the whole food plant based truth

Plant Based, Schmant based!

It started as a whisper of a hashtag... #plantbased

I had NO idea what it meant. So I mostly ignored it.

Then I started seeing the words listed on protein powders, and on Instagram accounts, and my friends were talking about their new Plant Based food habit.
 

What the heck was Plant Based?
Was it any different than being vegetarian or vegan?
And aren't you supposed to have meats in your diet?

I was a skeptic from the start - as a former Paleo dieter (which was NOT a good fit for me) I just brushed it aside as another quick weight loss fad.

Finally, curiosity won me over. I decided to do some research on what a Plant Based diet was, why it was so popular, and what were the pros/cons.
 

(I'm getting to it!)

Cut to Megan, several hours of research later - MIND = BLOWN and 100% on board with implementing more Plant Based dieting methods into her daily life.

When I told Ben how much my research had surprised me, he said "Ok, in one sentence what was your biggest takeaway from what you read?"

Here it is:

We are talking about a dietary lifestyle that could save lives, and save the earth!

Wait, how is that possible?

Now I don't want to overwhelm y'all with a ton of information (I'll include links at the bottom if you're interested in learning more) so here are the bullet points.

WHAT IS A PLANT BASED DIET?

• A Plant Based diet is food intake that focuses on 
• Maximizing the consumption of nutrient dense plant foods
• Minimizing process foods, oils, and animal foods (which includes dairy products and eggs)
• Focusing on consumption of lots of vegetables (cooked or raw) fruits, beans, peas, lentils, soybeans, seeds, and nuts (in smaller amounts) and is generally low fat.

- Paraphrased from article by Philip J Tuso MD

Grains are allowed in very small portions. And all foods in a Plant Based diet should have minimal processing (ie cooking, roasting, drying, etc) if possible, as these can remove nutrients.

ISN'T THAT THE SAME AS BEING A VEGAN OR VEGETARIAN?

• No. Usually vegetarians and vegans are motivated to remove animal foods (or by products) from their diet for ethical reasons.
• Some vegetarians allow themselves to have eggs, dairy, or fish which is not encouraged in Plant Based dieting.
• Plant Based diets are typically focused on discouraging the consumption of animal based foods. So it's a bit closer to a vegan diet.

HOW CAN IT HELP SAVE ON HEALTH CARE COSTS?
(I'm gonna break this down by health concern)

• Obesity: Plant Based diets are highly effective for weight loss, as more calories are burned after a vegan/vegetarian meal than that of one with meat (which has a higher chance of being stored as fat)
• Diabetes: Studies have found that vegetarians have approximately half the risk of developing diabetes as non vegetarians. This is due to the improvement of insulin sensitivity and decrease if insulin resistance with a low fat, plant based diet.
• Heart Disease/High Blood Pressure: Studies compared vegetarians and non vegetarians heart disease specific death rates. The results = vegetarians had 24% reduction of heart disease death rates compared to non vegetarians.
• Keep in mind, the key here for a healthy heart is focusing on maintaining a healthy diet of nutrient dense foods, not just being vegan or vegetarian.
• Vegetarians have been found to have lower blood pressure than non vegetarians

HOW WILL IT HELP SAVE THE PLANET?
This is what really blew my mind....

Studies show that nearly 15% of all planet-warming greenhouse gases come from raising cattle, pigs, poultry, and other animals.

Here's some fun math on how that works...
           As of 2015:
            China's population - 1.37 billion
            United States population - 321.4 million

Oh! So China is responsible for the greenhouse gasses, right?
Because there's more of them?

NOPE.
The United States consumes 80% more meat than people do in China.

On top of that, China recently released a national dietary guideline with a goal to cut national meat consumption in half by 2030.

So even if China does indeed cut meat consumption in half, the US is a pretty big factor in creating climate change from meat consumption alone.

BUT WE NEED PROTEIN, AND WE CAN'T GET THAT ALL FROM PLANTS!
Wrong again.

Typically people on plant based diets don't suffer from protein deficiency.

This is because protein comes from amino acids, which can be found in plant based foods such as quinoa, brown rice and beans, several kinds of legumes, nuts and nut butters, soy foods, and whole grains.

And the greenhouse effect of CALORIE TO CALORIE of protein value causes way more damage from meat than from plants.

So you could eat enough protein from a plant resource to sustain your body, and not cause anywhere near as much damage to the environment.

OK SO NOW WHAT?
Here's the thing that I really loved in my research:

A Plant Based diet is not about only eating kale and raw almond butter.

It's not about going cold turkey (pardon the pun) and kicking all meats out of your diet completely.

It's a lifestyle choice that can be tailored to you as an individual.

For example - instead of having meat every single day, I am going to try having meat 1-2x a week.
Or instead of subbing meat for tofu (which I'm allergic to) I can make a protein rich meal with spinach, nuts, and beans.
Heck I could still have bacon once in a great while!

THE MAIN POINT:
You can't ignore the facts. PBD is good for you and good for the environment.
And it's something we need to get on board with, one way or another.

Ultimately, if you're getting serious about your health, this is something to consider.

Best thing to do now is do your own research, come up with a diet plan that works for you (which Ben and I can help with) and figure out a long term way to improve the quality of your nourishment.

Here's some handy charts to help make sure you know where to get in all the nutrients and minerals you need (to avoid deficiencies):

So grab a salad, spread some almond butter on your sprouted whole grain bread, and raise a smoothie to the way of the future - Plant Based Lifestyle.

Cheers,
Megan






Resources:

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/whole-foods-plant-based-fifty-dollars-a-week/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/

http://www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2016/summer/6192-diet.html

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/07/5-questions-randall-stafford-advocates-a-plant-based-diet.html