About Whole food, plant-based lifestyle

1. What’s the difference between Vegan and Plant-based(exclusive)?

Vegan means you omit any animal products from your diet, which includes meat, dairy, fish and eggs. Some vegans also choose not to consume any honey, use any animal products in their skin care and wear any animal products, like leather or fur. However, a lot of processed food, such as coke, chips, cookies etc, are technically vegan, yet unhealthy.

Plant-based(exclusive) means consuming foods closest to its natural form without any food- processing involved. So in this case, things like fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds are all plant food in its original form.

2. Why oil-free?

Oil is stripped of fiber and nutrients and is basically empty calories. A table spoon of oil contains about 120 calories.  If you are eating your salad with store-bought dressings or olive oil on top, you are adding a lot more calories into that salad. However, if you choose to eat, for example,  olives instead of olive oil, avocado instead of avocado oil, you are getting the whole package of nutrients, healthy fat and fiber.

Not only does oil potentially make you gain weight, it also harms the endothelial cells of your heart. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, retired heart surgeon from Cleveland Clinic and author of the book “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease“, explains more in detail about the relationship between oil consumption and  heart health.

3. Why I avoid using refined sugar?

Whenever I need to use some sweetener for my recipe, I have always been use my go-to favorite – dates. I love to use either Medjool dates or deglet noor dates. They are sweet enough, and they are seriously packed with plant nutrients. That’s probably the biggest reason why I love using dates rather than refined sugar, raw sugar, agave syrup or maple syrup.

Here is the tip : You have to allow those dates to be soaked for at least 40 minutes so that they are soften enough to be blended. Check out my date syrup recipe and try out this intact and healthy sugar substitute in your recipe.

4. Why go low sodium? 

When I start to cook with a variety of spices, the amount of salt that needed actually got largely reduced somehow. Occasionally, I use salt like the Himalayan pink salt in my cooking, but usually, depending on the dish I am making, I only sprinkle a little bit on top of my dish when the food is cooked. I would also use miso, gluten-free tamari and coconut aminos in my cooking (all in small amounts). But, really if you use spices, your reliance on salt is reduced.

Except from spices, things like nutritional yeast and sea vegetables  (kelp, dulse, wakame) help add umami flavor and nutrition into your food.

When it comes to salad, I love to use lime or lemon juice. They add some saltiness to the food and the Vitamin C inside those citrus fruit will assist the absorption of iron from leafy greens.

5. Why wheat free? 

This is a personal issue. Whenever I consume wheat products, even whole wheat products, my stomach would be bloated for a day or two and my whole digestive system will run down. I guess wheat is just not something I grew up eating with (rice has been my friend) and the area where I grew up does not produce wheat ( the north part of China grows a lot of wheat, not the south part).

Whole food, plant-based is more than a diet, it is the core principle of making your food choices. Those choices evolve into a long-term lifestyle to maintain rather than a short-lived yo-yo diet.