For the love of soil

If you have the intention of eating more plants, but are struggling with starting or sticking to it, we thought we’d offer our 5 simple tips to alter your diet for the benefit of the planet:

1. Make it delicious. Pack in that flavour. Your spice cupboard is your best friend. There is a common belief that a meal will seem underwhelming in taste without meat or fish. However, when you dare to experiment a bit, using different combinations of herbs and spices, condiments and varieties of plants, you will find that this is most definitely a misconception. Once you've discovered your favourite combinations, you can use this to jazz up and bring out the flavour of any vegetable.

2. Don’t skimp on variety. Aim to eat 30+ plant varieties every week. And this doesn’t just mean different types of vegetables or fruits, but legumes, nuts, seeds, grains, spices and oils too. Not only is this great for gut health, but it will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone in the kitchen, and focus on building truly delicious, abundant plant-based dishes that will inevitably spark joy. We would recommend downloading our Spring Wellness Guide, which includes a plant-diversity grocery list as well as lots of recipes packed full of diverse plant-foods and ingredients.

3. Understand how to balance nutrients. It’s important to educate yourself on all the micronutrients you need; nutrients that you would usually rely on getting from animal protein. We can assure you that you will be able to get enough of all of them from a plant-based diet if you are balancing your meals with the right foods. We would recommend writing them all out on a piece of paper and sticking them to your fridge as a reminder of how to build a balanced meal. Find our breakdown of the key nutrients you need here. Getting all your essential nutrients means that you will realise the transformative effects of a plant-based diet on your body and mind in no time - and won't want to go back.

4. Bust the protein myth. Modern research now proves that you can definitely get more than enough protein from plants. However, you do have to carefully consider your sources of plant protein as often they don’t contain all of the essential amino acids found in meat. It’s important that you combine your non-meat proteins together so the amino acid profiles compliment each other. Think lentils, chickpeas, tofu, sunflower seeds or black beans - there are a surprising amount of options. Trying to get a portion of protein with every meal is important for sustained energy throughout the day.

5. Shop local. Not only will you be contributing to the improvement of our current complex food chain, but you will also find that shopping locally sourced, seasonal ingredients will improve the quality of your meals. It’s amazing how much flavour can be compromised by the unforgiving air-miles tacked onto produce. It’s a win-win.