HSN Episode #35: Why You Want Whole Plant-Based Foods with Anna Tseng
Michelle Fox: [00:00:00] Welcome to Healthy Sexy Nutrition with me, Michelle Fox, Culinary nutritionist, health coach, and your host For this podcast, I teach busy professionals how to get more nutrition in their bodies. And how to have more fun in their home kitchens. If you struggle with consistency or sometimes forget to make your needs a priority or you avoid planning your meals.
You, my friend, are in the right place. Join me each week for inspiration to increase your energy, discover new recipes, manage your hormonal woes, and so much more. You are a busy professional, but that does not mean your nutrition should suffer. You deserve to live in a body and have a life that you love.
So let's dig in.
I [00:01:00] imagine if you hear my voice right now, you may have a little confusion about what it means to be a true vegetarian or hey, does vegan mean the same as vegetarian? Oh my goodness. I just heard this new term called plant-based or what about plant forward? There is so much noise around nutrition on the internet right now and I am so glad that my friend Anna Tseng is here to help us clear things up and I say us as kind of a winkling cuz you know your girl's got a basic understanding, however, I will tell you that in real life, in my dm, sometimes even in my emails, and actually just in a client consultation last week, somebody asked me a question about vegetarianism and I'm like, really?
You didn't know that? So, you know all of that to say. Let's just [00:02:00] clear it up once and for all, because I want you, my friend, to feel empowered about your eating choices and what may work for me may not work for you. And what may work for Anna May not work for you either. So I invite you to this conversation to really just lean in, listen in, take what works for you.
But at the end of this conversation, I truly want you to be empowered to eat for your body type. So Anna is a plant-based registered dietician with a master's degree. Yes, we are talking to The Real Deal today with a master's degree in Public Health Nutrition. Anna Tseng is also the founder of Plant Nourished
And she is an award-winning published recipe creator. Through private coaching and online courses, [00:03:00] Anna passionately helps busy people with health challenges move easily to plant-based eating for optimal health, Anna empowers them with key skills. Practical strategies and tasty, nourishing plant-based recipes so they can enjoy a health transforming, vibrant life without long hours on the kitchen.
We have the right person to chat with us. So Anna, hello and welcome to the show.
Anna Tseng: Thank you, Michelle. I'm glad to be here.
Michelle Fox: Hmm, my pleasure. I, like I mentioned, I get these questions about vegetarianism, plant-based, plant forward literally once a week, if not more. And so I'm excited to dig in with you.
However, you know me, we have to play a game first. Are, are you open to playing with me? Sure. I, I don't know that. I believe you,
Anna Tseng: Anna. [00:04:00] Let's see what those questions are. First.
Michelle Fox: I love it. That that is probably the, what was I gonna say? Is that the, the master's degree in you? It's like we need to ask those clarifying questions before we truly commit.
Yes. Okay. I promise this is all fun.
So would you be willing to share one of your favorite childhood memories in the kitchen?
Anna Tseng: Sure. I'm just trying to think back to then I think. I think it'll just be my mother. She loves to, um, there'll be some days when there'll be a special pancake day and she'll make pancakes and we loved her homemade recipe. And the best fun my sister and I had, I only have one older sister, was to, I would, you know, make the pancake into different shapes.
I'll eat around it, make it into a rabbit or into the United States, America or all sorts of things. So it's just a fun memory to share with my sister. And I just remember those pancake days, [00:05:00] having those, as a family.
Michelle Fox: How special, where did
Anna Tseng: you all grow up? I was born in Virginia, but I grew up partly overseas, so between Virginia and Singapore actually, cuz my father, got a teaching position in Singapore.
So we went when we're really young and then we came back and then we went back again. So we've kind of, I kind of had. You know, part of my growing up year split between Asia and in the United States. Ugh.
Michelle Fox: I love it. I actually buried my father in Singapore. Well spread his ashes, in Singapore. That was one of his favorite places, so I love it.
Yet one more connection. You and I have
Anna Tseng: definitely.
Michelle Fox: Wonderful. Well, let's jump into our topic of the day. So just before we, you know, get into the nitty gritty and, and get nerdy, which you and I both love to do around nutrition, can you just simply break down the difference between [00:06:00] vegan, vegetarian, plant-based?
Cause I have a feeling a lot of your clients may come to you originally. A little bit curious and a little bit confused. How do you typically approach that?
Anna Tseng: Yes, absolutely. I'll be happy to do that because I agree. There's just a lot of confusion. there's so many turns being thrown out now, especially in social media, in cookbooks, celebrities, and the media.
So it's very easy to get confused, especially if you're someone who's not into the plant-based world or it's not really new to it. So I think maybe in the broadest sense, the best way to think of plant-based is that it's a way of eating that is plant centered rather than meat centered. So putting plants and plant-based foods at the center of your plate so that it's the stars of the plate rather than meats or other animal based products.
And it might be easiest to think of this as the term plant-based as more of an umbrella term. And [00:07:00] underneath it are many different kinds of plant centered diets. You could have a vegetarian diet, one that is maybe excludes animal-based products, but may include some eggs and or dairy. You could have a vegan diet, one that excludes animal-based products and byproducts.
You can have a whole food plant-based diet. So something that, is really focused on minimally processed and unprocessed whole plant-based foods such as the fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. So when I talk about plant-based eating, I'm really talking about this most healthful kind of, a plant-based diet.
So one that's focused on those minimally processed or unprocessed whole plant-based foods. Now, I do wanna clarify, even though we call it a plant-based diet, it's not really a diet, we're not a fad diet or something. You know, you might hear. It's more of a lifestyle change, a real kind of lifestyle way of eating that is focused on these whole plant-based foods.
[00:08:00] Mm-hmm. And, I know a lot of people may think I can't be eating plant-based, you know, unless I'm a hundred percent plant-based or vegan. Right. or I can't be eating plant-based at all, and that's not really true. the way I see it is more of a spectrum or a continuum, right? So on one side you could be maybe making more than half of your plates, you know, plant centered, you know, eating mostly plants, plant-based foods.
Maybe that, vegetarian who has some egg or dairy products. Maybe the vegan who has, excludes all animal based products or byproducts, but maybe eating quite a good proportion of, very processed vegan commercial meat alternatives. You know, all those products that we see right now out there on in the markets.
To one who's eating really a whole food plant-based diet, focusing on those minimally processed and unprocessed whole plant-based foods. And I think anyone could really start at any point on that spectrum. But the overall goal is to move gradually more and more towards those [00:09:00] most health whole plant-based foods.
because what we know is from studies, in research is that that high quality plant-based diet is the one that really brings the most health outcomes. Yes. I think
Michelle Fox: Right. And I'm just gonna jump in real quick and share for my clients and my future clients what I typically share with my personal food philosophy.
And then I. Definitely wanna hear about your personal food philosophy and how you live and how your family lives currently. But for me, my food philosophy is that food is medicine. So I wholeheartedly agree with everything you just said. And in my programs I teach that we wanna use meat and if we're gonna eat the meat, that it needs to be organic.
So we're not getting those extra hormones in. We wanna use meat as more of a condiment, but the, a minimum of 80% of our plate is going to be plant-based. And so with the culinary part, I really try to teach recipes that make vegetables taste [00:10:00] delicious. And so I just offer that up for people to make sure they know that I am not preaching vegetarianism.
And maybe Anna will in a moment and that'll be perfectly fine. but I just wanna share, you know, maybe some different perspectives. Cause again, I want to invite you, the listener, to get the information so that you can use it in your life right now. And so with that, Anna, what is your. Personal food philosophy at this point?
Anna Tseng: Well, I think that, as I mentioned before, I think everyone starts at a different place, right? So they have on their journey towards the best health and the best optimal nutrition. So, you know, and I think what works, I think that one person may not be able to switch overnight, as we talked about completely to a fully a hundred percent whole food, plant-based diet as all.
But I think. Research definitely does show the benefits of moving as much as you can towards integrating [00:11:00] as much whole plant-based foods as you can. So as you were saying about a predominantly plant-based diet, which is what you are, talking about in your coaching program, I think that is a great place to start.
And what we have in research is that, you know, that really brings lots of benefits. For example, we talk about heart disease, you know, it's the number one killer in the United States and in the world as well. I think it was 2019, you know, 18 million people, at deaths, right. Uh, died from cardiovascular disease, which is about a third of all the deaths that year.
And 85% of those deaths, 18 million, was due to heart attacks and strokes. And it's really more common than we think. And you think about we had DeMar Hamlin, who's the N F L player, he's 24, you know, he, on the, on the field as he was playing, had a cardiac arrest. And then the same month, we had, Lisa Maria Presley, who 54.
Right. She had a cardiac arrest and passed away in her home. [00:12:00] So it's all around us. I'm sure I've had, family, friends that I've known the last couple years who've, three of them just had southern heart attacks, you know, their spouses or ahead. Sudden heart issues and passed away just like that. So it's definitely around us, but what we know is that, you know, eating a predominantly whole food plant-based diet can really benefit in terms of your risk for cardiovascular disease.
There was a study that was done in 2021, that was published then in the Journal, American Heart Association by Uni Choy and colleagues. And what I looked at was close to 5,000 adults in four US communities. And they followed them for 32 years looking at their diet, what they're eating and their, the rates of incident, cardiovascular disease, so things like heart attacks, strokes, you know, heart failure or atherosclerotic disease.
And what they found was that a predominantly plant-based diet really was associated with a much lower [00:13:00] risk of these incident cardiovascular disease, as much as a lower drop of 52%. So you can cut your risk more than half by just falling a predominantly plant-based diet. So I think that really brings it, you know, to to mind.
Another thing is like, I just mentioned cancer as well. You know, it's the second leading cause of death in the United States, in the top 10 in the world. in fact, one in six deaths in 2020 was due to cancer in the world. And again, you can drop your rates of getting cancer, much lower by falling, you know, a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet or vegan diet as much as you can.
And, so I just mentioned one. in 2020, journal American Medical Association, they looked at over 472,000 UK Biobank participants and followed them for close to 11 years and looked at their diet and their risk of overall cancer. And what they [00:14:00] found was that compared to those who are eating meats, you know, more than five times a week, those who ate meats five or less times a week had an associated, dropping overall cancer risk of 2%.
Those who were eating fish, you know, pescatarians, had a drop of 10% and those who were vegan vegetarians had a drop of 14%. So, really, the foods that you eat really matter in terms of your health and overall future chronic disease.
Michelle Fox: Hmm. Yes. To circle back to what you said just a moment ago with the stroke, my father actually died from stroke and high blood pressure at the age of 67, and that I share on the show a lot because he is truly one of my main whys of why I do the work that I do, because both of those diseases are preventable, as you say, through the things that we eat, also, through lifestyle strategies.
However, I couldn't [00:15:00] save him, but I sincerely, I wake up every single morning looking at ways that I can help others so that they don't have an early demise as well. And so I absolutely support what you're saying as far as leaning into the plants to increase our nutrients, increase our energy, increase our wellbeing.
I will also share with you that a lot of people in my community are perimenopausal and menopausal women. And I know that there have been studies linking a lot of the hormones in the meats that we can eat to rewiring and reregulating our natural hormonal rhythms, which definitely exacerbates, you know, hot flashes and lethargy and the excess weight gain that a lot of the women in my community are going through.
And so can you speak a little bit to that, how perhaps certain plants may help those of us who are going through hormonal changes?
Anna Tseng: Yes, definitely. there has been research, and I hope more will come out in the future too about, you know, menopause and about the [00:16:00] benefits of plant-based eating perhaps in this segment.
And I think one that maybe kind of links with. Menopause or hormones would be, soy and soy foods. And I think a lot of people are worried about soy because they think breast cancer or, you know, other, other impacts, negative impacts of eating that. But actually soy, you know, it has the class of phytoestrogen compounds called isoflavones and there are actually selective estrogen receptor modulators, which means that they have different but beneficial effects on different parts of our bodies.
So, for example, they can help reduce the risk of, breast cancer or even the recurrence of breast cancer. Reduce your risk of prostate cancer, improve your bone mineral density, and even also may have potential benefits on menopausal symptoms as well. And so, for example, there was a study that came out recently in 2021 as published by Neil Barnard and colleagues.
It's a small study, but it was a well designed randomized [00:17:00] control trial. And, they looked at, 38 women who had two or more hot flashes, right? and they were assigned randomized to either a low fat vegan diet with half a cup of soybeans, so cooked soybeans in any form. So just having a control diet, so having no diet changes.
And they followed them for 12 weeks. And what they, they assessed also the frequency of the severity of their hot flashes and other symptoms as well. So what they found was that, you know, the total number of these, hot flashes actually reduced by 49% in the control group, but it reduced by 79% in the intervention group.
And for those had severity, like moderate to severe hot flashes, it dropped by 42% in the control group by dropped by 84% in the intervention group. So a lot more in the intervention group. And also about 60% of those in the intervention group reported being free of these moderate to severe hot [00:18:00] flashes and symptoms too.
So I think as well as some improvements in other quality of life parameters. So it's something to be open to and to, to think about, about the possibility of this. I'd love to see more studies on this, but it, I mean, I think the key point both of us agree on is that the way we eat changing our lifestyle may seem overwhelming, but really it's the most natural and, the optimal way of ch improving our health and improving our future, risks for health, disease, chronic diseases.
It doesn't require medications, it doesn't require shots, surgery, you know, all the different things, right? Just by simply incorporating more of these whole plant-based foods can really have such a big impact on our bodies and, you know, our future quality of life. So it's definitely worth looking into.
Michelle Fox: Yes. And to add to what you're saying, I like to say when people kind of push back on me about [00:19:00] buying produce organically and meat protein organically, you know, that's too expensive. It's outta my budget. I'm like, well, you either pay a little bit upfront now or you're gonna pay a whole lot with, you know, hospital care or the medications as you just mentioned.
And so, yes, absolutely. And I wonder also to circle back to what you just said about the soy. Do you know if any of that research that you mentioned was around organic soy products versus, normal and or whether you know the answer with that particular study or not? When you talk to your clients, do you talk to them about using organic soy or are you okay with the traditional
Anna Tseng: soy?
Well, I think, the. In that particular study I mentioned just now, I, I don't think it mentioned organic or not, but the good news is that generally the soy you find on the markets for human consumption is organic or non G M O. And that's actually what I do recommend, for example, soy milk, [00:20:00] get the organic versions of soy milk if you can.
So I think, you know, definitely still, still look for those organic non G M O, whole soy foods. And I recommend the whole soy foods, so the soybeans, edam tofu temp, minimally processed, so soy milk versus all those, you know, very processed kind of, soy products though.
Michelle Fox: Yes. And so to my community listening right now, moving on to the next topic, protein.
Anna and I did a really fun Instagram reels last year, so go back to Instagram. You can find me at Michelle Fox. Love. Scroll down to. I don't know, maybe a three or four scrolls down. And you'll see us with fun, kale. And the reason why I bring that up is because Anna, I know you have some creative ways of bringing protein in the diet.
Cause that's also one of the biggest questions I get with some of my vegetarian clients. It's like, how do I get more protein? And so how do you answer that question like how do I get more protein in a [00:21:00] plant-based diet?
Anna Tseng: This is definitely a question that I get quite regularly in my community as well. cuz there is that worry and concern, especially for those who are interested in moving to plant-based eating, but they're worried that they won't get enough protein to meet their daily needs or their muscles will get weak.
You know, things like that. So, but the reality is this, plant protein exists in all plant-based foods. Even fruits and vegetables. It is just the quantities. You know, the amounts vary among different plant-based foods. So it's really being smart about which plant-based foods that you incorporate into your meals on a kind of daily basis.
And you can easily meet your plant-based protein needs. For example, some great sources of plant-based protein would be the legume, so then beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempe, as well as, nuts and seeds and certain whole grains, even certain vegetables as well. So for example, even a cup of cooked beans.
Gives you roughly about [00:22:00] 15 grams of protein. And then you have a cup of cooked lentils, gives you close to 18 grams of protein. And then one of those tubs of, tofu that you see, firm raw tofu you see at the supermarket that can vary by brand, but it generally is around 30 to 40 grams of protein right there in that tub.
So by mixing and matching, you can really, meet your plant-based protein needs. Even a cup of cooked quinoa gives you about eight grams of protein and two cups of chopped broccoli. You know, broccoli is quite bulky, so it's not really that big. that much in two cups that can gives you about seven and a half grams of protein right there.
So by varying the, the foods that you're eating and making sure you're having those smart rich, plant-based protein sources, you're gonna be able to easily meet your plant-based protein meat.
Michelle Fox: Hmm. Thank you so much for breaking that down. That is huge related. The next question I imagine you get, cause I get that often is calcium.
I [00:23:00] have teenagers and I'm in a blended family and so all three of my teenagers, you know, they have another parent and at their other parents' home they have the dairy milk and they have the dairy products. And so with me even, you know, nine years later there's so much pushback. Like, give us our milk.
And I'm like, no, dairy milk is for baby cows is what I like to say. They're like, but the calcium, I'm like, well that's where we get it from. You know, the green veggies, that's where we get it from. a lot of produce that's in nature that is plant-based. And so can you perhaps share a little bit more on how to get healthy calcium into our diets without drinking?
Baby cow milk.
Anna Tseng: I love how you put it that way. definitely. I, you're right, you're absolutely right. There are plenty of sources of calcium, good calcium sources in the plant-based world and you know, for someone, you don't need to go the dairy route, although I know many people are worried about [00:24:00] that.
And the reality is calcium is quite multifaceted for building strong bones. It's not just the sources. You also need a good source of vitamin D, which I usually recommend Vitamin D supplementation, you know, just in terms of our modern lifestyles and the sunlight and sunblock and everything we're, we're putting on, but also weightbearing activity as well.
You wanna make sure you're building strong bones, you know, so a lot of things impact our bone structure and building strong bones. But in terms of in the plant-based world, I usually recommend, you know, still aiming if you can, to meet the recommended dietary allowance, r d a for calcium. I think that's a good place to start, but, I recommend usually, especially for children, adults, getting two or three servings of a plant-based fortified calcium, vitamin D fortified, plant-based milk.
there's many different kinds out there. But in terms of foods, you're definitely right. The green leafy vegetables, so the kale, broccoli, bach choy, they actually have [00:25:00] a calcium viability of about 50% or more, which is great compared to cow's milk, which is about 30%. So your absorption of that is actually quite, quite good into your body.
There's also beans, like white navy, beans are great sources of calcium. Also tahini, which is like a sesame paste. Even oranges have calcium. Too many people don't realize actually oranges are actually, they are fig. You know, almonds are also a great source of calcium. So there are actually many different sources and, but the key is to eat a variety and to really incorporate those into your meals so that you can have a good, sources of calcium, throughout the week and throughout the day.
Hmm.
Michelle Fox: Now let me ask you directly, do you identify as a
Anna Tseng: vegetarian? well, I see myself as. Eating a whole food, plant-based diet. So I would say, I mean, I can't be completely, say I'm a hundred percent, maybe I'm 95%, 98%, cuz things still sneak in, you know, [00:26:00] without knowing things like that. but I definitely am trying as much as I can and we try as much in our home as possible to integrate and just cook with all those beans, lentils, legumes, all those whole plant-based foods, leafy greens for the best optimal health.
And the reason I do that, and that's actually what started me on this journey towards plant-based eating, because initially as a dietician, I wasn't focused on plant-based diets. Actually, it was really when, the health problems started mounting in my extended family that I started to become concerned and wanted to optimize the health of my family and prevent future chronic diseases.
I, I didn't mention this before, but my mother-in-law, she has, Type two diabetes and she had lymphoma, which required eight rounds of chemo. And my father-in-law, he had, prostate cancer and later got thyroid cancer. And my own father, he has high blood pressure and he later had emergency stent, I think it was 90% blockage and developed eye problems, the [00:27:00] age-related macular degeneration.
And I also had an aunt who passed away within three years from lung cancer. Mm-hmm. So I think all these things just got me concerned naturally, and I wanted to Yes. To, really think about a way that a way of eating that would be the best lifestyle for my family. So that's why I started researching into plant-based diets.
and as I researched, the more I did it, the more I was amazed to see the merit of health benefits that high fiber whole food, plant-based diet can bring, such as reducing your weights, lowering your cholesterol, improving blood sugar levels and reducing blood pressure, even preventing even reversing heart disease.
So that's why my family and I made that change to plant-based eating, you know, a couple years ago. Hmm.
Michelle Fox: Well, thank you for sharing that with me. That's, it's just always, Interesting to hear how people, one, come to the work that they do, but two, just to hear your commitment to your health and your [00:28:00] family's health.
That's really admirable. So thank you for sharing that with us. Thank you. So as we're winding down, I do have one burning question, which is, if I'm looking, you know, we're looking in the crystal ball at your perfect meal, your your most favorite meal, whether you prepare it or you know, you're paying $50,000 for the world's best chef to fly in and make it for you, what would be one of your favorite meals?
Anna Tseng: Hmm. That's a great question. Well, I think that, It'll probably be as colorful as possible with as many vegetables and, different variety of that because I think, you know, variety is a spice of life, right? So, and every plant-based food comes with its own specific nutrient profile. So you're gonna get the best nutrition from that, from the foods by eating a variety optimal nutrition.
So it'll be very colorful. It'll have lots of different textures. [00:29:00] So I have some, maybe some crunchy leafy greens with some, you know, bright bell peppers. you know, I love all sorts of vegetables, you know, and then it'll have a, you know, maybe a beautiful fruit salad, you know, with many different kinds, with mostly all the exotic kinds that you probably, it's hard to get at the supermarkets.
I love to try all the new, maybe filled with all sorts of, new exotic tropical or other kinds of vegetables and fruits that I've never had before. That would be lovely to try. And, maybe it'll be, I don't know. I'm op I love all cuisines, so it could be any kind of a. Could be maybe like a stew or a curry or chili of some kind, but maybe cooked in in spices that I've never tried before.
I would love to try that, you know, but it'll go over a nice plate of maybe some cooked toll grains that, just the sauce with just kind of melted in and it will be delicious to have. So I think, and plus a nice, [00:30:00] tasty whole food, plant-based dessert that would be love to try. So, but yeah, so that would be my four course meal.
Yo.
Michelle Fox: Okay, so we've talked about how to get in more protein through plants.
We've talked about calcium and what is bioavailable. And for my friends who were like, bio, what, that's a term that means that's the percentage of how much of those plant nutrients are actually being absorbed through our body. So let's jump into some practical tips, like what does that look like?
Especially for my friends who are like, I don't like vegetables, or, you know, easy for Michelle and Anna to talk about this cuz they talk about it every day. But as far as some practical tools, what are some things that you might suggest that we start with?
Anna Tseng: That's a great question. I think maybe one of the easiest way to get started would just be with that first meal of the day breakfast.
Mm-hmm. [00:31:00] And there are many benefits to that because I think first you give, you're giving your day a great plant power boost. Second, it can be, fast to do. And third, it can be easy because there are many no cook options or little cook options available. And that can be a great way to ease in for those who maybe are not used to be in a kitchen or to cooking a lot, especially with plant-based foods.
So for example, maybe instead of the usual slice of bread with, butter or cream cheese or a slice of ham, you can do a layered toast. So something that has maybe a slice of, a hundred percent whole wheat or whole grain bread with maybe a smear of a peanut butter or a nut butter or a seed butter.
You can have a layer of maybe banana coins. You can sprinkle some peanut, some roasted pumpkin seeds or some flour seeds on top. So that could be a nice nourishing breakfast with maybe a glass of a plant-based milk calcium, vitamin D fortified milk, or there are many other breakfast [00:32:00] options. You can have a nourishing oat bowl.
You can also have, Like a green smoothie or even, some chickpea pancakes. Lentil pancakes, or a tofu scramble and a burrito. So there's many options for breakfast. Now, you can also have, maybe an easy plant par meal upgrade. So for example, for lunch, with your entree, you can have maybe a side, a plant par side, so something like a side salad or even a plant-based soup.
There are many options available. You can have maybe a black bean soup or a lentil soup split piece soup. You can have a winter squash soup, like an acorn squash or a butternut squash soup. Many, many options there. And some people maybe even have parrot with maybe a chickpea tomato, cucumber salad, or even a three bean salad, or a fruit salad, or even some roasted vegetables.
So you have many, ways that you can kind of boost your meal right there for dinner. You can also, an easy way to get started if you're just getting started and thinking about adding in some whole [00:33:00] plant-based foods would be perhaps with, just starting by maybe reducing the amount of meat that's used in your recipe to have, and then adding in maybe a cup or two of a good plant-based protein source.
So what we talked about earlier with the beans, you know, lentils, chickpeas, tofu or, or Tempe. So you could do maybe a cup of beans into a curry or a stew, maybe some tofu firm tofu into a stir fry. Or even, some lentils in a shepherd's pie or lasagna. So there's different ways you can add in those, those nutrients, for your body that can benefit you and maybe your family members too, as you're making that dish for the whole family.
Another way that you could, maybe change things up a bit is to maybe try out and learn, to enjoy different whole grains. And I know when I say that, there may be people who are worried about grains and carbohydrates because they think, oh no, you know, adding these things in will just increase my [00:34:00] carbohydrate count.
And you know, there's lots in the media about how all carbs are bad. But I think, and that's understandable, especially if we're coming off of dieting a lot or on those high. protein, low carbohydrate diets. But I think that, the best way to think about this is not all carbs are bad, but it's really the kind of carbs that you're eating.
the best way to think about this may be in terms of simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. So, complex carbohydrates are those that are complex chains of sugar units in different structures, and what happens is they take longer. When we eat foods with complex carbohydrates, it takes longer to be broken down in our bodies.
And as a result, the release of glucose into our bloodstream is much slower and it has the added benefit of helping us stay full and satisfied for longer. and it turns out that those whole plant-based foods, the vegetables. whole grains, beans, [00:35:00] lentils, those are all great sources of these complex carbohydrates.
So it's really good to incorporate those into your meals. And there's many different kinds of whole grains that you can enjoy, even gluten-free ones as well. So for example, You know, gluten ones would be the wheat, spelled barley, rye, those things. But gluten free, there's so many, there's quinoa, there's, mil, I'm sure you know, sorg buck wheat, you know, arin, many different kinds.
Wild rice, black rice. You can try so many different kinds. So instead of maybe the usual bread, rice and potatoes, you know, like rice and potatoes, try maybe just one or two of these new, whole grains. The intact whole grains are the most helpful ones into your meals. And try exploring different ways of adding them in.
And then slowly add more and more. Because like I said, every whole food has different nutrients to it. So by adding a variety of these different whole grains, you're gonna get the best optimal nutrition. [00:36:00]
Michelle Fox: Yes. Thank you for breaking that down and sharing those examples. Two things. One, I just wanna tack on that.
Yes, I absolutely encourage listeners to try something new. I know a lot of us, especially those of us who are over 40, we've had our traditions, we've had, you know, our ways of eating, our ways of doing things, and I would just love to invite you to use Anna's voice, to use my voice as a little nudge to say, oh, let's just be curious about trying something new.
Another voice that I'm actually hearing is some of my students saying, wait a minute, Anna just said, you know, eating wheat and the peanut butter for breakfast. So yes, Anna said that. I will say in my programs, I talk a lot about how wheat is not farmed the way it was 50 years ago. And so my personal philosophy and the research I've seen is that.
We are all intolerant of gluten at this stage, [00:37:00] the way it's created. And so I strongly recommend people avoid the gluten and then peanuts. The way it's farmed is that, you know, it's pulling out a lot of the toxins from the soil and so I ask my students to avoid the peanuts. So I just wanted to add that in for participants who might be listening to say, Michelle, Michelle.
So not saying one way is right or wrong, just wanna share that. Yes, I hear it. And we are just gonna keep learning together and growing together.
Anna Tseng: Okay. And even for the nut butters, even if peanut butter, if you don't want to have that, that's absolutely fine. There's also many other kinds. There's almond butter, cashew nut butter, pumpkin seed butter, sunflower seed butter.
so, and many of these can be easy to make at home too, for yourself. So there's many options out there. It's definitely worth exploring. And I agree with you, Michelle, that you know, being curious and being a French nurse and being willing to try, you know, is maybe the first step to finding a new food favorite or [00:38:00] finding, you know, a different way, even different cooking methods.
I've had, a friend who told me that roasting vegetables changed vegetables for her because she grew up just eating mostly boiled vegetables, but just, you know, just. Learning a different way of cooking that could be actually easier to do. You know what's easier than throwing all the vegetables onto a sheet?
Right? Seasoning it and baking it right. You have enough for a few days. So there are many different ways of preparing, cooking, and, different options available, but that's worth trying and exploring.
Michelle Fox: How fabulous. Well, okay. I have a feeling you help your clients go from confusion to getting very clear, very quickly about how to eat for their body type. And so from my community who's listening, who wants more of that, you know, specific work and they wanna work with you, how do we come find you?
Anna Tseng: Sure.
I'd love to share about that. I think the [00:39:00] best way to connect with me would be through my website, plant nourish.com. I do offer support through private one-to-one coaching, as well as through my Plant Power Life transformation course. So it provides, this Plant Power Life Transformation course provides a step-by-step framework to help you build your skills and confidence in starting and sustaining a thriving plant part lifestyle.
And it provides all those, practical strategies, skills, cooking hacks, and tasty, easy plant, plant-based recipes. And people, students who are in the course are able to master the basics of plant-based eating as little as six weeks. So the enrollment for this course has opened up again, just opened up.
So for those who are interested in either the course or the coaching, they can just go to the website, plant nourish.com to, to connect with me. I do have a resource, if I could share that here for your listeners. It's called, a Quick Start Grocery Guide for Plant-Based Essentials.
it comes with a recommended one page grocery list. It [00:40:00] has, some money saving and time saving, shopping tips like where to find things in the grocery store, as well as some easy starter, plant-based meal recipes. So for those who are interested in getting this resource, they just go to plant nourish.com/grocery guide.
So, that's just, a great way to kind of get started or just learn more about what plant-based eating means. We
Michelle Fox: will definitely add all of these resources in the show notes Because yes, this is a wonderful way to support our community and to build healthier communities one person at a time.
Anna, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and your wisdom with us. This has been truly helpful, and you're actually making me think of some things for my own, diet and the way that I eat. So thank you for imparting this knowledge. I appreciate you.
Anna Tseng: You're welcome, Michelle. It's been a pleasure to be here and speak with you today.
Michelle Fox: Thanks so much for listening to Healthy Sexy [00:41:00] Nutrition. Have you been driving, doing laundry or walking around the neighborhood? Sweet. I've got show notes for [email protected] slash podcast. Click over there when you are ready. I will let you know that on the page you will find resources to support what you just learned on today's show.
And of course, , you can grab some health supportive freebies as well. If you enjoyed this episode, I would be so honored if you would leave a review on whichever podcast platform you are listening on. It will help me with my mission to build healthier communities one person at a time. Big love from your favorite culinary nutritionist and health coach, and until next week, keep showing up for yourself and know that you and your health matter. [00:42:00]
