Where to Get Your Protein? This Free Tool Makes It Easy to Eat Plant-Based

Alex Pethick remembers the exact moment when he decided to go plant-based. He was eating a chicken sandwich while reading about the practices of factory farming. It was a sudden awakening. From that moment on,  he decided he would start paying close attention to what he was eating and where it came from. Something clicked and Pethick realized that he didn't want to continue to eat animal protein, and five years later, he hasn't looked back. As a collegiate athlete and a life-long meat-eater, Pethick at first felt weary about his decision, wondering if a plant-based diet could sustain his active lifestyle, but he promised himself that he’d pivot to a sustainable plant-based diet, and now he just had to figure out how to get the nutrients his body needed.

Now, Pethick is helping others facing the same challenge. He has launched a free tool called Nutriso that is designed to be a go-to resource for plant-based newcomers, weekend warriors, and elite athletes who need help and guidance finding foods that are high in protein or low in sodium, to make sure they meed their daily needs of macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. By ranking foods by protein, iron, and vitamins, Nutriso helps users get it right, and Pethick is hoping that his online tool can offer the support people need when they decide they finally want to go plant-based but fear changing their diet.

The Nutriso tool includes more than 2,300 vegan-friendly foods for plant-based eaters who want to try new foods. The website also allows its users to sign up for a newsletter that shares vegan-friendly recipes and other plant-based tips. Nutriso is set to be the all-purpose tool for new vegans, providing a space for people trying to eat a more plant-based palette with the knowledge they need to optimize health.

"Nutriso is for anyone who's looking to optimize performance, shrink their carbon footprint, and reduce animal suffering by finding and eating the most nutritious plant foods,” Pethick said. The online tool is free to the public with a donation option called “Buy Me A Coffee” for those users who want to see this project grow.

When struggling to grocery shop or order take out, Nutriso allows its users to search for foods that are high or low in protein, iron, fat, calories, and more. The search engine also features a comparison option that helps weigh the nutrients between two food items, helping ease some shopping anxiety when forming a new diet.

Since Pethick put down his chicken sandwich once and for all, Nutriso has grown to reach more than 4,000 people in over 90+ countries. His eyes are now set on reaching 10,000 people and tackling a sweeping bias that you can't live a healthy life free of animal products. Nutriso is the perfect tool to prove that nutrition is just as easy with a plant-based diet, and Pethick wants to help, for free.