Regarding what to eat, here are some points.
1. Lots of Fresh Plant Foods
Stick to a plant-based diet emphasizing whole, fresh and unrefined foods.
2. Boost Your Nutrition Intake
If you feel you need to boost nutrition intake, for example, if you’re an athlete:
- consumption of edible seaweeds (avoid if your thyroid is overactive)
- nutrient dense plant foods like:
- maca root as an excellent source of nutrients and minerals
- moringa oleifera for its wide array of nutritious and health-protective benefits
- good sources of fats and high-quality oils
3. Reduce or Eliminate “Problem Foods”
Certain foods tend to cause problems for a greater number of people, regardless of dietary preferences due to allergies and intolerance.
These include foods made from or containing gluten, corn, soy, modern wheat, peanuts, and refined ingredients such as sugar and salt.
4. Learn Traditional Food Preparation Methods
Grandma knew best. We think it’s important to remember traditional preparation of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Follow through at Your Own Pace
When it comes to change, everybody does things differently.
Some are interested in feeling and looking their best, others just want to replace animal-derived foods, reduce their environmental footprint, or simply want to try something new.
Regardless of what motivates you to make this shift in your life, doing it at your own pace is the most important.
We’ve got room and content for people of all stages.
Foods We Recommend
As you’ll see us mention elsewhere, these are the food categories that will make up most or all of your diet:
Fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, microgreens, sprouts, tubers, mushrooms, legumes, non-wheat gluten-free ancient grains and pseudocereals; nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, unrefined oils, and unrefined salts.
Staples First
If you’re coming from a Standard Western diet and didn’t used to think too much about what you ate, it’s a good idea to recognize there is a huge variety of foods that you probably never knew existed.
We don’t recommend getting the bulk of your daily calorie intake from:
- beans
- nuts
- seeds
- starches
Use the above as side portions, condiments and snacks.
Recommended Staples
Alternate, mix and match the following food items to form the basis of your diet and the bulk of your intake.
Starches and Tubers
- Carrot
- Cassava
- Celeriac
- Jicama
- Kohlrabi
- Lotus root
- Parsnip
- Rutabaga
- Sweet potato
- Taro root
- Turnip
- Yams
Squashes
- Acorn squash
- Banana squash
- Bitter melon
- Butternut squash
- Delicata squash
- Gem squash
- Hubbard squash
- Patty pan squash
- Pumpkin
- Spaghetti squash
- Zucchini
Non-Wheat Gluten-Free Ancient Grains and Pseudocereals
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
- Kaniwa
- Millet
- Sorghum
- Teff
- Quinoa
- Wild rice
Miscellaneous
- Avocado
- Coconut meat
- Olives
- Rice
The Remaining Plant Foods
With your staples in place, there’s now a world of other plant foods to choose from.
We’ll list the most common options from each category. The categories you’ll find below are: vegetables and leafy greens, seaweeds, condiments, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds, and oils.
Vegetables and Leafy Greens
- Artichoke
- Arugula
- Asparagus
- Broccoflower
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprout
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Collard greens
- Eggplant
- Endive
- Fennel
- Kale
- Lamb’s quarters
- Lettuce
- Mustard green
- Pak-choi
- Radish
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
- Watercress
Onions
- Chives
- Garlic
- Leek
- Onion
- Red onion
- Scallion
- Shallot
Seaweeds
- Arame
- Bladderwrack
- Dulse
- Irish moss
- Kelp
- Kombu
- Nori
- Sea lettuce
- Wakame
Condiments
Salts
- Black Hawaiian lava salt
- Black kala namak salt
- Fleur de sel
- Grey (Celtic Sea Salt)
- Himalayan pink salt
- Red Hawaiian alaea sea salt
- Sea salt
Herbs
- Anise
- Basil
- Caraway
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Herb fennel
- Lemon grass
- Marjoram
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Tarragon
- Thyme
Spices
- Cardamom
- Cayenne
- Chili powder
- Chipotle powder
- Cinnamon
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Curry powder
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Oregano
- Paprika
- Saffron
- Turmeric
- Vanilla
Peppers
- Bell pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Chili pepper
- Habanero
- Jalapeño
- Paprika
- Tabasco pepper
Legumes
Beans
- Adzuki bean
- Anasazi bean
- Asparagus bean
- Black bean
- Borlotti bean
- Cannellini bean
- Carob bean
- Fava bean
- Flageolet bean
- Garbanzo bean (chickpeas)
- Green bean
- Kidney bean
- Lima bean
- Lupin bean
- Mung bean
- Navy bean
- Pinto bean
- Wax bean
- White bean
Peas
- Black-eyed pea
- Dwarf pea
- English pea
- Green pea
- Snow pea
- Southern pea
- Sugar snap pea
Other
- Lentils (black, brown, green, red, yellow)
Fruits
General
- Apple
- Banana
- Cherimoya
- Cherry
- Clementine (mandarin)
- Custard apple
- Dragon fruit
- Durian
- Fig
- Grape
- Grapefruit
- Guava
- Jackfruit
- Kiwi
- Kumquat
- Langsat
- Lemon
- Lime
- Longan
- Lychee
- Mango
- Mangosteen
- Nectarine
- Orange
- Papaya
- Passion fruit
- Peach
- Pear
- Persimmon
- Pineapple
- Plantain
- Plum
- Pomegranate
- Pomelo
- Rambutan
- Rose apple
- Sapodilla
- Snake fruit
- Tamarind
- Tomato
- Tangelo
- Tangerine
Berries
- Acai berry
- Bilberry
- Blackberry
- Black mulberry
- Blueberry
- Boysenberry
- Cape gooseberry
- Cranberry
- Indian gooseberry
- Cloudberry
- Currant
- Dewberry
- Elderberry
- Goji berry
- Gooseberry
- Huckleberry
- Juniper berry
- Loganberry
- Lingonberry
- Marionberry
- Mulberry fruit
- Olallieberry
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
Melons
- Cantaloupe melons
- Casaba melons
- Charentais melons
- Crenshaw melons
- Frog skin melons
- Honeydew melons
- Muskmelons
- Orange flesh melons
- Persian melons
- Piel de Sapo melons
- Watermelons
Dried Fruit
- Apple
- Apricot
- Banana
- Blueberry
- Cherry
- Cranberry
- Date
- Fig
- Mango
- Peach
- Pear
- Prune
- Raisin
- Strawberry
Nuts
- Almond
- Beech-nut
- Brazil nut
- Cashew nut
- Chestnut
- Coconut
- Hazelnut
- Macadamia nut
- Pecan nut
- Pine nut
- Pistachio nut
- Walnut
Seeds
- Chia seed
- Flaxseed
- Hemp seed
- Poppy Seed
- Sesame seed
- Sunflower seed
Oils
- Almond oil
- Avocado oil
- Coconut oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Hemp seed oil
- Macadamia nut oil
- Olive oil
- Pecan oil
- Pine nut oil
- Pistachio nut oil
- Pumpkin seed oil
- Walnut oil