Let’s talk a little about diet and introduce a fundamental rule to follow if you want to create healthy and complete plant-based meals. This is called the VVPC principle.

It might sound complicated, like a mathematical formula, but it’s really easy to remember, meaning you’ll find it simple to create vegan meals that contain all the goodies you need. It also tells you why it’s not enough to eat 10 fruits and vegetables per day: you need carbs and protein too.

First, you need to know what the letters stand for. V stands for fruit and vegetables, P stands for protein, and C stands for carbohydrates.

This principle tells you the ideal proportions of carbohydrates, protein, fruit and vegetables you should use when preparing a meal.

Imagine splitting a plate of food into four quarters. According to VVPC, two quarters (or one half) of the plate should comprise fruit and vegetables, one quarter should comprise carbohydrates, and the remaining quarter should be protein.

What does this mean in practical terms? Let’s make this more concrete by looking at some basic examples of each of these three categories of food:

• Fruit and vegetables: leaves, salad, legumes, nuts, potatoes, brocolli, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, bananas, berries, apples, oranges, etcetera.
• Carbohydrates: rice, pasta, noodles, cous cous, quinoa, oats, oatcakes, cereals, etcetera.
• Protein: nuts, legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils), tofu, nut butters, tempeh, seitan, etcetera.

Remember the proportions in the VVPC principle: half is fruit and vegetables, a quarter is protein, and the final quarter is carbohydrates. 

The applies to lunch, breakfast, dinner and snacks. You don’t need to be super strict about these proportions for every meal, but we do recommend you include a significant amount of all three, and that overall your food consumption adheres to these proportions.

Okay, it might sound daunting to change your meals so that they follow certain proportions of foodstuffs, but it’s quite easy in practice. Eventually it becomes a habit.

Often it doesn’t require you change your habits entirely, but that you simply adapt your current meals to include what was missing.

For example, if you usually make fajitas with a vegetable-based sauce, rice, and wheat tortillas, your current veg and carb proportions are probably spot on. 

To make the perfect meal, you just need to add a protein source, like black beans, so that your meal is one half fruit and veg (peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, etc), one quarter protein (black beans), and one quarter carbohydrates (rice and tortillas).

Another example is smoothies. A fruit smoothie, though packed with vitamin- and mineral-rich produce, isn’t a complete breakfast or snack in and of itself.

To make it complete, you can either add protein and carbs to the smoothie, such as nut butters and oats, or you can accompany it with them. Eat oatcakes with nut butter, or a piece of toast with tahini. 

I think you get the point. Implementing the VVPC principle in your current meals usually means a couple of simple tweaks. It might sound insignificant, but doing this consistently means your intake of fruit, veg, carbs and protein is spot on, and over time is likely to have big health payoffs.

Apart from adapting your current recipes, there is an ultra-simple way to ensure you get the right proportions no matter what you make: buying books that create recipes that follow the VVPC principle. We recommend the book BOSH! Healthy Vegan.

Remember: whenever you’re preparing a meal or snack, think VVPC!