You Don't Have to Be Vegetarian or Vegan to Get the Benefits of Plant-Based Eating

It's easy to fall into an all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to plant-based eating. Health Coach and Award-Winning Speaker, Vanessa Sturman, shares a different way of thinking: we should all eat more plants, without needing to strictly adhere to restrictions or labels like "vegetarian" or "vegan."

"What I'm trying to do is bridge that gap where people go, 'I'm either plant-based or I'm not,'" explains Vanessa. "This message is for everyone. You do not have to be fully plant-based to get the benefits of plant-based eating."

Whether you're looking to improve your health, support the planet, or simply feel more energetic, incorporating more plant-based foods into your diet can help. Vanessa shares why plant-forward eating is beneficial and how you can make simple additions and adaptations to your meals that create lasting positive change—no labels required.

Why Should You Eat More Plants?

Two big reasons: it's good for your health, and it's good for the planet. Let's also remember it's great for the animals!

What counts as plants? Far more than just spinach. The category includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, root vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes (beans, lentils, peas), and even plant proteins like tofu, tempeh, and edamame. Each brings different beneficial micronutrients, macronutrients, and fiber.

Plants are Good for Your Health

Plants deliver an impressive array of health benefits, starting with fiber—a nutrient severely lacking in most American diets. Only around 1 in 10 people in the US are getting enough fiber! "Our good gut bacteria eat fiber," Vanessa explains. "When we eat a variety of plant-based whole foods, we can help our gut health."

This fiber doesn't just feed beneficial bacteria; it triggers satiety hormones that help you feel fuller longer. By filling your plate with fiber-rich foods, you help to naturally reduce cravings, without restrictive dieting that can damage mental health. The result? Easier weight management without obsessively counting calories or feeling deprived.

Plant foods can also improve blood flow throughout your body—including to your brain. "That's really important for cognitive performance as well as performance of the rest of our body, and our mental health," Vanessa notes. This improved circulation, combined with the anti-inflammatory properties of many plant foods, helps with disease prevention and increased energy.

Overall, we know that a plant-forward way of eating (and reducing animal product consumption) is really helpful for preventing lifestyle disease and for longevity.

Plants are Good for the Planet

If you care about the environment, too, the case for eating more plants and less animal products is even more compelling.

"We kill around 80 billion land animals every year," Vanessa explains, "and if we start including what we take from the oceans, we're going into the trillions." This massive scale of animal agriculture creates an enormous environmental footprint.

Most people don't realize that the majority of global farmland isn't used to grow food for humans—it's dedicated to growing crops for animal feed. This system requires vast quantities of water, fertilizers, and pesticides while driving deforestation, habitat loss, and biodiversity loss.

Perhaps most shocking is the distribution of mammals on our planet today: only 4% of mammal biomass consists of wild animals! Humans make up 34%, and the rest is made up of the animals we farm for food. This statistic vividly illustrates how dramatically we've transformed Earth's ecosystems to support meat and animal product production.

The good news? A shift toward plant-forward eating could dramatically reduce this impact. "If we all move to a plant-forward way of eating—this doesn't mean anyone has to be vegan or vegetarian—we would use about only about a quarter of the land that we currently use for agriculture," Vanessa notes. This would free up enormous areas for reforestation, biodiversity conservation, and carbon sequestration—critical tools for addressing climate change.

How to Increase the Plant-Based Foods in Your Diet

The journey toward more plant-based eating doesn't require a complete dietary overhaul. Vanessa recommends two simple strategies: adding and adapting.

Strategy #1: Adding

Instead of eliminating favorite foods, Vanessa recommends adding plant foods to your existing meals.

"Adding things to the plate" might sound counterintuitive if you're concerned about weight, but these additions are strategic. Vanessa explains that adding more plant foods to your plate very likely will not lead to weight gain. "We're going to put more on the plate, but we're putting more that will help your health, that will reduce cravings, and that will stop you from wanting to eat all the chocolate bars later." In fact, it makes weight management much more sustainable, as well as helping your overall health.

Start with breakfast: transform a basic bowl of oatmeal by adding berries for antioxidants and other micronutrients, nuts for healthy fats, chia seeds for extra fiber, and perhaps a scoop of plant protein powder. Even if you prefer cereal, adding fruit, nuts, and fortified plant-based milk enhances nutrition without requiring major changes.

The key is consistency with these additions. Keep frozen berries in your freezer and nuts in your pantry so healthy additions become effortless daily habits. Small, consistent additions create significant benefits over time without the pressure of dietary perfection.

Strategy #2: Adapting

The next strategy to incorporate more plant-based foods in your diet? Adapting recipes that you already love to focus on plant-based choices.

"You can take a soup that you've always loved and add beans for more protein and fibre, and replace any cream in the soup with blended silken tofu (you'd never know it's tofu and it makes the soup creamy)," Vanessa suggests as a simple adaptation. Small changes like this maintain the essence of dishes you enjoy while enhancing their nutritional profile.

Cultural favorites that are important to your family can be adapted too. "I used to have jerk chicken and rice and peas, which comes from my Caribbean heritage," Vanessa shares. "Over time, I adapted the meal by using tofu instead of chicken. Then I added more beans into the rice, and I added more vegetables and corn on the cob on the side. Plus the same iconic sauce but made with less oil."

These adaptations work particularly well when cooking for resistant family members. Rather than creating entirely new meals, adapt dishes they already love. "Keep the parts of the meal that they really enjoy, and just make a small adaptation to that dish. So you still keep all of the flavors they love, the sitting down together, and the celebration," Vanessa explains. The goal is creating "food so good no one can argue with it" while gradually increasing plant content.

Keep in mind that simply removing meat without proper substitution is a common pitfall. "When people initially try a Meatless Monday or something like that, they often just take out the meat from a dish. When you do that, it's not going to be a filling enough meal. You've taken out the main source of protein," Vanessa cautions. This approach leaves meals unsatisfying and may reinforce the misconception that plant-based eating means feeling hungry.

Instead, it's important to replace animal protein with plant-based alternatives like beans, lentils, or tofu. Even using plant based meat alternatives can be great — while we want to focus more on plant based whole foods, we know these can be a great heart-healthy switch away from meat that is also better for our planet. If reading "tofu" makes you cringe, you may not have had it prepared well before. "Tofu takes on flavor from how it's prepared," Vanessa explains, noting that plain tofu is "just like eating a bag of plain flour" unless properly seasoned and cooked. "Try a delicious recipe for sticky teriyaki tofu and see if you change your mind." Instagram (and of course Vanessa's social media platforms) are great for delicious tofu ideas and recipes!

Making Plant-Based Eating Affordable

Many people think that plant-based eating or any kind of healthy eating is expensive. Vanessa offers practical strategies to make it budget-friendly, while acknowledging that everyone's economic reality is different.

"People have a wide variety of financial situations, and while some people will struggle with making changes, many can," she explains. While systemic changes in food policy and subsidies are desperately needed, individual strategies can also help make plant-based eating more accessible now.

The True Cost of Plant-Based Eating

Despite common perceptions, research suggests that plant-based eating isn't inherently more expensive than diets heavy in animal products—and may actually save you money.

Vanessa points to compelling evidence from the University of Oxford: "There was a study by the University of Oxford that said that adopting a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet was the cheapest option in high-income countries like the UK and US, and more sustainable for our planet." This research challenges the assumption that environmentally-friendly eating necessarily comes with a premium price tag.

The cost savings become particularly evident when you focus on lower cost plant foods. "Legumes, for example," Vanessa notes, "are particularly inexpensive." Choosing fruits and vegetables that are in season can also reduce the cost.

Learning basic cooking skills amplifies these savings. "When you learn to cook, things become cheaper," Vanessa explains. While acknowledging this isn't always simple for everyone given time constraints and other life pressures, developing even basic food preparation abilities can dramatically reduce dependence on more expensive pre-made options. It's also important to note that we need better education to ensure people have life skills around food and healthy cooking.

The financial equation becomes even more favorable when considering opportunity costs. As Vanessa points out, even if you skip going out to a restaurant one time, you could save enough money to purchase plant-based staples that can create multiple home-cooked meals. You might also find yourself reaching for expensive snack foods less often, when your plant-forward meals leave you feeling more satisfied.

The Freezer is Your Friend

Frozen produce is a powerful ally in this effort. "Go get frozen berries. Keep them in the freezer so you always have them on hand," Vanessa suggests. Frozen options are often more affordable than fresh counterparts and eliminate waste from spoilage.

Preventing food waste represents another major savings opportunity. "Make sure you're not wasting food at home. Don't let food go bad in your fridge, if possible," she advises. Many plant foods can be frozen before spoiling, preserving both nutrition and your investment. For example, those greens you didn't use up - chuck them in the freezer for a smoothie later on or add them to your rice near the end of the cooking time.

Buy and Cook in Bulk

Buying beans, grains, and nuts in bulk typically reduces cost per serving significantly. Shop around to find the best prices, and remember to check the cost per unit or pound to find the lowest cost options.

Batch cooking also transforms both the economics and convenience of plant-based eating. "We can put together a massive lentil curry, and we can freeze it. That is going to be a lot cheaper when it reduces the temptation for takeout when you're busy, and it can even help you save in terms of your gas and electric bills," Vanessa notes.

Consider the Long Term Savings

Perhaps most importantly, Vanessa reminds us that "we pay for health in different ways. Sickness also costs a lot of time and money." While the upfront investment in nutritious food matters, the long-term health benefits and potential savings on healthcare costs and time lost represent significant value that shouldn't be overlooked. When we're well, we can also enjoy our life, relationships and activities more, which is priceless.

Focus on Progress Over Perfection

In a world often dominated by all-or-nothing thinking about nutrition, Vanessa's approach offers a refreshing alternative: embrace progress over perfection when incorporating more plants into your diet.

"Any progress is really fantastic," Vanessa says. She encourages celebrating each positive change, whether it's adding berries to breakfast or trying a meatless meal once weekly.

The science supports this approach. Research consistently shows that even modest increases in plant consumption can bring health benefits. For example, adding a handful of nuts and seeds to your day. "If we can be a bit more plant-forward and keep building on that," Vanessa explains, "that is going to be really beneficial for your health and the health of the planet. Consistency really matters, which is why we have to build sustainable habits."

You don't need to overhaul your entire diet overnight or commit to never eating animal products again. Each plant-based meal, each added vegetable, each adapted recipe represents progress. Vanessa's goal when working with clients is the same goal that anyone can strive for: "to find real changes that you're excited about that you can do today and tomorrow, that fit into your busy life, without requiring dietary restriction or perfection."

Vanessa's focus with clients is to help anyone, no matter what their dietary preference, to reach their health goals in a way that works around their life and helps them enjoy food. Many people come to Vanessa to lose weight, get rid of diet mentality, reduce cholesterol, reduce inflammation or just get better performance and energy.

By focusing on adding rather than restricting, adapting rather than eliminating, and consistency rather than perfection, you create a sustainable path toward better health—one that you can maintain for life. As Vanessa reminds us, "There is no point in making changes that you're going to do for a week, and then drop off." The most powerful dietary changes are the ones you can maintain, enjoy, and build upon over time.

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Vanessa Sturman is a Multi-Award-Winning Speaker and Transformational Health Coach. Featured regularly on major media outlets like Sky News, BBC Radio and more, she is a leading voice in performance, health, weight management and sustainable nutrition.

Follow Vanessa on social media here. If you need help with your health, eating, weight management or performance, you're welcome to contact Vanessa via her website or any of her social media platforms.