Benefits of a Plant Diet

All our lives we have heard from our parents and teachers, “eat your veggies!”. As a child growing up, nothing could be more boring that a plate of broccoli or worse yet, brussel sprouts. As we get older, however, we start to become more aware of our health and of issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. We are not surprised to hear that by eating our veggies, we can actually not only prevent these health challenges but reverse them as well.

Why do plant foods such as vegetables help our health and how do we include them in our meals in fabulous ways?

1. Plant foods are high in fiber which is key to our health. Fiber is another word for plant roughage and therefore, is only found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts and seeds. Fiber is key for our liver to assist it with cleaning our blood of excess fat, cholesterol, hormones and toxins. Learn more about spring cleaning and detoxifying our bodies in next week’s issue.
2. Plant foods are naturally low in fat. High fat diets have been found to be an issue for not only heart disease, but diabetes and cancer as well. When we eat a diet that is too high in fat, all sorts of health challenges are triggered. By eating more fruits and veggies, we satisfy our hunger with foods that are tasty without overdoing the fats.
3. Plant foods are rich with antioxidants. Many wonderful antioxidants that fight all sorts of illnesses, reduce inflammation, and reduce issues with ageing are found in plants. Consider a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables to be certain to benefit from the wide variety of antioxidants they contain. For example, beta-carotene comes from orange and yellow fruits and vegetables and green leafy ones too. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant from citrus and red peppers and strawberries to name a few. Resveratrol from red grapes and selenium and zinc from certain nuts and seeds. Consider attending one of Janet’s talks sponsored by The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine where she teaches about these immune boosting foods.
4. Plant foods are full of phyto-chemicals that have been found to fight cancer as well as many other illnesses. Nutrients such as allicin in garlic and onions and sulforaphane in broccoli are gifts from Mother Nature to keep you healthy and to fight many illnesses. Be sure to load up on a wide variety daily.
5. Plant foods help you to lose weight. When you eat a diet mostly if not completely of wonderful plant foods, your weight will balance naturally. I see this all the time with my clients who choose this way of eating to reverse or prevent a more serious health challenge they are facing. They always notice that their weight balances easily and naturally and that they begin to feel better and more energized.

So try eating a diet based on plant foods for a few weeks to see how you feel. Plant foods do provide you with all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy and strong. Even the American Dietetic Association has stated that you can get all the nutrients you need to be healthy from a plant based diet. Eating plants does not need to be boring.

See Janet’s recipe book “Fabulous Recipes for Vibrant Health” for many wonderful recipes based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Your health and your life will certainly experience a change for the better.