Unless you have been unplugged from the internet and news for the past decade, you
have probably heard about plant-based diets. Unlike other diets where you use it to try
to lose weight or attain other big goals, the goal of a plant-based diet is simply to make
you healthier, help the environment, and just make a healthy lifestyle change.
With a plant-based diet, you are not strictly vegan, but instead add in more whole plant-
based foods, and reduce your meat and animal products consumption. If you’re
wondering why you should consider it, take a look at the many health benefits.
Overview of the Health Benefits
If you are just looking for the general health benefits of switching to a plant-based diet,
you will be happy to know that helping with your heart health and preventing stroke is at
the top of the list. It can also help to reduce cholesterol, level out your blood pressure
levels, help you lose weight naturally, and even prevent type 2 diabetes. Some research
is also showing promising results in helping to reduce your risk for certain types of
cancers as well.
Balance of Nutrients in Your Diet
When you start eating more plant-based food, you naturally increase your nutrients as
well. For example, if before you ate a turkey sandwich for lunch, you now want to
replace the turkey with more veggies and maybe include some hummus in your
sandwich for extra protein. All these extra veggies, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, tofu,
and other plant-based foods contain such an amazing source of nutrients for you.
Less Cholesterol and Fat
You are also going to naturally eat less cholesterol and fat in your diet when you start
reducing eggs, meat, cheese, and dairy. This will happen naturally without you really
needing to do anything. You don’t need to remove them from your diet completely just
to experience the effects. You can start slow by having one taco night with meatless
crumbles instead of beef, or by having a black bean burger instead of beef burger. This
alone will make a very large impact on the cholesterol in your diet.
Greens, Fiber, and More
Lastly, you will benefit from the extra greens, fiber, and other important nutrients than
you might have been lacking in your traditional diet. When you fill up on foods that aren’t
balanced nutritionally, you might feel satiated, but your body isn’t getting all the vitamins
and minerals it needs to function optimally. Just by adding more fruits, vegetables,
beans, nuts, seeds, and other plant-based foods will make a big difference in your
overall health.