Have you ever considered going Vegan or maybe wondered what it means? Are you familiar with the term "Whole Food Plant-Based Diet? Join us in today's episode to learn more!!

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Show Notes:

Discussion with a vegan empowerment coach about the emotional challenges faced by vegans.

• Many vegans feel dejected when their message about environmental and animal welfare concerns is ignored.

• Emphasis on the need for vegans to empower themselves.

  • Sharing their message with confidence and peace.

  • Analogy of offering a cookie – accept or reject, the act of offering is what matters.

• Importance of planting seeds of awareness and nurturing them with love.

• Not everyone will adopt veganism, but the message can be beneficial for those open to it.

• Exploration of raw foods:

  • Foods in their original, uncooked form.

  • Known for their healing properties.

  • Anecdote of a cancer patient benefiting from a macrobiotic raw diet.

• Homemade green drink made of blended spinach, parsley, and water discussed.

• Cooking techniques: shift from using oils to vegetable broth.

  • Aligns with a whole-food, plant-based diet.

  • Offers flavorful results without the high-calorie count of oils.

• Reminder of the podcast's regular schedule and links provided for more information.

Key Takeaways:

Self-Empowerment is Crucial: Vegans should be empowered by their beliefs, not others' responses. Share the message with confidence and not out of desperation.

1. Raw Foods and Their Potential: Raw foods, being in their natural state, offer potential healing benefits, though one should be cautious and well-informed before making major dietary shifts.

2. Alternative Cooking Techniques: Cooking with vegetable broth instead of oils can be flavorful and aligns well with a whole-food, plant-based diet.

3. Consistent Advocacy: Whether or not the message is immediately accepted, it's essential to keep sharing and planting seeds of awareness.

4. Importance of Guidance: Always consult with medical professionals when adopting new diets or making significant changes to one's diet, especially if they have pre-existing health conditions.

Transcript:

Hello everyone and welcome back to Better Than A Pill. Today I am so excited to have Mariquita

Solis on as a guest, and Mariquita is a vegan empowerment coach. And today we are going to

be talking about the difference between vegan and whole food plant-based. So welcome

Mariquita, and thank you so much for being here today.

Thanks, Cari. I'm excited to be here.

Well, great. So we'll get started here and I just would like to know a little bit more about your

story and why and when you chose to become vegan.

Well, I never thought I would be vegan, that's for sure. I grew up with two, my, both of my

parents were Mexican and they're very traditional Mexican living in a small, tiny community in

Mexico where there were a lot of animals and, and, and eating animals. So it wasn't something

that I didn't even know what vegetarian or vegan was when I grew up. I think the first time I ever

heard about it was in college. When I. Talked to one of my friends and he said he was gonna, he

was vegetarian.

I said, what are you talking about? And I said, you're gonna be sick. I just thought you're gonna,

you're gonna be so weak and you're gonna feel terrible. And I just thought he was crazy. So,

Later. I think it was probably about three or four years later, my brother came over to me and

said, Hey, I want you to see this video.

I guess I don't even know where he got it from. I need to find out. But, it was just a three minute

video. Meet your Meat by Alec Baldwin. And I was really horrified and shocked in that three

minute clip. And there were images. I still can't. I can't get rid of very, very disturbing images of

what happens to animals in factory farms.

And so, and then I became vegetarian and. For years I was vegetarian and I didn't really make

much any more, much, much more connections. I felt like I was doing a lot there and I was

doing well. And then I think I saw the documentary, a Peaceable Kingdom, and it talked about

dairy and so I went vegan and I kind of went back to vegetarian, fell off the wagon just because

it was, it was hard for me because well, it's not always a linear process for people and it wasn't

for me. So I went back to vegetarian veganism, but now I'm fully vegan and work with the health

community and their whole food plant-based community. And, but they also, we were, we also

uh, engaged the vegan community. I didn't even know what whole Food plant-based was until I

met the founder Peter Goldstein and he taught me about that and welcomed me to be part of

their team. So I thought, well, I need to get on board with this whole food, plant-based lifestyle.

What is it? And I, oh my gosh, I've really learned so much about clean eating and just eating

from the living foods and how much, how much healing we can do.

So it's been a beautiful, incredible journey.

That is so good. That's great. Great story. And it's amazing how you made that shift and, and

how it's impacted your life and you know, just taking it a step back, what actually is the

difference between a vegetarian and what does it mean to be vegan and, you know, difference

between the two?

So vegetarian, they, they don't, they still eat cheese and dairy, dairy products and vegan

doesn't. They don't eat any animal products and really avoid leather animals. Clothing, anything

with animals in it is vegan. So really doing as little harm to animals as possible. So yeah,

because the dairy industry is, I mean, that, I didn't realize how cruel it is and so, but yeah, that's

what Vegetarians are still eating dairy and a lot of vegetarians don't, don't realize that also,

Okay.

Yeah. So as a vegan, what I guess can you eat as a vegan? Well, so what do you eat? Well, I

can eat anything I want, but like, I choose to eat well as a vegan. There's many, many, now

trendy alternatives, meat, alternate plant-based alternatives that like vegan burgers and there's

all sorts of things.

It's almost like there's vegan pizza, vegan cheese, and there are some wonderful cheeses. A lot

of processed food, vegan foods, and so, whole food plant-based is really the living food. So

we're talking about the grains and the rice and the beans and the, the, the, when you're going

through the produce section, these foods that are alive, right?

That don't have, they said don't, that they look for the foods that don't have an ingredient list,

right. So these are whole food plant-based, so that's different from vegan. So some people talk

about junk food, vegans, and I don't really like that word, but that word, processed foods, which

are not Whole Foods.

I mean, processing it can take on, I mean, everything has to be a little, not everything, but a lot

of foods might have a little bit of processing, minimal processing. So there's different levels of

processing. I. So, right. No, that makes total sense to me because processed foods, as we

know in general, they're not good.

And so why would it be different for a processed vegan food?

Right, right. Yes. And my body can feel the difference, right? Uh, when I'm eating a lot of

processed vegan foods, like my fingers will ache, you know? And when I, if, when I'm eating

very clean, I don't have that. And I feel like that, that's definitely true inflammation. Uh, and, and

my body, just you, my body doesn't respond well to that. Now that I can see a difference in my

eating habits, now that I've made a difference in my eating habits, so yeah. But like on the

holidays, if I'm eating a lot of processed foods, yeah, I feel it.

Yes, me too. I don't, I try to eliminate that for my diet. I am not a vegan, but I do a lot of what

you're describing as the whole food plant-based, uh, produce fresh, organic produce it is and

that's what you're meaning by that term, right? Okay. Yes. And so that I can be seen as being

really powerful. So the whole food, plant-based vegan, and that's what you've implemented into

your life now, and that's what you mean by clean vegan or clean eating.

Right. Okay. How so that shift, so you're eating, like, just gives us an idea of like a typical

breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Well, I love tofu scramble. You know, I put in a lot of things like, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes,

and so I don't really try to use a lot of spices in, in the tofu scramble and eat corn tortillas.That's

a whole food plant. Based on breakfast and then, for lunch. Wow. It's very interesting. And a lot

of times I, well, since my parents were from Mexico, I used, ate a lot of corn tortillas. Right? So

a lot of times I'll just have little potato or bean, tacos with again, I eat a lot of, a lot of peppers

and onions again, and then, and, but then I also have the grains, like I've been introduced to

quinoa and all these different couscous and all these different grains.

I love making little salads like with couscous, And then the corn, and then all sorts of vegetables.

And I've been making, I don't know what, oh, I was making some lemon bars that I saw from

YouTube channel and I can't remember the channel right now, but she was putting potatoes in

them. And so I thought, this is so weird to make lemon bars with potatoes, but it, and it was kind

of like, I don't know, but it sure did taste good.

So I kind of got over that. 'cause you, you know, like we're so. We're so taught to not to use

certain foods for desserts and everything, and, and potato, baked potato wouldn't be something

I would think about putting in a dessert, but it was great nevertheless, and it was very healthy.

So learning to eat all these new different ways of cooking and foods that I've never heard of

before, it has been very exciting.

I went to one of those little stands, a little food truck. And if I hadn't been vegan, I would never

have eaten this beautiful, Vietnamese little, a little bowl. And it was so aromatic, it was fragrant.

And I thought, there's no way I ever would've eaten this unless I was vegan.

I would've gotten the chicken or the beef and it would've just been that standard old thing. But

this was just full of life. It smelled so alive, and it was. I even tried to figure out how to make it

and, and I was sad that it was a food truck 'cause now I'm gonna have to chase the food truck

all over town instead of going to a restaurant.

But yeah, it, it, it's opened me up to a lot of new, exciting ways to eat and cook.

That's great, and, and it sounds like this diet has also impacted your life. You mentioned in

terms of lowering the level of inflammation, you don't feel aches, pains, or stiffness. And it

sounds like that's primarily with more of the whole food plant-based as opposed to just a regular

vegan.

Right. Definitely, definitely. So I definitely lost weight when I switched to whole food plant-based,

and my energy levels went up, went up and, but I mean, it's still, I still can be sucked into this

other mindset because I was, I. For so long eating these processed foods and it's so easy to

grab something processed, and so I have to be very careful about setting up my diet in advance

and getting things that are easy to grab instead of.

Like little fruit, fruit snacks that someone gave me. They said, well here take these healthy fruit

snacks that I don't want. And I was looking at 'em, and originally I would've thought these are

pretty healthy. But now I look at them and I think, why would I eat this fruit snack when I could

have a banana or an apple or an orange?

Right? And I, and then I see advertisements also for a little while. Mixes that you can put in for

vegetables and fruits. And I think why would you put that in instead of eating the whole fruit?

And now I know the difference. I mean that fiber and how our bodies respond to eating the

whole fruit instead of these other processed ways to eat the fruit.

Yeah, no, that makes sense to me. And yes, I could, I struggle with that as well. And I think that,

I mean, diet, there's just so many things out there and, and diet can impact people in so many

individualized ways, you know, whether it's, you know, an, uh, paleo diet or a low carb or, or

what have you, vegan. So yeah, even myself, like if I, I have to do a lot of gluten-free and

actually stay away from grains right now, and so I have to resist from grabbing the gluten-free

pretzels. Although I tend to like to give myself a little grace with it. Right. You know? Yeah but

yeah, I mean, so you've had success and you can feel it in your body. What other stories can

you share about other people having success with the vegan whole food plant based approach?

Gosh, my friend JJ, she lost 50 pounds when she went whole food plant-based, she went raw

and, and her, her friend, partner, Dawn, has really helped her. She was struggling with cancer

and I have so many friends now that have turned their lives around. There was a, well, there

was a story. Dr. Reuben Gosman. I don't think he was going to be a doctor, but he was talking

about how as an intern, he was cleaning the intestines of, of all the people that had passed, and

these were chronic diseases, people that passed with chronic diseases.

I was so lucky that he came to Atlanta over here and talked to us and told us this story in person

and so, He came up upon one and it was immaculate. Like it looked like a, it was just a newborn

baby. And, and his doctor was saying, make sure you take a, don't you know, remember this,

take a good look. And it turned out to be a lady who was in her seventies and she had passed

and they went back and asked what?

You know, what was her lifestyle like? And she was very positive. She was a seventh day

Adventist, walking five miles a day. She never ate meat, whole food, or anything plant-based.

And she apparently had a heart defect that normally you wouldn't live. To your twenties, but

because she had this lifestyle and this wonderful way of eating and moving, she made it to her

seventies.

So that's very inspiring to be able to know that we're not destined for. Heart disease. We're not

destined for these, for diabetes. And I'm so sad when I see diabetes commercials on tv. You

know, here's your pill for the rest of your life. And people don't realize that we can turn this

around with food.

And so many times I've told, you know, tried to share the information and people don't believe

me. They don't know the power of our food choices, and it's very sad.

A hundred percent agree with that. Yeah, it is. But to see how powerful nutrition can be. I mean,

it is medicine, right? It is a form of medicine for us.

And that's a great example. Uh, gaining 50 years of your life. There is a good example, you

know? Yeah. That is a great example. And we have, I mean, three times a day we have a

chance to heal our bodies and so many of us, I mean, we're blocking that, not just blocking the

healing, but then we're also hurting our bodies.

And it's just the way that we've been brought up to eat Things shifted at maybe the fifties or

whenever the TV dinner started, right? And everything shifted and everything became

convenient. And so we lost these opportunities for healing and thriving. And now it's more we're

on, we're on a track of, of, my gosh, the rates of obesity and the rates of heart disease are just.

Off the charts. It's really, really sad and so it's very important because I work with, we did health

also to spread this information to people that we don't have to be prisoners, that there's hope.

Yeah. The work you're doing is very good, very powerful. And as a mindset, you know, coach,

empowerment, coach, I guess, what role does mindset play in being a vegan?Tell us a little bit

more about that part of the work that you do.

So as a vegan empowerment coach, I come across a lot of vegans that are angry because they

want people to hear the message about the suffering of the environment of animals. And, when

people don't wanna hear that, they feel very depressed and, and then they start to, Well, they

start to develop these limiting beliefs, right?

And so they're sending themselves back. They cry and say, nobody's gonna listen to me. And so

I work with my clients on the mindset of being empowered by themselves, not by other people,

but to share the message and to be open to whatever response comes. That's fine. We're not

dependent on that outcome, like the person's response to.

That's not gonna decide if I sleep at night, it's not gonna, you know that. I'm not dependent on

that. I am confident and peaceful, and I'm doing what I believe is in alignment. In alignment with

everything, all my values. And so that's what I work with my clients to get to that point where

we're not desperate, we're not begging people, but no, we're speaking with confidence and

peace, and it's like a cookie, right? If I, I offer you a cookie, if you'd like it, that's fine. If you don't,

that's fine too, right? But I've offered you the cookie. So I might come back later in a year and

say, would you like a cookie again? But I'm not gonna be mad at you for not taking the cookie,

right?

So we're planting seeds, planting seeds, and watering them with love.

Oh, I like how you said that. Yeah. No, that's, that's really nice. And I think that's, that's so true

with, you know, life in general is that, you know, God gives us each our individual roles and gifts

and that we go out and we share what we can and we serve those that we're meant to serve.

And that's not everybody. There may be a lot of people that don't have the desire to be vegan

and may find another avenue.

Right. But there's probably a lot of people that can benefit. From being vegan and, and so yeah.

So I agree. It's not about the outcome. I love how you put that, but sharing what you believe to

be true.

That's great. Thank you. So I heard you mention real quick, the word raw a little bit earlier when

you were talking, and I'm just curious as to what, what do you mean by raw foods? If you could

share a little bit about that and how that relates to being vegan and you know, on the whole food

plant based program.

Well, I've never done the raw food diet, so I know that the raw food diet is, we're, talking about

the vegetables and fruit in the original form and they're very healing and I've heard that. So my

brother, his girlfriend's father was in one of the late stages of cancer and he went on a raw diet,

so we were eating the food in its original form, and he was able to turn that around.

It was a macrobiotic raw diet, and he turned that around and lived for many years. Afterwards

they were, that was it for him. They said, it's over. So it's amazing the power of raw foods and so

on. That, you know, this is something that I wanna try. And I've seen my friend that I told you lost

50 pounds, that she's really into that.

And with her help, I know she wants to help a lot of people too. So we have a lot of friends that

are working together. But yeah, I'm gonna try it also. And it was kind of intimidating to me raw.

How am I gonna live on that? You know? But there's a lot of things that are made raw. I mean,

I've, I've seen cheese, like, plant-based cheesecakes that are raw.

And so like it, there's they, I mean, I need to open up my mind and I encourage everyone to

open up their minds and explore. Look it up. And you'll find that there's many things that you

wouldn't think would be raw. That is raw, that you can eat now, that you wouldn't expect. Right.

And so the raw food, it, it's something that you can do if you're doing the whole food plant-

based, you know, vegan approach.

It's, a part of that. But it's almost like a subcategory it sounds like, right? Yes. It's separate. It's,

you can do raw for a while or, and there's people that have just, that have really healing, has

really worked a lot for them. There was a lady that was talking about her rheumatoid arthritis

and she was able to heal from fruits, just only fruits for a certain amount of time.

And so when I say this, you have to be very careful about what you're doing, right. We're not

just, just don't go out and do it without getting, making sure that you're getting everything you

need, right? But she was able to turn that around, so that's exciting.

That is exciting. Yes. And then reaching out for guidance of course, because there could be

other chronic conditions going on and you know, just having, you know, a doctor or a functional

medicine doctor alongside can't hurt, but only help the process.

Right, right, right. And I'm not a doctor, so Yeah. Everybody knows. No, 'cause I, I was just

thinking aloud too. You know, just in, in the standpoints of fruits and if somebody's diabetic, how

that could affect their blood sugars or, you know, insulin. And just knowing that they have to be

mindful, even if something is fresh or raw or, you know, a whole food and so on.

That just came to my mind as you were, as you were sharing that. Right. Definitely. Yes.

If you have a condition, then we have to make sure that, that, that everything's set right. We're

not just gonna go out and go off our pills and do this. No. Everything with caution.

Yeah. I was thinking too, like, so lately I wanted to run this by you.

I was getting chlorophyll and putting it in my water, on a daily basis. And then, the whole foods I

go to, they stopped selling the chlorophyll. So another natural naturopathic doctor that I'm

working with mentioned Make your own, make a homemade version. So I started doing, just in

the blender, spinach, uh, or fresh organic spinach, or greens. And then I put some parsley in

there and water and have just been blending it up for a minute and drinking that, throughout my

day. And she said, you know, that's like, uh, better than a blood transfusion or, or pretty similar,

it's like hemoglobin for your body. And so I, I didn't know if you've heard of anything like that or,

you know, I just started doing it.

No, but that sounds wonderful. I can only imagine. I mean, How, yeah, how, how, how life.

That's like a source of life to drink that I'm sure. So yeah. That's amazing. I should try that.

Thanks for the recommendation. Yeah, no, I just started it not long ago, so. Yeah. And I just

thought I would share that because it seems in alignment with something that would be whole

food plant-based.

Definitely is. Yes. And then I love the colors. I bet I love to see that green. It's very green. And

actually I like it better than the chlorophyll drops. I mean, it's fresh too. It's live, right, right.

Yes, definitely better. So, and then the other thing, like when you're cooking foods and say

they're not raw. Like let's say for example you have kale and you cook it in olive oil or you saute

it, that is something that would be considered whole food plant-based on a vegan diet. Is that

correct?

Right. Yes. And I've stopped using a lot of oil for cooking. I really don't cook with oil anymore

because it's such, so high calorie, I mean, it's the highest calorie in density, and I really cook a

lot with vegetable broth now. And I, that was another thing that I thought, what am I, what do you

mean no oil?

But I haven't withered away. I'm getting a lot of oils from avocados or from them. You know, from

nuts and I, and, and the flavor of the vegetable broth, it's, it's wonderful. And I don't even miss

the oil. It's pretty incredible the way that I was brought up to think, oh, well I have to have this, I

have to have this.

And then I realized, wait a minute, do I really have to have these things? So it's just, just

different ways of thinking.

Yeah, no, thank you for sharing that. The broth, that's an interesting concept. I'll have to try that

myself. Yeah, I cook everything in it. Even my, my little plant-based burgers, my little tofu

scrambles. So yeah, everything in that little vegetable broth.

Well, excellent. Well, I just wanna thank you so much for coming on today and, and sharing

about everything with the vegan diet and the whole food plant-based process, and this has been

really helpful and I'm sure a lot of people will get value from this today.

So thank you for coming.

Thank you for having me. This has been really fun.

And I have included the links for Mariquita’s social sites and her website in this episode so you

can find out more about the work that she does. And remember, we do new episodes every

week on Wednesday, and I look forward to you joining me then.