410: Stuck Eating the Same Plant-Based Meals? Start Here.

Anita 0:00

You know, Jarrod and I saw something very interesting recently. This new study that came out.

Jarrod 0:05

Jour- It was in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Anita 0:07

Right, and they took 350 people, and they studied them over six weeks, And what they did is they broke them into three groups. So one group of people ate a powder of 30 different plants every day. They would sprinkle it in with their regular meals. They didn't even change how they ate, So again, they kept eating their old way. They sprinkled on the plants.

Jarrod 0:29

food And it was only 30 grams of the powder, so we're not talking about a huge bowlful here.

Anita 0:34

And then they had a group that ate just croutons in addition to the regular meals, and then they had another group that they gave a probiotic. And what they found is Welcome to Power On Plants. I'm Anita Roussell, nurse and certified integrative nutrition health coach

Jarrod 1:54

And I'm Jarrod Roussell, a physician assistant certified in lifestyle medicine.

Anita 1:57

We specialize in helping you optimize your health so that you can maximize your revenue, reach, and impact If you missed episodes 408 and 409, go back and listen to those after this episode, because we have been talking about some spiritual aspects to healing that can make such a big difference. If you've already started changing up the food, we give you practical steps to take to fuel your body from a spiritual standpoint, and it is life-changing what we're teaching you in those episodes. Today, I wanna talk about the fact that many people we see that have tried plant-based over and over again get stuck in repetition. And what I mean by that is, say you're thinking about making a lasagna. Do you know of any other way to make it besides your tried and true way? Now, maybe you find that hard to break out because you like the same old things the same old way. Everybody eats about nine of the same meals on repeat. That's what we know, and so when you're eating the same things over and over again on repeat, sometimes that gets boring. But All that you need to do is find your new favorite. So if you like the same old things, you need to find nine new ones to get you started. But what we want you to understand is, whole food plant-based is not limiting. That is a big lie from our enemy to keep you stuck so that you never see God's dreams completely fulfilled in your life. You know the things you need to do to get to the next level, but the problem is your body keeps holding you back because you're stuck in eating those same old things over and over again. So we wanna challenge you on this episode to reimagine how you're creating your favorite dishes. So let's say you absolutely love lasagna. I just wanna take this one dish and break it down. So you love lasagna and you can't imagine making it any other way, but you wanna eat whole food plant-based, and you know pasta isn't really a whole plant food. You can eat some pasta when you eat whole food plant-based, but you don't want that to be one of your main staple foods, filling big bowls full of pasta, because that can cause weight gain and make you sluggish and not feel good, and it can take the place of a lot of the nutrient-rich foods that you won't be getting when the pasta crowds them out by nature. Because when you eat a big bowl of that, you're missing all the things that are really full of great nutrients for you. So let's take lasagna, for example. I absolutely love homemade lasagna. It's one of those comfort food dishes that I grew up with. Maybe you feel the same. I figured out how to make it just like my mom's, And I've shared that exact recipe with you in our Thrive Cookbook. You'll want to get that recipe. It is incredible, and you can get that at poweronplants.com/cookbook. And then, what I want you to do today is to reimagine lasagna. So yes, if you have a family favorite, your mom, she absolutely loved it. I grew up in my family's restaurant. My mom made the best lasagna, and I've recreated it for the dairy lover in you, where it's not going to clog your arteries. It's gonna make you feel amazing afterwards, and you can enjoy it and never feel deprived having these kinds of foods. This is what we're all about so get that recipe at poweronplants.com/cookbook, it is in our Thrive cookbook. Now, what we're going to show you how to do today is reimagine some of your favorites. We want you to start thinking outside the box. So with lasagna, you think a little bit of sauce on the bottom, then you're gonna put a noodle, and then you're gonna put some cheese, and then you're gonna put some sauce, and then you'll put another layer of noodle, and you'll keep stacking it like that, right? If you made it before, you know that's how it works. But how could you change it up, where you could have maybe five different dishes that you can make, and you could leave out the pasta and make room for more whole plant foods so that you get more nutrients. You know, Jarrod and I saw something very interesting recently. This new study that came out.

Jarrod 6:05

Jour- It was in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Anita 6:07

Right, and they took 350 people, and they studied them over six weeks, And what they did is they broke them into three groups. So one group of people ate a powder of 30 different plants every day. They would sprinkle it in with their regular meals. They didn't even change how they ate, So again, they kept eating their old way. They sprinkled on the plants.

Jarrod 6:29

food And it was only 30 grams of the powder, so we're not talking about a huge bowlful here.

Anita 6:34

And then they had a group that ate just croutons in addition to the regular meals, and then they had another group that they gave a probiotic. And what they found is the whole plant food group that ate the ground whole plant foods, because of the variety of nutrients that they were getting, they actually had statistically significant difference in their good gut bacteria, meaning what they found is that not only did the number of good gut bacteria increase, th- also there were more kinds of good bacteria present at that point after the six weeks, which is amazing. But then we think about what we know and what we see with our clients when they get these bowls full now. It's not just six weeks of a little powder sprinkled on, 'cause it sounds great, but then you're having all those things that are still damaging your body. So they were getting some results. This shows you that the more variety you eat, the better. And what if they had filled their bowls full of fresh whole plant foods That they loved and they could get on the table faster than anything they ever ate before. What would have happened to their bodies? What would have happened in their life? What would become possible for you if your body showed up fully and you could come off some of the medications for for high cholesterol, for high blood pressure, for autoimmune diseases like Crohn's and all these things that people get told they'll have forever. We see clients on the regular reverse diseases and come off these medications under their doctor's supervision as we work with them and show them, "This is how you eat these foods. This is how you make it enjoyable. This is how you work it into your busy schedule." This is the reality of these foods. So in this study, in just six weeks, the group that was eating the whole plant foods not only had a great increase in the good gut bacteria, and we know having a healthy gut is crucial for optimal health then the bad gut bacteria that were previously there also decreased because they were crowded out by the good gut bacteria that were now thriving because they were getting fiber and all the nutrients in the small amount, a variety of whole plant foods

Jarrod 8:44

Yes, 'cause we say plant foods, but this was not a completely whole food plant-based diet. This was whatever their standard diet they were eating with this powder added on, and they did see this marked improvement. And just if you're wondering, there was no change with the crouton group, so

Anita 8:59

No. I mean, I

Jarrod 9:00

they did not see improvement.

Anita 9:01

I think there was a minimal change, but it was not statistically significant with them. I'm wondering if some of that was like, "Hey, I think I'm getting a placebo,

Jarrod 9:10

Or maybe they did bump up their fiber a little bit. I mean, that's actually

Anita 9:14

Maybe. With the wheat, maybe possible. But it was probably white flour, so I wouldn't bank on that for sure.

Jarrod 9:20

Probably not much

Anita 9:22

So we want a variety of whole plant foods, and one way we can do that is swapping out the things that aren't as nutritionally dense, like the pasta. So just take this one thing that you're eating, and let's think, how could I reimagine it? And you can get to the place where you can do this on your own once we show you how. It's not hard. But I want to plant the seed that this is what's possible for you. So what if, instead of noodles, you put grilled eggplant in there, and now you're making eggplant Parmesan? And what if you added some greens in, like some ground kale or some ground spinach into one of your layers? That would be amazing. What if, instead of eggplant for the noodles, you found a way to add- cauliflower. That's what I did this week. I said, "You know what? I'm gonna add cauliflower." And so I sliced it very thinly, and I baked it, and you'll learn why when you get inside the group, 'cause we share these things. Like tonight on the coaching call, we talked about why does this happen? Why is it not spicy anymore? Because if you've ever tried to make mashed cauliflower in place of your mashed potatoes, many times you'll find it super spicy because when you blend it, it bursts open the cells, and there are different ways that you can keep it from getting spicy. But the point of this episode is not to tell you everything and get you bogged down right now, because you haven't learned the foundational tools that you need to get to that level. What I want you to see is what becomes possible when I learn to reimagine these foods. So think about that. What becomes possible if I start thinking, "Hey, I don't just have to eat noodles in my lasagna. What if I layered in some grilled eggplant? What if I layered in some thinly sliced cauliflower in the place of my noodles, and I had cooked that? What if I layered in some cooked zucchini, some baked zucchini that was soft that would act like a noodle? What else could I layer in there?" And you start asking these questions and brainstorming like we do on our coaching calls, and we walk away with five, 10 different ideas. Many times people are going, "Wait a minute, I'm not sure what to try first," because we talk about these different ideas of what could I try, what could I do, what are some ways I can sub out? And then you start layering things like instead of meat, now you're layering in black lentils. They are so good. Beluga lentils are amazing. They're not mush like the red or the orange ones or the yellow ones. These are very firm, and they're a great replacement for meat in some of your dishes. Or maybe instead you want to use my bolognese sauce recipe, which uses walnuts in place of the meat, and that is one of the most tasty Italian sauces that you can imagine. You'll find our bolognese sauce in the original cookbook. That's at the same place, poweronplants.com/cookbook Again, it's one of those recipes that you think, "What in the world is happening right now? I cannot believe this has walnuts in it and all these vegetables." And so you're getting this wide variety of whole plant foods. We're not putting 30 different things in one dish. I don't make it complicated for you. It's very simple, but let's say you're getting six or seven different ingredients. Right there, if you do that just a couple of times a day, you're already getting almost 20 different things, and we're not even counting the herbs, the spices you're gonna add in, all the amazing nuts and seeds and legumes and greens, all the different things you can add And before long- You're like John saying, "Well, now my goal is to live long enough to try all the different options that I have." When before, many people thought it would be limiting, and now they're able to cook from their pantry and come up with these amazing ideas, and they're around people who are also coming up with ideas, and now it's limitless. It's like all these different things I can get on the table in under 15 minutes, in under 20 minutes, some of them in under 10 minutes It's mind-boggling That sometimes the enemy gets us stuck believing the lies that this is going to be limiting, that it's not going to be enjoyable, that there's only one way, and if you can't do it that way, you'll never learn how to do it, and then it's gonna not be enjoyable

Jarrod 13:28

won't love it.

Anita 13:29

Yeah, it's just not true So this week, our challenge to you is to try one new thing, just one. Think about how you might change that up. Carrie, I know you're listening. You love this one. Just one thing, right? You're saying it, just one thing. That's what we always say. Just do the one thing Find one dish that you wanna switch up a little bit and just switch one or two ingredients. try to get a couple of new plant-based ingredients into that dish, and you're gonna see over time, one week, two weeks, a year, how things are gonna start changing for you. And when we start working together, you're not gonna believe. There's not gonna be any limit to the capacity that you're going to have in productivity and your ability to live your God-given dreams once you start implementing the frameworks that we have for you. Have fun with this this week, and know that we are praying for you, and we look forward to seeing you soon