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The Plant Powered Collective Podcast helps women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond live vibrantly and nourish boldly. Hosted by integrative nutrition coach Lori Willinski, each episode blends science-backed nutrition with approachable strategies for hormone balance, energy, and healthy aging. Rooted in lifestyle medicine and personalized coaching, Lori shares her story of thriving on plants since age 14 and managing autoimmune disease with nutrition. Discover how a plant powered lifestyle fuels not only your health, but also your leadership and your future self.
Hey there. Welcome back to the Plant Powered Collective Podcast. Today's conversation is personal, practical, and honestly, a little bit vulnerable for me in the best way because we're going to talk about something that does not get nearly enough attention even in the health space legumes and bowel movements. Yep, poops. Yeah, we're gonna go there.
Speaker 1:Because if we're talking about gut health, we need to talk about what's actually happening in the body not just what's on the plate. And what sparked this episode is something I realized recently. Even as someone who has been plant based for more than four decades, I wasn't eating enough legumes. And once I started paying attention in making a few simple shifts, I noticed some meaningful changes. My name is Lori Walinski and I am the founder and integrated nutrition coach for The Plant Powered Collective.
Speaker 1:So today I want to walk you through why I wasn't eating them, what changed, and when I added them back in, how this connects to something we all experience but don't always talk about. This week we're talking about legumes, digestion and elimination. Let's dive in. Because I think the reason why I wasn't eating many legumes is where a lot of you might see yourselves. It wasn't one big, huge reason.
Speaker 1:It was two very real, very human things why I wasn't eating legumes, habit and texture. First, let's talk about habit. I had gotten into a rhythm with tofu as my primary protein source. It's easy. It's consistent, and it's something I know how to prepare in multiple ways.
Speaker 1:So my meal started to look very similar. In the morning, tofu scramble. In the afternoon, for lunch, tofu leftover from the night before. And for dinner, tofu, either a stir fry or baked or air fried in some way, shape, or form tofu. And, also, actually, I blend tofu and make, you know, like, a ricotta cheese out of it so I could make creamy pasta dishes.
Speaker 1:And, again, nothing is wrong with tofu. But when we rely too heavily on one food, we lose diversity, and diversity is everything when it comes to gut health. The second piece is something I don't think we talk enough about, texture. I like crunchy and firm foods. I like foods that have a little bit of a bite to them because I love the act of chewing.
Speaker 1:I love tasting food. I love chewing food. Yeah. And a lot of legumes, let's be honest, are soft and sometimes super soft and mushy. And over time, I realized I was subconsciously avoiding them because they didn't match the textures I naturally gravitate toward.
Speaker 1:And if you're nodding your head right now, you are not alone. Food is not just about nutrition, but it's about the experience of food. Right? So this is how I worked with texture instead of against texture. So instead of forcing myself to eat food in a way that I didn't enjoy, I started getting curious.
Speaker 1:How can I make legumes work for me? And this is where things shifted. First, I discovered or rather I reintroduced lupini beans. If you've never had lupini beans, they're a completely different experience. They are firm, crunchy.
Speaker 1:They're almost snack like. If you're in Southwest Florida, I buy them at the Italian market, Doromo's, and, they are so good. They're not mushy at all, and they became an easy entry point for me because they were something that I actually wanted to eat. And then I started changing how I prepared other legumes, like roasting chickpeas so they have a crispy texture. What I do now is when I'm making a baked potato or a baked sweet potato, I'll just put some chickpeas on on the roasting pan as well so that they get they roast and they get nice and crispy.
Speaker 1:I like cooking lentils until just tender, but they're still holding their shape. They're still, like, have a little bit of a crunch to them. I also like using beans in mixed dishes where texture comes from layering, like adding raw vegetables or seeds that offer a crunch. And this is the key. You don't have to change your preferences.
Speaker 1:You just have to adjust your preparation. I know that sounds like a little confusing. Even when I'm saying it now, I'm like, you don't have to change your preferences, just your preparation. How does that actually work? So just to say this clearly, you know, soft foods aren't bad.
Speaker 1:In many cases, they're easier to digest, and they're incredibly nourishing. But when you combine textures like I like, you create a more satisfying and sustainable way of eating. So once I started consistently adding legumes back into my lifestyle and on my plate, I noticed changes pretty quickly. And the most obvious one was digestion, more specifically, bowel movements. And I wanna talk about this in a real way because it matters.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you something. Do you pay attention to your bowel movements? Not in, like, a hyper obsessive way, but as feedback, because they are one of the most direct signals your body gives you about what's going on internally. When we increase fiber, especially from legumes, we are supporting the entire digestive process. Here's what healthy bowel movements generally look like.
Speaker 1:So you're going regularly, ideally once a day, sometimes more depending on your body. The shape is formed but soft. Think smooth, easy to pass, not hard and loose. The size is substantial enough to feel complete, and this is important. There's no straining.
Speaker 1:There is a sense of ease. Elimination is not just about comfort, it is about detoxification. It is about how your body removes waste, excess hormones, and byproducts of metabolism. When bowel movements are irregular it can impact energy, bloating, hormone balance, skin, even mood. And what I noticed when I increased legumes was more consistency, better formation, and just an overall sense that my body was functioning more efficiently.
Speaker 1:I know this might feel like a conversation we don't normally have, and it might even be a little bit uncomfortable. But this is real health, and it's a real determinant of how our body is working. And this is how nutrition shows up in your everyday life. From a science perspective, this makes sense. Legumes are rich in soluble fiber, which helps form stool and regulate digestion.
Speaker 1:They also contain resistant starch, which feeds beneficial gut bacteria. Those bacteria produce compounds that support gut lining health and reduces inflammation. So what you're seeing externally through digestion is actually a reflection of what's happening internally at a much deeper level. So if you're thinking, okay. I wanna try this because I, you know, I wanna poop better.
Speaker 1:I want to have better elimination. Here's where to start. Keep it simple. Add lentils to something you already eat. Mix beans into your grain bowls.
Speaker 1:Try roasted chickpeas for crunch and have them as a snack at night. Add lupini beans as a snack, as a salad topper, or I also love to add it into my pasta dishes. Because let's face it, lupini beans are Italian. And most importantly, start gradually. Let your body adjust.
Speaker 1:And I want to leave you with a few questions. What textures do you naturally enjoy? How might that be influencing the foods you choose? And what is your body telling you through your digestion? Because when you start to listen, really listen, your body gives you so much information.
Speaker 1:Let me know about these questions and what you think about them and how you answered them. And then maybe how you added some type of nutrition or changed a habit based on your answers. My email address is Lori@PlantPoweredCollective.com, or you can message me through any one of the social media platforms. The handle is at The Plant Powered Collective. I would love to hear from you because I know I just went through this journey myself, and I'd love to hear about your journey.
Speaker 1:What? If there's one takeaway from today, it's this. You don't need to overhaul everything to support your health. Sometimes it's about noticing what's missing and gently bringing it back in like I did. For me, right, it was legumes.
Speaker 1:And the impact has been meaningful. So this week try adding one serving a day, paying attention to how you feel, how satiated you feel, how your mood is, how your energy level is, how your bowel movements are. And I would truly love to hear from you. Send me a message, share your experience, or join the Plant Powered Collective community. The link is in the show notes.
Speaker 1:And if this episode felt helpful, it with someone who might need a simple supporting shift in their nutrition. Also be on the lookout because I will also have in the show notes a link to a gut health check guide. I said that slowly so that I didn't come out with too much of my Boston accent. And next week we'll continue building on gut health and diversity in a way that fits into your real life. So until then, nourish boldly and live vibrantly.
Speaker 1:I look forward to connecting with you all in the next podcast, always published on Monday morning.