fit more easily in a lasagna layer.

Start the baking process by frying garlic and onions. Sauté the vegetables. Add fresh spinach leaves, or frozen green peas or whatever veggie you feel like. In this case I used zucchinis (not a winter veggie, but these are available year-round in Dutch supermarkets thanks to the prolific greenhouses here).

Once the vegetables are warm, add tomato sauce or diced tomatoes and chopped freh herbs. Keep this mix warm while you prepare the bechamel.

Vegan and Gluten-Free

As one of my relatives has difficulty processing dairy and gluten I decided to create a gluten-free bechamel and to use gluten-free lasagna pasta. Instead of milk I used a non-dairy alternative, a hazelnut-rice milk by Zonnatura. Check the ingredients list of your “non-dairy milk”: they mostly contain water and additives such as sunflower oil, a commonly used trans fat. As trans fats are bad for you, prefer products that don’t contain them. More on that topic in a future blog!

To create a thick sauce, I dissolved two spoons of corn starch and two spoons of broken flaxseeds to the hazelnut-rice milk. I slowly brought this mix to a simmer until it thickened.

The process of making lasagna is well-known: a layer of base mix (the vegetables), add the lasagna pasta, pour some bechamel, repeat. On the top layer, next to bechamel I added grated vegan cheese and pumpkin seeds. Vegan cheese, by the way, isn’t that healthy but it helps create a for the eye pleasing gratin look.

In summary, here’s how this lasagna helps tick Daily Dozen boxes:

• 1 of one serving of cruciferous vegetables
• 1 of two servings of greens
• 1 of two servings of other veggies
• 1 of one serving of flaxseeds
• 1 of one serving of nuts and seeds
• 1 of one serving of herbs and spices
• 1 of three servings of whole grains

Alternative Plant-Based Burgers OK?

So what to do as a vegetarian or vegan? I have tried a couple of alternatives from the supermarket but can’t say their taste blew my sock off. On top of that: I looked at the ingredients’ labels… That too did not please me. Those “fake meat burgers” contain a rather long list of vague ingredients like flours and E numbers.

Why stop eating meat and choose an alternative that is unhealthy and has a unnecessary high carbon footprint?

Let’s take advantage of the protein transition to create a “eat healthier” transition!

Should you know of a healthy, carbon-neutral and tasty alternative, please let me know!

Home-Made Mushroom-Lentils Burgers

In the meantime, here is a good solution in case you crave a good burger: make one yourself.

Inspired by a delicious lentils meal earlier this week I looked for a recipe that combined those with mushrooms, one of my preferred Umami ingredients. Below is my version of De Hippe Vegetariër’s mushrooms-lentils burger.

Ingredients:

• Dry lentils, about 100 gram
• Mushrooms, 250 gram
• Shallot, one
• Garlic cloves, two
• Soja sauce, a couple of teaspoons
• Miso, a teaspoon
• Oats, a tablespoon
• Chia seeds, a tablespoon

Cook the lentils in water in about 30 minutes (follow the instructions on the package).

In the meantime: chop the garlic cloves and heat them up gently in a pan. Blitz the mushrooms together with the shallot and the soja sauce.

Add the mushroom mix to the hot pan with garlic and cook that up. Turn the oven on, around 180 degrees Celsius.

Using the same mixer, chop the oats fine and after about fives minutes add the oats, lentils and chia seeds to the mushrooms in the pan. Season it with salt and pepper. Let this simmer at low heat until the water is absorbed and the mixture feels consistent.

Turn the mix into six or eight paddies, lay them on a baking sheet and set this in the oven.

Turn the paddies after 5 minutes; they’re ready after another five minutes or longer if you prefer them slightly toasted.

Serve your plant-based as you like. Unfortunately I did not have fine bread buns today so I served them together with corn and romanesco with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Hope you enjoy those! Please let me know what you think.

I used to think that way until I decided to adopt a plant-based diet and looked into the nutrition value of tofu. That changed my mind and I decided to look for ways to make this valuable ingredient more palatable. More on the virtues of tofu. First: how can you turn tofu into something delicious.

Today’s recipe is inspired by this Boerschappen’s Asian Wok recipe (in Dutch). Except: I substituted tempeh (which I still dislike) by tofu.

It’s really simple; chop an onion, garlic cloves, a red peper and mix that with grated ginger.

Dice your tofu and put those dices in a container in which you pour the marinade sauce. Experiment with your marinade. For instance use half Japanese or Chinese soy sauce and half Indonesian sweet ketjap. This results into a sweeter and stickier tofu when you heat it up in your pan later.

Put a lid on your container, shake it to mix the tofu with the ingredients and set that in your fridge for at least 15 minutes. I prefer to prepare this half a day in advance, e.g. in the morning to use at lunch time.

When it’s time to eat, put some water to boil to prepare rice noodles.

Chop an onion, a couple of egg plants and some mushrooms. Fry those in a wok pan at medium heat. Pour the liquid (soy sauce) part of the tofu marinade onto the egg plant-mushroom mix.

In a separate pan, heat up your tofu with the onion-garlic-ginger-peper mix. Let this cook for 8 or so minutes. Wait until the tofu looks brown and crispy.

When all ingredients are ready, put them on your plates: the rice noodles, the veggies and then the crispy tofu. If you want add a fried egg on top, to add extra silkiness and proteins to the dish.

Another way to accomodate this way of preparing tofu is in a lukewarm salad. In a bowl mix roman lettuce and broccoli with coriander. Add your crispy tofu and here you go: a delicious meal in no time!

While you enjoy this, allow me to share a few reasons why it’s a good idea to add tofu to your menu. You can find many sources on the Internet. I’m summarizing here the main facts from this article: “Tofu Nutrition Facts – Calories, Carbs and Health Benefits of Tofu.”

• Tofu is made from soybeans. It’s high in plant-based proteins, low in calories and carbs, dairy-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and vegan. In addition, tofu is an excellent source of calcium and iron.
• On the downside, as its main ingredient is soy, beware! Soy is one of the top food allergens in children and adults. If you’re allergic to wheat, beans or milk you may also have an allergic reaction to soy.

Last piece of advice: check the label before you buy tofu. Prefer REAL tofu, made from local (in my case European) soy beans above tofu that has made many kilometers before ending on your plate. Also prefer organic tofu. Quoting Wikipedia: “Organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.” In other words; it’s better for our environment and your body.

Hope this inspires you. Enjoy tofu!

A couple of years ago I trained with a Personal Trainer and told him what I am about to explain in this blog. His reaction: “sounds great because if you fail to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.” One simple secret of eating healthily is: prepare your food for the days ahead.

My approach to save time and eat healthy: create meals using prefab building blocks I have prepared in advance for the week. I usually do that Sundays. During the week I think about each lunch – our main meal – early in the morning and spend a few minutes preparing it. Come crunch time, around noon, I usually need no more than fifteen minutes to put heathly plates on the table.

The picture featured on top of this blog contains some examples of my prefab building blocks:

• tins and bags of beans, chick peas and lentils;
• organic rice, red, black or whole;
• pasta based on organic whole wheat; these days they also make pasta based on chickpea- or lentil-based flours;
• bulgur and semolina (the stuff used in couscous) also available based on other all kinds of flours these days, healthier than traditional wheat (avoid wheat-based products!);
• tins of tomatoes and bottles of passata – easy to combine in so many ways;
• condiments like musterd, capers, olives, vegan mayo, harissa, etc. Stuff to make a sauce in a jiffy.

The examples of plant-based prefab elements that follow are based on what I find in season. But the idea is applicable in any season: cook, steam or grill batches of different foods separately and combine those during the week. This way you have healthy ready-to-go components to create something different every day.

First: fried cabbage. This organic white cabbage I love to fry quickly in the wok pan. Most time consuming in the process is chopping the cabbage colslaw-style. In the wok pan I poured a little sunflower see oil, added the chopped onion and garlic cloves and sprinkled paprika and curry powders. Other spices work of course, follow your taste and inspiration. Once this base is hot, add and stir the chopped cabbage.

Another similar building block is Brussels sprouts in garlic. Add coarse sea salt to add crunchiness.

Some vegetables are also delicious once grilled in the oven. The Italians serve great grilled veggies like eggplant, zucchinis or peppers. One of my favorite grilled greens is cauliflower. Put the white bits on an oven baking tray, sprinkle olive oil and spices on top and grill the cauliflower during fifteen minutes. That’s it; another batch of ingredients ready for the week to come!

Next to frying and grilling you can also boil your goods. Potatoes for instance. Don’t overcook them and bake them later that week in a matter of minutes.

Steam! We recently purchased a steam basket to put on top of regular pan. This helps prepare vegetables like green beans and broccoli in no time without losing taste or vitamins. Again, once ready put the steamed vegetables in a container and serve them later during the week.

On a regular Sunday afternoon a prepare three to four of these building blocks, working in parallel. It doesn’t take much time at all.

Early every weekday I think about our main meal and put the necessary ustensils and lay out the “dry” ingredients (tins, packs) on the kitchen counter. Sometimes I cook something ahead of time, like rice or lentils. This way, come lunch time, I don’t have to pounder or waste any time on the assembly work.

I’m curious to hear if you like this building block approach to a food week. Please don’t hesitate to share your healthy time-saving cooking tips.

Let’s start with the dish featured on top of this page: a lentil salad. I love salads. They are so easy to put together, and are so delicious!

It all starts with the sauce. The source of good fat and the important base of the dish: seed oil. I love flax seed but sunflower seeds or virgin olive oil are also fine. In this case this sauce is Dijon musterd mixed with flax seed oil, peper and salt.

An alternative base sauce is hummus mixed with vinegar or lemon juice and a little oil.

How simple and fast can you make it? Very! Use canned ingredients, here organic lentils. Lentils are an excellent source of protein. Rinse and mix them with the vinaigrette.

You then add whatever vegetables and greens you have: lettuce, fresh spinach, tomatoes, grilled cauliflower, steamed green beans… you’re done. Enjoy!

Many variations are possible based on this mix of oil-based sauce, beans or other protein-rich plant-based ingredients and greens.

A surprising delicious source of protein is tofu. I like to dice (organic) tofu, marinate the dices in soy sauce with chopped onions and garlic. Prepare that in the morning, it’s done in a few minutes before going to work. Come lunch time, warm your wok pan up, mix spices in hot oil and bake the tofu and marinate quickly. Add that to your salade vegetables when the tofu is ready, or toss the lettuce or spinach in the pan to mix the whole thing and here’s a fantastic spicy tofu, lukewarm salad.

Almonds and peanuts are other sources of good fat and protein. And, by they way, they too are delicious in lunch saladd. Sprinkle a handful before you serve your plate and you’ve added a crunchy and healhy texture to your dish.

Hope these ideas inspire you to enjoy plant-based and balanced dishes!

Next time I will simple share time-saving tips. In the meantime let me know if you have tips or recipes you’d like to share or other topics you’d like me to address. Top of my list: why I favour organic and whole ingredients.

Warning upfront: I am not a dietician. So to keep my convictions in check I did some surfing across the world to see what the consensus is.

This Australian writer states: “the balance is a quarter proteins, a quarter carbohydrates and half vegetables”. Easy to remember!

The UK’s National Health Service posts something quite similar. Notice the bullet “Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat…” – do not think immediately that “protein” means “meat”:

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day (5 portions = 400 grams fresh, canned or frozen)
• Base meals on higher fibre starchy foods (potatoes, bread, rice or pasta)
• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (e.g. soya drinks)
• Eat some beans and pulses (e.g. lentils, chickpeas), fish, eggs, meat and other protein
• Small amounts of unsaturated oils and spreads
• Drink plenty of fluids (at least 6 to 8 glasses a day)

Although I am suspicious of any advice from the USA, I tend to trust prestigious universities. Hence this Harvard University article has made the cut for this post. I particularly love this graphical representation of a “healthy eating plate”:

This is similar to the UK view of a balanced diet and comes close to the Australian view: half vegetables and fruits (read “carbohydrates”), quarter “healthy” protein (“limit red meat, avoid bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats’), quarter whole grains (read “carbohydrates”), healthy plant oils and lots of healthy fluids. Alas I also read: “limit cheese’.

Let’s broaden our horizons even more and look at the secrets of the Blue Zones. These are regions of the world where over a long period of time an usually high part of the population is older than a hundred years. The longevity story goes well beyond food. The Blue Zones is an inspiring story. It entails a lifestyle similar to the one I stand for.

These guidelines are even simpler than the previous ones:

• 95% plant-based
• two thirds carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, rice…)
• 15% proteins (legumes like beans or pulses, eggs, a little meat or fish)
• 20% fat – plant-based, needless to say!

If you want the whole food 😉 story, take a look at this daily – weekly – monthly breakdown of the Blue Zones food guidelines:

As I live in the Netherlands I have to look into the national beliefs. It’s encapsulated in the so-called disc of five (“schijf van vijf”). A healthy diet according to this national food center is based on:

• Plenty of vegetables and fruit
• Fat from spreads and oil / butter
• Proteins from fish, beans and , meat, eggs, nuts and dairy
• Carbohydrates like bread, grains and potatoes.
• Fluids

Let’s take finally a look at the country where the French Food Philosopher was born. I found this simple drawing on the site of the country’s cardiology federation:

The site states that a healthy plate consists of:

• Two thirds vegetables, raw or cooked
• One third carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, pasta, grains, beans and pulses)
• Some proteins (meat, fish, eggs, cheese).

As you see, there’s little room on the plate for “some proteins”. I suck at math so I used a calculator to verify that when you add one third and two third you actually have no room left.

This group of French doctors in essence confirm the Blue Zones results: avoid animal proteins, go plant-based!

Next time I will post some examples of “balanced plates of food”, plant-based of course!