It can be easy to become overwhelmed with the idea of eating more plant based with the growing trend of vegan based diets. Good news is there are more than one way you can follow a plant-based style of eating. Here are 5 snapshots of choices you can include more plants in your diet.
- Vegan
This diet is 100% plant based. This means no animal meat, seafood or products made from animals like dairy, honey, or eggs.
Some examples of foods you can include are:
- Fruits and vegetables.
- Nuts and seeds.
- Tofu
- Wholegrains e.g. wholegrain crackers, bread, pasta, rice, couscous, and quinoa
- Legumes and beans
- Vegetarian
This is a diet which includes mostly plant forms of protein but does allow animal-based products like dairy.
Some examples of foods you can include are:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Nuts and seeds.
- Legumes and beans
- Wholegrains e.g. brown rice, wholegrain pasta, wholegrain couscous, wholegrain bread, quinoa, and wholegrain crackers.
- Yoghurt
- Cheese
- Tofu
- Cow’s milk
- Pescatarian
This is a vegetarian style diet but also includes seafood. Many pescatarians also include eggs.
Some examples of foods you can include are:
- All the foods above in the vegetarian diet.
- Tuna
- White filleted fish like Basa
- Prawns
- Crab meat
- Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian
This style of eating is a vegetarian based style with the addition of dairy and eggs.
Some examples of foods you can include are:
- All the foods in the vegetarian diet.
- Free range eggs
- Cottage and ricotta cheese
- Yoghurt
- Cow’s milk
- Flexitarian
This style of eating aims to include mostly plant sources of food but also allows the occasional poultry, meat, and seafood.
Some examples of foods you can include are:
- All the foods in the vegetarian diet.
- 95g tuna can in spring water.
- Lean red meat cuts with the fat removed.
- Chicken and turkey breast with the skin and extra fat removed.
- Frozen white fish fillets
- Salmon
Take home message: What is brilliant about these five styles of plant-based eating is that it can accommodate so many different levels of including more plants in your diet. This is not only doing good things to your health but is also a great way to reduce your impact on the planet.
