My name is Tricia Caldwell, and I live in the Columbus, Ohio, area. I’m a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Personal Trainer.

Over the past three years, I have slowly transitioned my diet to vegan. I originally began reducing the amount of meat and meat products in my diet for the health benefits. But as time passed, my concern for animals and the way they are treated began to also play a significant role, and my ability to finally become fully vegan was driven more from the idea of how animals are treated than the actual health benefits of a diet without animal products. Interesting how my motivation for a change in diet has changed so much.

Nonetheless, I understand that for most, transitioning your diet is a process that doesn't happen overnight. I found the gradual process to work well for me because I haven't felt deprived by the changes since I've made them slowly, and over time I have found suitable substitutes for the foods I felt I could never live without, and much healthier substitutes.

I encourage all of you to embrace your own health and try alternatives to the standard American diet that is no doubt leading down the path to chronic illness. While there may be many advances in medicine to help us deal with chronic illness, nothing can compare to taking a preventive approach and avoiding these illnesses in the first place. The more I research, the more I learn how much diet affects health. And I always encourage reducing or eliminating meat products because of both the health benefits and my concern for animals and our environment.

If you have a question about a vegetarian, vegan or raw vegan diet, please submit below.