If you’ve been reading my blog for anytime at all you have probably figured something out. I’m a high-fat vegan. Yep, I am. My good friend Lindsay, you know her as The Happy Herbivore, is not and let me tell you, she teases me about my high fat ways! I bought Lindsay’s first cookbook, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook (and reviewed it), because, though I loves me some fat, I’m also pretty aware of the needs of my changing 40+ year old body. Moderation just might be key.
Lindsay’s recipes are accessible and delicious. It was imperative for me to include her in the Vegan 101 series but I knew she was deep into writing and creating recipes for her second cookbook, Happy Herbivore Every Day. So imagine my delight when she immediately said yes! I am so honored that Lindsay is offering you, and me, a glimpse into eating a lower-fat vegan diet.
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Lindsay S. Nixon is a rising star in the culinary world, praised for her ability to use everyday ingredients to create healthy, low fat recipes that taste just as delicious as they are nutritious. Lindsay’s recipes have been featured in Vegetarian Times, Women’s Health Magazine and on The Huffington Post. Lindsay is also a consulting chef at La Samanna, a luxury resort and four-star restaurant in the French West Indies. You can learn more about Lindsay and sample some of her recipes at happyherbivore.com
When people most hear the phrase “low fat,” images of tasteless cardboard cookies, diet bars and unappetizing salads come to mind—at least they did for me.
But as I’ve learned, eating a low fat diet–particularly a low fat vegan diet, isn’t tasteless or limited to watery soups and naked salads. It’s a wonderful approach to eating if you’ve come to a vegan diet, at least in part, for health reasons, you need to lose a little weight, or you want to discover and experience a new way of tasting food.
Fat is delicious–there’s no denying that, but it’s a one-note flavor that often masks the delicate and subtle flavors of other ingredients. Vegetables and other foods that I previously thought were “bland” suddenly had rich and unique flavors when I stopped cooking them with oil and other fats.
Years later, I still continue to be amazed at how flavorful low fat cooking is—and how surprised people are when I tell them the meal they just ate, the dessert they just devoured, was made without fat. It surprises them because most people (and I was one of them) think you can’t have flavor without the fat.
So, why low fat?
I adopted a low fat, no added fat diet after reading Eat to Live. My motivation was to lose weight, and weight I lost. In the span of a year, my husband and I lost more weight than we previously ever thought possible and went on to complete our first marathons (having never so much as ran 5ks before).
Although my husband and I no-longer need to lose weight, we continue to eat a low fat diet for maintenance and because we feel our best when we do. Anytime we eat something that is fried (or even sauteed in oil) we feel crappy afterward. Eating too much “healthy” wholesome fat (like avocados, guacamole or raw nut butter) also leaves us in a mild food coma and if I really over do it (I love guacamole!) my stomach hurts.
There’s also a lot of research out there that eating a low fat diet is best for longevity and that heated oils create free radicals — but I’ll leave that up to the Doctors to explain (great books: Eat to Live, The McDougall Program, The End of Overeating, The Pleasure Trap, Breaking the Food Seduction, Engine 2 Diet & The China Study)
But doesn’t the body need fat?
Yes, absolutely but an important thing to remember here is that all whole foods, even foods we don’t think of as “fatty” (like, say, nuts and avocados) have fat in them. Kale, for example, has 0.5g of fat in 1 cup and a 7″ banana has 0.4g Fat.
Beans and tofu and even whole wheat flour, have a good percentage of fat in them so even if you ate nothing but vegetables, grains, legumes and fruit all day, you’d still get enough fat to meet your daily requirements.
So how to cook without fat?
Replacing fat in cooking is easy — and once you get used to eating foods without oil (oil is an addictive food like sugar and salt) you’ll find yourself in a new world of tasty possibilities. The flavors in other ingredients will start to shine through and you’ll rediscover your palate.
Cooking:
Saute in a little water (or vegetable broth) instead of oil. Onions actually become sweeter when cooked this way over frying (sauteing) them in oil. Spices also become much more fragrant since cooking in liquid helps rehydrate them.
Baking:
Applesauce is a great substitute for oil and it adds a wholesome fruit to your baked goodies. Canned pure pumpkin is also a good substitute, plus it adds beta carotene. Shredded zucchini and mashed beans also work, but can be a little tricky. Generally you can do a 1:1 replacement, but if you want your baked good to stay on the drier side (applesauce, etc. tend to make things more moist) reduce the liquid by 1 tbsp or more.
Feel free to email me with any questions you have lindsay[at]happyherbivore[dot]com and check out my first cookbook, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook and my blog, HappyHerbivore.com for some delicious (and nutritious!) fat-free and low fat vegan recipes.
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Thank you, Lindsay! I think these techniques are clever and delicious! Readers, do you have questions for Lindsay?
23 thoughts on “Vegan 101: Eating Vegan and Low Fat”
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great post something to think about for me for sure! I tend to eat a lot of fat on my vegan diet- i just love to snack on nuts and nut butter!
Yep! For me it’s avocados, nuts and nut butter but the great thing I learned from Lindsay’s post is that those fats are okay – it’s the added fat I could probably pull back on…
I have a recipe for “nut butter” and “guacamole” in the book – – they extend it out so there isn’t as much fat per serving–but still with the flavor you love–plus extra nutrients too!
thanks for having me!!!!
Great post!
Only one question: When will your next cookbook be available? I LOVE The Happy Herbivore. It’s the first cookbook I pick up when I’m wondering what to cook for dinner. I think your “Nutty Spread” recipe is pure genius. I have a small (large) addiction to nut butters — your recipe cuts the fat while keeping the all the flavor that I love. Why haven’t I seen your blog??? I will remedy that today! Thanks Lindsay!
JL, thanks for featuring Lindsay. She does amazing things in the kitchen.
Everyday Happy Herbivore will be out 12/6/11 — so Christmas-time! (and thank you!!!!) <3
Great cooking and baking tips Lindsay. I have found it easier to reduce the fat in cooked vegan food (there is nothing better than the natural creaminess of a baked sweet potato) than with raw food. Any tips for salad dressings? I have tried blended fruit dressings but I just haven’t gotten into them in the same way as an oil based dressing.
I have a lot of low fat/ fat-free /no added fat dressing recipes coming up in the next cookbook! but for now here are some of my faves:
equal parts raw agave + Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice (with or without hot sauce), using fruit and dried fruit in the salad to give it flavor and not needing dressing, bbq sauce, and I like a lot of commercial low fat dressings. Annies has quite a few.
Hi JL and Lindsay, Thank you both for doing your part to spread the word that we can lower our fat intake without sacrificing any flavor or satisfaction from eating. I believe that added fat is such a problem for us as a society (no one can argue we are not having an obesity epidemic) and that once people learn that they can just leave it out (because if you look into the research, olive oil is not a health food) their weight will start to drop. Of course things like sugar consumption is also a major player in the obesity epidemic . . . but added oil, we have to start really talking (maybe screaming) about this problem!
Thank you for this post-I am a first time commentor. I agree with a dose of caution. I got into a very deep eating disorder that started by cutting out fat from extra sources (ie not in tofu, beans, veggies ect). I’m not sure that its true that everyone can get all they require without nuts ect. I know I cannot-I got down to 2.4% body fat and lost my cycle (still waiting to get it back) through that approach-so I am cautious here:) However-I completely agree that people think of Olive oil as a healthfood and an excuse to dump umlimited amounts onto all food….just a different perspective.
Beans and tofu and even whole wheat flour, have a good percentage of fat in them so even if you ate nothing but vegetables, grains, legumes and fruit all day, you’d still get enough fat to meet your daily requirements.
It is the above that I respectfully disagree with-for active people or people that need to maintain weight or even gain a few pounds…..not gonna work.
It’s worked for me for three years 🙂 My husband too — even when we are running marathons 🙂
We eat a lot of whole grains, a LOT of leafy greens, a good amount of beans and tofu, and I can’t ever get enough of nutritional yeast or almond milk (all of these things have a good bit of fat in them).
I keep track of what I eat using MyPlate — and even on days when I eat no nuts, no avocado, no naturally fatty foods I hit 30% calories from fat. Sometimes I go over it. That’s more than enough to sustain my weight, even exercising 6x per week. I’ve been following a super triathlete thats a fruitarian–meaning he only eats fruit! That’s a bit extreme for me, but he’s thriving.
If someone needs to gain weight, it would be easiest to add some wholesome fats–like raw nuts and avocado to their diet, but they don’t have to. They could just as easily select whole foods that are high in calories (like dried fruits) to achieve weight gain.
Wow, that’s interesting because I have also tracked my intake WITH added fats and it is still usually less than 30%. I actually found by tracking that I had to add more fats to even get to 20% or so. I guess different things work for different people, though…
I agree, Jacqui. I think moderation is really key, though. I try to get most of my fat from whole sources (nuts and avocados), but I think added oils can be healthy…as long as they are not overdone. Even if trying to lose weight, healthy fats are essential for cognitive function, satiety, healthy hair, nails and so much more. That said, as a nation I think we DO tend to overdo fat, especially unhealthy fats from things like fried food. It sounds like Lindsay’s book provides creative ways to reduce our addiction to these unnecessary lipids. Hopefully it can help those seeking to cut back on these unhealthy sources. I still don’t agree that bananas, whole wheat flour, etc. can provide our daily fat needs, though.
Really interesting post! I don’t eat a low-fat diet but definitely am more wary of ‘added’ fat these days and know I should cut back on it. I do eat nuts, nut butters, avocado, tofu etc so I know I’m getting a decent amount of fat from these but the packets of crisps (chips) and other naughty foods I eat on the side are the ones I need to watch for…! Oh to have perfect willpower…
Thanks for the article. I am still trying to figure out how much fat I should be eating. I can’t eat as many nuts, seeds, oil and avocado as some people do – I gain weight sadly. I think these foods are so tasty it is easy to overdo them!
I’ll have to add that book to my kitchen! Great blog post, and what an adorable photo of Lindsay : )
Hi, I found when ever they reduced fat they (product land) replaced with sugar which is terrible stuff should be bad like druggs.
Do you add lots of sugar to get your flavor?
thank you
Diane xx
A lot of processed foods and processed food companies add sugar and other fillers to make things low fat, low sugar, low carb, low calorie, etc — which is ridiculous and why I try to only eat whole foods as opposed to things made in a factory or lab somewhere. You just can’t trust it.
*I* don’t add extra sugar, I do often ramp up the spices in savory dishes, but I think thats a good thing. One thing I’ve found with low fat baking, is I often need less sugar than baked goods WITH oil or butter. This is because I’m cutting the fat out and replacing it with bananas or applesauce — or both, which are naturally sweet on their own, making me need less sugar.
Take my chocolate muffins for example, there is only 1/2 cup of raw sugar. Most chocolate muffin recipes call for 1 cup white sugar or more. Plus I’ve also added banana, zucchini and applesauce to them–which increases the overall nutritional profile for the muffins too.
recipe:
http://happyherbivore.com/2009/01/chocolate-zucchini-muffins/
I actually did several sugar-free and sweetener-free muffins and desserts in my new cookbook. I relied and fruit for sweetness, and I like them even better.
Companies like add fillers to foods to make it low fat, low sugar, low carb, low whatever — which is why I try to stick to whole foods and homemade, rather than products made by a company or lab. You just can’t trust them.
I ramp up the spices with savory dishes since I don’t use oil, but I don’t find I need to ramp up sugar in baked goods — I find the opposite actually. Since I’m using bananas and applesauce to cut the fat and they are naturally sweet, I then need less sugar. Take my chocolate zucchini muffins for example. I use only 1/2 cup of raw sugar (most chocolate muffin recipes call for 3/4 to 1 cup refined white sugar) plus I’ve also added applesauce, bananas and zucchini–increasing the overall nutrition of the goodies too!
Just catching up–great guest post, Lindsay! Low-fat isn’t my way, but I love all of these useful kitchen tips for cutting what’s not necessary.
Having been vegetarian for 15 months I just finished a summer of gluttony, weight gain and feeling terrible. My brother turned me on to a book by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” which promotes a no added fat vegan diet. Few to no nuts and no avacodo are allowed. My brother has had tremendous results in two months with 25 lb weight loss and huge decrease in cholesterol allowing him to come off medication so I am giving it a try. My biggest difficulty is breads. I love them and haven’t been able to find any in stores without added fat and haven’t found any recipes yet. Also salt, yes I have to give that up also. Having a strong family history of heart disease I am very interested in this diet. You can see it discussed in the documentary “Forks over knives”.