It's the start of January and for a lot
of you that means taking on Veganuary or simply
trying to have more meat-free days in your week.
But plant-based nutrition can feel
like a guessing game.
Don't worry because we've been exactly where you are and
we're going to break it down for you today.
So stick around as we take a
deep dive into plant-based protein sources.
We'll give our 10 top tips for anybody going
plant-based for the first time and we've got a
free high protein plant-based recipe ebook just for you.
Welcome to episode 11 of The Outlifting Lounge.
I'm Derec.
I'm Alan and this is the show all
about pride, fitness and everything in between.
Before we begin, I just want to say
that the information we are giving today is
intended to help anybody who wants to either
eliminate or reduce plant-based products from their diet.
We are not trying to convert anybody here.
And although we haven't personally eaten meat
for around about 8 years, a
lot of our coaching clients do.
And what you eat is a personal choice
and we're not here to preach whatsoever.
But because of our own experience, we have seen
the common pitfalls of going plant-based first hand.
So we're here to share our experience
and make your transition a little easier.
So let's have a wee chat about our own journey
then so it was back in well it was 2017
you said to me on thinking about maybe doing
Veganuary and I was like what the hell's Veganuary?
I'd never heard of it before so we
did then January 2018 we went out on
the Sunday night for our last meat meal.
We went to a place in Glasgow called The Brunswick.
It's not there, unfortunately, anymore.
It was one of our favourite places and
we pretty much just ordered everything off the
menu and it was actually quite disgusting.
It was horrible.
It was just meat on meat and then a layer
of gravy and then more meat and then some cheese.
We were just sitting at the
table sweating with the meat sweats.
It was awful.
Actually, when I think back now, because I haven't eaten meat
in so long, it kind of gives me the ick.
It's kind of like when you think about an ex,
you get the ick, you get the meat ick.
Take from that what you will.
Thinking about that old sausage.
Makes you sick.
Oh my god.
So yeah on the Sunday was our last meat
meal and then on the Monday we went 100%
vegan and actually in hindsight it was the
wrong way to do it, wasn't it?
We didn't really have a clue what we
were doing to be honest and that's part
of the reason why we're doing this episode.
Going vegan back then was totally different
from going vegan or plant-based now.
There's definitely more information available now, there's way
more products out there which specifically cater for
plant-based diets and so in a way people
have got it a little bit easier now.
So what was our fears do
you think about going plant-based?
So the only thing I thought I was going to miss
when I went plant based for the first time was bacon.
I used to love a bacon buttie or I used
to think that I loved a bacon buttie, especially
because I went out running on a Sunday morning.
Long run, I was sweating a lot and
there was just something about a big bacon
buttie that was so satisfying at the end.
It was salty to replace the sweat that I'd lost.
And I really wondered how I
was going to do without it.
And then about three weeks after we went plant
based, I walked past the cafe on a
Sunday morning and they were grilling bacon and
the smell was coming out of the vents.
And I thought I was going to chunder then and there.
When we first went plant-based I never thought we would
get to the point where we would feel like this
about meat and even though I remember one time we
were walking up the aisle in Tesco and there's a
lot of the plant-based products in the same aisle as
like the meat and the chicken and fish and stuff.
It was like this is so weird because like it just
didn't feel right walking past those kind of products
and thinking oh god I really don't want them.
And the thing is we went plant-based and
tried Veganuary back then for health reasons.
We saw a lot of stuff about
the health benefits of going vegan slash
plant-based and we thought we'll try that.
Over time though I think the more time
there has been since you've last eaten meat
I think the ick increases a little bit.
We actually don't miss it as much as you
think you're going to because your taste buds
change the longer you go without eating it.
Totally and I think like for us we thought
oh we'll just do it for the month
seeing how we got on we really enjoyed it
so we extended that to the march and then
we're like actually no this is just our lifestyle
now isn't it and it was weird not maybe
weird but the way friends and family reacted to
us like going plant-based i remember being scared to
tell my dad which is just something that's like...
Probably more scared to tell him that than I was gay.
It's just mental, you know?
And it's other people's perceptions.
I just remembered, there's that quote
from Two Doors Down.
It's Anne-Marie when she meets
Gordon for the first time.
I can recommend the tuna, Gordon.
He's vegetarian.
As well as gay?
Oh, his poor mum!
Gay and vegetarian? His poor mum!
It is that mentality.
Homophobia and vegetarianphobia all in one.
I know, honestly.
There is that thing where there is that almost peer
pressure to eat meat and it's everywhere and when you
go away from that and you do your own thing
it's almost like people don't
want you to be different.
They don't want you to do something
yourself and they'll make little comments
or they'll be snide about it.
And that really stems from their
insecurities about how they eat.
They don't want their worldview to be
challenged or their perceptions to be challenged.
Think back when, and I'm sure loads of this
has happened to loads of people, when they
say, oh, I'm not going to drink tonight.
I'm not going to drink this weekend.
People are like, why not?
It's like, because i don't want to. I remember, so
we're going back a long time ago. This when you
had hair? When I had hair yeah. So i smoked
up until I was about 24/25 and stopped and
found the gym and just got really healthy. But
when I stopped smoking, there were so many people
that knew I had stopped and kept trying
to offer me a cigarette on purpose and
they're like, oh, go on, just have one.
It's almost like they want to bring you
back in because if you can successfully
stop smoking and they're left behind, it's
almost like they fear being left behind.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And again, that is down to their insecurity.
It's nothing to do with the changes, the
positive changes that you're making in your life.
It's on them.
And that goes for so many other
things as well, whether it's stopping smoking,
losing weight, going to the gym or...
I find with new clients, if they're maybe prepping
meals and then taking it into work, people
are like, I want you eating that for?
It's like, because will I want to?
That's why I'm eating it.
Well, I think the point we're making here is that,
you know, you might have a fear of making that
change because of the way that others will view
you and it's going to happen no matter what.
The change you make in your life, you know, what
others think about you is none of your business.
Aye, alright, RuPaul.
I was actually thinking of a Mel Robbins quote.
Go for it. Just let them.
If people want to take that attitude and
that approach to the positive changes that
you're making in your life, let them.
Let's quote Jinx Monsoon.
Water off a duck's back.
Any other quotes?
Anybody else want to quote here?
If you can't love yourself, ********. Wow.
So it's good to have in your head what
some of the benefits of going plant-based are just
for those occasions when people are questioning your
choices so that you know as well what
your why is, why you are doing this.
It's for you.
Let's rattle off some of the health benefits.
We'll just bullet point these quite quickly.
So health wise, you've got improved cardiovascular efficiency
on a plant based diet, reduced inflammation, and
you've got lower risk of chronic disease.
So things like type two diabetes, hypertension,
and certain cancers have a proven reduction.
Tick, tick, tick.
Great reasons to go plant based. Yeah.
And there's also environmental reasons, do you
want to take some of those?
So environmental benefits doesn't use as many resources,
the carbon footprint is lower and amount of
land used is much less as well.
I'm going to discuss a couple
of animal welfare issues as well.
I think there's a lot more science to show that
animals are more sentient and cognitive than we give
them credit for and also modern practices within farms.
There is a lot of cruelty that happens as well
so cutting your meat intake really helps to stop that.
So another reason to go plant-based
is global food security as well.
So increasing demands by 2050, the global population
is going to hit around 10 billion.
So feeding crops directly to humans
rather than processing them through livestock
is definitely far more efficient.
Yeah.
And actually that's kind of underlined by the fact
that we already grow enough grain to feed the
world, but actually that goes to feeding livestock.
Factory farming as well causes lots of issues.
So antibiotic resistance is quite a big one because
about 70 to 80% of all antibiotics in the
US and the UK go to animal agriculture.
So that is a big worry.
The other one as well, which I don't think
is on a lot of people's radars is
the pandemic risk because factory farming just creates
a kind of a perfect storm for zoonotic
diseases that could then cross over into humans.
Yeah, we don't want another COVID incident.
No thanks.
So if you'll pardon the pun we are now in
the meat of the episode which is about nutrition.
So we're going to briefly talk
about vitamins, minerals and supplementation.
We're going to have a really good look into
plant-based sources of protein and then we'll finish off
with our 10 top tips for anybody going plant-based
for the first time and hopefully we can
shortcut some of the mistakes that we made.
Yeah.
So that other people don't make them.
Yeah.
Do you want to talk about some of the
things that need to be supplemented, so some
of the essential vitamins that people really need
to be aware of on a plant-based diet?
Yeah, so B12 is definitely the big one.
You can't get that from foods on a plant-based
diet, so you have to 100% supplement it.
B12 is essential for nerve function,
DNA synthesis and red blood cell
formation, so it's super, super important.
Yeah, it's one of those ones that if you're
deficient in B12 by the time you've realised that
you've got that deficiency, it can be too late.
It causes irreversible damage.
So people need to be aware of this.
A lot of foods nowadays are fortified with
B12, which is fantastic, but it's the kind
of thing that you need to supplement with.
You definitely need to make sure that you're
either taking a supplement or that your
multivitamin supplement has sufficient levels of B12.
So another one is vitamin D3 and this
isn't just specific to people on a plant-based
diet but specifically people who live north
in maybe the UK, parts of America.
This is the sunshine vitamin and at this
time of year there ain't no sunshine, no.
So another two that should be on people's radar
are iodine and selenium and people that are on
a plant-based diet tend to be deficient in those.
The thing is you don't really need to think about
this stuff too much if you have a good multivitamin.
So this is not an advert, this is not paid
for, but the one that we used when we were
in the UK was the Vegan Society's own multivitamin.
Because you know that you're basically getting
everything that you need in that.
That's specifically formulated
for plant-based diets.
That's called VEG1.
Yeah, that's the one.
And that way you've got that peace
of mind of knowing that you're getting
those things in your diet through supplementation.
And multivitamin for anyone is a good idea.
You know, it doesn't have to be specifically
that one that we've just mentioned, but just
taking a multivitamin every day is definitely beneficial.
Yeah. There's plenty of people who are not on
a plant-based diet who have B12 deficiency and there
is this misconception that this is just a vegan
thing but it's absolutely not people need to be
aware of these things people need to be supplementing.
Right let's talk about omega-3s as well because
they're essential for brain health and heart health
and you can get a really good
vegan alternative to those as well.
You can get omega-3s on a plant-based diet but
the problem is that a lot of the plants
create ALA and it's difficult for our bodies to
convert that into EPA and DHA that we need.
So the only real kind of plant based
source for EPA and DHA directly is algae.
And that's essentially that's where
the fish get it from.
The fish is just a middleman, if you will.
They eat the algae and then...
Exactly.
So there are quite a lot of products on the
market now there are algae oils that are super super
high in those omega-3s that you need so again shop
around see what works for you but what I would
say about that is make sure whatever plant-based omega-3 supplement
you get has EPA and DHA in sufficient levels.
Something else that people on a plant-based diet
tend to be deficient in is iron.
Yeah and you should only really supplement iron
if you've been recommended by a doctor
to do it because too much iron
can actually cause other issues as well.
Yes that is a very important disclaimer.
The reason why people on a plant-based diet can
tend to be more deficient in iron is because
the iron that is in plants is non-heme iron
which is more difficult for our bodies to absorb.
There are actually a couple of factors that
will influence this so there are a couple
of things that people on a plant-based
diet can make sure they are doing
to make sure that they are
absorbing more iron from their diet.
So the first one is about tea and coffee.
So people don't realise this, but tea and coffee
directly affect your body's ability to absorb iron.
So what you really want to do is to
make sure for about an hour or two hours
before and after you eat, try and avoid tea
and coffee because it significantly blocks your iron absorption.
Nutrient pairing is really good because if
you pair vitamin C with iron, that
actually can increase your absorption by 300%.
But what people really, really, really need to remember
is that vitamin C is very heat sensitive.
So if you're putting ingredients into a sauce,
for instance, for vitamin C, if you're heating
that up, you're boiling it, you're going to
ruin it, you're going to destroy most of
the vitamin C, it's going to break down.
So it's a better idea to add the vitamin
C sources at the end of cooking like
I have done recently with Thai green curry.
So once that's cooked up, plated up, ready to
go on the table, I will squeeze fresh limes
all over our rice and the sauce and that
means that we are getting the full benefits of
the vitamin C and it's helping to absorb the
iron from the spinach which is in our curry.
So why don't we touch on
some supplementation for athletic performance?
Yes, before we go through these, what I would
say is that we are not pushing anything, we're
not recommending anything here and these next ones we're
not actually saying that you should be supplementing.
What we're doing is maybe just making people aware
that there can be certain benefits for plant-based diet
for people who are going to the gym or
people who are training in an athletic setting.
Yeah, it's giving you the information, you can
do your own research and then you can
consider if it's good for you or not.
Yeah, so one thing that we do use
every day is creatine monohydrate because there
are lots of proven benefits to that.
Our bodies create creatine but usually just not enough
and a lot of creatine is found in
red meat and obviously if you're going to
reduce your consumption of red meat then that's
maybe something that you want to consider supplementing.
Creatine helps to recycle ATP, which is the main
energy currency in the cells in your body.
So increasing your creatine intake can maybe help
you have more energy and help you have
more explosive energy and things like that.
So if you're in the gym, having the ability to
have a little more of that energy in your body
means that you can maybe last a little bit longer.
You can last an extra few reps or
maybe you can lift an extra set and
that's where it's going to come in handy.
With creatine as well, recent research has shown
that it's actually really good for our brains.
It can also help with mood and with focus as well.
And you don't actually need to be taking loads of it,
like three to five grams a day is absolutely fine.
And we've seen some influencers, inverted commas,
you know, recommending four times that.
But yeah, you don't need as much of that.
No.
It's really dangerous because too much creatine
over a long period of time could
cause you liver or kidney damage.
So we stick to the max 5 grams
a day and we don't go over that.
There may be fringe use cases where it's being
supervised by a doctor where you can go over,
but there was a woman recently popped up
on my TikTok feed and she was recommending
that everybody should take 25 grams a day.
What the F?
It's just too much.
Nobody should be taking that much unless a doctor
is monitoring them and telling them to do it.
Absolutely not.
Even then, I would say you need to
get a second opinion from another doctor because
that seems like a lot to supplement.
Three to five grams, either tablet form or
powder form, whatever is going to suit your
schedule, how you like to take it,
whatever it might be, is absolutely fine.
Yeah and listen the science might change maybe they'll
do more research and they'll find actually it needs
to be more or they'll increase the top range
but some random influencer on TikTok does not
know that so do not listen to them
just listen to the current science on this.
Okay the next one we want to talk
about is Beta Alanine and that can actually
help you with fatigue if you're performing high
intensity exercises for like over a minute.
Yeah, it does that by increasing the muscle carnosine
levels in your body and that is what helps
to buffer lactic acid and lactic acid in your
muscles is what creates that kind of like
burning sensation when you're doing really intense exercise.
What I would say about beta-alanine is though you
have to be careful because you get the tingle.
I remember the first time that we tried
it, because we read the scientific study, which
suggested that there might be a specific benefit
for plant-based athletes to supplement with beta-alanine.
And the first time we tried it, I was like, why
have I got pins and needles all over my body?
You rip your skin off.
Yeah, it was like my feet were itchy,
they were tingly, it was a weird
sensation and I couldn't figure out why.
And then we googled it and found out
that beta-alanine can actually give you parasezia, which
is the technical term for pins and needles.
Yeah, and a lot of people might find when
they take their pre-workout that they get that,
so if you look at the ingredients you
may find that it's actually in your pre-workout.
The longer you supplement with it though, you do
build a bit of a resistance to it, so
that becomes less and less intense over time.
Can I say something?
I actually quite like the tingle.
Weirdo! So right that is us done talking about supplementation
let's get into the really big section here which is
about protein. This is what we struggled with the most
when we first went vegan wasn't it like finding good
protein sources to supplement you know us not having like
chicken and meat and things like that again especially
because we go to the gym. I mean it
was tough at first but we've done a lot
of research and we're now going to impart that
knowledge for other people. Impart, I like that word.
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge for somebody going
plant based is really balancing your macros is a
lot different on a plant based diet, because when
you're eating meat, you have got sources that
are 100% or pretty close to 100% protein.
And so if you're trying to adjust your
carbohydrates, your dietary fats and your protein,
it's a lot easier if you've got
100% sources. With a plant based diet
you don't really have that, though, because
the protein sources that we eat
tend to either be high in carbohydrates as well as
protein or high in dietary fats as well as protein.
Yeah what I would say is not to worry about
it though because you just get used to it, you
just have to play around with it a little bit
more don't you and like everything else once you do
it a few times it just becomes second nature
so don't worry about having to balance the macros.
Yeah.
One thing I would say before we get into
listing some of the different protein sources is that,
Don't get too attached to one protein source.
It is a really good idea to get
your protein from lots of different sources.
The reason for that is because there are
nine essential amino acids and they are
essential because our body can't produce them.
So we need to consume them.
And that is the same for any diet.
You know, people that eat meat, people that
eat a plant based diet, it's the same.
With plant based foods, some of them will be
richer in maybe a few of those aminos and
maybe not have as many of the others.
So eating different protein sources ensures that
your body is getting a really
broad spectrum of those essential aminos.
Why do we talk about some of the sources of protein?
So there's loads on the market like we've mentioned
so what we tend to have is tempeh,
seitan, tofu and then we'll have like the
legumes, so we're going to have things like
lentils, we have peas, we have chickpeas.
The thing is when we first
found plant-based there wasn't much on
the market, there weren't many options.
Nowadays it is different especially in the UK
and the US because those markets have
lots of alternative products, things
like, you know, fake meats.
You can get like
chicken alternatives, pork alternatives.
You get lots of different bacons
and sausages and things like that.
That was not really the case
when we first went plant based.
So we did not get used to eating that
way and I'm kind of glad because a lot
of those things tend to be ultra processed.
They're okay.
I'm not bashing them.
They're really, really good for
people who are transitioning.
They can be good for convenience if you
just need something quick or for just a
little bit of variety now and again.
But we tend to not really eat them very often.
No, we'll maybe have them like
once or twice a month, really.
So you've rattled off quite a lot of the protein
sources that we're going to go through just now.
So do you want to kick us off with going
with what is the one that people probably know best?
Tofu!
Well in general, soy based products of
which tofu is the main one.
Yeah and I think people are scared of tofu and
they don't need to be because it's maybe because they
don't know how to cook it and believe me the
first time we cooked it I remember we had it
in a griddle pan and we put like salt and
pepper on it and we were like this is horrible.
But it's like anything else like once you learn how
to cook something like tofu it is so so flavoursome.
Don't be scared to experiment I think is probably what
we're trying to say. There is so much out
there on YouTube, there's different cookbooks, there are so
many resources now. Tofu is not to be feared.
there are different types of tofu. So you've got
silken tofu, you've got firm tofu, extra firm tofu.
Silken tofu tends to be quite soft.
So that's the one that's used
in a lot of Asian cuisine.
So if you've had something in Wagamama, for
instance, with tofu in it, it's likely been
silken tofu, very, very soft, very silky.
And that is also useful for other things.
So that can be used in like
cake batters and things like that.
You've also got then firm and extra firm,
which we eat quite a lot of.
Yeah, we do.
And there's maybe some misconceptions about tofu as
well, because a lot of people think if
guys eat it, you end up with breasts.
There is a lot of misinformation out there
about soy in general, but particularly tofu.
And I think a lot of this has
been started by the meat industry lobby.
Absolutely.
Yeah, just putting the fear factor in there.
I mean, we eat tofu probably, although
not probably, every day we have tofu.
I quite like my tits.
I'm like Pamela Anderson there.
You know, and I think it surprises
people actually how much tofu we eat.
Yeah.
One of our friends was over visiting us and
actually asked us that because they'd heard these scare
stories about tofu containing high levels of estrogen.
And it is absolute nonsense.
The type of estrogen that's in
tofu is not bioavailable to humans.
It's phytoestrogen.
It can't be converted in
our bodies to human estrogen.
It does not cause you to grow boobs.
It does not cause you to feminize.
It is nonsense.
If it were the case that tofu and soy
products feminized you and raised your estrogen levels,
Two things would be true.
First of all, the entire population of China who
have been eating soy products for thousands of years
would all be walking about with these huge racks.
The second thing is that there would be no need
for people who are transitioning male to female to go
on HRT because they would just eat lots of soy.
It is nonsense that soy feminises
or increases your estrogen levels.
Can you tell Derec is quite passionate about this?
I'm very passionate about it.
You were nearly bouncing off the couch there.
I know. I think there's just so much disinformation out
there and it's the same lobby, the same
people who are going to the EU and
successfully lobbying to get things like words like
milk banned unless it's dairy or burgers.
You can't call a plant-based burger a burger
now because, well in some territories, because of
this successful lobbying and it's the same thing.
These scare stories are coming from these sources.
We're digressing a wee bit.
I think that's a whole other podcast on its own.
Well, not to get too political, but this is
important to impart this information because people believe
this nonsense and it's absolute nonsense about soy.
So here's the other thing, like there's all this
misinformation out there about soy, but soy is proven
to reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
So like prostate and breast cancer, soy reduces it.
Meat on the other hand, some forms
of meat are now well proven by
different scientific studies to be a carcinogen.
And I think red meat is actually classed
by the World Health Organization as a carcinogen.
That's me done. Right, is that you off your soapbox? Yeah.
Other soy products, tempeh, soy milks,
soy yoghurts and TVP which
is basically textured vegetable protein.
Yes, tempeh is lovely, that's probably my favourite,
really delicious, it's Indonesian, it's got quite a
nutty flavour to it, really nice and quite
easy to get in the supermarkets now as
well in the US and the UK.
Easy to cook with as well, we'll have it in
stir fries, we'll have it in fajitas for example.
But it does need to be cooked.
Whereas tofu can technically be eaten raw, tempeh needs
to be cooked because there are some live cultures
on it that need to be killed off.
You don't want to get a sore tummy. Yeah, definitely not.
TVP is textured vegetable protein, as
you've said, that normally comes dehydrated,
which makes it incredibly shelf stable.
It's great because you can just have a bag
of that in the cupboard and that is there
for emergencies or when you want something different.
We have that in like bologneses,
for example, really good for that.
Lasagne, perfect.
Soya milks, soya yoghurts, again, really, really good
sources and you tend to find that those
are the ones that are fortified with like
B12, for example, like we mentioned earlier.
I always recommend if someone is transitioning,
try a soy milk because it's actually got a
decent amount of protein in it and you tend to
find if you're looking to increase your protein intake,
soy milks and soy yogurts are great for that.
Really good tip, really good tip.
I think we have done soy to death here.
Okay. Shall we move on? Yes.
Let's talk about gluten based next.
So that is?
Seitan, which is really good because we
mentioned earlier that sometimes it's difficult to
balance your macros, but seitan is actually
pretty good for that because it's got high
protein content compared to carbs and fats.
Obviously the only issue with that
is if you can't have gluten.
Why don't you explain what seitan is?
No, no, no. I think I've talked enough.
You explain what seitan is.
Eh... You go for it!
So basically, you take flour. Wheat flour.
You wash all of the starch out of it.
So that's the carbohydrate content.
And what you're left with at the end is vital wheat gluten.
That's what I was going to say!
I think we tried to grow it during lockdown, didn't we?
No, we tried to grow what, wheat? No, not wheat.
A wheat field out the back.
Did we not try to make seitan?
We tried to make seitan.
Aye, well that's what I mean, grow
it, make it, same difference.
Yes, so while everybody during lockdown was
starting off their sourdough and making
banana bread, Alan apparently was planting
a wheat field in our back garden.
We were in the East End of Glasgow.
Okay so yeah, seitan is made from vital wheat gluten
which is basically the protein in the wheat. It's very
versatile for cooking as well, again we would use it
in like stir fries and fajitas. On its own not
the best. Add it in with some flavorings, it's great.
So what we've just discussed
would be processed products.
And processed isn't necessarily a dirty
word because when you're cooking,
that's essentially what you're doing.
You're processing your own food.
So seitan, tofu, tempeh are all processed foods.
Let's move on to the non-processed sources of protein.
Yes, so legumes, beans, peas, chickpeas,
lentils, really, really good source.
However, the caveat to that is that they're going
to be a little bit higher in carbohydrates.
So again, it's just about
that balancing of your macros. Yeah.
Even though I said we were moving away from
processed foods, I should note that in recent years,
you've been able to get legume based pasta, which
is brilliant because it's super, super high in protein.
It keeps you filled and you
can replace it with traditional pasta.
So things like lentil pasta,
edamame pasta and... Chickpea.
Chickpea, yes, that's the other one that I
was about to say and hadn't forgotten.
Yeah they're a really good source of protein again
if you want to try and increase your protein
intake without really having to think about it.
The only caveat to that I would say is
they're usually a little bit more expensive than
traditional pasta so just keep that in mind
if you're going to go and purchase them.
Yeah definitely. Moving on from legumes we've got nuts and
seeds. Protein content is there but they're going to be
higher in your fat content which is good if you
want to increase your omega-3s but just be aware
that you know they will have protein in them
but they're definitely going to be higher in fat.
And we should probably stress as well, when we
say fat, it's not a bad word either.
Dietary fat is super important, healthy
fats are important in your diet.
Again, there's nothing wrong with eating fat.
Yeah, fat doesn't make you
fat, which is a misconception.
Eating too many calories for the amount that you
move is going to make you gain weight.
Absolutely, dietary fats are super important for lots
of things like hormone production and regulation for
different functions within your body and your brain
uses quite a lot of fats and lipids
and things like that as well so
don't be scared of healthy dietary fats.
Alright let's talk about grains so
things like quinoa and oats.
They are brilliant for protein especially quinoa because
it actually has all your essential amino acids.
Yeah it's got a really good balanced amino profile.
Oats are...
surprisingly higher in protein than you would think and they
again they make a really good breakfast choice for that
reason. And also can I just say as well that
marketing if you see something as high protein it might
not actually have as much protein in it as you
actually think it does so check the back or backs
of labels because something that isn't advertised as high
protein might actually have more in it and again
those products tend to be a little bit more
expensive so just be mindful of that as well.
When you see high protein on a label that
is not nutritional advice that is a marketing measure.
It's just something they want to do to help
sell that. Okay shall we talk about then the
last thing that we want to talk about
in this section which is protein powder. Yeah
absolutely. Protein powders are great they're not like
the Holy Grail of getting your protein in.
They're good if you want to supplement your protein intake.
If you find that,
and this is also on a non plant based diet as well,
if you find that you're not quite hitting your protein target,
protein shakes are great to have.
Now, ideally you want to be eating
food as protein sources because your body
works harder to break that down which
means you feel fuller for longer.
So we would probably recommend maybe one maximum of
two protein shakes or protein scoops a day really.
So people will probably be used to whey
protein which is a milk byproduct and that
is just what a lot of people would
think of when they think of protein powder.
There are a lot more options now than
there used to be for plant-based proteins and
there's a lot more variety out there.
So things like hemp and brown rice and pea
protein, soy protein, all these things are out there.
There are also products which blend those protein
sources together and again as we've spoken about
that means that those protein powders will
have a more balanced amino profile too.
So it's worth looking into shopping around and
seeing what maybe is best for you.
Yeah we used to use MyProtein and The Protein
Works when we were in the UK and the reason
we went with those is we found the flavour that
we liked and we found one that mixed well
because sometimes they don't mix that great so it's
going to be a wee bit of trial and error.
Don't get an unflavoured one,
I'll recommend that straight away.
Get something that you're going to enjoy.
Definitely and I would say to people if you have
tried a plant-based protein powder in the past and you
thought it wasn't nice and it was gritty and it
was that is not reflective of all plant-based protein powders
that is just the one that you tried was crap.
Yeah exactly and just extra tip if you're
making overnight oats, scoop of protein powder mixed
with your oats you're going to then bump
up that amount of protein that you're having
and protein first thing in the day, perfect.
I think we have talked about protein sources to death.
What I would say is if anybody is
tuning into this and has any questions, feel
free to get in touch with us. Aye, absolutely.
You can drop us an email
podcast@outlift.ing and we'll be happy to answer.
Absolutely. Or send us a message on Instagram @outlift.ing
I'm going to give a bonus tip before
we actually do our 10 official tips.
It's something I forgot to say when we were
talking about soy but with tofu you can infuse
tofu with a lot of flavour but you need
to get the moisture out of it first.
It generally comes packed in water.
You need to squeeze all that water out and
it's only then the tofu can really absorb other
fluids when you're cooking and really get the
flavour into it so that's a good tip.
We used to have a tofu press.
Do you know what, I wasn't sure if you were going
to mention that though and I'm glad you did
because our friends bought us one for our wedding
and Foxy who's the straightest guy ever but the
coolest guy ever was like why the **** did
we buy them a tofu press for their wedding?
Now that wasn't the wedding gift it was just
part of a whole thing that they gave
us and we did feel very middle class.
Yeah.
It's something we use every single day though.
It's a really practical item for us because up
to then our method for getting the moisture out
of tofu involved a plate, a tea towel and
lots of heavy cookbooks precariously stacked on top and
there were quite a few times you would hear
things crash down in the kitchen and you'd have
to run in and find it all falling over.
So the tofu press eliminates that.
Yeah, I would say maybe don't invest in one
if you don't think you're going to stick to
it, but if you think you're going to continue
to be plant-based, definitely get one, they're great.
Yeah, definitely, just gets all the
moisture out, works a treat.
Shall we give our official top 10 tips then?
Let's do it. Let's go.
Okay, we have promised it from the start of
the show and here are our top 10 tips
for anybody going plant based for the first time.
Alan, start us off with number one.
Number one, avoid the perfectionism trap.
If you end up eating something with an animal
product in it accidentally, don't worry about it.
We did that at the start as well.
Number two, have Happy Cow in hand.
This is not an advert for it, but
it's something that we have used extensively.
The Happy Cow app is brilliant, especially
if you're traveling because it has thousands
of restaurants and shops and anywhere that
you can get plant based food.
Number 3, don't stress over may contain
unless you've got a severe allergy, don't
worry about the may contain labels.
They're just a cross-contamination warning,
not an ingredient list.
Number 4, watch out for bold ingredients.
The fastest way to figure out if something
is not plant-based is to look out
for the bold ingredients on the back.
That will help you rule something out in about
five seconds but be aware that you still will
need to read the full ingredient list to
check if there are any non-allergen animal products.
Number five, take care with fibre.
If you increase your fibre intake too rapidly you may
end up feeling a bit bloated so make sure
that you're drinking water to help digest that fibre.
Number 6. Add umami.
Make plant based meals absolutely mouth
watering by adding umami flavour.
You can do that with ingredients like miso
paste, nutritional yeast and marmite and it will
really give your food an incredible savoury kick.
Number seven, research substitutes.
To stop you getting stuck in
the kitchen, research some plant-based swaps.
So for example, how to make
an egg substitute with flaxseed.
Number eight, beware ultra-processed foods.
A plant-based label doesn't always mean that
something is going to be healthy.
There are a lot of ultra-processed
foods on the market now.
They're okay in moderation but if you're going
plant-based for the health benefits just be
careful that you don't cancel them out.
Number nine, look out for added sugar.
A lot of the popular plant-based milks out there
have added sugar in them so take your time,
read the labels and research some alternative options.
And finally number 10, curate your feed.
When you first go plant-based it's really difficult
to know what you can and can't eat.
Follow social media accounts like Accidentally
Vegan to stay updated on new
plant-based products on the supermarket shelves.
Thanks very much for tuning in.
Hopefully you found that interesting and
there was some useful information there.
We're not done though. We have got one more thing
for you and it's a freebie.
You can download the Outlifting Veganuary
High Protein Recipe book right now.
There is a link in the description or the
show notes where you can get that absolutely free.
It's our gift to you.
As ever, thank you very much for tuning in.
Remember, Outlifting Lounge is just
part of what we do.
Alan and I run Outlifting and
it's almost a year old.
I can't believe I'm saying that.
It is a service specifically for gay, bi
and trans guys who want to change
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We do that through
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lot we offer so, so much.
If you think that is the kind of thing for you
and you like what we do, please get in touch.
We would love to hear from you.
We can set up a free discovery call and chat with
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We'd love to help so get in touch you
can check us out on our website that
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button there to set up your discovery call.
That's us for now but don't forget we have
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Until next time, over and Outlifting.