Vegan’s and Vego’s – this is for YOU!

Written by a TCM expert.

“So you’re telling me your vegan or vegetarian, or you’d like to be, or how you feel inspired by the will power of vegans because you love meat that much, you’d eat the bone if your teeth allowed. Whatever resonates, you need to hear this much today.  Wellness is all about working out what works for your own unique body and why.

You see with this in mind, there is never going to be a one size fits all solution. We are not only genetically unique beings but also a product of our environment. The good news is, this means we can end the war between vegan, vego, paleo, meat eater or the macrobiotic lover! How refreshing. But what we need to consider is, are our current methods serving our body types or are we just in love with the certain idea?

You see, perhaps you love meat more than life, but every time you eat it, you get all backed up like a choked pipe. Or equally you love raw food to the moon and back but you’re constantly bloated and can’t work out why.  It may be time to let go of the ideas that you have become attached to and move more toward listening to the gentle signs your body is telling you about your own unique beautiful self.

Let’s get back to basics and re-visit digestion.  Here’s an excerpt from one of my blogs here at Your Tea explaining digestion.

“Allow me to explain to you from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective how the digestive system likes to work. Imagine if you will a pot of soup, sitting on a fire. In TCM, both the spleen and stomach are the organs responsible for digestion; they transform and transport to the body the essential elements of the food and drink we consume. The nutrients they draw from food are sent out around the body to do good – and the waste product are removed and sent out as waste. So going back to our pot again. To help you best understand, the stomach is the ‘pot’ and the spleen is the ‘fire.’ Therefore you may like to understand that digestion is a process that requires warm energy. Then lets add another layer to this – you may know that all foods have properties in how they behave energetically in the body. Those which are warming and invigorating (think meat proteins, some legumes, chili and alike) and those that are cold (like melons and berries) which can slow down such processes…. From a Western sense, we may like to look at it like this. Our bodies digest food at 37 degrees. So when we consume raw and uncooked foods, not only does it have to go to work to digest, but it first has to get the temperature of the food up to 37 before it can effectively deal with it. For some people this is no problem. But for those with a sluggish metabolism this can be disastrous.”

If you have a sluggish metabolism and a cold constitution, the last thing your body needs is hard to digest, raw, cold food.  Equally if you have a lot of heat in your body, adding more fuel to the fire can be equally disastrous.  One of the things we know you love so much about Digestive Herbs (formerly Tiny Tea) is that it improves digestion for all types, be it weak or over stimulated, deficient or congested.  All people benefit from the effects of Digestive Herbs (formerly Tiny Tea) because it supports your own beautiful unique digestive system, maximizing your bodies ability to absorb nutrients, which is the key step in healing any condition.

If you are sluggish, metabolically challenged and feeling generally fatigued, it could be a good time to reassess the types of food you are eating, especially if you are vegan. That said, if you are happy as Larry and your digestive system is kicking along, it’s important to be wise as to what works for you and why.

Vegans and vegetarians can of course include a huge variety of essential ‘warming’ type foods in their bodies to support digestion.  In fact, this is a key part of being a happy vegetarian or vegan.  Also remembering that through the colder months, warmer foods are essential to keep that digestive fire alive.  Perhaps you find yourself nodding your head to what I’m saying and you are eating predominately plant based or limited meat proteins, it’s good to experiment adding some quality proteins to the diet as well as warm cooked foods and see how your body responds.  I can safely say it will love you for it!  This alongside the warming, therapeutic qualities of the yourtea range can have a massive impact on your digestive health and overall wellbeing.

To get you on your way towards greater digestion and an overall happy self,  here are my top high protein vegetarian friendly (and some vegan options too) foods to keep your digestive fire burning!

Vegetarian options;

+ Eggs

+ Yoghurt (coconut yogurt or natural yoghurt)

Plus vegan options;

Vegan/Vegetarian friendly options

+ Chia (soaked and warm)

+ Lentils

+ Nuts and seeds (soaked/activated) including nut butters

+ Beans and peas

+ Quinoa

Yours in wellness,
Your Tea

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