Vânia Ribeiro | Made by choices

Vânia Ribeiro (31) has a degree in psychology and an interest in alternative medicine. For four years, she did a course in Chinese medicine and massage. During that time, she discovered naturopathy. For health reasons, she felt the need to change her diet. She called the consumption of meat and fish into question and started a blog which, after a year and a half, has thousands of visitors in Portugal. Vegan life is presented every day, with new recipes, articles about health, photos, films and documentaries. It is called “Made by Choices”… ECO123 interviewed her at the Botanical Garden in Lisbon.

When did the idea of starting a blog first occur to you?

Two years ago, when I stopped eating meat and later fish. I decided to do it to help people who want to change their diets. But I didn’t change my diet from one day to the next. I was very organic. I started by writing and publishing simple recipes that I liked. The feedback was good and I kept publishing and sharing. My blog has a video channel on YouTube which has around 5,000 followers. All the recipes have a video to show how easy it is to cook vegan food. The recipes always show the macronutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. The components are always very balanced. The blog was also created to exchange information. I published restaurant reviews that I liked, I presented organic street markets, a recently opened organic shop…