21-Day Vegan Kickstart / a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) site

I joined the Kickstart to get more information about how to have a healthy vegan diet. I'm already underweight, and have all my life had a BMI < 17. I'm afraid that following the advice on cutting out the fat from my meals will make me loose even more, and thereby make me ill. I think it's a good tip to not fry in oil, since the oils properties change when it's heated, but to get the essential omega-3-acids and to keep my weight I add oil afterwords. Haven't measured my colestreol, but I guess having a BMI < 16 must be just as bad? Ofcourse adding oil to meals is not a good idea if you already have covered your need for calories and omega-3-acids.

I also thought fat was one of the macro-nutrients, along with protein and carbohydrats, that was essential to humans? Except for those who can be made out of carbohydrats?? Does anyone have more information about this? Is it really a good idea to avoid canola oil which is supposed to be rich in omega-3?

Sorry if my english is a bit clumsy, it's not my native languague.

A whole foods plant-based diet without added oils has all the essential oils you need. Flaxseeds and walnuts have good concentrations of omega 3 - as does non-GMO broccoli. There are many health problems associated with adding expelled oils to the diet.

Yet if you are looking to gain weight - or keep your weight up - on a plant-based diet, there are other ways to do it without compromising your health in the way that oils do.

1) Eat more whole grain flour products like breads and bagels. Flour is more fattening than the whole grain because the change in physical properties that comes with milling causes faster and more complete absorption of the calories and a great rise in insulin response.

2) Eat more simple sugars in the form of fruits, dried fruits and fruit juices. This will cause a greater rise in insulin in your body.

3) Eat more high-fat plant foods, like nuts (and nut butters), seeds (and seed spreads), avocados, and olives. Fats are concentrated calories.

5) Eat more high-fat soy foods. However, in general, these fake foods (like burgers, hot dogs, lunch meats, and cheeses) should be kept to a minimum because they are not very nutritious.

6) Eat more food – this is often difficult because most people already eat to the full satisfaction of their appetite. Making more delicious meals and taking more time to eat may help accomplish this.

7) Eat a greater variety of foods – new kinds of foods stimulate interest, which increases food intake.

Add salt, sugar and favorite spices to the surface of your foods. If they taste better to you then you will eat more. Plus sugar adds calories (empty calories).

9) Use salad dressing, barbecue and steak sauces (made without oils and animal products) over your dishes to make them taste better so you eat more. Many sauces also contain simple sugars that provide calories and raise insulin levels.

10) Exercise daily yet if you are going training for hours each day, cutting back may help. We all know people who are exercise fanatics and they burn 3000 to 5000 extra calories a day – making it very difficult for them to eat enough food to fully replenish the expenditure. One simple way to gain more weight, and in some ways improve your overall health, may be to exercise more moderately.

This is adapted from a document from Dr. John McDougall and you can find the report in its entirety here: