Plant Based Eating: the What's, the Why's & the How's (Episode #170) with Ali Essig

Helping of Happiness

Our podcast guest today has an incredible story!

Meet Ali Essig. Back in 2019, Ali mother of 6 kids (her twins were 8 months old), was taking a shower when her neighbor banged on the bathroom door. There had been an emergency. No one had been able to get ahold of Ali, so the neighbor rushed into her house to reach her. Ali’s husband had had a stroke and had been rushed to the hospital. The neighbor stayed with the kids and Ali hurried to be with her husband. They spent quite a bit of time at the hospital trying to figure out what had caused the stroke.

After many tests and days of ruling out different possible reasons for the stroke, nothing major was found. The stroke had left her husband with double vision which made it hard for him to drive, focus, work, it affected everything. Ali’s husband was sent home with a note that said he needed to eat a heart healthy diet. Ali and her husband felt very confused and frustrated by the situation.

Ali’s dad had passed away just a few years earlier from a heart attack at age 55. She was determined to find a solution for her husband. She asked herself, “What’s in my power?” They knew how to count macros, how to lose weight after having babies, but what does a heart healthy diet entail? Their main goal was to improve his vision and open the arteries to his brain. Here is what they learned about a heart healthy diet:

Cut back on trans fat. Trans fats are found in fried foods, animal products, store bought baked goods, microwave popcorn and frozen dough.

Avoid foods with saturated fat. The biggest source of saturated fat in the American diet is cheese.

The other thing Ali & her husband learned was that eating plants could act as medicine. This is how they got into plant based eating. This isn’t a quick fix, like taking an ibuprofen for a fever. This is a little by little, long haul approach.

After 5 months of eating a plant based diet, Ali’s husband had his vision come back, his cholesterol and triglycerides numbers had also come down. It was amazing!!

One reason Ali is my hero is that she went on this journey with him. It is not easy to get a family of 8 on a plant based diet. But Ali used her mama bear power to fight for her family, get her husband healthy and improve the quality of life for them all through eating for longevity.

Ali patterns her life and eating after the blue zones around the world. Blue zones are areas where the most centenarians (people who live into their 100’s) live. She doesn’t pattern her eating after body builders, but after longevity of life.

I love how Ali uses an abundance mindset. She doesn’t look at what she is taking out of her diet as much as she looks at what she is putting in. What are you gaining? Not, what are you losing?

Ali taught me about the gut microbiome. Different gut microbes like to eat different foods- and they are picky eaters. Think of a rain forest and all of the life they have. As you’re eating variety, you are feeding those microbes their favorite foods. Just like if you were feeding all the life in a rain forest, you would have to have a variety of foods.

Ali challenges us to eat 30 different plants every week. This includes: fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts & seeds.

How do we move our families & ourselves more towards plant based eating?

Start with recipes they already love (for example- use half ground beef & half beans for tacos)

Add more fruit - even if it’s not a variety. 5 apples are better than 1 for nutrients and fiber. Increase what they will eat.

Get fiber focused! Learn more about what foods have fiber and eat more of those

Eat at least 5 fruits & veggies each day (are you up for the 30 plants per week challenge??)

Preload on vegetables and let kids snack on them before or as you are making dinner (prep your veggies first so this can happen)

Don’t get discouraged! Kids will often need to try a food 15 times before they like it.

You don’t have to be perfect.

Where you can Find More From Ali:

Ali’s website: www.plantwhys.com PlantWhys Nutrition Education for A Sustainable Lifestyle (use this link to subscribe to her awesome weekly newsletter. I love it!!!

Instagram: Ali Essig, Nutritionist // coaches and dietitian support team (@plantwhys) • Instagram photos and videos

Youtube: Alisia Essig - YouTube

34 Plant Based Recipes from Helping of Happiness:

I wanted to share with you some recipes that have helped me ease into plant based eating. Some of these have optional meat/dairy sides/toppings for your family, if you are like me and your family isn’t joining you on the plant based journey at this time. Grab those here!