“You are much healthier than three months ago”

“You have lost 5.7 kilos. And four centimeters around the waist. In three months! It’s excellent! »

Nutritionist Élise Latour, calculator in hand, estimates the total weight loss of my vegan experience. “You went there all in ! », summarizes M^me Latour. That’s the least we can say.

In 97 days of veganism, I’ve only cheated twice. I stuck strictly to a healthy vegan diet, focusing on fresh produce and whole-grain starches, which promote satiety. Another objective: avoid ultra-processed foods as much as possible, which have a long list of harmful ingredients, including many additives. This clarification is important, because it is entirely possible, these days, to adopt a vegan diet where processed products and junk food dominate.

“A plate of white pasta with tomato sauce, fries and a Coke is vegan. But it’s junk food,” summarizes cardiologist Josep Iglesies-Grau, from the Montreal Heart Institute, who agreed to accompany me on this adventure.

Dr. Iglesies-Grau and M^me Latour gave me a battery of tests before and after three months of veganism. Blood test, cardiac stress test (VO₂ max), weight measurement with a scale that measures not only the kilos you weigh, but also the percentage of fat and its distribution on the body.

Under the supervision of neuropsychologist Louis Bhéré, I also passed multiple cognitive tests. The goal: to try to determine if this new diet, by promoting heart health, could also increase brain vascularization and, therefore, cognitive performance.

The results are astonishing.

Before this experience, I was a 54-year-old woman who was very physically fit, but overweight, with high cholesterol, and bordering on the prediabetes zone. I had been medicated for years for high blood pressure and acid reflux.

If I had continued the same dietary trajectory, I was most likely on the road to diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. “You are an excellent example for prevention! », summed up Dr. Iglesies-Grau diplomatically at our first meeting.

After three months of veganism, I lost a significant percentage of my own weight, almost entirely in my abdominal area, where the most dangerous fat for heart health is located. Nearly two thirds of these pounds lost were fat.

I was able to say goodbye to my acid reflux medication. My bad cholesterol level has decreased. My glucose level decreased, so did my insulin resistance. My VO₂ max – already above average – improved by almost 20 percentage points… even though I was careful to maintain the same level of exercise.

On the cognitive level, the neuropsychologist Louis Bhéré observed the same curve. “There has been a marked improvement in almost all of your tests,” he said. Memory, verbal fluency, speed of information processing, ability to perform two tasks simultaneously… Of course, there is a “learning effect” in this type of cognitive test, which can lead to an improvement in results , he nuances.

However, the results of another brain imaging test, which this time objectively measures brain activity, confirm the results obtained in the cognitive tests. “You performed the task better, with less mental effort,” he analyzes.

“The bottom line from your experience is that lifestyle has an impact. This is what we see in research: 45% of dementia risks are modified when people make these kinds of changes. It’s huge. »

I admit, the first two weeks of the experience were difficult. At the grocery store, seeing all these displays that are now inaccessible to me – meats, fish, cold cuts, cheeses, eggs – makes me dizzy. But what am I going to eat for three months?

We had to find new references, new recipe sites, other ways of designing a meal. The feeling of loss was significant. But several interviews with vegan people gave me a boost.

“I’ve always loved cooking, and now I felt like I had a whole new box of colored pencils! », told me Catherine Gélinas, head dresser in the cinema industry, who became vegan for health reasons.

Catherine Gélinas and the others helped me discover these new colored pencils. Julien, for example, who works as an inspector in Canadian slaughterhouses, became vegan after working in certain provinces where kill floors are immense. He also asked us to change his name so as not to suffer consequences at his work.

“Slaughtering is done very correctly in Canada. But I realized the impact it had, the number of animals that die every day so that we can eat meat. It hit me like a truck, he says. One day, I said to myself: enough is enough! » Julien gave me a ton of recipes, techniques, ingredients and tips.

It was thanks to them, and to Élise Latour, that I discovered nutritional yeast – nicknamed vegan parmesan, which gives a cheesy taste without cheese; textured vegetable protein (PVT) – what remains of the soybean once the oil has been extracted, which is dried and packaged in sachets. Once rehydrated, the product imitates ground meat really well. Honestly, in chili or tacos, all you’ll see is fire.

By week 3, I felt like I was starting to master my new colored pencils by designing my own vegan shepherd’s pie. The PVT rehydrated with a mixture of mushroom broth and red wine, browned in a generous glug of olive oil, mushrooms, onions and chopped garlic. Mashed potatoes with vegetable butter and oat drink, corn and presto, in the oven. Really good.

Along the same lines, I discovered the virtues of quinoa, hulled barley and chickpea flour. I found dozens of – delicious – recipes for legumes and tofu. Does the word “tofu” make you cringe? You’ll never see it the same way again after trying Geneviève O’Gleman’s chocolate and tofu mousse or the smoked meat de tofu de marque TofuTofu.

But the real test of foodie vegan has arrived at Thanksgiving. I wanted to receive. Was this really possible in vegan mode? My colleague Alice Girard-Bossé gave me the recipe for mushroom Wellington from New York Times Cooking. A gourmet and spectacular dish. With a green salad and beetroot tartare as a starter, the meal was a success.

So I remained strictly vegan, but I did not become an ascetic. I ate certain ultra-processed foods, including my guilty pleasure, chips. I drank wine regularly. I have eaten out, including, on a few occasions, fast food restaurants. I also realized that the majority of these establishments offer vegan options.

And no, I wasn’t hungry. Plants and legumes are full of fiber, the feeling of satiety was total after a meal. I often even had trouble finishing my plates!

No, I didn’t miss out on protein either. I did a little calculation for you: a beet tartare with roasted pumpkin seeds, a slice of whole wheat bread and a cup of oat drink enriched with pea protein, that’s 31 grams of protein in total , as much as in a chicken breast!

However, going vegan was a lot of work. The menus had to be planned more. Search for recipes. Acquire new techniques. Dealing with some disaster meals: the tempeh, in particular, which didn’t go down at all, and most of the “fauxmages”, a big blah.

And now the question that burns on your lips: did I continue? No, I didn’t become a vegan for life. I missed certain foods – cheese, for example – a lot. I reintroduced them, in more limited quantities, into my weekly menu. However, several products – cow’s milk, minced meat – have definitely left my life. My goal: to maintain a three-quarters plant-based diet, with occasional products from the animal world.

“Veganism is not a religion,” summarizes Catherine Gélinas. You have to give yourself a break, pat yourself on the back when you try new things, and never, ever fall into guilt. »

Do what I didn’t do: take it gradually. One meal a week, then two… And I bet you will find yourself enjoying your new colored pencils too.