Plant-based diet good for health, finances and the environment

Choosing a plant-based diet may spark fears of being bound to a future filled with falafel, fruit, and fava beans. This may once have been the case, but there are now a variety of meatless alternatives. There is a lot of help for those embarking on a plant-based eating journey. Reporter Catherine Sylvester talks to people who have already taken the plunge for their health, finances, and the environment.

For Heidi Jennings, health was the number one motivating factor in adopting a plant-based diet. Diagnosed with toxic heavy metal poisoning in 2017, the Bay of Plenty resident was experiencing severe vertigo and eczema. Hair testing confirmed she had arsenic levels in her system that were “through the roof”.

Tauranga local Heidi Jennings turned to a plant-based diet to help her heal from toxic heavy metal poisoning. Photo / Alex Cairns

Heidi asked her doctor for the mildest steroid cream available and began using it sparingly. However, once she discontinued treatment after nine weeks, the rash worsened and spread. Heidi was experiencing a “rebound effect”, she says in her and husband Steve’s book, From Living Hell to Living Well, otherwise known as Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW).

With incredibly itchy skin that would flake and bleed, the mum of two says she was housebound for almost two years. Heidi and Steve began researching ways within their own means to help with the healing process. A plant-based diet resonated with Heidi and when she embraced that, she felt it was right for her body.

“I was eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, gluten-free grains, healthy fats, legumes,” says the plant-based health coach. “My symptoms from the toxic heavy metal poisoning started to go away.”

The 80/20 Rule

As her body started healing, Heidi decided she needed to learn more and studied for a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate through Cornell University, New York. She was then able to bring this knowledge into the couple’s holistic health coaching business, and now shares about plant-based nutrition with her clients.

Her approach is more flexible than absolute, with a recommendation of an 80/20 ratio of whole-food, plant-based eating making up the majority of a patient’s diet, helping to encourage sustainability and ease for those hesitant to go all-in straight away.

'You can't deny that humans have thrived off fresh food grown by the earth for thousands of years,' Heidi says. Photo / 123RF

“I say I’m 95 per cent plant-based because it gives me wiggle room,” Heidi says.

“That means if my kids have a chocolate bar and they offer me a bit, I can have it. Every now and then I might have a little bit of meat - it’s very rare, but it gives me that flexibility and makes it easy.”

While she still experiences the occasional flare-up, Heidi’s skin is radically improved. No longer housebound, she now coaches others in ways to improve their health and lifestyle.

Healthy Kelsi

Scrolling through the Instagram account @healthykelsi it’s easy to see that Kelsi Boocock suits her social media moniker well. Image after image of mouth-watering dishes such as Smoky Popcorn Cauliflower and Peanut Ramen put to rest any notion that plant-based eating must mean bland and tasteless.

Five years ago, the 26-year-old Aucklander returned from time spent working at Camp America, feeling like “crap”. She thought there might be something wrong with her but decided that it was more likely due to eating “bad” for her five months overseas.

Growing up in a family that ate nutritiously with lots of fruit and vegetables, she decided to incorporate more plants into her diet for a month and see how she felt at the end of it. The author of the cookbook Healthy Kelsi which came out in 2021 says she felt better pretty quickly and has been plant-based ever since.

Kelsi Boocock's second plant-based recipe book, 'Healthy Kelsi Travel Kitchen' was released in January. Photo / Andrew Trembath

During the first Covid-19 lockdown, Kelsi noticed other food bloggers making a living from their passion, so put her business degree into action and created her own account. She currently has 341,000 followers and in January, her second cookbook, Healthy Kelsi Travel Kitchen, was published.

When she first made the switch in diet, her partner Andrew joined her. At the time, she says he was training for a marathon and that he noticed his recovery was faster. Kelsi says that it was feeling that difference physically for himself that made Andrew believe in the benefits of plant-based eating.

“I had lots more energy,” she says. “There’s a certain look to people, like a little bit of a glow, when they’re eating really well.”

Plant-based Cordon Bleu

Once the borders opened up, the couple moved to London for a time, and Kelsi studied at Le Cordon Bleu there, completing the Diploma in Plant-Based Culinary Arts. There she learned the basics of “chef-type things” such as cutting techniques, flavour profiles, food textures, and putting menus together.

“There were people from 20 different countries in my class, which was amazing,” Kelsi says. “I became good friends with two girls from north India and they were showing me amazing dishes from where they’re from.”

'You can add so much flavour with herbs and spices,' Kelsi says. Photo / 123rf

Kelsi’s advice to those interested in adopting a plant-based diet is also to take it slowly by trying something new and meatless one night a week. She says that by adding herbs and spices, flavours are improved and that trying differently textured food can add interest to a meal.

Starting with small steps can be easier as “so many people go hard and then get too overwhelmed”. She adds it’s also important to substitute other types of protein when removing meat from the diet, “otherwise you’re just going to be hungry”.

“I never wanted to be really strict about it because I always wanted to have a good relationship with food,” she explains. “I didn’t want to go to a party and be like, I can’t have the chocolate cake!” She does admit though that she “couldn’t eat meat” now.

Reiterating that it’s freeing to not have to live without too many rules around food, Kelsi says she doesn’t want to feel restricted when it comes to food, but she does make sure she always has these five ingredients on hand for her plant-based lifestyle -

• Canned foods like legumes and coconut milk
• A great variety of herbs and spices
• Bananas - “I love a smoothie, and in my family, we have a rule that if anyone goes to the supermarket, they have to buy at least two bunches of bananas because we go through a stupid amount of them.”
• Frozen spinach
• Tofu

To ensure your tofu has some flavour, Kelsi recommends grating firm tofu into salads or over rice and adding soy sauce and maple syrup to it. Alternatively, air frying it with some cornstarch makes it nice and crispy. Plus, it’s a good source of protein.

The impact of a plant-based lifestyle on the environment

Media spokeswoman for the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand, Claire Insley, says nearly half of New Zealand’s carbon emissions are due to animal agriculture - dairy and meat.

According to the government agency, Gen Less, NZ has the fourth highest emissions per capita in the OECD.

Claire says nitrates found in the run-off from animal urine can be a problem for waterways, and that it takes an enormous amount of water to produce a comparatively small amount of milk. Contributing to this is the water required to rinse out milking sheds twice a day and to clean the tankers used to transport milk.

Homemade oat milk is easy to make, says the Vegan Society of Aotearoa, New Zealand's Claire Insley. Photo / 123RF

In a NZ Herald article, freshwater ecologist and senior researcher at Victoria University Mike Joy puts the number at 11,000 litres of water to produce one litre of milk, and that the high nitrate levels in rivers and aquifers “cause toxic algal blooms which can be harmful to plant, marine and human life”.

For those looking to lessen their carbon footprint, Claire suggests swapping out dairy milk for plant milk, “something like soy or oats”. One of the benefits of making your own oat milk, she says, is that you can make just what you need, thereby avoiding waste.

Another tip Claire shares for those not ready to cut out all animal products is to consider cutting back (or out) beef, as they are one of the biggest contributors to our nation’s carbon footprint.

Oat milk recipe from the Vegan Society NZ. Photo / Supplied

Chia pudding at Aro Ha wellness retreat.

Saving money

Interested to see if eating a simple plant-based meal would save a few dollars, I compared the cost of two meals at my local supermarket - spaghetti bolognese (one with mince, one with lentils), and butter chicken (one with tofu instead of meat).

A quick Google search of simple versions of each dish produced the ingredients to price check, and I bypassed those that appeared in both recipes, such as onions, garlic, etc. My focus was mainly on the cost of meat or its alternatives.

My informal experiment showed a saving with both the plant-based meals. The regular spaghetti bolognese came in at $13.68 and the lentil version at $8.46. A savings of $5.22. The butter chicken produced an even bigger saving of $9.48 between the two.

A little or a lot

Choosing to embrace more plant-based foods in your life may be beneficial to your health, the environment, and your bank account. It may be an all-or-nothing option, or a once in a while event.

If you do choose to make the change, the options and resources available are plentiful, which means tasty food with variety and flavour can be yours for the making.

Tips for a plant-based diet

• Start small - try one or two meatless meals a week
• Cook one meal for the whole family. If there’s real resistance, try adding something extra on the side. For example, to ease children into it, you could add some regular mac n cheese to their plant-based meal
• Read labels at the supermarket. “Basically, the longer the list on the label, the more you should stay away from it.”
• Start experimenting with plant-based meals when you go out to eat.

A chef’s tips for plant-based creations

Aro Ha Wellness Retreat in Glenorchy serves primarily plant-based, seasonal food with a focus on sustainability. Head chef Marika Vani shares some culinary tips for getting the most out of a plant-based diet.

• Embrace seasoning and textures - “a dash of sumac, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, a drizzle of truffle oil can all transform a simple dish into something more complex and flavourful,” Marika says.
• Experiment with different techniques - roasting, grilling, charring, pan-frying - to get more complex flavours from your food.
• Create spice mixes or weekly marinades to infuse food with a more delightful eating experience.
• By eating seasonally you will be “aligning with what nature is providing, including the nutrients we need for that season, e.g., cucumber in the summertime has a high water content to help us stay hydrated and cool.”

Catherine Sylvester is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has a background in feature writing, radio and television, and has taught media at a tertiary level.