Eating a plant-based diet can help reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol. It also promotes weight loss, boosted immunity and increased energy.
While a fully vegan diet is the most restrictive, a ‘flexitarian’ approach can deliver similar health benefits. This means increasing your intake of plant-based foods, but limiting the amount of animal products you consume each week (or alternating weeks).
1. Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases
Many of the chronic diseases – including heart disease, obesity and diabetes – that affect our society are directly linked to unhealthy dietary habits. In particular, diets that are low in fiber, contain refined grains, high in animal products and contain too much saturated fat are detrimental to the health of our bodies.
However, by introducing a few changes in the way you eat, such as replacing highly processed foods with whole foods and reducing your intake of meats and dairy, you can start to see the benefits of plant-based eating. A healthy plant-based diet should include plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
A diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans can significantly reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. These foods are high in vitamins, minerals and fiber.
These nutrients can help lower cholesterol levels, prevent fatty buildup in the arteries and regulate blood pressure. Additionally, these plants contain antioxidants that mop up free radicals in the body and fight inflammation.
In addition to the many perks of a healthy plant-based diet, it can also significantly decrease the environmental impact of our food supply. Raising livestock is a wasteful process that takes up huge amounts of land, water and energy.
Moreover, the livestock industry is responsible for a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. These effects are particularly damaging in areas where climate change is more likely.
If you want to improve your health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, switching to a plant-based diet is an easy and effective way to make positive changes. By filling two-thirds of your plate with fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes, you can begin to reap the benefits of this incredibly nutritious, yet surprisingly simple, lifestyle choice.
2. Weight Loss
Adding more plant-based foods to your diet can help you lose weight. Many of these foods are high in fiber, which helps to keep you full for longer. And they also have antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients that can boost your immune system.
Eating a plant-based diet can also decrease your cholesterol and blood pressure. It’s a great way to reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
When you start a plant-based diet, make sure to fill two-thirds of your plate with vegetables and fruits. Whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts should also be included in your diet.
Eat a balanced meal and avoid processed foods as much as possible. They can contain sodium, sugars, and oils that can negatively affect your health.
Instead, eat fresh fruit and vegetable salads as a healthy meal alternative. Or try a whole-grain bowl of quinoa, oatmeal, buckwheat or barley with nuts and seeds as your main meal.
Another way to stay on track is to plan out your meals ahead of time. This can help you save time and make it easier to stick with your diet.
You can also find pre-made plant-based options in most grocery stores, including veggie burgers, pizzas and pasta dishes. You can even subscribe to meal delivery services that send you a variety of delicious plant-based recipes.
Getting more fruits, vegetables and whole grains into your diet will improve your overall health and help you lose weight. And avoiding foods high in saturated fat and added sugar can also lower your cholesterol and blood pressure. This can lead to improved blood glucose control, which may help you manage your type 2 diabetes.
3. Boosted Immunity
Plant-based diets are high in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that nourish the immune system. These nutrients are found in vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans and peas), seeds and nuts. They also provide antioxidants that protect immune cells from damage caused by oxygen exposure, which may reduce inflammation and autoimmune disorders.
Vitamins C and E are particularly helpful for the immune system. Vitamin C can boost the production of white blood cells, while vitamin E has been shown to protect against viral infections like hepatitis B and C. Laminine is also a great dietary supplement to take regularly.
Getting enough of these nutrients can help to strengthen the immune system and prevent or treat many health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The good news is that you don’t have to be a strict vegetarian or vegan to reap these benefits.
The British Nutrition Foundation says that a plant-based diet is a balanced eating plan based on a variety of foods from plants, including grains, vegetables, fruit, pulses and nuts. It doesn’t mean you have to avoid meat and other animal products completely, but it does mean that you can fill two-thirds of your plate with these healthy options.
In addition to nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits, a plant-based diet is packed with antioxidants that can help to protect the immune system from oxidative stress. Antioxidants are essential to prevent free radicals from damaging the immune cells that fight off viruses and other pathogens.
A plant-based diet also encourages a diverse range of microbes in the gut, which is a key part of our immunity. According to Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and lead on the Covid-19 Zoe symptom study app, “Eating 30 different types of plants a week helps the good bacteria in your gut to thrive.” He adds that a diet high in processed foods can be a “big contributor” to the problem of bad gut microbes.
4. Reduced Risk of Cancer
Eating a plant-based diet can reduce your risk of developing cancer in many ways. Not only does it have a high proportion of plant foods (two-thirds or more of your plate should be made up of veggies) but it also contains phytochemicals, which are natural nutrients that your body needs to fight cancer.
These phytochemicals protect against cellular damage and inflammation, and they may even help you to maintain a healthy weight. Research has shown that a diet rich in plants can prevent up to a third of all cancers.
A vegetarian or vegan diet can significantly reduce your risk of getting cancer and improve your overall health in many other ways. For example, it is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer [8, 9] and prostate cancer.
However, it is important to note that these studies are only able to measure cause-specific cancer mortality and they do not address the impact of non-dietary factors, such as smoking, on this association. Moreover, the majority of these studies relied on only one measurement of diet at baseline.
Consequently, they do not provide sufficient information on the interaction between dietary factors and cancer mortality, which may explain some of the inconsistencies observed between these studies. Therefore, a better approach to identify the relationship between diet and cancer mortality would be through the use of indexes based on the interaction of all the nutrients contained in the diet.
In addition, limiting processed meats to five meals a week or less and drinking alcohol only in moderation can also be beneficial. These measures are all in keeping with the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research’s recommendation that two-thirds or more of your diet should be a plant-based one.
5. Enhanced Mental Health
One of the most important benefits of a plant-based diet is that it can significantly improve your mental health. This is because plants contain a wide range of nutrients that can help to reduce depression and boost your mood.
For example, plants are a source of the amino acid tryptophan, which is a vital component in the production of serotonin, a chemical that helps you feel calm and relaxed. Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, carrots, spinach, and mushrooms are excellent sources of this essential amino acid.
You can also meet your protein needs on a plant-based diet by eating legumes, seeds, nuts and nut butters, tofu, and tempeh. These foods are rich in amino acids and a good source of iron, calcium, and magnesium.
Another benefit of a plant-based diet is that you will likely experience less inflammation in your body. A high-inflammatory diet can be associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.
In addition, eating a lot of vegetables will help to increase your levels of vitamin C, which has been linked to improved cognitive function and reduced stress. Moreover, the antioxidants in these foods can help to reduce the formation of free radicals in your body that can cause cell damage.
This can lead to a decrease in anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as improved sleep. Adding fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to your diet will also help you stay hydrated and healthy.
A study published in Nutritional Neuroscience found that vegans and vegetarians reported lower levels of stress and anxiety than their meat-eating counterparts. This was the first large-scale investigation of how plant-based eating can affect the brain.
