Jenné Claiborne Is on a Mission To Help People Improve Their Health—One Meal at a Time
Your diet is one of the most important lifestyle factors that can have a significant impact on your health. Yet many of us are so busy and stressed that we don’t eat as well as we should. Jenné Claiborne wants to help change that—and she says eating healthy doesn’t need to be as difficult or time-consuming as you might think.
Claiborne, 36, is a vegan chef and health coach based in Atlanta. She’s also the author of a cookbook called Sweet Potato Soul, which—according to the subtitle—contains “100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul.” The book is packed with vegan recipes for dishes with names guaranteed to tempt your taste buds, like Peach Date BBQ Jackfruit Sliders, Bootylicious Gumbo, and Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls.
For Claiborne, soul food is a lifelong passion. “I grew up eating soul food. But my grandmother always said all food is soul food, as long as you make it with love.”
She learned to cook from her grandmother and her dad, although it was her father who introduced her to vegan and plant-based cuisine. “Both my parents were always plant-based my whole life, even though we didn’t have that term back then.”
Related: The Viral Vegan Chicken Sandwich That Customers Call 'The Absolute Best' Can Now Be Made At Home
Discovering Her Passion for Vegan Cooking
Claiborne didn’t set out to become a vegan chef. It was a vocation she stumbled into while pursuing her original career plan. The born multitasker—Claiborne says she always has at least 10 different hobbies or passions at any given time—studied acting in college and moved to New York City after graduating.
She was fortunate to land several acting gigs fairly quickly, but eventually got a job at a vegan restaurant to have a source of steady income. “I realized I didn't really want to be an actress anymore, but I didn't know what I wanted to be.”
About a year after she began working at the restaurant, Claiborne became a vegan herself, which is when she had a life-changing realization. “When I became vegan, I had an epiphany that what I needed to do with my life was to help other people become vegan. And so that's really how I got started on this journey.”
Claiborne started out working as a private chef in New York City, developing a thriving business with as many clients as she could handle. Along the way, she also started a blog—called Sweet Potato Soul—and a YouTube channel devoted to plant-based cooking.
Related: The Absolute Best Hummus at the Grocery Store, According to Registered Dietitians
Noticeable Health Benefits from Vegan Eating
For Claiborne, the health benefits of a vegan diet were evident almost immediately. “I didn't become vegan for health reasons. I became vegan for animals. However, oh my goodness, I totally saw a difference within a couple of weeks of being vegan.”
Having been plagued by stomach issues since childhood, Claiborne says she was amazed at the digestive health benefits she saw right away. “Within a couple of weeks, all of those issues I had up until that point went away. That opened my eyes up to ‘Wow, let me read more about the health benefits of eating this way beyond helping the animals.’ And now that I'm older, and I've been doing this for so long, I see so many health issues around me within my family and in my friend group, as well.”
Related: This Is the #1 Most Important Food To Eat if You're Over 60
Guiding Others To Eat Better for Improved Health
Claiborne is now on a mission to help others improve their health through a better diet, which she says is particularly important for those in the BIPOC community.
“Black people suffer from the most health issues. All of the top killers in the United States, we suffer from them more, disproportionately. But at the same time, Black people are the largest-growing vegan demographic in the U.S.”
“I do try to talk more about health and encourage people to stay away from vegan junk food, even if they're already vegan. But then I try to also give them resources for preventing or lowering their risk of certain lifestyle diseases—perhaps even reversing them in some situations, as well. It's so important, especially for Black folks, and especially Black women.”
Make Diet Changes Gradually for Better Odds of Success
For those new to vegan eating (or any type of healthier diet in general), Claiborne says it may be best to take baby steps in the beginning, to slowly adjust to a new menu. She suggests they begin with just one meal a day, or even one meal a week, and then progressively increase the vegan focus as their palate adjusts.
“If you're eating a standard American diet—not that many vegetables, and you don't have that wide of a palate—you might need to ‘veganize’ some foods you're already familiar with, and then start to work in new flavors, new vegetables, new textures, mushrooms, all those things slowly. Because no matter where you're coming from, you don't have to go vegan overnight.”
She also strives to help educate people about common myths and misconceptions about vegan eating, including the assumption that the word "vegan" on a label automatically means a food is nutritious.
“Vegan doesn’t necessarily mean healthy," Claiborne stresses. "I emphasize, if you're gonna go vegan, please be a healthy vegan. It's great to save animals. And it's fine to eat vegan junk food every so often. But we need to think about our own health as well. I think it's so important to be healthy so that you can live longer, create a better legacy for your family, and set a better example for your children and the people around you. This country suffers so much from totally preventable health issues.”
Next up, find out the best yogurts you can buy at the grocery store, according to registered dietitians.
