Interview with Sharon Palmer, The Plant-Powered Dietician

Sharon Palmer, aka The Plant-Powered Dietician, is currently one of the most widely recognized registered dietitians in the world! And we had the pleasure of interviewing her this week.

What projects of your own are you excited about at the moment?

Sharon’s upcoming book, The Plant-Powered Plan To Beat Diabetes

My new book, The Plant-Powered Plan to Beat Diabetes, is available for pre-order now! This is the result of a few years of hard work, and I’m very excited to be helping people fight and manage diabetes through a more plant-based diet. The book has a diet plan, as well as 100 delicious recipes. In addition, I am excited about the nonprofit Food + Planet that I co-founded with three other dietitian colleagues.

Our mission is to help empower health care professionals to make impactful change towards more sustainable diet patterns for the public. We have been doing a lot of powerful work with health care professionals providing them with education and resources. And I continue to be excited to provide more resources on my blog at SharonPalmer.com and social media channels on living a more plant-based, sustainable lifestyle. 

What are your thoughts on the rise of plant-based junk foods?

I think there is a place for enjoying some more processed plant-based foods within our diets. I think it’s ok to enjoy processed meat alternatives a couple of times per week, as well as treats like vegan cookies and ice cream occasionally.

It’s nice that there are SO many options for those wanting to eat more plant-based today. However, the true beauty of a plant-based diet, in terms of health benefits, is found through eating a balanced diet based on minimally processed whole plant foods—lentils, beans and peas, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lots of vegetables and fruits.

I do think that the plant-based food products out there can help introduce people to plant-based eating, and from there they can learn to eat more whole plant foods within their diet patterns. It can make plant-based eating easier while people learn new habits and skills. 

Could you share a few words of advice for people wanting to reduce their consumption of animal products?

• Consider starting out slow. Give a more plant-based diet a chance at first by just trying it one or two days a week (i.e., Meatless Monday) so you can gain understanding of how the eating style works, and you can prepare your pantry and menu for plant-based eating. That way you are planning for success. 

• Think of it as swapping out animal proteins for plant proteins; after all so many foods in our diets (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds) are already plant-based. So, it’s typically the animal protein on the plate, like meat, fish, poultry. Just swap those out for beans, lentils, peas, tofu, tempeh, peanuts, almonds, pistachios. 

• Find some easy go-tos that you can turn to and are always stocked and ready for, such as grain bowls (all you need is a cooked whole grain, some canned beans, whatever veggies you have on hand, and a flavorful sauce or dressing), wraps (whole grain wrap, beans, veggies, salsa), stir-fry (vegetables, tofu or tempeh, served over brown rice), and pasta dishes (pasta served with a sauce of veggies, tomatoes, beans). That gives you options when you are busy. 

• Look at your favorite foods and “plantify” them. Think turning your lasagna into a veggie lasagna, making taco night plant-based with black beans and lots of veggies, and making veggie meatballs instead of meat-based ones for your sauce. 

Who inspires you in the plant-based space?

So many people! There are so many fabulous plant-based food bloggers (i.e., Oh She Glows, Vegan Richa, Vegan Yack Attack), dietitian experts (i.e., Jack Norris, Ginny Messina, Sherene Chou), academics (i.e., Loma Linda University, Harvard), and organizations (Oldways, VN DPG, Meatless Monday, Humane Society, PCRM, Vegetarian Resource Group) doing amazing work in making plant-based diets more accessible to consumers.

This is a big part of why this eating style is growing in popularity. You are also an important part of that movement! So, thank you! 

What motivates you?

I love to engage with consumers and it truly warms my heart when they make one of my recipes and post a pic online. Or that they found one of my blogs on plant-based eating helpful for their lives. That’s what makes the difference for me. To think that they are eating a diet that helps protect their health, reduces their environmental footprint, and helps animals—collectively that is powerful.

And that they are enjoying doing that, creating good cultural food memories, and truly enjoying the beauty of this lifestyle. I also love to see the connections people are gaining that links their food system to the earth—understanding that it is all connected, and that it starts in the soil. That ah-ha moment is truly amazing to observe.