December 4, 2013 at 11:49 pm , by Nick Shell

3 years.

Dear Jack,

Today, rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur Jay Z has asked for my advice on his 22 day experiment with veganism, with wife Beyonce joining him.

Okay, well, I should clarify…

Jay Z isn’t asking for myspecific advice, but he is asking his fans. Given that only about 2.5% of the American population identifies as vegan, I happen to be part of that curious minority who lives the plant-based life every minute of every day.

While I’m already witnessing on the Internet a wave of criticism for his decision to try out, and possibly stick with, the vegan lifestyle, I happen to be one of the few to actually have some good advice for Jay Z.

Because when it comes to being a vegan, I know what I’m talking about.

I’m not a heckler in the crowd who mocks veganism by saying, “We’re all going to die at some point, right?” Instead, I am a living science experiment for everyone to see.

This very week makes 9 months that I’ve been a vegan (an extremely strict one, too: no honey!) and 2 whole years since I’ve been a vegetarian.

Of course, my dive into the plant-based life was several years in the making, since I started out 5 years ago by going kosher (no pork or shellfish).

And that journey led me here.

So, if by some chance Jay Z happened to read this letter I am privately writing to you today, what would be my best advice for him?

Simplify it…

It’s not about what you “can’t” eat, it’s about what you can.

I break it down into the 6 “Vegan Food Groups” or what I call, “The Big 6″:

Vegetables, fruits, beans, grain, nuts, and seeds. As a vegan, you can eat as much of those 5 things as you want. And it doesn’t take long before you realize that those 6 things are so full of protein, fiber, “good fats” and “good sugar” that you aren’t left wanting for more.

Basically, and this is only my theory, being a vegan means your cholesterol intake is more than 0% (from good fats, like avocados, cashews, coconuts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, etc.) but less than 1% (because of no animal fats). I think part of the reason vegans feel so much better after nixing animals products is because they are no longer experiencing another living (at one time) animal’s cholesterol and fat running through their veins.

Based on how much better I feel after having become a vegan 9 months ago, I believe the human body functions perfectly on more than 0% but less than 1% of the daily allowance for cholesterol.  (One large chicken egg alone equals way more than half of the daily allowance.) 

Yet, I don’t believe everyone should “go vegan.” It’s something you have to want in your heart, especially after having watched any of the following documentaries on Netflix:

Forks Over Knives, Hungry For A Change, Vegucated, The Beautiful Truth, Dying To Have Known, Supersize Me, and Food, Inc.

Also, it’s important to listen to your appetite. If you’re craving a big, fat, juicy cheeseburger, ask yourself what your body is actually craving.

A large cheeseburger contains a lot of (and by that I mean way too much!) protein and saturated fat.

So, out of vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds, which have a lot of protein and fat?

Protein: Vegetables and beans.

Fat: Nuts and seeds. (That includes avocados, cocunuts, and cashews; all of which are in weird food categories.)

But after all that, you’re still craving something sweet, like soda or candy?

Well… how many servings of fruit have your had today?

Craving sweets is your body’s way of telling you that you need the nutrients of fruits, which are packed with “good sugar” (as opposed to Monsanto-drenched high fructose corn syrup) and fiber.

The bottom line is this, your body tells you which of the “Big 6″ (vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds) you need.

The problem is, if you’ve grown up with the Western Diet of eating highly processed foods, at first, your brain only knows to speak to you in the form it recognizes by experience.

So you have to retrain your brain on where to get the best source of the nourishment it’s actually wanting.

Granted, this means there’s no such thing as a “quick bite from the drive-thru” anymore.

In the likeness of how Dave Ramsay says you have to tell your money where to go or it will tell you where to go…

You have to plan your meals out days in advance. You can’t leave it up to the mercy of a busy schedule to dictate what and when you eat.

That’s why Mommy keeps a schedule on the fridge so everyone knows all week “what’s for dinner.” (Most of her recipes are from the flawless vegan recipe website: Oh She Glows.)

Anyway, that’s what I’d tell Jay Z if he happened to somehow be reading this.

But, hey, you’re my son, you live with me and know all this stuff already first hand. It’s “normal” to you.

Or, I should say… It’s a plant-based life for us!

Love,

Daddy

Note: This is an opinion piece of the author and does not reflect Parents magazine or the medical establishment.