Vegan Junk Food and avoiding it
Published 5.20.2025: This topic from the vegan seminar, "The Truth About Weight Loss," really didn't interest me. The presentation is given by Dr Mickey Witte. I did copy the slides, so I'll go over what I can remember. Basically, the bottom line is eat whole foods (plants, of course) for the best health and avoid Ultra-processed foods. Easy to say, difficult to do.
She gives a list of examples of the various types of whole foods, grains, legumes, etc. Witte points out that cooking your own food is going to be important— ESPECIALLY if you're going to do the Sugar, Oil, Salt (SOS) version of the diet. Actually, I don't know if she said that at this point, I'm saying it here, because it's the truth. Most restaurants cook with fat and oil (and sugar for desserts) and I'm not sure that a vegan also demanding SOS preparations (after demanding the lack of animal products) is going to get very far.
In fact, I can tell you that they don't get very far… I've seen FaceBook posts as well as YouTubes commenting on the difficulty finding options to eat out at if you're vegan SOS. I think at that point, saying whole foods would be redundant. I guess I could be wrong.
She did present a recipe for plant based keftedes, which are Greek meatballs (I did not know that, though I presume that they are usually made with meat). The talk was basically for people with food aversions, or aversions to healthy plant foods, and that ain't me.
There are literally tons of vegan cookbooks that can be purchased, or start online for free… plenty of options in that category as well. Points out that vegans who get invited to outings should probably plan ahead to find out if the restaurant offers anything for vegan. She does not appear to be part of the SOS group.
Vegans often form groups looking for new vegan friends (I've seen this on FaceBook, I'm sure it happens elsewhere. And there are vegan apps for when you travel (because of course there are).
So under Witte's definition of ultra-processing, Make It GF products might be okay. Whole foods as defined as is that nothing good has been removed, and nothing "bad" has been added. Witte likes the traffic light way to divide foods, green light foods can be eaten often. Yellow light foods can be eaten occasional and red light foods should be avoided.
Witte goes over why reading labels is important and what to look for on the label to eat whole foods plant based. She mentions Dr Greger's Daily dozen (which is an app that I had for a short while, I don't do bad on the daily dozen, and but in no way do I eat them daily. I do better since I've been meal prepping a breakfast "cookie" and pudding that I eat every morning five to six days a week. The fiber content of both is about 15 grams total, which I think is a good way to start the day— at least in terms of fiber.
She also mentions Neil Barnard's group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (whose podcast, called the Exam Room, I have been listening too off and on since the seminar). In general, I'm not a Barnard fan, but I have become a fan of the podcast, the host of which chef AJ will eventually interview in this seminar (I took no notes, but was intrigued enough about his story to give the podcast a try.)
Witte's final point is that if you adopt a whole foods plant based diet, there will be slip ups— something that Dr. Fuhrman also acknowledges, though not as directly. I'm just babbling now, so I'll end this piece here.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!
She gives a list of examples of the various types of whole foods, grains, legumes, etc. Witte points out that cooking your own food is going to be important— ESPECIALLY if you're going to do the Sugar, Oil, Salt (SOS) version of the diet. Actually, I don't know if she said that at this point, I'm saying it here, because it's the truth. Most restaurants cook with fat and oil (and sugar for desserts) and I'm not sure that a vegan also demanding SOS preparations (after demanding the lack of animal products) is going to get very far.
In fact, I can tell you that they don't get very far… I've seen FaceBook posts as well as YouTubes commenting on the difficulty finding options to eat out at if you're vegan SOS. I think at that point, saying whole foods would be redundant. I guess I could be wrong.
She did present a recipe for plant based keftedes, which are Greek meatballs (I did not know that, though I presume that they are usually made with meat). The talk was basically for people with food aversions, or aversions to healthy plant foods, and that ain't me.
There are literally tons of vegan cookbooks that can be purchased, or start online for free… plenty of options in that category as well. Points out that vegans who get invited to outings should probably plan ahead to find out if the restaurant offers anything for vegan. She does not appear to be part of the SOS group.
Vegans often form groups looking for new vegan friends (I've seen this on FaceBook, I'm sure it happens elsewhere. And there are vegan apps for when you travel (because of course there are).
So under Witte's definition of ultra-processing, Make It GF products might be okay. Whole foods as defined as is that nothing good has been removed, and nothing "bad" has been added. Witte likes the traffic light way to divide foods, green light foods can be eaten often. Yellow light foods can be eaten occasional and red light foods should be avoided.
Witte goes over why reading labels is important and what to look for on the label to eat whole foods plant based. She mentions Dr Greger's Daily dozen (which is an app that I had for a short while, I don't do bad on the daily dozen, and but in no way do I eat them daily. I do better since I've been meal prepping a breakfast "cookie" and pudding that I eat every morning five to six days a week. The fiber content of both is about 15 grams total, which I think is a good way to start the day— at least in terms of fiber.
She also mentions Neil Barnard's group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (whose podcast, called the Exam Room, I have been listening too off and on since the seminar). In general, I'm not a Barnard fan, but I have become a fan of the podcast, the host of which chef AJ will eventually interview in this seminar (I took no notes, but was intrigued enough about his story to give the podcast a try.)
Witte's final point is that if you adopt a whole foods plant based diet, there will be slip ups— something that Dr. Fuhrman also acknowledges, though not as directly. I'm just babbling now, so I'll end this piece here.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!