Local author aims to improve your diet with the 30-day Vegan Challenge

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Could you go vegan - that's eating no animal products - for 30 days?

A local author is making it easier to improve your diet with vegan recipes.

Just this week, another major medical study linked eating a lot of red meat to a higher risk for heart disease.

Vegan Challenge is a 30-day program, but you don't have to commit to the whole month. Even making small changes can make a difference.

Lisa Montgomery is passionate about clean, healthy eating. Her latest book focuses on eating vegan. But while it may sound boring, the Vegan Challenge challenges that obstacle.

"That's why we have 30 breakfasts, 30 lunches and 30 dinner recipes, so that way it keeps it interesting," she said.

Recipes include things you can make like the 3-nut basil pesto with spaghetti squash or foods you can buy like vegan cheese and quinoa crackers. Or even vegan products you can grab on the go.

Montgomery says if you're not up for a 30-day commitment just start slowly, eventually your taste buds will catch on.

"Start with just one dish and then bring in another and another and another, so the more healthy things you put in and then some of those unhealthy things weed their way out of your diet. And it automatically happens," she said.

Supermodel and actress Heidi Albertsen is a contributor to Vegan Challenge. She also serves as the ambassador for several charities. She tweaked her diet to be more plant-based as a teenager and says it helped her overcome obesity, food sensitivities and it boosts her energy.

"It makes you feel really good and clean and when I dont have it, I dont feel good. I can tell the difference," said Heidi.

Montgomery says it used to be very difficult to eat vegan, but now there are many more options, including the popular green juice recipe, which has wheat grass, cucumber, celery, apple and lemon juice.

And Montgomery says the recipes are easy to follow with not too many ingredients, so you don't have to be a professional chef to make them.

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