Food as Medicine: The Benefits of a Plant-Powered Diet

Food as Medicine: The Benefits of a Plant-Powered Diet 

Michele Wisla is on a mission to change the way you think about plant-based eating. If you think eating plant-based means you’ll be starving and eating limp salads all your life, think again. You’ll never find a sad salad in her kitchen; she whips up delicious, flavourful and nourishing meals made entirely from plant-based ingredients, designed to help you feel good and improve your health. A Health & Culinary Nutrition coach and founder of Our Conscious Kitchen, Michele offers private and group coaching, online courses and cooking classes, providing her clients with cooking skills, tools and habits to help them live well, prevent chronic diseases and lose weight. 

Before founding Our Conscious Kitchen with her partner Dalip in 2020, Michele discovered she had fibroids and started to research what might be causing them. She found that an excess of oestrogen from hormones in meat and dairy could be a contributing factor, and swapped to a raw vegan diet to help improve her health. Around the same time, she left the fashion industry to work with a startup in Hong Kong that looked for ways to cultivate microalgae and incorporate it into food. Those experiences deepened her interest in food and to learn what was going into her body. She dived deep into learning about nutrition and the various health benefits of eating plant-based.  

After learning about the adverse effects meat and dairy have on your health, Michele made the change to eating fully whole foods plant-based for about 3-4 years. She is certified by Precision Nutrition, trained with the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and is qualified to teach 15 courses in Hong Kong and Asia, is a member of the Medical College of Lifestyle Medication and just graduated from The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s Food for Life programme. 

At Our Conscious Kitchen, Michele is passionate about helping people improve their health. She provides coaching, education, community and support to help them lose weight and prevent chronic illnesses through evidence-backed, plant-forward eating that is based on the latest food research. She mainly coaches women above 40, assisting with weight loss, diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol and other chronic diseases. Whether they are on the path to a fully plant-based diet, not confident in the kitchen or simply trying to find a way to reduce meat consumption, Michele’s approach helps her clientele see how plant-based eating can be stress-free, simple and creative, no matter what level they’re at. 

“The common misconception is that eating plant-based means you’re eating salads all day. Nothing could be further from the truth,” she says. “I eat burgers, tacos, nice cream, cake – all of these normal things, just made with different, healthy ingredients.” She uses a wide range of spices and herbs, as well as fats from avocados, nuts and seeds to craft new plant-based versions of dishes you already know and love, as well as dressings, dips, and sauces. Her website has a wide range of videos to guide you, as well as a pantry list to get you started. “It’s all about making your meals taste good, and we really try to find healthy things that replicate umami — for example, nutritional yeast is a great source of B12 that really has that cheesy flavour, while dried mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes lend that umami that meat has.” 

In addition to combatting the belief that plant-based eating is boring and will leave you feeling hungry, Michele is also happy to dispel any myths people may have about plant-based eating, for example that you aren’t able to obtain adequate iron or protein intake from a plant-based diet. She strongly suggests incorporating legumes and beans into your meals; a great way of adding protein and fibre to your diet. She recommends having half a cup of soybeans a day, and to get creative about how to prepare them. “Soy is a good mood food, and it’s great for supporting women’s health. I make a hummus out of soybeans, which goes great as a dip, a sandwich spread or can be thinned out as a dressing,” Michele shares. 

The key to ensuring you’re not resorting to quick, lifeless salads when you’re in a rush is meal prepping. Michele highlights that it’s as easy as roasting a big batch of sweet potatoes so you have a healthy, filling starch as a good base. “Preparation is key. Coming home and preparing dinner at the last minute causes undue stress. Take 20-30 minutes to plan it out, do one grocery trip, and prepare food for the week ahead.” Along with legumes and beans, she also lists wholegrains such as brown rice, steel-cut oats, and farro as pantry staples that fill you up.  

Michele has also learned to create plant-based versions of meat and dairy dishes - for example, a chocolate pie, or a tuna salad made from chickpeas with dulse (a seaweed rich in fibre, protein, and antioxidants that Michele says is a great salt replacement) and nori to add a taste of the sea. 

She also highlights that swapping to a plant-based diet is not a quick fix. “In the health space there’s a lot of clickbait that leads people to believe there is a quick, fast solution to their problem. But this isn’t like taking a pill — it’s important to know your why, to have an underlying guiding factor. That’s why I stay away from recommending one specific food; diversity of plants is good for our gut microbiome. You should be friends with the whole plant kingdom, but be best friends with sweet potatoes, blueberries, soybeans and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and broccoli sprouts.” 

Transitioning to a plant-based diet isn’t always easy, and Michele is definitely aware that giving up your favourite foods is something that gives people pause. “I’m from Wisconsin – the dairy state! I love cheese, and it was so hard for me to give that up. But you don’t have to make a 100% switch at first; start slowly. Try to crowd out the animal products in your meals first. For example, eat a big sweet potato with vegetables first, then have your meat and you will end up eating less meat. Go step by step, keep going, and you’ll start feeling good right away,” she explains. 

For more information about Michele’s coaching and programmes, check out Our Conscious Kitchen’s website https://www.ourconsciouskitchen.com/ and follow them on Instagram @our.conscious.kitchen for more tips & tricks about plant-based eating!