Plant-Based Nutrition is the Key to Health
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s. Today, more than 160 million Americans in total are overweight or obese. We are talking about 70% of the country.
About 663,000 Americans die of heart disease every year, the leading cause of death among men and women. It should be noted that most instances of heart disease are preventable.
Diabetes will kill at least 253,000 people this year and annually costs our government $327 billion just for diagnosed cases. Nearly one in five people are suffering from an anxiety disorder, and those are just diagnosed numbers.
What do all these statistics have in common?
They can be significantly reduced and even prevented through dietary changes. Maybe you have family members or those close to you experiencing some of those health conditions – and those were just to name a few of the most common health concerns today.
Some of those things might not affect you now or be an obvious issue in your everyday life, but the decisions you are making today are influencing your health and chances of developing diseases like these in the future.
Let’s talk about the influence of the industries involved in the obesity and disease epidemics, and the physical, mental, and environmental benefits of moving towards a whole-food, plant-based diet. Many of the unnecessary deaths, painful medical conditions, and mental health issues we face today could be eradicated with optimal nutrition.
There has been a lot of hype around the trend of the “vegan” diet in recent years. Veganism is the belief that we should abstain from all animal products. There is a difference between a vegan diet and what I mean by plant-based. I am emphasizing the word based. Meaning the core of our diet should be fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy starches, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes. These foods are going to be high in natural vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber and phytonutrients.
Vegan foods may include Oreos, Fruit by the Foot, Fritos, Sour Patch Kids, Cap’n Crunch, some flavors of Doritos, soda, and french fries, which are all highly inflammatory foods that shouldn’t be a part of a healthy, disease-preventing diet. The difference between these processed “vegan” foods and eating a wide array of whole foods that came from the earth is what constitutes plant-based eating.
Moving forward, you should keep this pyramid in your head as a reference for plant-based eating. As you can see, the base of the pyramid is vegetables, fruits, beans, and legumes. While at the very top (foods that should be consumed very rarely) are processed foods, conventional meats and cheese, and refined oils.
Dr. Fuhrman’s plant-based food pyramid
Some people speak out against or mock vegan diets likely due to the social conditioning of being raised in a heavy animal product eating society. The combination of that and the lack of education surrounding the benefits of optimal nutrition and a plant-centric diet.
We need to eliminate a black-and-white approach to this subject. All of us will need to find what works for our bodies to have us feeling our best. Another one of my favorite doctors who speaks on the benefits of a plant-based diet while including occasional wild-caught fish or local grass-fed meat is Dr. Mark Hyman.
This is not an arguement for going completely vegan or telling anyone to adopt a hyper-specific diet. It is simply highlighting the benefits of getting the bulk of our diet from whole, unprocessed plant foods. This information is just beginning to scratch the surface, but the research to this point is overwhelming, and we do need to be moving towards whole-food, plant-based eating for the health of our planet and our wellness.
It is our responsibility to fuel our bodies with foods that our future selves will thank us for because if we leave it in the hands of doctors, schools, the meat, dairy, fast food, and processed food industries – they will drop it every time. Unfortunately, this means we are also responsible for educating ourselves around these topics. We aren’t taught how good our bodies are meant to feel and to what degree optimal nutrition from a clean diet can change our lives.
We have to empower ourselves to be advocates of our health and well-being. We chose every day when we shop for food, what kind of world we are creating, and the health outcomes we are giving ourselves, our families, and our communities.
Part of moving towards this whole-food, plant-based diet is not supporting industries and companies with a vested interest in your addiction to the foods that are keeping our country unhealthy as a whole. They operate for profit, not for wellness. The junk food industry made up of processed food, dairy, and meat companies are a multibillion-dollar industry collectively. This includes the fast-food companies, who are constantly creating clever marketing campaigns for their highly-addictive food.
They have no interest in your health or you eating your fresh vegetables. It would mean the end of their business. It is an art to them to pack the most sugar and fat into meals because they understand how these ingredients light up the pleasure centers in your brain to keep you coming back for more.
Every fried food, processed meat, and sugary beverage is taking time off your life and cutting back on your quality of life while you are still alive.
And unfortunately, our health care system has turned into a sick care system where the basis of illnesses are treated only with Western medication with little regard to just how impactful our dietary choices are on our overall health.
The solution? Eating mostly plants, minimizing meat and dairy consumption, and eliminating fast food and processed junk food.
Science and doctors have proved just how quickly our health can be turned around and improved with just a few small changes. Besides, you’ll often find you can still enjoy so many of your favorite foods; it simply becomes about how to make them in a cleaner, healthier way.
The benefits of plant-based eating are far-reaching and will affect nearly every area of your life, from your energy to mental outlook to better sexual health.
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, salad greens, and broccoli are some of the best foods you can incorporate into your diet. They are rich in vitamins A, C, E, and K, and they protect your cells to help block the early growth of cancer, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Eating fresh fruits like apples, bananas, mangoes, and berries will help you fulfill your needs of fiber, which helps you feel fuller longer, and less likely to reach for unhealthy foods and snacks. According to studies conducted by Harvard, fiber will help you to maintain a healthy weight, keep your digestive system working efficiently, and keep cholesterol levels healthy. It even helps prevent colon cancers.
Those who eat diets rich in fresh plant foods also enjoy the benefits of improved sexual function, better reproductive health, and will be much less likely to encounter issues of sexual dysfunction.
Eating the rainbow of foods that came from the earth will provide you with abundant vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that help your body function and perform at it’s best.
They will help aid in the detoxification process and to fight off illnesses and infection. Foods like citruses, garlic, bell peppers, almonds, kiwi, and papaya have been proven to keep the immune system strong and have anti-inflammatory properties.
One could go on and on about what plant foods can do to keep your physical body young, vibrant, and healthy, but it is also important to understand how eating whole foods improves your mental well-being.
According to Harvard University, studies have compared “traditional” diets, like the Mediterranean diet or a traditional Japanese diet, to what constitutes a typical “Western” diet and they have shown that the risk of depression is about 35% lower in those who eat the more Mediterranean or Japanese diets. They also cited that about 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract, which means that what you eat doesn’t just determine your gut health, but it also has a huge role in your emotional well-being and cognitive function.
For example, Kale contains high amounts of folate, a vitamin often supplemented to help treat depression. Nuts are loaded with healthy fats, antioxidants, and calcium, which can help fight hormone imbalances, anxiety and depression.
When we eat things like fast food, boxed dinners, processed and refined carbohydrates, we are consuming so many toxins and chemicals that disrupt our bodies’ natural hormones and processes.
And just as these harmful foods disrupt our bodies’ natural functions, they disrupt our environment, soil, and bodies of water all over the planet.
According to the United Nations, greenhouse gas emissions produced per gram of lamb and beef are 250 times greater than those of legumes, and just one serving of beef will give off more emissions than 20 servings of vegetables.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation and gives off enormous amounts of harmful gas emissions that speed up climate change and create toxic air and water.
Additionally, UCLA reports that moving towards a plant-based diet is far more sustainable. We could add about 49% to the global food supply without expanding croplands by switching to producing plants. So we can actually feed more people on less land with plant-centric eating.
Plants don’t bioaccumulate the way animals do, meaning that whatever toxin and chemical the animal is exposed to, you then consume when you eat the animal. Plants rid the soils of the harmful chemicals and pesticides that have penetrated farms across the country.
Our soil is also being contaminated from animal agriculture by way of waste runoff, as well as the use of excess antibiotics on livestock that ends up back in our water supply, causing humans to become antibiotic-resistant.
As a society, we are only as healthy as the environment that surrounds us. Moving towards plant-based eating helps improve not only our daily wellness and disease outcomes but also the world around us.
So if we want to love the body we are in and feel great in our skin and take care of the planet for our kids and future generations, then the basis of our diets needs to be whole, unprocessed plant foods. This means eating as many disease-fighting, phytonutrient-rich foods as possible every single day. It is vital to support healthy cognitive function, mental wellness, physical health, and keep our environment green.
One easy thing to remember when deciding what to eat is “if it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in one, don’t.”
Just begin to become aware. Do you recognize what you’re eating? Can you tell where it came from? Does it resemble the way it came in nature (yes, even meat)? Is it going to prevent disease, increase energy, and fuel your body?
Start with awareness and asking yourself why you are choosing to eat the way you do and how you feel after. This will be the first step towards adopting a healthier plant-based diet. And please keep the pyramid in mind.