I hosted an online wellness workshop recently all about eating plant-based foods. It was a great reminder for me about the amazing benefits of this lifestyle and I loved sharing what it means and how easy it truly is to eat this way that benefits your health, the environment and your taste buds. I find when I’m sharing my love for all the practices I coach, in this case eating whole food that comes from plants, I fall in love with the practice all over again and it inspires me to live it even more fully. This time that translated to creating some yummy new plant-based recipes, a stronger conviction to eating this way for the health of our planet and an increased inspiration to keep sharing. Here’s some information about what it means to eat-plant-based, some reasons why I do it and some ideas for incorporating more plant-based meals into your life.
What is plant-based
Maybe you’ve heard about plant-based eating. The name explains it well. The food that I eat is primarily from plants. This includes vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains (like rice and quinoa). While it seems like that is straight forward enough, meat and dairy make up a large portion of the average western diet and they are often cornerstones of snacks and meals. Plant-based eating is all about rethinking what needs to be on our plates and incorporating much more whole (not packaged, not processed) foods from plant sources. The difference between eating plant-based and eating vegetarian or vegan is that plant-based eating is often seen as less restrictive than a diet that has a strict restriction on animal products. Here’s some more clarification:
Vegetarian – a vegetarian diet means that someone avoids all meat from animals. This person may still eat dairy and eggs.
Pescatarian – a pescatarian diet means that someone avoids all meat from animals, except fish. This person may or may not eat dairy and eggs.
Vegan – a vegan diet means that someone avoids all meat from animals, as well as all dairy and eggs.
Plant-based (or sometimes referred to as flexitarian) – a plant-based diet means that someone rarely eats meat from animals and rarely eats dairy and eggs. Instead, their diet is based on a foundation of eating whole (not packaged, not processed) food almost entirely from plants.
My diet closely resembles that of a vegan. On certain occasions, I eat a small amount of meat (mostly fish) and eggs. Because my diet has some flexibility, I consider it plant-based. I also consider it whole foods plant-based because I love that the name itself implies that I eat mostly plants, which are generally less processed and not packaged. For me, this is the key to why I eat this way. It leads me to prioritize real food, including fresh fruits and vegetables because they are so highly nutritious. I try not to waste time eating anything that isn’t serving me with a very high nutrient level. This gets me into my why and some of the benefits to eating plant-based.
Why I eat plant-based
For me, it’s simple. There are so many benefits for my body, that I can’t imagine changing how I eat now, even if I wanted to. The truth is though, I don’t feel like I’m on a restricted diet and that I want to change how I eat. I have loved shifting my mindset around needing to eat meat for dinner and dairy for snacks. There are so many better options – and by better, I mean more nutritious, more colorful and more delicious. I do love plant-based eating. Fresh and whole foods are delicious. Even on top of the taste and the love of how I feel, the health benefits alone win me over.
Often times people wonder if a plant-based diet will provide enough of the nutrients they need to stay healthy. When someone eats plant-based and focuses on eating whole, real foods, their diet will very likely provide more fiber, antioxidants and vitamins than a typical western diet. The diet will be rich in potassium, magnesium, folate and more. In addition, eating plant-based is shown to help lose unwanted weight and maintain healthy weight loss, lower blood sugar, lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease, protect against certain cancers and more. The most common question I get when I talk to clients about eating plant-based is “how do you get enough protein?” I talk about protein here and all of the easy and healthy ways to get it from plants, think whole grains, peas, and nuts just for starters. I think what clients may really be wanting to ask or trying to get at is “how am I going to feel while eating plant-based?” At least that is what I think of when I think about how I eat. Do I feel full, satisfied, strong and nourished? With whole foods plant-based eating, the answer is definitely yes! This is because this way of eating provides so many nutrients and all the aspects of food that make us feel full, satisfied, strong and nourished and that make it taste delicious. Fiber, fat, salt, sweet, crunchy, creamy, protein-rich, vibrant, colorful, and fresh! It’s all here!
The last, although certainly not least important, reason why I eat plant-based is because of the positive impact even small changes in my food consumption can have on the environment. Someone might argue against plant-based eating by saying that humans have always eaten animals. Meat consumption may feel natural and like a way of life, but the truth is the current production of meat, specifically cattle and dairy farming, is unsustainable to our environment. Meat has never been more accessible and with a growing population and more people wanting to eat meat, the industry has become extremely profitable and destructive. Meat and dairy farming produces massive levels of green-house gasses and uses vast amounts of water to operate. The meat and dairy industries alone use one third of the Earth’s fresh water, with a single quarter-pound hamburger patty requiring 460 gallons of water – the equivalent of almost 30 showers – to produce[1]. In addition, forests and other habitats are being demolished rapidly for pastures. In short, we need less farming of animals and to get there we need less demand for meat and dairy. Even small changes will help. If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 7.6 million cars off the roads[2].
Want to know more?
For me, it’s not an all or nothing game. Sometimes, I want to eat meat. Sometimes, I’m at someone’s home and I want to enjoy dinner together knowing that it was prepared with love and as nourishment for me. And most of the time, I know I’m healthier, happier and making the difference I can by eating whole plant-based foods. I was never a big fan of pork, that is an easy one for me to avoid. On the contrary, at one point in my life I had a cheese Christmas ornament because cheese was such a staple in my diet, especially around the holidays. Today, I not only don’t remember the last time I ate cheese, I truthfully don’t miss it. I say this because it is a process and it has taken me years to get here. I recommend starting small. Maybe it is one or two days a week of eating plant-based foods or maybe it's just one meal. You might find that, like me, those days or that meal are the times you eat the most whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables. This may be an incentive to add more plant-based days. If you’re interested in learning more – like how to shift your mindset away from feeling like dinner isn’t dinner without meat or learn more about what whole plant-based foods might be best for you, I’d love to talk. I never force clients to eliminate anything from their diets, but by incorporating more whole plant-based foods, you might find that there is room to shift how you eat and how you think about eating meat and dairy. Thanks for reading along about something I am passionate about. I love to talk about plant-based eating and I love to share recipes, so please get in touch.
Live well,
Britta
[1, 2] Hunter, Carol. Stanford Report. https://news.stanford.edu/report/2021/05/06/embracing-plant-based-diet/
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