It’s time we all went green: learn about the many benefits of following a plant-based diet
11/26/2020 / By Leslie Locklear / Comments
It’s time we all went green: learn about the many benefits of following a plant-based diet

Through the years, many experts have come forward to claim that plant-based diets are the healthiest approach to take when it comes to eating — they’re not wrong.

Even better is the fact that people don’t even need to go full vegan in order to experience the full scope of their benefits.

“You don’t need to eat 100 percent plant-based to reap the benefits of nutritious plant foods,” Taylor Wolfram, a dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating, self-care, and plant-based nutrition, said. Wolfram added that incorporating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds is “a great move for everyone.”

And it seems the public is finally listening and catching on, likely a result of celebrities embracing — and espousing — this way of eating.

Pop superstar Beyonce, for instance, has written about how adopting a plant-based diet has changed her life, even noting in a statement that she wants to “share that truth and lifestyle with as many people as possible.”

Aside from celebrity influence, one other possible reason for the diet’s uptick in popularity, according to Brooklyn-based dietitian Maya Feller, is because it can reduce humans’ overall impact on the environment.

According to its proponents, a plant-based or plant-forward diet can be interpreted in several different ways:

  • Vegan – A diet in which people choose to forgo animal products altogether and instead, exclusively eat plants and plant-based products.
  • Vegetarian – A diet, that, despite being composed predominantly of vegetables and plant-based foods, allows individuals to eat cheese, eggs, and milk, but not meat.
  • Flexitarian – An umbrella term for a diet that’s primarily centered on plant foods with the occasional inclusion of meat.

Of these, the flexitarian model is considered by nutritionists and other experts to be the best one for those who are planning to adopt a more plant-forward diet as it offers more space and leeway for any dietary errors or missteps one might commit along the way.

Here are some benefits you can gain once you adopt a plant-based diet:

Helps reduce your risk of heart disease

As noted by several studies, following a vegan diet — or any plant-based diet, for that matter — can help reduce your risk of developing coronary heart disease as well as its associated risk factors, such as hypertension.

Aside from that, experts have also linked plant-based diets to lower levels of total cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein or bad cholesterol, another risk factor associated with heart disease.

Helps stave off chronic inflammation

While inflammation is part of the body’s natural healing mechanism, uncontrolled inflammation has been linked to a range of serious health problems, including heart disease and even cancer.

Fortunately, research shows that plant-based diets — such as those that are rich in organic fruits and vegetables and whole grains — can help reduce instances of inflammation.

According to experts, this is because plant-based foods have plenty of phytonutrients such as carotenoids and flavonoids that can help stave off harmful free radicals which are known to cause inflammation in the body.

Helps lower your risk for diabetes

Those who are worried about developing diabetes later in their life must take the necessary steps to increase their vegetable and fruit intake.

This is because of a study that revealed that vegetarians are 74 percent less likely to develop diabetes when compared to those who predominantly ate meat.

In addition, plant-based diets are also very useful in managing blood sugar in those who are living with diabetes — likely a result of the diet’s high fiber and antioxidant content.

A plant-based diet supports healthy weight management

If you are already sick and tired of the inconsistent results of yo-yo dieting, it may be better for you to try and help yourself to more servings of fruit and veg.

According to nutritionists, this is because fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, a nutrient known for making healthy weight management a much easier task.

In addition, an increase in veg and fruit intake has also been found to help one drop those pesky pounds.

According to a small study, overweight adults who followed a whole-food, plant-based diet for one year lost an average of 9.25 pounds each, with the researchers pointing to the low glycemic index of the said diet as the main reason for their weight loss.

A plant-based diet promotes optimal brain health

While the bulk of its positive effects may seem largely focused on the body, those planning to go on a plant-based diet need not worry: fruits and vegetables actually supply an impressive number of benefits to the brain.

In fact, according to a study, eating an extra 100 grams of fruits and vegetables per day led to a 13 percent reduction in the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

The likely reason: fruits, vegetables and whole grains — AKA the very foundation of any reputable plant-based diet — are rich in polyphenols which are known to stave off cognitive decline. Talk about brain food.

Help reduce your risk of cancer

Want another good reason to skip that steak dinner? According to a study, vegetarians have an 18 percent lower risk of developing certain cancers compared to avid meat-eaters — a result, researchers say, of the immune-boosting phytochemicals and antioxidants in both fresh fruit and veg.

Help keep you looking – and feeling – young

Ladies who are still on the lookout for the Fountain of Youth are better off adopting a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains if they want to retain their youthful glow and health, according to research.

This is because a plant-centered diet is packed with health-supporting nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can help promote healthy cellular aging.

Promotes a healthy and thriving environment

If there’s one thing that Disney’s Pocahontas got right, it’s that part where she sings about how we’re all connected to each other — even in the context of our food habits.

An example of this, according to a study conducted by a research team from Loma Linda University, is our continued consumption of meats and dairy products. According to the researchers, this continued large-scale demand for animals and animal products in turn fuels an industry that has since been discovered to be the reason behind rapid environmental degradation, as well as a scarcity of nonrenewable resources.

One effective way to address this, according to experts, is to invest in sustainable farming, especially since environmental data shows that it takes 11 times more energy and 100 times more water to produce animal protein than it does to produce plant protein.

Adopting a plant-based diet may seem like a difficult thing to do but it actually isn’t. In fact, according to nutritionists, one only needs to look at it, not as a restrictive regimen, but rather as a more sustainable and healthy approach to eating.

Sources:

EveryDayHealth.com

Health.Harvard.com

Insider.com

ScienceDirect.com

EContent.HogRefe.com

Karger.com 1

FrontiersIn.org

Karger.com 2

Academic.OUP.com

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