Most of our meals are nominally gluten-free, meaning they have no specific ingredients with gluten, but it’s possible that trace amounts are present. We are not a gluten-free kitchen, so our meals are not certified as such. In particular, one of our meals does use organic whole grain wheat (bulgur): the Tex Mex savory bowl.  You can see all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/meals/ Simply click on each meal to see a description, the ingredients, and the basic nutritional information. If you have been clinically diagnosed with celiac disease by a licensed medical professional (using blood tests and a biopsy), we advise not using our meals. Otherwise and in general, if you suspect you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), consider working with a licensed lifestyle medicine professional (RD or MD) who can carefully review your current actual diet, while following an evidence-based protocol to properly diagnose the situation. A careful and thorough diagnosis can save you a lot of needless worry, avoid incorrect dietary restrictions (and missed social events), and avoid wasted money on unhealthy foods. Certified gluten-free products can easily cost 3× more, while still being highly processed and loaded with added sugar, saturated animal fats, and salt. Put another way, it’s important to distinguish between refined, ultra-processed, high glycemic-index, and nutrient-poor wheat products, versus minimally processed, fiber-rich, low glycemic-index, high-nutrient whole grains.  The vast majority of Americans eat far too much of the former, which include:

• Bread, bagels, and tortillas from white/refined flour
• Cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, and pretzels from white/refined flour
• Pizza from white/refined wheat flour
• Pastas from white/refined wheat
• Ready-to-eat cereals from white/refined wheat

We all recognize the above foods, which are ubiquitous in developed countries.  By contrast, few recognize, and regularly eat, minimally processed wheat products like wheatberries, or cracked whole wheat (bulgur, freekeh), or other whole grain wheat foods. Furthermore, practically all the above ultra-processed wheat products come with added processed sugar, processed (saturated) fats, and lots of salt — unhealthy additives that are very cheap, increase shelf life, and above all, are now provably addictive (esp. sugar, fat) on top of the addictive properties of refined flour itself. Small wonder that when people reduce or eliminate such refined wheat products, they often feel better (better energy, better sleep, better mood) — but it’s easy to mistake correlation for causality, i.e. in dropping processed foods, much more (and worse) than gluten was cut from entering the body. One more wrinkle to NCGS that’s worth mentioning: Anecdotally, many people who suspect gluten sensitivity (e.g. brain fog, poor sleep, depression, or an upset stomach after eating white flour bread or typical baked goods) experience fewer or no issues after eliminating processed food from their diets, and/or eating organic wheat products. These outcomes suggest one possible cause is the heavy use of pesticides (e.g. glyphosate) in conventional wheat foods.  It has become a common practice to use pesticides (with glyphosate as a primary chemical) on conventional crops like wheat, soy, corn, etc. shortly before and/or after harvesting (as a desiccant for faster drying, or with conventional wheat, to kill the crop for early harvesting), which can greatly increase the presence of those chemicals in conventional, non-organic consumer food products. To learn more about allergies, gluten, glyphosate and the effects it has on the human body, we recommend listening to this Rich Roll podcast interview with Dr. Zach Bush: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/zach-bush-353/ as well as his second return interview here: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/zach-bush-414/ 

Thanks for your interest in LeafSide! Currently, our Broccoli Cashew Alfredo and Thai Veggie Noodle savory bowls have soy curls.

Additionally, all of our soups and savory bowls contain miso powder to offset the negative effects of sodium in salt, but you may request for your meals to SOS-free if you would like to omit the miso and sea salt (the choice is to have either both of those ingredients or neither). You can learn more about why we add miso to our dishes with salt, and how to request SOS-free meals at the following link: https://www.goleafside.com/faq/single-faq/do-your-products-conform-to-the-no-sos-guidelines-no-added-salt-oil-or-sugar/

You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

If you have an allergy to soy, please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination since we do use soy ingredients in our kitchen.

Please let us know what other questions you have, and we hope to see you on the LeafSide!

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide!

At this time, all of our meals, except the Blue Brilliance smoothie, Creamy Potato Leek soup, Goji Peach Paradise sweet bowl, Lentil Tomato Pasta savory bowl, Madras Curry savory bowl, Thai Veggie Noodle savory bowl, and Tropical Bliss smoothie, include nuts because we follow Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen guidelines. He recommends 1/4 cup of nuts/seeds or 2 tablespoons of nut/seed butter per day. The scientific evidence for their health benefits is very strong.

Please click here to learn more about why we include nuts: https://www.goleafside.com/faq/single-faq/what-why-fat-in-leafside-meals/

Additionally, this recent article by Dr. Joel Fuhrman is helpful to learn more about the benefits of eating nuts and seeds: https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/eat-to-live-blog/168/the-attack-against-nuts-and-seeds-getting-nuttier-all-the-time

That said, we plan to offer more nut-free recipes in the future as we continue to grow and expand our offerings. You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

For those with allergies, please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination since we do use tree nuts in our kitchen.

Thanks for your question!

We add mushrooms to many of our recipes due to their high content of ergothioneine. It’s a nominal amount as it doesn’t take much for the desired effect. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s more about that antioxidant from our website:

“Obtained only through diet, and most abundant in mushrooms, ergothioneine is a newly found antioxidant that our cells have specific receptors for. It may represent a new vitamin that can uniquely enter a cell’s nucleus and mitochondria, concentrating wherever there’s high oxidative stress, like the eyes.”

Thanks for your question!

You’re welcome to review the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

Please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination for any ingredients used in our kitchen.

For those with allergies to specific herbs or spices (parsley, oregano, basil, etc.), please reach out to us by email at [email protected]. We primarily use common household spices in our meals under the umbrella of spices and herbs, but we’d be happy to review our recipes on your behalf for less common allergens.

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide! We appreciate that everyone has different taste preferences, so we do our best to offer a diverse range of meals to accommodate as many people as possible. Spicy heat is a difficult thing to qualify because it’s different for everyone. We may think a recipe is not spicy at all, but you may find it to be intolerable.

We do separate herbs and spices that some may consider being spicy hot from our Spices and Herbs umbrella to help you review which meals will work best for you! You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

In general, if you don’t like spicy heat, we would recommend Broccoli Cashew Alfredo, Creamy Forest Mushroom, Creamy Potato Leek Soup, Pesto & Peppers Pasta, our 4 sweet bowls, and any of our 6 smoothies.

Please note that our meals include a fair amount of herbs and spices for flavor since we do not add sugar or oil, and they are very low in sodium. If you aren’t considering the added sugar, oil, and/or salt that may be in your current diet, your taste buds may find 100% whole food plant-based meals like LeafSide very different from what you’re used to eating. There’s generally a 1-3 month adjustment period (during which your taste buds will regrow, literally) for most people who are transitioning to a whole food plant-based diet.

With the possible exception of people suffering from advanced heart disease, whose doctors have ordered a low-fat diet for medical reasons like reversing atherosclerosis, the human body needs significant amounts of dietary fat to function properly — the main issue is what kind of fats, from what sources.

As researchers have noted, between the long-lived populations of the “Blue Zones” there is a wide range of fat intakes, from the 10-12% fat of Okinawan diets, to around 30% for some Mediterranean groups like Icaria, or Sardinia. What these long-lived peoples have in common is that the sources of fat are minimally processed, and from plants: nuts, seeds, avocados, or whole olives more than olive oil.  Even when oil is used, it’s minimally processed, e,g. made directly from mechanical pressing without further chemical treatments.

The least healthy fat is saturated fat, where the balance of evidence continues to show strong associations with heart disease risk.  But even there, the source of saturated fats matter: it’s animal or processed saturated fats that are strongly associated with worsening cholesterol (thus raising heart disease risk), and lipotoxicity (increasing type 2 diabetes risk), while also bringing unwanted toxins like pesticides, growth hormones, glycotoxins, etc. which are stored in animals’ fat cells.

By comparison, plant fats in their whole form are generally clean, and loaded with supporting antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber. Even with the whole plant foods containing more saturated fat (e.g. whole coconut flakes), the fiber and other nutrients counteract the typical bad effects of saturated fats. But this kind of “package deal” of foods is not at all conveyed on current food label standards.

The short answer is, YES! All meals are either SOS-free by default, or have that option.

All LeafSide products come with zero added oil or sugar; zip, nada, zero  We have had that constraint — of no added sugar and no processed (nutrient-stripped) ingredients — from the beginning of our product development.

All of LeafSide’s sweet meals (smoothies and sweet-bowls) are SOS-free: no added sugar, oil, salt.

For our savory dishes (soups and savory-bowls) there are two options: the first is low-salt & miso, using a minimal amount of sea salt and miso powder, which has been shown to remarkably offset the negative effects of sodium in salt, even when the effective amount of sodium in miso is the same.  We also follow Dr. Greger’s low sodium rule, that a meal should have its milligrams of sodium (mg) number, be less than its calories (kCal) number, e.g. here’s our popular Tex-Mex savory bowl with a sodium number lower than its calories number — a rule which holds for all our meals.

Why: With our savory meals, minimizing and cutting the salt is a balancing act of what tastes good, and health concerns from current nutrition science.  Most of the population regularly eats far too much salt/sodium (as that is the cheapest way to increase flavor and increase the addictive aspect of food) and their taste buds are used to high salt.  Until someone’s taste buds have adjusted to the more subtle, fuller flavors of whole-foods plant-based eating (it only takes 3-4 weeks after fully switching to 100% WFPB), there needs to be just enough salt (and many other flavors) in a LeafSide meal to discourage people from adding more salt.

However, for those customers already eating 100% WFPB and SOS-free, who want a “no SOS” or “SOS-free” compliant meal, we offer SOS-free versions of all savory meals, i.e. without any added salt or miso.  Note: all SOS-free savory meals contain 100 mg (or less) of sodium that is naturally occurring in the ingredients. Please contact us or write a note in your order if you want your savory meals SOS free.  (And if you’re wondering about whether to choose the regular or SOS-free version, please read the other FAQ on sodium, thanks.)

The short answers: all our sweet meals (smoothies, sweet-bowls) are free of added salt.  For the savory meals (soups and savory-bowls),  we add the least amount of salt that still tastes good, use miso to lower salt’s risks, and we adhere to the sodium < calories number rule, from Dr. Greger and Jeff Novick RD. We also offer "salt-free" (no added salt nor miso) aka SOS-free versions of our savory meals. All SOS-free savory meals contain about 100 mg (or less) of sodium that is naturally occurring in the ingredients (except for the SOS-free Creamy Potato Leek soup, which is under 180 mg of naturally occurring sodium). Background: We conducted many tests for each savory recipe when deciding how much added salt (and thus sodium) to use.  The general concern was that healthy but bland recipes ("bland" to those accustomed to high salt levels from fast food and the Standard American Diet) would encourage the unhealthy habit of adding too much salt. So we put the absolute minimum necessary to create a good taste for more mainstream eaters, while still keeping the overall meal’s sodium milligrams number, below its calories number.

We also use miso powder, which research has shown has remarkable abilities to cancel out two of the main health risks of salt: hypertension and stomach cancer.

If you have further concerns about added salt and prefer SOS-free savory meals, please note our other FAQ entry about that option, and be sure to let us know (via chat or in your Order Notes) that you want the SOS-free option, thanks.

In general we recommend that most people new to LeafSide, and especially those new to WFPB eating, order the regular savory meals — until and unless your tastes in food are very accustomed to SOS-free foods at every meal.  One good test: a committed SOS-free eater will find practically all fast food and restaurant food intolerably salty, and easily notice the effects of excess salt in their body afterward.

Thank you for your question!

The majority of our LeafSiders are too busy to cook every day, but they still appreciate and want to get the benefits of eating healthy meals. Some of our LeafSiders eat 2-3 of our meals a day.

The number of meals you choose to eat per day is up to your personal preferences and needs.

LeafSide meals are nutritious, easy to make, and convenient to use at home or on the go. Whether you eat them every day or a few times a week, we want to help you eat healthy, delicious meals no matter how busy you are!

Thanks for your question! The sodium content in the meals without added salt & miso (which we add to help negate the effects of salt) is as follows:

• Soups – Black Bean & Chunky Tomato: 45 mg; Creamy Potato Leek: 174 mg; Golden Garlic Bean: 98 mg; Smoky Pea: 133 mg; Sweet Potato Dal: 119 mg
• Savory bowls – Broccoli Cashew Alfredo: 60 mg; Creamy Forest Mushroom: 29 mg; Lentil Tomato Pasta: 50 mg; Madras Curry: 64 mg; Pesto & Peppers Pasta: 20 mg; Tex Mex: 45 mg; Thai Veggie Noodle: 93 mg

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide!  As a food company, please note that we cannot give personalized medical advice. We highly recommend working with a licensed lifestyle medicine professional (RD or MD) who can carefully review your situation and make a recommendation.

In general, a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet has been shown to greatly help with diabetes symptoms, and can fully reverse type 2 diabetes as well as pre-diabetic symptoms, sometimes very quickly. Dr. Greger has some great videos on the topic of diabetes, summing up the current state of the art:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-best-diet-for-diabetes/

(further down that page, in the “Doctor’s Notes” section, are links to more videos on the topic of diabetes)

See also: https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/diabetes/ and https://www.pcrm.org/health-topics/diabetes

LeafSide meals are 100% whole food plant-based, and anecdotally, some LeafSiders with diabetes have reported excellent results with our meals, such as avoiding blood-sugar spikes and requiring less insulin.

Please note: There are some great online-based organizations out there that provide lifestyle support and advice for those with diabetes. These include CHIP Health, Mastering Diabetes, and Diabetes Undone. We recommend checking these out as well!

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide! Our meals are 100% whole food plant-based, and anecdotally, some LeafSiders have reported excellent results with our meals and their weight loss journey.

As a food company, please note that we cannot give personalized medical advice. We highly recommend working with a licensed lifestyle medicine professional (RD or MD) who can carefully review your situation and make a recommendation. In general, a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet has been shown to greatly help with weight loss, depending on individual lifestyles.

One can lose excess weight in the short term on a very wide variety of diets, but what matters is keeping the weight off, i.e. long-term, healthy, and ideally easy weight management, where we’d simply eat delicious and nutritious foods until we feel full.

That need for easy long-term weight management implies eating meals that are nutrient-dense: delivering all the macro, micro, and phytonutrients needed for good health, while avoiding excess energy density, i.e. avoiding calorie-rich foods that are nutrient-poor and bypassing our natural satiety senses (because they have no fiber), like saturated fats from meat and dairy, oils, processed sugar, etc. From epidemiology and clinical research, plant-based diets best fit those requirements.

Only a diversified whole food plant-based menu fits those requirements of high nutrient density while avoiding excessively high caloric/energy density. Put another way, eating minimally processed, fiber-rich foods best allows our natural satiety signals to work, while also being long-term sustainable because 1) the eating guidelines are very simple to follow, and 2) the meals are fully nourishing.

In fact, the highest average weight loss ever recorded in a randomized controlled trial (aka RCT, the “gold standard” for evidence-based health studies) without restricting calories and without exercise, long-term (6 months and 12 months), was achieved with a whole food plant-based diet — in the BROAD study. Participants who were simply educated about WFPB (not provided meals or food) for 3 months, and told to focus on eating as much WFPB as they could, lost an average of about 12 kg (26 pounds) by the 6-month mark, and kept that result at the 1-year mark too!

Dr. Greger has some great videos on the topic of weight loss, summing up the current state of the art:

Evidence-Based Weight Loss – Live Presentation
& “The Plant-Based Diet” by Dr. Greger TEDxBismarack

See also: A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Is Effective for Weight Loss by Dr. Greger

We hope this is helpful, and are all looking forward to serving you!

Thanks for your question! It’s great to hear that you’re using the daily dozen; we also use it to keep on track with healthy eating.

You’ll find the daily dozen content for all of our meals in the following printable PDF:

Daily Dozen Servings for LeafSide Meals Created in 2023 and Onward

Please reach out to us by email at [email protected] if you require the PDF file for meals created in or before December 2022, and thanks for being with us on the LeafSide!

Thanks for your interest in LeafSide!

Our meals are free of refined and processed carbohydrates and only contain carbohydrates from whole-food plant-based sources such as fiber-rich legumes, grains, and nuts/seeds. These sources do not only contain energy-filled carbohydrates but are also packaged with a wealth of phytonutrients and the nutrition your body needs.

You may find this article about low-carb diets and health interesting: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/low-carb-diets-and-coronary-blood-flow/

You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

As a food company, we can’t give personalized medical or nutritional advice, so please consult with a licensed lifestyle medicine professional (RD or MD) who is educated in lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition for help with your specific needs.

 

Thanks for your question!

You can easily access the most up-to-date ingredient & nutrition information for LeafSide meals, right from your smartphone by scanning the QR code to see an up-to-date nutrition panel, along with which ingredients are currently organic vs conventional for each meal.

How it works:

1. Open your smartphone camera.
2. Point it at the QR code on the back of the label of one of your meals.
3. Click the link that appears on your screen to see the full nutrition information for the meal.

We hope this is helpful, and are truly grateful to have you with us on the LeafSide!