Thumpy Rose We noticed there are some dishes that make plant-eaters (vegans, vegetarians, plant-based, who else?) either nauseous or hungry. But close observation into this unpopular topic shows that trending social media recipes un-earthed another type of bad relationship with food which some people side with. Food that makes them hangry are no-cook meal ideas and raw food diet recipes. We are pausing our vegetarian African food travel to bring you this insight about healthy food trends. If you are new here, we offer traditional African recipes for you to cook at home and enjoy the local experience without leaving your house. Sounds yummy and affordable right? Sign up for the monthly Digest Newsletter to never miss an update.
It seems those who didn’t learn how to cook are big fans of no-cook meal ideas and raw food diet recipes. Healthy food trends keep coming. We will not shame anyone here, we just bring awareness to newbies of the plant-protein lifestyle. We intend to warn people that these healthy food trends can be dangerous to your stomach, health, and wallet because vegetables and fruits are not cheap! And if eaten wrong, you can waste their benefits.
Beware of the following healthy food trends: acai bowls, salads, juicing, & supplements.
The raw vegetables-trendy food pitfalls
Nutritionists speak strongly about why we need to cook our meals, including vegetables. They warn us about why cooked meals are good for us. Y’all, I fell for the so-called innocent ruse of the raw, healthy, “get it fresh quickly” bandwagon too. When I started my vegetarian African food journey, I tried the juicing strategy, and I tried salads. Because those two didn’t work for me, I didn’t dare try the supplements though, for the reasons listed below:
1. Juicing hurts the stomach – Social Media Recipes Mishap
The lure of juicing came from social media recipes and aesthetics. I was bombarded with so many no-cook meal ideas on every platform, including Television. They know how to sell us ways to maintain a bad relationship with food, since their raw food diet recipes are everywhere! Healthy food trends stalk us!
Back then (2018-2019), it was easy for me to jump on the bandwagon. They are selling you the idea of healthy, fresh, quick, and easy. Of course, I wouldn’t want to cook vegetarian African food that takes an hour when I could be healthy in 10 minutes! But from experience, juicing hurt my stomach right after I drank the pureed spinach, fruits/berries/nuts mixture. I still tried juicing for weeks and the results were that my Adam’s apple and stomach hurt. And what’s more, I wasn’t even full! But eating bread or oatmeal seemed to fix the pain immediately and left me more satisfied. Strange right?
I forgot about this pain until recently (2023) when I tried juicing again using fresh vegetables and fruits, but my body reminded me of what I forgot. Juicing hurts me, and makes my body hyper-hungry right after consumption. So I’ll continue my cooked vegetarian African food instead.
2. Salads for Plant-eaters are a Hangry Trigger -Social Media Recipes Mishap
Hangry means hungry and angry; two dangerous combos. Healthy food trends prey on the “green salad means healthy” mentality. But trust me, if you want to live the plant-protein lifestyle, you can do so without plain leafy salads. People add a combination of other protein vegetables that they think will combat the pain of eating water (leafy greens are fibrous water 😊). For example, they will add broccoli, quinoa, avocado, asparagus, or spinach. These are added to offer balance, which works if you look at it from a vitamins or satiation angle. But Oga, is it edible? How long can you chew? Inspect most Acai bowls, they add tough, raw, or cooked vegetables to “fix” the plain salad. Have you eaten chickpeas with dragon fruit before? Why would you add asparagus, broccoli, and chickpeas in the same bowl? It’s an overkill and the stomach becomes vexed with you!
We are not selling you vegetarian African food. We simply ask newbies to the plant-proteins lifestyle to ask themselves this before attempting no-cook meal ideas or raw food diet recipes. Do you know what each vegetable tastes like on its own? Some have stronger taste and texture and will overpower other vegetables. Thus the inedibility factor (or vomit factor). If you do not know the taste of such a vegetable or fruit on its own, do not eat it combined with other foods that are unfamiliar to you. Gently introduce new vegetables/fruits to your taste buds. Some of these acai bowls, and salad combos are questionable. Those social media recipes are for aesthetics. They sell how to have a bad relationship with food but just disguise it with many no-cook meal ideas and raw food diet recipes that sound cool and easy. Remember, veggies are not cheap!
Answer these questions to help you avoid such pitfalls:
- What is your chewing preference?
- Do you have 1 hour to eat/chew?
If you swallow your food, eat fast, and chew less, most acai/buddha bowls are a choking hazard for you so avoid them. If you chew your food slowly and take 1 hour to eat, live your best life. But healthy isn’t perfect, don’t try to be.
3. Healthy Food Trends Offer Supplements Along with no cook meal ideas
This is another one of those healthy food trends that hunts/hurts us! They know how to sell you a bad relationship with food. I say ‘you’ because they didn’t get me on this trick. On the principle of, why take medicine for dietary fiber, when I can eat the actual bread, rice, pasta, or vegetable. Plus, have you seen the size of those pills? Can you say choking hazard? They sell no-cook meal ideas and raw food diet recipes, and they come back and say “Just supplement with pills whatever food vitamin you are lacking.”
Let us put vegetarian African food recipes aside, our generation is combating many shams and tricksters in healthy food trends. I found that popularized social media recipes increased the bad relationship with food. I accepted that I am a basic lady, I love warm rice or millet porridge, and stewed bean meals make me feel warm and fuzzy. These vegetarian African meals are not all pretty to look at but they save me.
Related: 4 Ways to Avoid Plantbased Fatigue
4. Nausea, stomach pain & health issues are real with the plants lifestyle
Most of the influencers who sold no-cook meal ideas and other healthy food trends have changed their minds. Some spoke honestly about their diagnosis and some quietly went back to eating meat or fish. We think it is important for you to know what can happen if you behave too “perfectly” in the plant-protein lifestyle. Take this picture below as an example, it looks pretty, colorful, and healthy. However, is it edible? Your body speaks, abeg listen.
But anyways, which other healthy food trends would you like to hear us speak the truth on? Where do you think raw food diets or no-cook meal ideas came from? Apart from some deceitful social media recipes, which have you found helpful among the whirlwind of healthy food trends? Comment below. Curious about a no-animal-meat food lifestyle? Check out our Instagram page for real-life inspirations
