The Plant-Based Diet is getting a good bit of attention lately. People want to be pro-active in their health, and what they put into their bodies is a good place to start.
GenuLines takes a look at the Plant-Based Diet and whether it might a good fit in your life. To your health!
A Plant-Based Diet: Is It For You?
The phrase “Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) Diet” is flexible. It can apply to any number of different eating styles. The main difference? WFPB is characterized by what it includes rather than what it excludes.
There are lots of studies showing the benefits that come from eating a WFPB diet.
Those benefits start with a baseline of better nutrition. This is a given, but better nutrition is where a healthier body always starts.
It fuels our bodies. And it’s our defense against long-term chronic and avoidable lifestyle diseases.
Better nutrition
Most of us know that fruits and vegetables are healthy sources of nutrition. Yet we don’t eat anywhere near enough of them, let alone eat the recommended amounts.
Why not?
After all, they’re nutrient-dense edibles rich in minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. Plus, they’re delicious.
Disliking or avoiding a specific fruit or vegetable is fine. Same with fruits that you have to clean, cut, or carve.
Children often get finicky with things like broccoli, and that’s okay, too.
Still, science tells us that better nutrition comes from a nutrient-dense diet. The kind that’s filled with fruits and vegetables rather than processed meats. (Tuso, Ismail, Ha, & Bartolotto, 2013)
The same is true even for refined grains.
So, if you don’t like to carve your honeydews ask your produce department to carve it for you. Most grocery stores offer that service, but you have to ask.
And be persistent with children who like to avoid broccoli. Keep offering it.
In time your 5-year-old may surprise you and try something new after all.
Better health for your heart
A plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of Cardiovascular Disease. WFPB diets can lower blood pressure, enhancing blood sugar control, and lowering cholesterol.
Choosing a WFPB diet is one of the best natural ways to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases on the whole.
Increased longevity
A WFPB diet might help you live longer. It reduces your risk of premature death due to untreated chronic lifestyle illnesses.
These include high blood pressure, CVD, obesity, and some cancers. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists red meat consumption as a “likely carcinogen.” (Harvard Medical School, 201)
That’s not to say that consuming red meat is inherently dangerous. Occasional consumption of meats, including red meat, is allowable by some WFPB diets. (Think Mediterranean diet)
It’s a higher consumption of red meat that’s the culprit. That’s linked to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers like colorectal.
A plant-based diet will not only help your body become healthier but also help you live longer.
Lower cancer risk
Research also turns thumbs down on too much processed or red meat in the diet. The connection here is colorectal cancer. (Harvard Medical School, 2018).
But something good happens when we eat fruits, legumes, grains, and veggies on a regular basis. The risk of cancer and other chronic illnesses goes down.
This is because plants contain disease-fighting phytochemicals that can thwart cancer.
Lower rates of obesity
One of the main challenges of our modern lifestyle is obesity (Tuso, Ismail, Ha, & Bartolotto, 2013). We have plenty of ways to counter obesity at our disposal.
But the most effective is the diet.
Choosing to stick to a WFPB is an effective weight-loss strategy. Obesity is a risk factor for all the chronic and lifestyle illnesses listed above.
A nutritional approach to diabetes kick starts your process to better health.
The results? A healthier BMI, and the stunting of chronic illness like high blood pressure and CVD.
There’s no shortage of studies that factor in WFPB diets in relation to health and longevity.
This body of evidence seems to support WFPB diets.
And their many health benefits.
JohnK 1-15-2020
Overheard: “Gluttony is not a secret vice” ~Orson Welles
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