Plant-Based and Pragmatic: When Diet Meets Ethics | Luke Gabites
Most diet arguments online come down to rules: you either eat this way perfectly or you are out. Registered Clinical Nutritionist Luke Gabites spent years as an ethical vegan, and he joins Dr Cliff Harvey to talk about what happens when strict rules meet real life, real bodies and real clients. Both have plant-based roots, both have become more pragmatic, and neither is anti-vegan.
In this episode we cover
How Luke and Cliff each came to plant-based eating, and why both have softened over time
Why a vegan diet isn't medically suitable for everyone, including Cliff's systemic nickel allergy and Crohn's disease
Whether a vegan diet always results in fewer lives lost, and where food systems and consumerism fit in
Values vs rules: an acceptance and commitment therapy lens on how we eat
Rigid diets, perfectionism and the link with disordered eating
What the research on plant-based eating actually shows, and where it gets overstated
Working with clients across the dietary spectrum without pushing your own ethics
Luke's one universal principle: start with your values, then build a mostly whole-food pattern that lets you live
Chapters
00:00 Intro 00:12 Cliff on pragmatism, veganism and dogma 03:49 Welcome Luke 05:05 Luke's path: migraines, student flatting and yoga in India 07:51 Holding values without rigidity 09:30 Cliff's story: hunting, Buddhism and going vegetarian 12:15 Crohn's disease, nickel allergy and eating meat again 15:36 Does a vegan diet always take fewer lives? 17:35 Food systems, gardening and killing slugs 19:20 Perfectionism in diet communities 20:04 Restrictive diets and disordered eating 22:00 Diet vs ethos: the vegan category problem 23:00 Values vs rules 26:28 Identity, performance and hypocrisy 27:39 Insects, puha and cats: where is the line? 30:17 Living in alignment and self-compassion 33:28 Backlash for changing your diet 36:58 Online criticism and when to block 39:45 Bioindividuality and lived experience 41:37 Reading nutrition research pragmatically 45:11 Working with clients of every diet 48:40 Who ends up in your clinic 53:44 Knowing when to refer on 56:47 One universal truth in nutrition 1:00:32 Coach-first practice 1:02:39 The Practitioner's Roadmap
About Luke Gabites
Luke Gabites is a Registered Clinical Nutritionist (Clinical Nutritionists Aotearoa) and Wellness Educator based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and the founder of Planted Nutrition. He graduated with first-class honours from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, completed HPN 2 clinical nutrition training at HPI, and co-hosts the Thrive: Mind & Body podcast with psychologist Jane Gabites.
Find Luke: plantednutrition.nz | YouTube | Instagram
Links mentioned in this episode
Harvey, C. (2026). Low-nickel diet in Crohn's disease: case report and narrative review. Journal of Metabolic Health
EPIC-Oxford cohort: Tong et al. (2019), BMJ
Kristin Neff on self-compassion: self-compassion.org
Thrive: Mind & Body podcast: Apple Podcasts
HPI faculty and advisors (Dr Eric Helms, Dr Mikki Williden and team): Our people
HPI links
Practitioner's Roadmap: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/roadmap
Podcast page: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticperformancenutrition/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticPerformanceNutrition/
LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/company/holistic-performance-institute
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@holisticperformance
Want to do this work yourself? Grab the free Practitioner's Roadmap: career pathways, scope at each level, what practitioners charge in NZ and Australia, and which registration bodies recognise what.
If helping people step out of rigid, rule-bound eating is your thing, look at HPI's Empowered Eating Coach certification. Follow Translating Nutrition so you don't miss an episode, and tell us where you land on this one.
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