Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
In short: Eating mostly or only plants can nourish you beautifully, with a little care. Put a generous source of protein at the heart of every meal and mix different plant families over the day. Then keep an eye on a handful of nutrients that plants give you less easily: vitamin B12, iron, calcium, vitamin D, iodine and omega-3 fats. For B12 in particular, a fully plant-based diet needs a reliable source, so talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
You’ve decided to eat more plants. Perhaps for your health, perhaps for the animals or the planet, perhaps simply because a bowl of lentils with roasted squash makes you happy. Your plate looks colourful and full of life. And then, around the middle of the afternoon, you feel strangely flat. At a family lunch someone raises an eyebrow and asks the famous question: “But where do you get your protein?” And you start to wonder whether they have a point.
They have half a point. Plants can give you almost everything you need, and the plates I love most are full of them. But a plant-based way of eating works best when you know where its few gaps are and how to fill them. That’s what I’d like to share with you here, simply and practically, without a single number to count.
Can a plant-based diet give you everything you need?
Almost everything, yes, and with a little planning, everything. “Plant-based” means different things to different people. For some it’s fully vegan: no meat, fish, eggs or dairy. For others it’s vegetarian, with eggs, yoghurt and cheese still on the table. And for many, it simply means plants at the centre of the plate, with a little fish or meat now and then.
The more animal foods you leave out, the more care you need to take. Plants are full of goodness; it’s simply that a few nutrients are found mainly in animal foods, or are harder for your body to absorb from plants. Once you know which ones, it becomes easy.
And as always in my coaching, I’ll remind you that there’s no single right way to eat. Some people feel wonderful on a fully plant-based diet; others feel better with a little fish or a few eggs. Both are fine. That’s what bio-individuality is about: listening to your own body rather than to the rules of a label.
How do I get enough protein on a plant-based diet?
Protein is the material your body uses to build and repair muscles, bones, skin, hair, hormones and the defences that fight off winter colds. It matters at every age, and even more after fifty, when muscle needs a clearer message to stay with you.
Two things change when your protein comes from plants. First, plant foods are a little less concentrated in protein, so the portions need to be generous: a real bowl of lentils as the main event, not a spoonful scattered over a salad. Second, different plants bring different building blocks. Legumes bring some, grains and seeds bring others, and together they complete each other. You don’t need to combine them in the same mouthful; your body keeps a little store and puts the pieces together over the day. You simply need to mix families.
Your best plant proteins:
Legumes: lentils (green, brown, red, beluga), chickpeas, white beans, kidney beans, split peas, broad beans, peas.
Soy foods: tofu, tempeh, edamame and soy yoghurt, among the richest plant proteins of all.
Grains: buckwheat, quinoa, oats, wholegrain bread, spelt.
Nuts and seeds: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds, tahini.
If you eat them: eggs, yoghurt and cheese make everything easier.
What a day might look like: porridge made with soy drink, topped with walnuts, ground flaxseed and an apple. At lunch, a big bowl of lentil and squash soup with wholegrain bread and a spoonful of hummus. In the afternoon, a handful of almonds. In the evening, tofu or chickpeas roasted with leeks and carrots on a bed of buckwheat. If you’d like a warming autumn soup to start with, there’s one in Eating with the seasons.
Do I need vitamin B12 if I eat only plants?
Yes, and this is the one I’m firm about. Vitamin B12 keeps your nerves and your blood healthy, and plants don’t provide it in a form you can rely on. Seaweed, mushrooms and fermented foods are sometimes mentioned, but they aren’t a dependable source.
If you eat no animal foods at all, you need a reliable source of B12: foods fortified with it (some plant drinks, yoghurts and breakfast cereals) or a supplement. If you’re vegetarian, eggs and dairy bring some, but not always enough. A shortage can build up quietly over years and show up as tiredness, tingling in your hands or feet, or a foggy memory.
Please talk to your doctor or pharmacist about which form suits you and whether a blood test would be useful. As B12 absorption can become less efficient with age, and some common medicines affect it too, this conversation matters even more in midlife.
How do I get enough iron without eating meat?
Iron carries oxygen around your body, so when it runs low, you feel it: tired, breathless on the stairs, cold, pale. Plants have plenty of iron, in lentils, beans, tofu, pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, wholegrains and dark green vegetables, but it’s a form your body absorbs less easily.
The trick is to give it a helping hand. Vitamin C helps your body take in plant iron, so pair them up: lentils with red pepper or tomato, beans with a squeeze of lemon, a bowl of porridge with a kiwi or an orange afterwards. And keep tea and coffee for between meals rather than with them, because they make iron harder to absorb.
Spinach is often praised for its iron, but your body uses very little of it, so enjoy it for its other qualities. Women who still have periods, especially heavy ones, need to be particularly careful. And please don’t take iron supplements on your own: too much iron isn’t good for you either. If you’re tired all the time, ask your doctor for a blood test first.
What about calcium, vitamin D and iodine?
Calcium keeps your bones strong, which matters all through life and especially around menopause (I wrote more about that time of life in How to eat when menopause hits). Without dairy, look for calcium-set tofu, fortified plant drinks and yoghurts, tahini, almonds, white beans, and greens like kale, cabbage, broccoli and bok choy. Once again, spinach is less helpful than it looks.
Vitamin D helps your body use calcium. It comes mostly from daylight on your skin, which is why the darker months are harder for everybody, plant-based or not. Some plant drinks are fortified. Your doctor can check your levels and tell you whether a supplement makes sense.
Iodine is the quiet one nobody talks about. Your thyroid needs it, and in many countries it comes mostly from dairy, fish and iodised salt. If you eat none of these, ask your doctor or pharmacist about it. Seaweed contains iodine, but the amount varies so much from one kind to another that it can give you far too little or far too much, so please don’t rely on it.
Where do I get omega-3 fats if I don’t eat fish?
Omega-3 fats are part of every cell in your body and they matter for your brain, your heart and your eyes. Oily fish is the classic source. From plants, you’ll find a simpler form in walnuts, ground flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds and rapeseed oil. Your body can turn some of it into the forms found in fish, but not very much.
So make these foods a daily habit: a handful of walnuts, a spoonful of ground flaxseed on your porridge or yoghurt, rapeseed oil in your salad dressing. Supplements made from algae exist (that’s where the fish get their omega-3 from in the first place), and your doctor or pharmacist can tell you whether one would suit you, especially if you take medicines that thin the blood.
And while we’re here, a word about zinc, which helps your immunity and your skin. You’ll find it in pumpkin seeds, cashews, chickpeas, lentils, oats and wholegrains. Soaking beans and grains, or choosing sourdough bread, helps your body absorb more of it.
Is a plant-based diet good for your gut?
Your gut bacteria love plants. Every different vegetable, legume, grain, nut, seed and herb feeds a slightly different group of them, so variety is a gift to your gut. I wrote about this in Colour your plate with nutrients.
If beans and lentils leave you uncomfortable and bloated, go slowly. Start with small amounts and increase them gradually so your gut has time to get used to them. Red lentils and split peas are often gentler. Rinse tinned beans well, soak dried ones overnight, and cook them with cumin, fennel seeds or a bay leaf. Fermented foods can help too; there’s an introduction in The gut health trio.
What helps?
1. Put a protein at the centre of every plate
Before you plan the rest of a meal, ask: where’s my protein? Lentils, beans, tofu, tempeh, eggs or yoghurt. Then build around it. This one habit fills the biggest gap most new plant-eaters have.
2. Mix plant families over the day
Legumes plus grains, nuts or seeds, spread across your meals. Hummus with wholegrain bread. Lentil soup with a buckwheat galette. Porridge with pumpkin seeds. It happens quite naturally once you start noticing.
3. Sort out your B12
If you eat fully plant-based, this isn’t optional. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist, and choose fortified foods or a supplement they recommend.
4. Pair iron with colour
Red pepper, tomato, lemon, parsley, kiwi, orange: add something bright and rich in vitamin C to your iron-rich meals, and keep tea and coffee for later.
5. Keep a little nutrient corner in your kitchen
A jar of walnuts, a jar of ground flaxseed (keep it in the fridge), a bag of pumpkin seeds, a jar of tahini and a fortified plant drink. Sprinkle, spread and pour them every day, and you’ve covered a lot of ground without thinking about it.
What doesn’t help?
Taking the meat off the plate and adding nothing. Pasta with tomato sauce is lovely, but on its own it’s short on protein.
Relying on packaged meat replacements every day. They’re handy now and then, but legumes, tofu and whole foods give you far more.
Changing everything overnight. Your gut and your cooking habits both need time.
Ignoring tiredness. If you feel worn out for weeks, ask your doctor for a blood test.
Try this for one week
For seven days, at each meal, ask yourself one question: where’s my protein? If the answer is “nowhere”, add something: a spoonful of hummus, a handful of seeds, a boiled egg, a bowl of beans.
And try one new legume this week. Beluga lentils, split peas, borlotti beans: whatever you’ve never cooked before.
At the end of the week, notice how your energy in the afternoon has felt, and how long you stay satisfied after a meal. If you’d like more answers, I’ve gathered many in my FAQs on plant-based nutrition.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get enough protein without eating meat?
Yes. Legumes, tofu, tempeh, grains, nuts and seeds, and eggs and dairy if you eat them, can give you all the protein you need. Make the portions generous and include some at every meal.
Do I have to combine proteins at every meal?
No. Your body puts the building blocks together over the course of the day. Simply mix different plant families across your meals.
Do I need supplements on a plant-based diet?
If you eat no animal foods at all, you need a reliable source of vitamin B12, from fortified foods or a supplement. Vitamin D, iodine and omega-3 may need attention too; talk to your doctor or pharmacist about what suits you and any medicines you take.
When should I talk to my doctor?
Before you change your diet a lot if you have a health condition, are pregnant or take regular medicines. And at any time if you feel tired for weeks, notice tingling in your hands or feet, or feel breathless and pale. A simple blood test can tell you a great deal.
Would you like some help?
Eating more plants is one of the loveliest changes you can make, and it’s even easier when someone helps you find the gaps in your own plate. I run group programmes in nutrition and health, such as Six Tuesdays in Montignac, where we cook, taste and plan together. If you’d like to hear when the next group opens, write to me at hello@catherinepolet.coach.
If you’d rather work one to one, wherever you live, I coach online. Book a free 20-minute call and tell me what you eat now and how you feel. We’ll find what your body is missing, and what it’s already doing well.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet, a holistic nutrition health coach, yoga and autogenic training teacher for more than 30 years, author and speaker. I help people find a way of eating and living that suits their own body, online in English, French, Spanish and German, and in person in Southwest France.
