Plant-powered: Do vegetarian meals have enough nutrients?

Does eating a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet provide your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy? 

When it comes to plant-based diets, there are some misconceptions floating around that make people feel it is an inferior way of eating, or that plant-powered food does not offer enough nutrition. So we’re here to bust some of those myth bubbles and hopefully have you saying, ‘More plants, please!’

Read on to learn how plant-powered food does provide your body with enough nutrients for energy and well-being.

Myth 1: Plants do not have enough protein

We know how important protein is to grow and repair all our cells⁽¹⁾. At Able Foods, our Magic 8 Nutrition Guidelines have you covered whether you’re eating a meal with meat or not. We ensure all of our main meals pack a protein punch and have a minimum of 10g per serve. That’s sure to keep your muscles moving! If you’re inclined to look closely, you’ll see our Thai Yellow Curry is equivalent in protein to our Thai Green Chicken Curry– and it’s totally plant-powered!

Did you know? Australian Olympic athlete Morgan Mitchell is also totally plant-powered. A track and field star specialising in 400 m sprint and relay, she has been fuelled by plants for much of her career and shows no signs of slowing ⁽²⁾.

Myth 2: Plant-based protein gives you less variety

You’re thinking about what to choose for dinner next week: Will it be Beef Pot Pie, Tuna Pasta Bake, or Honey Mustard Chicken?

Now imagine you could further diversify that selection by adding chickpeas, tofu, lentils, or beans! By jumping in and trying some of our vegetarian main meals (like the Mediterranean Veggie Pasta), you are opening yourself up to 12 more meals on rotation! This includes two meals on our Seasonal Savers menu at just $2 co-pay.

Bonus good stuff: Swapping to a plant-based main such as our Cheese & Spinach Rice Bake gives you the bonus fibre and nutrients of delicious white beans on top of the servings of vegetables counted in our Magic 8 Nutrition Guidelines!

Myth 3: Vegetarian foods are just salads

Salads don’t get enough credit– they offer maximum crunch and are quick to prepare, but even this plant lover would turn their nose up to eating a salad for every meal!

Our vegetarian meals span across all main meal categories on our menu. From the Marinated Tofu Schnitzel in our Pub-style Classics to the Pumpkin & Ricotta Lasagne in the Italian section, we aim to be diverse in our offerings and encourage you to tuck in and find your new favourite.

Plant-powered eating is good for you, animals and the environment

If you need more convincing, here it is:

• • The Heart Foundation names legumes (like lentils, chickpeas, and beans) on their list of the ‘most beneficial sources of protein’!⁽³⁾

• • Plant-based proteins are lighter on the environment as they generally use fewer resources than their animal alternatives⁽⁴⁾

• • Every meat-free meal supports animal welfare by helping to reduce the demand for farming.

Variety is the spice of life

As they say, variety is the spice of life. Whether you are omnivorous, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, flexitarian (the list goes on) it is important to maintain variety in your diet and to speak with your doctor if you have any questions about changing the way you eat. 

1. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/protein#what-is-protein 
2. https://www.greatveganathletes.com/morgan-mitchell-vegan-sprinter/ 
3. https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-living/healthy-eating/protein-and-heart-health 
4. https://gfi.org/resource/environmental-impacts-of-alternative-proteins/