The Baseline

I never really questioned why I ate meat for the first 30 years of my life. It was the default. Everyone around me ate meat, so why would I question it? I knew a couple of vegans, but they felt like anomalies. I respected their choice, but figured they just loved animals a lot more than I did.

Here’s a visual representation of my omnivorous diet in all it’s protein-packed glory. You can check out the full breakdown here if you want my workings out.

The reality is that a huge portion of my diet was already plant-based. This is even when I was protein-maxxing. On average, only about 20% of my calories came from animal products. The remaining 80% came from staples like rice, oats, pasta, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes. I was eating plenty of plants simply for general health (apple a day and all that).

This split between animal and plant calories is typical for most people (plant foods supply ~82% of global calories).

This was what I considered normal to survive and thrive. However, what I found out in the next part made me rethink what my baseline should be.