What is Plant-based Nutrition?
Plant-based nutrition is consuming a diet of whole plant foods including whole grain products, legumes, vegetables and fruits that provide all the nutrients that the human body requires: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and sufficient calories. A plant-based diet is a lifestyle choice that can be for health issues, cultural, religious or ethical reasons. Or you may eat a plant-based diet to stay healthy and prevent health problems, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Whatever your reasons for choosing a plant-based diet or lifestyle, this site will help you make smart choices to ensure that you meet your daily nutritional needs.
There is decades of scientific research shows that most chronic health issues are a direct result of diet and other lifestyle choices. The science supports that by adopting a plant-based diet many of these chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease can be prevented and even reversed. People who eat the most animal-based foods get the most chronic disease. People who eat the most plant-based foods are the healthiest and tend to avoid chronic disease. One study in particular, supports this claim, it is called “The China Study” by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and it is most comprehensive long-term study on nutrition ever conducted on the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease which challenges much of the standard American dietary beliefs.
Populations that consume high carboyhrates like the Okinawans are trimmer, healthier and vibrant people, their diet consists mostly of rice, vegetables, some fish and no dairy products. The Okinawans have more people over 100 years old per 100,000 population than anywhere else in the world, the lowest death rates from cancer, heart disease and stroke (the top three killers in the US), the highest life expectancy for both males and females over 65, and females in Okinawa have the highest life expectancy in all age groups. This is just one example of a healthy lifestyle can avoid many chronic diseases such as we have in the U.S. caused by the western diet.
This is the way thin healthy people around the world live; another example, the healthy people of Asia thrive on a high-carbohydrate, rice-based diets. The Japanese (who eat the traditional diet) eat a diet abundant in rice and vegetables with only small amounts of animal protein and have a very low incidence of heart disease, breast, colon and prostate cancer and the world's greatest longevity. Many Seventh-Day Adventists are strict vegetarians, who consume mainly grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables, and as a result have a lower incidence of heart disease and colon cancer compared to the general population.
Plant-based Diet Facts and Fiction
Myth 1: Plants don't have enough protein.
Truth: All plant foods contain all the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. The essential amino acids are called 'complete proteins' and called essential because the body does not produce them and must be obtained from our diet. For example, broccoli contains 45% protein from its calories and beans contains 23% to 54% depending on the variety.
As long as one is eating a variety of plant foods in sufficient quantity to maintain one’s weight, the body gets plenty of protein.
Myth 2: Where do I get my calcium?
Truth: All plant foods contain generous amounts of calcium. The most healthful calcium sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes (beans). Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, mustard greens, Swiss chard, and other greens are loaded with highly absorbable calcium and a host of other healthful nutrients. The exception is spinach, which contains a large amount of calcium but tends to hold onto it very tenaciously, so that you will absorb less of it.
Calcium is the most plentiful mineral found in the human body. The teeth and bones contain the most calcium (about 99%). Nerve cells, body tissues, blood, and other body fluids contain the remaining calcium. Calcium is one of the most important minerals for the growth, maintenance, and reproduction of the human body. Calcium helps form and maintain healthy teeth and bones. Proper levels of calcium over a lifetime can help prevent osteoporosis.
Some examples of calcium in plants are:
- Brown rice (1 cup) has 20 mg of calcium
Broccoli (1 cup) 94 mg
Kidney beans (1 cup, cooked) 50 mg
Sweet potato (1 cup) 70 mg
Collard greens contains about 360 mg of calcium
- Kale (1 cup) 94 mg
Myth 3: Carbs cause weight gain.
Truth: Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy for our body. They're the main source of calories in virtually every diet worldwide. They supply 4 calories per gram, the same as protein. Fat has more than twice as many calories (9 per gram). Plus, there is abundance of fiber in complex-carbohydrates, and fiber has no calories, because it isn't absorbed by the body.
Carbohydrates alone provide energy for red blood cells, and certain cells of the kidneys, and the preferred fuel for the central nervous system, including the brain. Fat, is a secondary source of energy that can be used by some tissues, such as muscle, but is more often stored for use in times of famine. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple and complex.
Simple carbs are refined, processed carbohydrate foods that have had all or most of their natural nutrients and fiber removed in order to make them easier to transport and more 'consumer friendly’. Pure sugars have been stripped of many of their nutrients, except for the simple carbohydrate—thus they are called “empty calories.” Most baked goods, white breads, pastas, snack foods, candies, and non-diet soft drinks fit into this category. Bleached, enriched wheat flour and white sugar - along with an array of artificial flavorings, colorings, and preservatives are the most common ingredients used to make 'bad carb' foods.
Complex-carbohydrates are unprocessed plant foods, such as brown rice, potatoes, squash, broccoli, and apples - just to name a few - are loaded with carbohydrates. They are are long chains of sugars that are harmoniously mixed with other plant materials. These long chains must be broken down inside your intestine before they can be used as fuel. The process of digesting these complex sugars is slow and methodical, providing a steady stream of fuel pumped into your bloodstream as long-lasting energy.
The belief that sugars in complex-carbohydrates (starches) are readily converted into fat and then stored in the body i.e., abdomen, hips, and buttock is not true. The science shows after eating, the complex carbohydrates found in starches, such as rice, are digested into simple sugars in the intestine and then absorbed into the bloodstream where they are transported to the cells in the body in order to provide for energy.
Carbohydrates (sugars) consumed in excess of the body’s daily needs can be stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. The total storage capacity for glycogen is about two pounds. Carbohydrates consumed in excess of our need and beyond our limited storage capacity are not readily stored as body fat. Instead, these excess carbohydrate calories are burned off as heat (a process known as facultative dietary thermogenesis) or used in physical movements not associated with exercise.
Health Benefits of a Plant-based Diet
There are numerous benefits of a eating a plant-based diet, here are just a few:
- Healthy Weight Loss
Get to your optimal weight while eating whole foods. No calories counting or portion control just eat what you want because plants are naturally low in fat, no cholesterol or saturated fat. You will experience weight loss at a steady rate. Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease
Several studies have shown by eating a whole foods, plant-based diet will prevent and reverse heart disease. This has been shown in a 20-year study by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., that a plant-based, oil-free diet can not only prevent and stop the progression of heart disease, but also reverse its effects. - Lower Blood Pressure
Improved blood flow and circulation occurs almost immediately when switching to a plant-based diet. The blood vessels become healthy again and are repaired from the damage of animal-based foods. - Lower Cholesterol
Total cholesterol drops because there is no cholesterol and saturated fat in plants like in animal-based foods which cause cholesterol to build up in the blood. - Avoid and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is considered as a lifestyle disease. Studies have shown that a low-fat vegan diet treats type 2 diabetes more effectively than a standard diabetes diet and may be more effective than single-agent therapy with oral diabetes drugs.1 - Improved Digestion and Bowel Movement
Dietary fiber or roughage is found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes pass through our digestive system basically unchanged because it can't be digested or absorbed. The fiber helps cleanse or scrub our intestines, keeps the intestines healthy and results in healthy bowel movements. And many more health benefits including; may help in the prevention of colorectal cancers, helps to control blood sugar levels, and helps to lower cholesterol levels. - More Energy
Your energy levels will improve and you will fill more vibrant and have a feeling of well-being. - Cancer Prevention
All the evidence points to a low-fat, high-fiber diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans as being the best for cancer prevention. Not surprisingly, vegetarians, whose diets easily meet these requirements, are at the lowest risk for cancer. Vegetarians have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters.2 - Prevent or Lower Risk of Other Chronic Diseases
Other chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease,
celiac disease have been improved or the progression has stopped just by eating a plant-based
diet.
1. Phillips Barnard ND, Cohen J, Jenkins DJ, Turner-McGrievy G, Gloede L, Jaster B, Seidl K, Green AA, Talpers S. A low-fat vegan diet improves glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized clinical trial in individuals with type 2 diabetes.Diabetes Care. 2006 Aug;29(8):1777-83.
2. Phillips RL. Role of lifestyle and dietary habits in risk of cancer among Seventh-day Adventists. Cancer Res. 1975;35(Suppl):3513-22.
Disclaimer: *The materials and content contained in this website are for general health information only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Users of this website should not rely exclusively on information provided in this website for their own health needs. All specific medical questions should be presented to your own health care provider.