Transition & Family
Sustaining it for decades
A large proportion of people who adopt plant-based diets return to eating animal products, and the reasons are consistent and mostly addressable.
Dr. Farah Siddiqui
32 articles by Siddiqui
Transition & Family
Reintroducing foods, if you decide to
People change their diets in both directions and reintroduction is discussed far less than transition, which leaves people without practical information.
Sport & Performance
Young athletes on plant-based diets
Adolescent athletes combine growth, training and frequently poor appetite management, and the plant-based version requires more supervision than an adult diet does.
Protein & Amino Acids
Protein requirements across a lifetime
The single number quoted for protein applies to a healthy sedentary adult, and almost nobody is one all the time.
Meal Building
Weight management on a plant-based diet
Plant-based diets are associated with lower body weight in population studies, and the mechanism is worth understanding because it works in both directions.
Transition & Family
Vegetarian versus vegan: the practical differences
The nutritional gap between the two is narrower than people assume in some respects and wider in others, and knowing which is which is useful.
Micronutrients
The gut microbiome and what fibre actually does
Plant-based diets change the gut microbial community substantially, which is genuinely interesting and considerably less well understood than the marketing suggests.
Micronutrients
Blood tests worth having, and how to read them
A small number of tests are genuinely useful for anyone on a plant-based diet, and several commonly requested ones are not.
Protein & Amino Acids
Legume-based protein: the underrated basics
Legumes are the foundation of plant protein and the food group most associated with good health outcomes, and most people eat far less than they think.
Transition & Family
Explaining it to people who ask
The same questions come up constantly, several are asked in bad faith, and having short honest answers ready makes the whole thing easier.
Transition & Family
What to do when the diet is not working for you
Some people feel worse on a plant-based diet. The reasons are usually identifiable and fixable, and occasionally the honest answer is different.
Protein & Amino Acids
Amino acids: what actually happens to protein after you eat it
Understanding the mechanism clarifies why the complementing advice was wrong and why total intake matters more than source.
Protein & Amino Acids
Nuts and seeds: the ones worth the money
Nuts and seeds contribute protein, fat, minerals and texture, and the price range across them is enormous for a fairly small nutritional difference.
Micronutrients
Vitamin K2 and the claims made about it
K2 is heavily marketed to plant-based eaters and the evidence is thinner and more interesting than either the enthusiasts or the dismissers suggest.
Meal Building
The cost question: eating well on a small budget
Plant-based eating can be the cheapest way to eat or one of the most expensive, depending entirely on what you buy.
Protein & Amino Acids
Getting enough protein when you cannot eat soy
Soy does a great deal of work in plant-based diets, and removing it — for allergy, for thyroid reasons, or for preference — requires a plan.
Micronutrients
Zinc and the absorption problem
Zinc gets less attention than iron and faces the same absorption issue, with a narrower margin between adequate and excessive.
Micronutrients
Reading the research, and why the headlines are usually wrong
Nutrition science produces contradictory headlines because of specific methodological features, and knowing them makes most claims easy to assess.
Micronutrients
Fibre: how much, from where, and what happens when it changes
Plant-based diets substantially increase fibre intake, which is one of their clearest benefits and the source of most of the early discomfort.
Protein & Amino Acids
Protein for older adults on a plant-based diet
Requirements rise with age while appetite falls, which makes this the group where protein genuinely needs attention rather than reassurance.
Meal Building
The alternatives aisle: what is worth buying
Meat and dairy alternatives have improved enormously and vary enormously, and reading the label tells you more than the marketing does.
Transition & Family
Pregnancy on a plant-based diet
It can be done well and it requires more attention than at any other stage of life, with several nutrients where the stakes are genuinely high.
Micronutrients
Selenium, copper and the trace minerals
The minor minerals get little attention and a few of them have genuine relevance on a plant-based diet, mostly because of soil.
Transition & Family
Feeding children on a plant-based diet
It can be done well and it requires more attention than an adult diet, because the consequences of getting it wrong in a growing child are different.
Micronutrients
Vitamin D, and why almost everyone needs it in winter
Vitamin D is not really a dietary nutrient for most people, which is why removing animal foods matters less than where you live.
Protein & Amino Acids
The complete protein question, settled
The idea that plant proteins are incomplete and must be combined has a specific history, a specific error, and a specific retraction.
Micronutrients
Calcium, iodine and the ones people forget
B12 gets the attention and iron gets the questions. Calcium and iodine are the ones that quietly go missing when dairy and fish come off the plate.
Micronutrients
Omega-3 on a plant-based diet: the conversion problem
Flaxseed provides the plant omega-3, and the body converts very little of it into the forms that matter most. There is a straightforward solution.
Transition & Family
Starting out: the first month without wrecking it
Most people who abandon plant-based eating do so in the first six weeks, for reasons that are predictable and mostly avoidable.
Micronutrients
Iron: absorption is the whole game
Plant foods contain plenty of iron. Whether you absorb it depends almost entirely on what you eat and drink alongside it.
Protein & Amino Acids
How much protein you actually need, and where it comes from
Protein is the first question everyone asks about plant-based eating and the one with the most straightforward answer, once you know which number applies to you.
Micronutrients
B12: the one that is not optional
Vitamin B12 is the single nutrient that a plant-based diet cannot reliably supply, and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious and partly irreversible.