Plant Based Vegan Diet - Anna Szabo from The Southern Belle Farm

Have you ever wondered about plant-based diet benefits? What is the plant-based diet? I want to share with you my plant-based story and the benefits I personally experienced. I’ll give you my original plant-based meals ideas, including the most-requested Plant-Based Diet Breakfast! Also, I’ll explain the differences between plant-based vs vegan ways of eating. I started eating healthy because of my suicidal depression years ago. To learn more about me and understand my emotional struggles, as well as their origin, read “Getting to know Anna Szabo.”

On January 18th, 2020 I celebrated my 37th Birthday. I planned, shopped, prepped, and served a plant-based diet menu for a house full of guests, and everyone loved everything they ate and drank. Below are some pictures of the food I made for my party.

I wrote a blog about my plant-based Birthday feast.

Plant-Based Diet by Anna Szabo

Introduction

I am from Russia where people eat potatoes, bread, and meat, all covered in mayo. Before 2018, I ate anything I wanted. That being said, I had never been a fan of fast food, sodas, fat-filled smoothies, or cupcakes. But I did eat steak with everything, tons of sour cream, six eggs a day, and fat Russian butter, cottage cheese, kefir, cheeses, and salami. And Russian cakes.

My body size has always been between double-zero and two. I still wear clothes from when I was 17, and I am 37 now. Yes, I have clothes from Russia that I’ve had for 20 years. Anyway, about my plant-based diet.

In 2016, I got married and was soon manipulated into severely suicidal depression through such eloquent narcissistic abuse tactics as gaslighting, projection, discarding, and other techniques described in my blog post called “Narcissistic Abuse Examples.”

Prior to that marriage, I had never experienced such things as psychomotor retardation or panic attacks. During that marriage, I lost my ability to live productively, hold a job, or even get out of bed. I also lost a ton of hair and started balding. Sadly, I lost the desire to live and almost killed myself.

READ: Narcissistic Relationship Abuse

In 2017, I was divorced, and my journey out of that suicidal depression had begun. Self-care was the most critical part of my narcissistic abuse recovery. Self-care meant genuine grief processing, compassion for my situation, stress reduction, sleep, prayer, journaling, and being outside. Slowly, I began regaining my intellectual and physical abilities.

READ: My Depression Story

Food had never been something I thought of as a contributor to my depression recovery. I ate pretty well (so I thought): eggs, steak, milk every day, butter, and cheese. After all, I believed wholeheartedly, those were the kinds of things that would help me get well, give me energy, and restore my balance.

Early in 2018, I realized that if I put the flesh of killed animals into my body, if I eat the product of raped animals and the babies taken away from their moms while screaming and being severely abused, I can’t possibly NOT be depressed. I studied this closely, watched several documentaries, threw away all the food in my house, and started fresh. It was March 2018.

Let me be honest: I didn’t realize any of it on my own.

Here’s what actually happened.

I had two neighbors: Ashley and Jimmy.

They now live in Texas but I love them the same and I’m forever grateful for their contribution to my health. Their living room balcony was facing the main street where I took my daily 10,000 steps.

One evening, I was walking my steps when Jimmy started talking to me from the balcony. We exchanged a short small talk, and he said: we are now vegan. I was like: oh ok. I had no idea what it meant.

I only heard of vegan one time in my whole life. It was my friend Fran whom I once upon a time had breakfast with at her apartment, and I was the one cooking. It was a regular occurrence but we had not done a meal for a while, so I was excited.

Over the phone, she briefly mentioned “I’m not vegan” to which I responded: ok. I had no idea… So, on a Saturday morning, I arrived at her place with my breakfast for us: eggs, steak, bread with butter, and cheese… I will never forget Fran’s face when she saw what I brought… I can’t stop laughing! She didn’t eat any of it.

So, Jimmy told me that Ashley and he were now vegan, and I thought of Fran. But I didn’t understand what the whole thing was about. He told me that they eat plants now. I laughed. What I pictured was Jimmy and Ashley digging house plants out of plant pots and eating them.

That’s not what the plant-based diet is all about.

So, what is it about?

What is plant based diet? Anna Szabo explains

What Is a Plant-Based Diet?

A plant-based diet is not complicated. It’s very simple to understand. I’m going to give you an easy way to comprehend what’s included and what’s excluded when it comes to the plant-based way of eating and living.

What is a plant-based diet? A plant-based diet includes plants and avoids animal products. On the plant-based diet, you eat six categories of food: legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruits. The plant-based diet excludes meat, milk, eggs, cheese, fish, yogurt, and everything that had a mama once. If it had a mama, eating that thing is not plant-based.

Let me give you some more details, just so you don’t start calling ambulance thinking I’m starving myself to death surviving on a few seeds here and there. I’m serious: this can sound pitiful but eating plants offers countless choices.

The Six Things I Eat on a Plant-Based Diet

I want to give you a clear understanding and answer your question “What is a plant-based diet?” in detail, with real-life examples. As I said, I eat six categories of food: vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes.

Each type of food is linked to where you can learn more.

Click on the food category you want to explore.

What Legumes Do I Eat?

  1. Beans

  1. Lentils

  1. Chickpeas

What Whole Grains Do I Eat?

  1. Farro
  2. Kamut
  3. Buckwheat
  4. Amaranth
  5. Bulgur
  6. Teff
  7. Sorghum
  8. Freekeh
  9. Millet
  10. Spelt
  11. Pearl Barley
  12. Brown Rice
  13. Wheat Berries
  14. Red Quinoa Grain
  15. Tricolor Quinoa Grain
  16. Organic Quinoa Grain

What Nuts Do I Eat?

  1. Cashews
  2. Hazelnuts
  3. Pine nuts
  4. Pistachios
  5. Pecans
  6. Walnuts
  7. Almonds
  8. Brazil nuts

What Seeds Do I Eat?

  1. Hemp Seed Hearts
  2. Brown Flaxseeds
  3. Golden Flaxseeds
  4. Brown Sesame Seeds
  5. White Sesame Seeds
  6. Pumpkin Seeds
  7. Sunflower Seeds
  8. Chia Seeds

What Vegetables Do I Eat?

  1. Tomatoes
  2. Cucumbers
  3. Bell peppers
  4. Avocados
  5. Radish
  6. Celery
  7. Mushrooms
  8. Russet potatoes
  9. Sweet potatoes
  10. Brussels sprouts
  11. Broccoli
  12. Cauliflower
  13. Carrots
  14. Beets
  15. Cabbage
  16. Squash
  17. Eggplant
  18. Corn
  19. Olives
  20. Kale
  21. Spinach
  22. Arugula
  23. Parsley
  24. Dill
  25. Basil
  26. Onions
  27. Garlic

What Fruits Do I Eat?

  1. Apples
  2. Oranges
  3. Bananas
  4. Pears
  5. Prunes
  6. Grapes
  7. Papaya
  8. Tangerines
  9. Lemons
  10. Limes
  11. Watermelon
  12. Melon
  13. Honeydew
  14. Pineapple
  15. Mango
  16. Figs
  17. Dates
  18. Cranberries
  19. Blackberries
  20. Strawberries
  21. Raspberries
  22. Blueberries
  23. Apricots

How I Became a Plant-Based Vegan

Here we were: Jimmy telling me how he and Ashley are now eating plants and me asking where they get their protein from. At the time, I didn’t understand that animals, from whom we believe we must get our protein, are simply the brokers, the middleman. We get second-hand protein from animals because the original source of all protein is plants.

In the next few days, I came over for something to their apartment, and my life changed from that evening forward. What happened was this.

I was inside their kitchen, and Jimmy with Ashley was standing in the doorway. They started telling me about this documentary they watched about the pigs who die and lie there dead in the sun decomposing, then, they are fed back to other pigs, then, we eat that meat.

I felt like throwing up, so I was like: ok, I’m out of here. But… They didn’t let me go. I remember Jimmy said: you have to know this, you have to hear this, you have to watch this documentary. I was like: um… No, thank you.

It sounded weird. I was not interested.

Personally, I trusted the American Government. I was confident that if anything like this was actually happening anywhere, our great government would shut down such practices. I was so naïve…

Anyway, Jimmy and Ashley did let me go physically but mentally, I took them home with me and started wondering: can what they told me be actually happening in America? I decided to buy and watch the documentary.

Then, here’s what happened. I filmed it.

As they say: a video is worth a thousand words (didn’t they say VIDEO?)… The video above is a vlog from the day I decided to become a plant-based vegan. It was that same day when Jimmy and Ashley talked to me about not eating animal products and I watched that life-changing documentary.

Just so you know: I had no idea how hard the plant-based journey would be because I didn’t understand the full extent of the food addiction. I became a plant-based vegan in March of 2018 and remained fully committed till November of 2018. As you remember, my reason for joining the plant-based diet was to recover from depression, which was the result of narcissistic abuse.

READ: Narcissistic Abuse Recovery

It’s 2020 as I’m writing this blog post, so you can clearly witness that I did recover from that suicidal depression. Today, I talk extensively about the importance of proper diet and self-care as a victim of narcissistic abuse.

READ: Self-Care Tips and Strategies

To tell you briefly what not eating animal products did for me, I want to mention this: the fog in my headspace went away, my body slimmed down and stopped swelling, my acne disappeared, my fatigue dissolved, I had much more energy, I was able to think clearly, and my emotions became way more balanced. I also saved a ton of money and paid off my Prius. And there’s so much more. It was great! I felt and looked great!

But…

I’m here to tell you the truth. And the truth is this.

Several times after November of 2018 I slipped right back into my old eating habits. It happened while I was not mindful, not paying attention, and not thinking. I restarted my plant-based diet, failed again, restarted, failed again. It’s been a journey, and I’ve learned a lot.

The main thing I’ve learned is that I do not like eating animals and I love eating plants. I don’t like how I feel when I eat animal products and I love how I feel when I eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes. When I eat crap, I feel like crap. When I eat plants, I feel good.

The benefits of plant-based eating are countless.

What are they?

The Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

The Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

Transitioning to a plant-based diet is hard only because of our society-wide food addiction and culturally-enticed indulgence in crappy, fat-filled, greasy food that causes inflammation in our body and leads to various diseases, as well as premature death. I’ve been struggling to fully transition, so I know what it’s like to crave salty meats, cheeses, and seafood.

That being said, when from March of 2018 to November of 2018 I was fully-plant-based-vegan, I experienced tremendous and priceless health benefits of the plant-based way of eating.

What are the benefits of the plant-based diet? High levels of energy instead of fatigue, clean and glowing skin instead of acne, healthy and properly functioning blood cells and organs instead of inflammation, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, dementia, or Alzheimer’s, longevity as well as wellbeing instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt for unnecessary surgeries and doctor visits, and the high quality of life you deserve to enjoy.

As I am transitioning now to the plant-based diet once and for all, I keep these health benefits in mind. I love being healthy and active. I love being wise with my money, so paying for doctors, medications, hospitals, and surgeries is just not my kind of thing. It’s never been. I had very poor health between 17 and 24 years of age. I spent 21 days in a hospital every six months, annually. I didn’t like that. Today, I am very healthy, and I like it.

Yet, I still eat meat and indulge in sushi sometimes.

The last time I ate any animal products was a while ago but I will tell you that I am fully plant-based once my cravings for lamb, burger, sushi, and cheese completely disappear. The end goal of health and longevity is worth the fight I endure with my cravings and the advertisements of crappy, greasy, fat-filled food, which I see everywhere.

I journal about my battle. Also, I watch plant-based documentaries to stay strong mentally and remember why I’m making this transition.

Plant based diet benefits

Plant-Based Diet Documentaries

Plant-based documentaries helped me learn so much about the downside of the way we eat as a society worldwide today. I never knew why I suffered so much with sinus issues and ear infections. The reason was dairy.

Dairy is the evil of all evils. Milk, cheese, Russian sour cream, Russian kefir, Russian cottage cheese, and Russian mayo – all these the things I was taught were necessary for my health – actually inflict pain and suffering on my blood cells and organs. I ditched the dairy, and my ear infections along with the sinus issues disappeared.

Eggs for breakfast, with potatoes, steak, and bread were always my favorite. I envisioned chickens running around the green, grass-rich landscape, and the happy cows peacefully chilling in the sun, surrounded by green grass, chewing on their food. I’m literally crying as I’m typing this.

I was so naïve. We just don’t know the truth.

That’s why watching plant-based documentaries is essential. We must know the truth, and the truth will set us free. Free from what?

Free from slavery to the Department of Agriculture, which is the doer of all evil when it comes to the decline of the wellbeing of Americans, especially, early obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease in children.

The Department of Agriculture and the Big Pharma are committing this massive health crime against Americans every day, and the American people don’t even notice. I never noticed.

Until Jimmy and Ashley cornered me in their kitchen and told me the truth. They forced me to watch plant-based documentaries. The veil fell off. I realized the crimes taking place nationwide right before my eyes, all covered up with the words “Freedom of Choice.”

What a manipulative lie!

We are persuaded that we are free to choose what we want to eat, yet advertised to us are only crappy food products that cause us to get sick so that the Big Pharma can make money off of us.

The Department of Agriculture and the Big Pharma in America are thousands of times more corrupted than the Russian Government I experienced growing up. The American Department of Agriculture is a single force making the American people fat, sick, and nearly dead today.

And it uses “freedom of choice” as its propaganda.

Plant-based documentaries showed me that the chickens don’t run freely on a green landscape. They live with various diseases in tight unhealthy environments where they can’t even breathe, not to mention running. They die, and other chickens walk and sleep all over them, covered in poop and dead flesh. Then, we eat those chickens.

Cows do not chill in the sun chewing on the green grass, as I imagined. They are abused from the moment of their birth. They never get to eat green grass but are fed by unhealthy crap that should be prohibited. They live life unable to even move. They are raped, their kids are taken away from them, they cry big tears because they are suffering, and then, they take their final walk and are shot in the head, and they know what’s happening. They live lives filled with violence and suffering. Then, we eat their flesh.

Here are the plant-based documentaries I recommend in the order in which I think you should watch them. If you watch while chatting on the phone and scrolling through social media, you won’t get much value from this. Watch with your eyes and heart focused. Process the new information you receive. And see how it will influence you.

Each documentary name is a link you can click.

Plant-Based Documentaries: What The Health, Forks Over Knives, PlantPure Nation, Eating You Alive, H.O.P.E., The Game Changers, Cowspiracy, Live and Let Live, The Ghosts In Our Machine, Dominion, Blackfish, and A Prayer for Compassion.

Each plant-based documentary name is linked to its trailer. Make sure you watch at least the trailers just so you know what’s going on.

There’s nothing more important to your present and future and to the present and future of our world than what you choose to eat every day.

As I’m on my journey back to being fully plant-based, I re-watch these documentaries to stay aware, alert, and awaken by the truth I now know about the negative impact of animal food on my physical and mental health, as well as the impact I make with my food choices on how the living and breathing animals are treated today.

I hope this content really helps you. It was hard to write. It’s a real struggle for many, including me.

One final word here, and it’s about deception.

The deception is called the Commonsense Consumption Act.

Here’s the video from 2004 when the baby version of this manipulative and deceptive law was first in the making. It was called Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act.

The Commonsense Consumption Act

This Act is the very reason for the obesity, depression, and diseases crisis in America today, in 2020. Here are a few excerpts from this law. And I want to share my comments with you so that you understand the deceptive scheme set up against the American people by the lawmakers who get financially benefited by the arranged marriage of the two evils: the Department of Agriculture and the Big Pharma.

Commonsense Consumption Act of 2009 (Introduced in House (02/03/2009)) – Prohibits new, and requires dismissal of pending, civil actions by any person against a manufacturer, marketer, distributor, advertiser, or seller of food, or a trade association, for any injury related to a person’s accumulated acts of consumption of food and weight gain, obesity, or any associated health condition. Subjects to such prohibition: (1) any action brought by a person other than the person on whose weight gain, obesity, or health condition the action is based; and (2) any derivative action brought by or on behalf of any person or any representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative of that person.

Congress.gov

What is Commonsense Consumption Act all about? It says that you must take personal responsibility for your health, use your own common sense when it comes to food, and not blame those who make, advertise, and sell food to you if you get sick, obese, or die from eating that bad, unhealthy food.

Section 2. {Legislative Intent} To prevent frivolous lawsuits against manufacturers, packers, distributors, carriers, holders, sellers, marketers or advertisers of food products that comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Alec.org

What is the legislative intent of the Commonsense Consumption Act? In actuality, the legislative intent of the “Common Sense Law” is to allow the corrupted Department of Agriculture to subsidize really bad food, which is made and distributed to schools, hospitals, and everywhere around the country, all animal-based and unhealthy, with the intent to make the American people sick so that they can become a money-making machine for the Big Pharma. This law was setup to protect the Big Meat and Dairy industrty from the crisist the Big Tobacco experienced. The Big Meat and Dairy industry set up this law to ensure it can sell you poison as deliciousness and when you buy, eat, and get sick from it, it then tells you you’re at fault because you have no common sense and should not have bought their crappy food to begin with.

I want to explain something to you, which is the key to your understanding of the food and pharmaceutical trap set up against you here in America. Let me give you some context to help you realize the “freedom of choice” manipulative deception.

I grew up in Russia during the Soviet reign. The healthcare was free and paid for by the Government. The Government also paid salaries to all the doctors at all hospitals. All hospitals belonged to the Government.

Let me ask you: what did the Government want for its nation since it provided free healthcare for all people?

The Government wanted the nation to be healthy and stay out of the hospitals and away from the doctors.

What did the doctors want? They were paid a salary every month. Serving two or two hundred patients didn’t increase their earnings nor did it reduce their salary. So what did the doctors want? They wanted the people to stay away, to be healthy and not come back. The doctors’ interest was the nation’s actual health and wellbeing.

The Government’s interest was the nation’s health and wellbeing. That’s why the Government educated its people – starting from kindergarten and elementary school – about nutrition.

We ate free at school. We were served veggies and steamed small meatballs. We ate grains and were all healthy, skinny, and active. We developed a common sense about nutrition by being educated since early age about nutrition by the Government who wanted us to be healthy.

Who pays for healthcare in America? YOU.

So, is it profitable to have you healthy? NO. Hm…

Is the Government interested in educating you about nutrition?

NO. Hm…

Are you being educated about nutrition? NO.

So, the Government doesn’t educate you about nutrition, yet it says you must have common sense about nutrition? Hm…

So the Government doesn’t provide free healthcare and is not interested in your wellbeing? Hm…

So, the doctors are paid by YOU and, consequently, their livelihood depends on how unhealthy you are? Hm…

So, you’re not being educated about nutrition by the Government yet the Government subsidizes huge meat-and-dairy promotional campaigns to bombard your mind with crappy food and manipulate you into buying what they advertise? Hm…

Where is your actual freedom of choice?

I can’t see it. I’m looking but can’t find it.

All I see is a trap, not freedom.

I have a question for you: if you truly had a freedom of choice, meaning you’d be educated about food, aka nutrition, by the Government since early school years, so that you can form your own common-sense opinion, do you believe that you would actually choose to eat the food that causes you inflammation, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, dementia, or Alzheimer’s?

Let me know in the comments below.

What is the impact of the Commonsense Consumption Act? The impact of this law is a nationwide crisis of diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, mental diseases including depression and suicide, cancer, and heart attacks. In fact, a restaurant was set up called The Heart Attack Grill where customers regularly die from a heart attack, and the owner laughs saying they should have known better before they came in to eat his intentionally-prepared to cause a heart attack health-corrupting, grease-filled, fat-fueled food.

When it comes to choosing whether to eat the plant-based diet or the Standard American Diet (SAD), you’re on your own. Provided that the Government is investing millions of dollars in advertising unhealthy foods to you and doctors are very much interested in you coming back over and over and over again for them to get paid, having you healthy isn’t the goal for anyone.

I highly encourage you to invest time, energy, and effort into studying nutrition and developing an actual common-sense perspective on what to eat and why, which this deceptive law requires you to have.

The federal policies are not set up to protect you but to trick you into the “system” of eating crap, feeling like crap, getting on pills forever, and staying sick eating more crap all your life so that the doctors can get paid.

I’ve worked in the marketing department of a healthcare organization in GA with seven hospitals and 72 service lines. Each service line had its own annual sales goals to reach for physicians to meet their performance expectations.

Selling what? Take a guess.

Yes, you’ve guessed: selling surgeries to you.

The performance of doctors is measured the same way salespeople are measured at any company: by selling the product and meeting a sales quota set by their leadership annually, quarterly, and monthly.

What’s the product they are selling? Surgery.

Doctors are salespeople. The unhealthier you are, the more profitable it is for doctors to have you as a patient. Doctors are also paid by the Big Pharma. For what? For prescribing you the meds the Big Pharma’s annual sales quota requires selling. Do you see how things work?

Don’t just take my word for it. Watch this TED talk.

Your mind is the object targeted by the Big Pharma and the Meet-and-Dairy giants who have billions of dollars to advertise crap to you so that you eat crap, get sick, then go to expensive doctors to get prescribed expensive medications and get an expensive surgery to fix you.

You can avoid the “system” by not eating crap.

Nutrition is the key to health, wellness, and longevity. Your quality of life and my quality of life depend on what we eat and don’t eat. Nutrition determines how well we function, how much energy we have, how healthy we stay, and how effectively we live: in pain or pain-free, unable to move or enjoying daily activities.

That’s why nutrition is important to understand and consider before medications or surgeries, which have severe and life-lasting side effects and are often not only unnecessary but also damaging.

Nutrition offers preventative care that helps avoid getting sick and miserable by optimizing your lifestyle choices. Doctors are not educated about nutrition. They don’t like talking about preventative lifestyle choices.

Why do you think that is?

Preventing you from getting sick prevents doctors from getting paid.

I hope you can see the trap now.

When it comes to our dear and cherished, highly-trusted Government, they have the leaders of the Meat-and-Dairy giants holding the key leadership positions and making decisions for the country as to what food is recommended as healthy to the entire nation and specifically at schools.

Sounds like a conflict of interest? Tell me about it!

Those interested in selling you more fast food, more beef, more pork, more chicken, more cheese, and more milkshakes used their strong political power to protect themselves from any responsibility to you for their evil actions. How? Via the Commonsense Consumption Act.

And they tell you that you have no common sense if you actually buy and eat the crappy food they advertise to you on every corner. This is what they call the “freedom of choice.”

There’s no freedom in this. It’s a scheme.

It’s a crime against your health, longevity, and quality of life.

You owe it to yourself to have the actual freedom of choice. Don’t be the naive, unassuming victim of the scheme set up against your health by the Department of Agriculture and the Big Pharma. Give yourself a chance to be healthy. Watch a few plant-based documentaries.

Leverage your freedom of choice.

How To Cook on a Plant-Based Diet - Anna Szabo

Plant-Based Diet Oil

Plant-based is a way of life. It’s not really a diet. It’s your commitment to your health and the health of your planet. So, the question is which cooking oils are healthy?

When it comes to health, I follow Dr. Greger.

Here’s what his website says about oils.

The largest diet and health study, co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the American Association of Retired Persons, followed about 545,000 people aged 50 to 71 over the course of a decade and was the first to separate out the role of fats from plant sources, such as those found in nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive and vegetable oils, versus all animal sources, including meats, dairy products, and eggs. The consumption of animal-sourced fat was significantly associated with pancreatic cancer risk, but no correlation was found with the consumption of plant fats.

Does that mean plant-based oils are appropriate for a healthy diet and we need only avoid animal-based fats?

We’ve known for nearly two decades that a single fast-food meal, such as a Sausage and Egg McMuffin, can stiffen our arteries within hours, cutting in half their ability to relax normally. And, just as this inflammatory state starts to calm down five or six hours later, we may once again assault our arteries with another load of harmful food, leaving many stuck in a danger zone of chronic, low-grade inflammation. Indeed, unhealthy meals don’t just cause internal damage decades down the road, but within hours of consumption—and the relative paralysis of our arteries for hours after eating fast food may also occur after consuming olive oil.

It’s not only olive oil, however. Other oils have also been shown to have deleterious results on endothelial function: a significant and constant decrease in endothelial function three hours after each meal, independent of the type of oil or whether the oil was fresh or deep fried. Olive oil might be better than omega-6-rich oils or saturated fats, but may still show adverse effects.

I think of oil as the table sugar of the fat kingdom. Similar to how manufacturers take healthy foods like beets and throw out all their nutrition to make sugar, they take wholesome corn and scorch-earth it down to corn oil. Like sugar, corn oil calories may be worse than just empty.

As even extra-virgin olive oil may impair our arteries’ ability to relax and dilate normally, its use should be curtailed. Cooking without oil is surprisingly easy. To keep foods from sticking, sauté in wine, sherry, broth, vinegar, or just plain water. For baking, I’ve successfully used mashed bananas or avocado, soaked prunes, and even canned pumpkin to substitute for oil to provide a similar moistness.

NutritionFacts.org

Personally, I use olive oil for my scalp and hair masks. Also, I use it on my skin once in a while with coffee grounds as a scrub. I don’t add olive oil to my food, normally. That being said, I do use avocado oil when I roast veggies. Avocado oil has a much higher tolerance to heat, meaning it’s much healthier than olive oil.

My goal is to stop using oils but I’m not there yet. A plant-based diet is a journey. I take it one step at a time. It is challenging and rewarding, and I’m learning every day.

Let me share with you some of my plant-based meals.

The Daniel Diet Explained by Anna Szabo

Plant-Based Meals

As you saw from my video, I went all in and was able to transform my lifestyle to fully-plant-based overnight. The plant-based meals I created have been joy to eat, for both me and my friends. And I’ve hosted my fair share of plant-based breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for my friends.

For my 37th Birthday, I hosted a plant-based Birthday party.

I love cooking. It’s relaxing, creative, and rewarding. I use lots of colorful produce and fresh herbs. I love making plant-based meals. What I do not like is measuring how much I use of anything and documenting recipes. I’ve tried. It makes me feel miserable.

So, while I don’t have the typical-style recipes for you, I do have a library of plant-based meals that you can try if you can just follow some direction while also exercising your own common sense and creativity.

What I will tell you is what’s good to mix together. How much of each thing to add is up to you. If this doesn’t work for you, you don’t have to read this chapter. There are plenty of plant-based meals recipes online, and they tell you step-by-step exactly how much of everything to use. I don’t even have measuring tools in my kitchen.

Cooking for me is time to create and flow.

In green smoothies, I add kale, green bell pepper, spinach, green apple, avocado, celery, and cucumber. In red smoothies, I add beets, purple kale, watermelon, strawberries, red apple, and red grapes. In orange smoothies, I add orange, papaya, and mango. In yellow smoothies, I add pineapple, banana, yellow apples, and green grapes. In green smoothies, I add kale, broccoli, cucumber, celery, and avocado. In all my smoothies, I add water as a base, organic shredded coconut, organic Ceylon cinnamon, flax seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, oats, ginger, and banana.

My nutrition philosophy is this: our body needs protein, fiber, vitamins, zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron, etc to function properly. I buy food based on the needs of my body and brain.

The human brain likes colors. I try to have a colorful plate to help my brain. I buy my groceries from Sprouts. I shop in the Organic section and in the bulk section. I try to always get fresh dill, parsley, basil, rosemary, and mint. I use bay leaves with all my legumes. I do have a rule: food must be organic, colorful, and of great variety.

That’s my way of making plant-based meals!

Plant-Based Meals

Plant-Based Diet Breakfast

Whole Grain Breakfast with Amaranth 

Cook Amaranth in a rice cooker
Place the amount of Amaranth you want on yourplace
Top with the following:
Organic shredded coconut, Organic Ceylon cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, banana, dates, mint, figs, mango, walnuts, pecans, and almonds
Whole Grain Breakfast with Kamut 

Cook Kamut in a rice cooker
Place the amount of Kamut you want on yourplace
Top with the following:
Organic shredded coconut, Organic Ceylon cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, blueberries, banana, apples, Brazil nuts, and pine nuts
Whole Grain Breakfast with Buckwheat 

Cook Buckwheat in a rice cooker
Place the amount of Buckwheat you want on your plate
Top with the following:
Organic shredded coconut, Organic Ceylon cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, banana, apple, pear, grapes, and hazelnuts
Green Breakfast Smoothie

To your Nutribullet RX add the following:
Kale, broccoli, and avocado
Large banana
Organic shredded coconut 
Organic Ceylon cinnamon 
Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds 
Push the button, let it run its cycle
Enjoy!
Orange Breakfast Smoothie

To your Nutribullet RX add the following:
Orange, carrots, and papaya 
Banana and 1/2 of green apple
One inch of ginger
A handful of walnuts 
Organic shredded coconut
Organic Ceylon cinnamon 
Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds 
Push the button, let it run its cycle
Enjoy!
Black Breakfast Smoothie

To your Nutribullet RX add the following:
Black grapes, blueberries, and cherries 
Banana and 1/2 of red apple
One inch of ginger
A handful of walnuts 
Organic shredded coconut 
Organic Ceylon cinnamon 
Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brown flex seeds, hemp heart seeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds 
Push the button, let it run its cycle
Enjoy!

Plant-Based Diet Lunch

Spinach-Based Sour Avocado Salad 

Mix baby spinach with cucumbers, tomatoes, orange bell peppers, red onions, and olives 
In a jar, mix slices avocado with avocado oil and lemon juice, salt, garlic, dill, parsley, and pepper
Mix well and add to a salad as a dressing
Add quinoa, kamut, farro, or pearl barley cooked in a rice cooker
Kale-Based Sour Avocado Salad  

Remove kale stems
Roll each piece of leaf
Slice thinly
Add cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, reddish, and any olives you love
In a jar, mix slices avocado with avocado oil and lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cumin
Mix well and add to the salad as a dressing
Add pearl barley, farro, or kamut cooked in a rice cooker
 Kale-Based Sweet Avocado Salad 

Remove kale stems
Roll each piece of leaf
Slice thinly
Add oranges, sweet apples, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes
In a jar, mix slices avocado with avocado oil and lemon juice and cumin
Mix well and add to the salad as a dressing
Add millet cooked in a rice cooker
 Cabbage-Based Sweet Salad

Slice Chinese cabbage thinly 
Shred and add carrots and apples
Add celery and salt
Add cranberries and raisins 
Sprinkle with lemon juice 
Mix well with walnuts or pine nuts and enjoy
Roasted Vegetables for Lunch

Roast at 375F for 20 min any or all of the following:
Broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts
Before roasting, coat with avocado oil mixed with garlic and sea-salt
Enjoy your healthy plant-based lunch!

Plant-Based Diet Dinner

Roasted sweet potatoes (place potatoes into a ziplock bag, add avocado oil, diced garlic, dill, salt, cumin, and pepper, shake well, roast at 400F for 20 min)

Roasted russet potatoes (place russet potatoes into a ziplock bag, add avooicado oil, diced garlic, dill, salt, cumin, and pepper, shake well, roast at 400F for 20 min)

Roasted colorful veggies (place yellow squash, mushrooms, orange cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts into a ziplock bag, add avocado oil, diced garlic, dill, salt, and pepper, shake well, roast at 400F for 20 min)

Steamed baby carrots and asparagus (steam for 15 min, add salt and pepper) 

Steamed beets, broccoli, and mushrooms (steam for 15 min, add garlic, salt, and pepper) 

Steamed colorful veggies (place sweet potatoes, purple cauliflower and red or orange beets on the bottom of the food steamer, place broccoli, orange bell pepper, and asparagus on the top; steam for 20 min with salt and herbs)

Kale sautéed with chickpeas and tomatoes:
In a hot pan add avocado oil, thinly sliced kale, diced tomatoes, garlic, and chickpeas you soaked and steamed in advance 
Add hazelnuts, mix well, cover, let sit for 5 min
Add avocado sprinkled with lemon 
Serve with roasted sweet potatoes (place sweet potatoes into a ziplock bag, add avocado oil, diced garlic, dill, salt, and pepper, shake well, roast at 400F for 20 min) 

Legumes cooked in rice cooker:
Place beans, lentils, or chickpeas in cold water for 24 hours with a bay leaf, never salt before or during cooking, rinse well, and cook in rice cooker with a new bay leaf, no salt

Plant-Based Diet Snacks

Dried figs, dates, mango, banana, raisins, prunes, or apricotes

Any fresh fruit sliced and mixed for flavor and jucines

A toast with hummus topped with olives or pickles

An avocado toast topped with nuts and seeds

Plant-Based Diet Weight Loss

I started my plant-based diet weight loss on March 21st, 2018 and within 60 days, I lost 21 lb. The weight comes off easily. The body gets rid of inflammation and gets renewed. My metabolism improved, and I was pooping out a ton of unnecessary weight. Yes, I pooped it out!

I also work out regularly but exercise is only 20% of the weight loss while nutrition, aka, diet, aka the food you eat daily is responsible for the other 80% of your weight loss (or gain).

READ: At Home Workouts for Women

Let me tell you more about poop.

An average American adult carries 18-20 lb of unprocessed poop. It sits there causing inflammation, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. I felt like a cow carrying around all that unprocessed poop and being miserable.

High fiber diets such as traditional plant-based diets can lead to two to three healthy bowel movements each day, and with enough fiber, one should be able to sit in any position and have a comfortable bowel movement. Prunes were found to be more effective than fiber supplements in increasing spontaneous bowel movements. Foods high in antioxidants may also help increase stool size. 

NutritionFacts.org

There’s an incredibly-helpful article I recommend to read about poop, pooping, and everything related to the topic of bowel movement. It’s called The Scoop on Poop.

So, by improving my fiber intake and eliminating all information-causing animal products, I pooped out all my extra 21 lb! The same thing happened to my coaching client: she slimmed down and got rid of unwanted heaviness as well as fatigue by simply optimizing her lifestyle choices with my help and guidance.

READ: Christian Coaching for Women

You can do this, too. And your body will thank you for it with glowing skin, high levels of sustainable energy, goodnight sleep every night, growing hair, strong healthy teeth and nails, and proper functioning of all organs.

Plant-Based Diet Athletes

Alison Crowdus
Austin Aries
David Carter
Heather Mills
Jehina Malik
Kendrick Farris
Michaela Copenhaver
Molly Cameron
Nate Diaz
Patrik Baboumian
Patrick Neshek
Ryan Reed
Scott Jurek
Steph Davis
Tia Blanco
Torre Washington
Venus Williams
Williams Sisters
Plant Based Diet Dinner

Plant-Based Diet Experts

The people I am going to share here are my favorites! You will see them in all plant-based documentaries, and they truly are heroes.

They dedicated their lives to educating us, the general public, about the optimization of our health and lifestyle to help us prevent or reverse diabetes, obesity, cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

These are the best plant-based experts.

Click to learn more.

There’s one more expert who inspired me so much by showing me what I can look like when I’m 104 years old. To tell you about him, I’ll share an excerpt from the article on Forks Over Knives’ website.

Ellsworth Wareham, a renowned cardiac surgeon and longtime vegan, died Saturday at his home in Loma Linda, California. He was 104. Wareham gained media attention in recent years due to his longevity and vitality, which he attributed to his plant-based diet. He was featured on CNN, in The New York Times, in National Geographic, and on The Doctors, to name a few, and inspired conversation about what life as a centenarian can look like.

ForksOverKnives.com
Plant based vegan picnic

Plant-Based vs Vegan

All plant-based eaters are vegan. Not all vegans are plant-based eaters. How’s that? Very simple: the plant-based diet entices you to eat healthily by consuming a variety of nutrition-filled, life-fueling food. Veganism can be its own kind of a dangerous disease. Veganism requires that you don’t eat animal products.

That’s all. You can eat vegan pizza all day every day, you’ll be vegan, but you won’t be a healthy plant-based eater. You won’t be healthy at all.

Veganism can be a misleading idea of health but result in being very unhealthy. You are vegan if you eat vegan burgers, pizzas, processed vegan meatless meat filled with chemicals, cheese, artificial milk of various kinds, and chemicals-based ice cream.

You don’t have to put any raw vegetables or fruit or nuts or grains into your mouth for you to be vegan. You can just simply fill up on artificial preservatives in the vegan frozen section and be as sick as someone who eats animal products.

Donald Watson coined the term “vegan” in 1944 to describe someone who fully abstains from all animal products for ethical reasons. It followed that a “vegan diet” completely eliminated animal-derived foods of all kinds, 100 percent of the time. It doesn’t require you to eat healthily. You don’t have to consume a variety of nutritious vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains. You can just eat vegan bread three times a day and be vegan.

What is the difference between plant-based diet and veganism? A plant-based diet, unlike veganism, must include healthy, colorful, various, nutrient-dense plant foods that give the human body and brain everything they need to function well and mitigate the risks of any diseases while ensuring longevity and wellbeing.

I hope you can see from this chapter that being vegan doesn’t mean eating healthy while being a plant-based vegan does mean eating your produce rainbow, as well as nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains.

Frequently Asked Questions

What foods can you eat on a plant-based diet?


On a plant-based diet, you eat six categories of food: vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and various legumes.

What do you eat for breakfast on a plant-based diet?


Avocado or hummus toast with seeds and nuts.

Steamed buckwheat, kamut, amaranth, or farro with fruit.

Green smoothies, red smoothies, or black smoothies.

Fruit salad with apples, grapes, bananas, and raisins.

What can you eat for dinner on a plant-based diet?


Roasted or steamed colorful vegetables, such as beets, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, squash, etc.

A kale salad with celery, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and quinoa.

Can you eat bread on a plant-based diet?


On the plant-based diet, you can eat bread that contains no animal products, such as POWERSEED bread, 21 WHOLE GRAINS AND SEEDS bread, and my favorite GOOD SEED bread.

Can I eat eggs on a plant-based diet?


Eggs are not included on the plant-based diet, which excludes animal products, such as eggs, cheese, milk, meat, fish, etc.

Can you eat fish on a plant-based diet?


Fish and seafood are not included on the plant-based diet, which excludes animal products, such as eggs, cheese, milk, meat, fish, etc.

Are potatoes on a plant-based diet?


Yes, potatoes of any kind, just like any and all vegetables, are included on a plant-based diet, which consists of vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.

Can you eat cheese on a plant-based diet?


Cheese and all dairy products are excused from the plant-based diet, which does not consist of any animal products, such as eggs, cheese, milk, meat, fish, etc.

Can you eat pizza on a plant-based diet?


You can eat vegan pizza on a plant-based diet, aka the pizza which ingredients consist of no animal products.

Can you drink alcohol on a plant-based diet?


Drinking or avoiding alcoholic beverages is not a topic of concern of the plant-based diet. However, if your intention is to be healthy, avoid alcohol, regardless of which diet you choose to follow.

Can I eat pasta on a plant-based diet?


You can eat pasta on the plant-based diet as long as it consists of no animal products and is made of plants only.

Can you eat Greek yogurt on a plant-based diet?


Greek yogurt is not included in the plant-based diet, which excludes any and all animal products, such as eggs, cheese, milk, etc.

Is Honey OK on a plant-based diet?


Honey is an animal product. It is not plant-based.

What are the negatives of a plant-based diet?


The negatives of the plant-based diet are many. First, you will experience cravings as you transition from your current diest. Second, you probably suffer from food addictions, like most people today, and you will endure an addiction withdrawal period, which is hard. Third, you will face social opposition as people won’t understand why you’re not eating fat salty burgers that taste so good. Forth, you may find yourself at parties where there’s absolutely nothing for you to eat. These are all the reasons why transitioning to being fully plant-based has been so hard for me personally.

How do vegans get b12?


Take a B12 supplement, which all people, regardless of what they eat or don’t eat, need to take. I recommend Deva Vegan Vitamin B-12 Fast Dissolve Lozenges 90 Tablets (2 Pack). It’s what I’ve been taking for years, and all the tests show that my B12 is great.

Is a plant-based diet actually healthy?


A plant-based diet is the healthiest diet as it supplies to your body all of the nutrients it needs to function properly, fight diseases, and provide you a good quality of life.

Can you lose weight on a plant-based diet?


You can and most likely will lose weight on the plant-based diet. I personally lost 21 lb. Plant-based way of eating cleans out your colon, improves your metabolism, and helps optimize your weight.

How long does it take to adjust to a plant-based diet?


The time it takes to transition to a plant-based diet depends entirely on your level of commitment. When I went plant-based in March of 2018, I did it the cold-turkey way and to conquer my cravings, I did a water fast. If you are waiting to become comfortable, you’ll be very uncomfortable for a long time because you’re here with one leg and there with another. Go all the way in and it will be quick.

What Does The Bible Say About Plant-Based Diet?

The Bible tells us that Daniel was the strongest and the wisest among the bests, and he was plant-based vegan, eating only vegetables and drinking water. This inspires me every day as I am making my transition to being a full-time plant-based vegan.

Here’s how Daniel even took a huge risk and rejected the meat and wine from the king’s table. He was determined and committed, that’s how I feel now when it comes to what I allow and don’t allow into my body.

Daniel’s Faithfulness

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.

Daniel 1:8-20

The Bible teaches us to not eat bloody meat and not consume animals who suffered. If you watch the plant-based diet documentaries I shared with you in this blog post, you will see that all animals we eat today are raised in abusive, violent, unhealthy environments where they suffer all their lives, starting from birth. It is not good for us to eat animal products filled with a lifelong memory of trauma and suffering, as well as fat, antibiotics, blood, and various diseases.

You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well.

Acts 15:29

The bible teaches us to do everything for the glory of God, including eating. So, we know that what we eat, how we eat, and the global impact of our eating matters to God. We must glorify Him with our food choices.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

The word of God teaches us to remember that our bodies are not free. We were bought at a high price of the blood of Jesus Christ. So, we must honor God with our bodies and protect them.

You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:20

The holy word of God instructs us not to destroy our bodies with our choices because our bodies are holy and sacred since the Holy Spirit dwells in our bodies.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

We are taught to not let our stomachs and appetite be our gods. We are instructed to keep an eternal perspective on our lives.

They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

Philippians 3:19

I hope I helped you by answering your question “What Does The Bible Say About Plant-Based Diet?” Food is very important. We should give thought to what we eat and why. Food can either kill or heal us.

We are in charge of God’s holy and sacred temple, aka, the physical body He blessed. We must not destroy it with gluttony and overindulgence in food, especially, crappy food that destroys God’s temple.

This ministry, Online Discipleship For Women, is committed to helping alleviate suicide among women globally through the six pillars of joyful living: faith, food, fitness, finances, felicity, and fortitude.

I am a two-times suicide survivor.

All the content on this blog with over 1,000,000 words is written, edited, and designed by me personally. Please support my ministry: make a donation now. I’m doing this work to encourage and empower you.

“Whoever Brings Blessing Will be Enriched” Proverbs 11:25

Bless Online Discipleship For Women

Summary

In this blog post, I shared with you a lot about the plant-based diet. I answered many questions, such as “What is a plant-based diet?” and “Is a plant-based diet actually healthy?”

I gave you many of my plant-based meals, recommended you a long list of plant-based diet documentaries, and I honestly shared my perspective on The Commonsense Consumption Act which is the key to understanding why Americans are enticed to eat so unhealthily today leading to diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, and heart disease.

Today I also shared about my plant-based diet weight loss and how I am making my way back to being plant-based vegan full time. I told you about the challenges I’ve experienced, as well as the benefits of a plant-based diet. You found out exactly what to eat on the plant-based diet and where to get those things.

I hope this article helped you, inspired you, and gave you some great ideas to implement in your everyday life to optimize your health and mitigate the risk of deadly diseases. Follow me on Instagram for more ideas.

Are you planning to join the plant-based diet?

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