Pillar of Health: Eating a Predominantly Plant Based Diet
How many servings of plants and vegetables do you eat in a day?
Around 80% of Americans fail to consume the recommended intake of 5 fruits and vegetables daily.
Welcome to our fifth Pillar of Health, a Whole Food Plant Predominant Eating Pattern. This pillar promotes eating a mostly plant based diet, which includes whole food, minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Defining plant based diets:
Vegetarian: a diet of foods that come from plants and excludes meat, poultry, and fish.
Vegan: a diet that excludes all animal derived products such as meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, and sometimes honey.
Flexitarian: a mostly plant based diet that includes occasional meat or fish
But why eat mostly plants, you ask? Think of food as medicine. By eating a plant predominant diet, you are essentially reducing your chances for chronic illness, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and high blood pressure. These chronic conditions can be reduced via the high beneficial fiber found in plants and vegetables, the low occurrence of saturated fats, provided antioxidants, and phytochemicals. Even cutting back on meat intake, not completely eliminating meat, can have similar benefits.
A plant based diet = a longer, healthier life.
The benefits of a plant predominant diet include:
✔️reduced cholesterol
✔️healthy body weight
✔️improved gut health due to a healthy gut biome
✔️reduced cancer risk
✔️lower blood sugar
✔️reduced inflammation
✔️a healthy immune system
…and much more!
Don’t just take my word for it, several professional societies and organizations recommend a plant based diet, such as the American Cancer Society, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Heart Association. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans include a healthy, vegetarian diet pattern also.
But, a plant based diet is hard!
Have you tried it? Most think that their meals must include some source of animal protein. There are many sources of plant based protein, and many plants contain protein! And again, remember a plant based approach does not mean you require you to become vegan or vegetarian.
Some tips on switching to a more plant based diet:
Don’t dwell on what you cannot eat, rather focus on what you can eat
Try one new fruit or vegetable a week
Avoid highly processed vegan or vegetarian foods
Keep frozen and canned veggies on hand so you always have options
Get creative in the kitchen and make your favorite meal, but plant based
Ensure you are getting enough micronutrients, a multivitamin is excellent for this
Add to your diet; include one vegetable at lunch and dinner on weekdays
Think, “what can I add veggies to?” when preparing meals
If you are wanting to switch to a more plant based diet and aren’t sure where to start, please contact me!
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