I Tried a 21-Day Vegan Kickstart with GreenFare Cafe

I’ll cut right to the chase.  Here’s a two-word summary of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program offered by GreenFare Cafe:  It works!

GreenFare Cafe helps class participants tackle the Kickstart program originated by Dr. Neal Barnard and the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine.  GreenFare adds their own special twist:  the restaurant provides all of the lunches and dinners for 21 days.  They even toss in a bonus:  the first day’s breakfast, a take-out container of Overnight Oats.

The Kickstart program offered by GreenFare is designed to make it easy for participants to transition to a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet.  The restaurant removes the obstacle of learning a new way to prepare food — at least initially — and then offers cooking classes during the program so that participants will be able to continue the new lifestyle when the program ends.  The only foods that participants need to provide during the Kickstart are breakfasts, plus fruit or side salads to eat alongside the lunches and dinners from GreenFare.

What’s the Objective?

The goal of the program is to enable participants to significantly improve their health in only 21 days:  lowering blood pressure, melting away pounds, reducing the risk of heart disease, and reversing diabetes.  These are worthy objectives, given the rampant rates of chronic disease in our country.  And the intended result is that participants will be so impressed by their results, and so well equipped with the tools that are presented in the class sessions, that they will continue the low-fat, WFPB lifestyle.

It might seem strange that I would sign up for the program, because I have already been vegan for two years — after being vegetarian for more than 30 years.  I’d adopted a vegetarian diet in my 20’s to address some digestive complaints, so from then on I had always loaded my plate with high-fiber foods and had eschewed meats, white breads and (most!) junk food.  And for many years it had worked well for me.  I have maintained a healthy weight — around 125 lbs — on my 5’4” frame for more than four decades. I am on very few medications and live an active lifestyle, which includes plenty of aerobic exercise and even some weight training.  Still, I had several good reasons to convert to veganism several years ago, including some disturbing results on a colonoscopy — during which my doctor found both polyps and lesions.  While ditching dairy and eggs had resolved that alarming problem (Hooray!  No more polyps! No more lesions!), I had other good reasons to sign up for the program.  First, I wanted to support the fitness goals of my husband (Mark) and daughter (Dana), both of whom had expressed interest in losing weight and becoming healthier.  Signing up for the program as a group offered the important benefit of built-in family support and camaraderie.  Second, I wanted to find out if there might be tweaks I could make to my own diet that would improve my total cholesterol and LDL levels, which had remained borderline high — even after dropping dairy and eggs two years ago.  The main change in my own diet during the 21-Day Kickstart program was the elimination of salt, oil, and sugar, which I had still been consuming in small amounts.

It Began with a Test

Most classes end with a test, but this one also begins with one — a blood test.  We did the obligatory overnight fasting and went to a lab to have our blood drawn, and very soon we received the results.  All three of us had lipid panel scores that could stand some improvement.  So we launched into the program and hoped for a positive change by the end of 21 days.

The educational component of the program was presented in four Tuesday-night sessions.  At each session we ate a hearty dinner and chatted with other participants before the instruction started.  During the first couple of classes, we watched educational videotapes featuring the incomparable Dr. Neal Barnard.  In a series of informative and entertaining episodes, he explained why and how to adopt a whole-foods, plant-based diet.  And the instructors from the restaurant (owner Gwyn and operations manager Pericles) provided additional information and fielded our questions.

Each class participant left the Tuesday night classes with a large paper bag full of take-out containers (made of compostable materials which could go into our backyard bins when emptied).  During the 21 days, we had the chance to sample a wide variety of WFPB, “SOS-free” meals, all made without added salt, oil, and sugar. Take a look at my Instagram feed to see photos of many of the meals.  Some of my favorites included Jackfruit BBQ over Brown Rice, Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo, Black Bean Chili with Brown Rice, Aloo Gobi, and Cauliflower and Green Pea Curry.

With our diets already being very close to the meals that GreenFare was providing, it was not too difficult for Mark and me to make the switch from my cooking. I was more worried about Dana’s adjustment, so I invested some energy in making some treats (conforming to the diet’s guidelines) that she could enjoy if the temptation to deviate from the program became too great.  I periodically whipped up batches of “nice cream,” made by blending naturally-sweet, frozen bananas with fruit or cocoa.  I experimented with different flavors, and one of my favorites was Lemon Ginger Nectarine “nice cream.”  Of course, it is tough to beat good old chocolate “nice cream” — made with only frozen bananas, unsweetened cocoa, vanilla extract, and a bit of non-dairy milk to help it blend.  I also developed a recipe for Vegan Date-Nut Snack Bites, which are a healthier version of my grandmother’s so-called Skillet Cookies.  The “nice cream” and date-nut treats enabled all of us to stave off temptation and stick to the program.  And by the end of the first week Dana reported that she had already lost several pounds!

Valuable Lessons

Some of the most valuable lessons in our Tuesday night classes were: 1) learning to cook easy-yet-nutritious WFPB meals in only 8 minutes, using canned beans, frozen vegetables, a whole-grain starch, and a salt-free spice packet; and 2) diving into the mathematics of label reading, which is a skill that must be used whenever you are selecting packaged foods.  Without these skills, it could be difficult for a participant to continue the WFPB lifestyle after the program ends.  Another option for continuing the lifestyle is to buy pre-packaged meals from GreenFare, which makes batches of meals available on a bi-weekly basis.

Fast Forward to Post-Program Test Results

At the end of the program, all three of us rolled up our sleeves at the lab for the post-program blood tests.  The results are impressive.  As shown on the chart, all of us had a significant drop in total cholesterol:  10% for Mark and 15% for both Dana and me.  We saw similar improvements in our levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides; most notably, a 23% drop in my LDL cholesterol, and a 30% drop in Mark’s triglycerides.  In Only Three Weeks.  Also, Dana lost 10 pounds and I lost two.

Key Points to Take Away

The bullets below contain some of the most important concepts that we learned in the classes and in the book that we read during the program:  21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart by Dr. Neal Barnard.

• The 21-Day Kickstart program is not intended to be a “diet” that you adopt for a certain amount of time to lose weight and then return to your previous eating habits — as some people might do on the Atkins-style high-protein diet.  The Kickstart program teaches participants a healthy way of eating that can be continued for a lifetime.
• You won’t improve your health by converting from regular junk food to vegan junk food.  (However, if you are going to eat some junk food anyway, I would always argue for the vegan variety on account of the enormous ethical and environmental issues involved with the meat, egg, dairy, and seafood industries.)
• Humans are evolutionarily primed to search for calorie-dense foods, because these rich foods provide stored energy reserves for when the famine comes.  But for most of us, the famine never comes, so the result is obesity and chronic diseases.  The companies who manufacture processed foods understand this drive, so they market calorie-dense foods to us (often packed with fat and sugar) while simultaneously proclaiming their supposed health benefits on the front of the package.
• It is entirely possible to get sufficient protein from plant sources.  (Look at elephants.)  The recommended amount of protein for humans is around 8 – 10% of our calories, which is easily met on a low-fat, WFPB diet.
• Not all calories are created equal.  Refined foods contain concentrated calories, and the beneficial fiber has been removed — thereby encouraging overeating because the stomach does not feel full.  Thus, it is better to eat an orange than orange juice, an olive rather than olive oil, and whole grain bread rather than white bread.
• When you are selecting packaged foods, learn to read nutrition labels so that you can determine the amount of fiber, fat, and added sugars in those processed foods.  Ignore the health claims on the front of the package.

Bottom Line

Since obtaining my post-program test results, I have been considering the implications.  Eliminating oil and sugar from my vegan diet had a surprising effect on my blood lipids — even though I normally try to use these ingredients sparingly when I cook, and I have generally been careful about analyzing the labels of packaged foods.  At any rate, it is clear that continuing on the SOS-free diet will result in significant health benefits for me.

It’s also worth noting that I had already seen noteworthy health benefits when I eliminated the dairy and eggs from my diet two years ago but kept some limited salt, oil, and sugar.  So I would say that *any* movement along the continuum from the Standard American Diet to a vegan diet is likely to provide some worthwhile health benefits.  And, as shown by our experience, the further you go, the better the results will be.

Suggestions for GreenFare

The GreenFare class already has hundreds of graduates, so it is generally operated like a well-tuned machine.  Still, I do have a couple of suggestions to offer. 

For many people, giving up meat and dairy (especially cheese!) will be a significant challenge, and sticking to a whole-foods, plant-based, SOS-free diet will be difficult.  I would advise teaching the class participants how to make some simple, program-compliant treats that follow the dietary guidelines so that folks have a means to avoid temptation when it strikes.  In our family, the “nice cream” and my Date-Nut Snack Bites did the trick.  These are easy recipes that could be taught in one of the classes.

Here is my reasoning:  If periodically having this kind of treat keeps someone from completely giving up the low-fat WFPB lifestyle, it’s well worth it.  I believe that this is another tool that GreenFare could give its program participants to help them succeed.  After all, it’s not “cheating” or “deviating,” as both of these recipes are made from whole-plant ingredients, and neither of them contains added refined oils or sugar (and there’s just a pinch of salt in the date bites, which could be eliminated).

A second possible improvement would be for one of the instructors to have a wrap-up conference with each participant.  This conversation would make it possible to determine which of that participant’s goals were met, what goals were missed, and what steps could be taken going forward.

And those are my only suggestions for possible program improvement.  Otherwise, GreenFare, keep up the great work!

Postscript (September 13, 2018)

In the week since the program has ended, I have lost an additional pound.  This is significant not only because it’s that stubborn belly fat, but because it means I have adjusted my cooking techniques to fit the program.  I now saute cut veggies in broth rather than oil, and I’m finding ways to make desserts with whole-plant sweeteners such as dates.  If I can do it, so can you!  And if you are looking for resources to help you try this lifestyle, I would suggest the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and also Forks Over Knives and the Engine 2 Diet.