A plant-based diet includes whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes while excluding animal products, processed foods and added sugars.
Diets can be powerful tools in preventing chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, while managing and even reversing them.
Protein
Protein is one of the main macronutrients, helping keep you feeling full, maintaining a healthy weight, and supporting immunity. Eating more plant-based foods may also lower risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Plant-based diets typically feature beans, legumes, soy products (such as tofu and tempeh ), nuts, seeds and whole grains as sources of protein. If desired, fish and poultry may also be included.
Target unprocessed plant-based sources of protein such as beans, quinoa, lentils, soy milk, tofu, nut butters and avocado for your protein needs. Doing so will ensure your body can get all of its essential amino acids that may be missing from processed meat or animal-based proteins; according to one recent study published in Journal of American Heart Association study those following diets higher in plant-based proteins had a lower risk for heart disease.
Fat
A plant-based diet emphasizes healthy fats like those found in avocado, nuts and seeds; vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins like tofu, beans or lentils as sources of lean proteins; aim to fill two-thirds of your plate with these foods at mealstimes.
Diets rich in plant-based foods have long been recognized for their potential to prevent, treat and even reverse cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other ailments. A diet rich in plant-based food also aids the immune system in fighting inflammation, decreasing cancer risks and helping balance blood sugar.
A plant-based diet includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and healthy oils like olive, canola, peanut or safflower oils as sources of nutrition. Meat, dairy products and processed food products should be excluded. Reliable sources of Vitamin B12 can be found in plant milks or fortified breakfast cereals.
Carbohydrates
Carbs provide our bodies with energy throughout the day. Carbohydrates can be found in whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, tubers and legumes and should be included as part of an optimal plant-based diet with both complex and simple carbs for maximum performance.
This systematic review employs weight of evidence and information value techniques to investigate the association between consumed carbohydrates and gut microbiota composition across four taxonomic levels (phyla, order, family and genus). 47 studies were examined.
Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet has been associated with lower rates of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes. Furthermore, this approach leads to greater fitness gains and reduced inflammation within the body. Furthermore, plant-based eating is great for the environment since growing crops to feed animals creates unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions which alter climate.
Vitamins
Vitamins (and the group of molecules known as vitamers) are organic molecules essential for maintaining proper body functioning in trace amounts, but cannot be synthesized by the body; rather they must be taken through diet.
Numerous plant-based foods contain essential vitamins and minerals in abundance, like leafy green vegetables which contain high amounts of calcium and magnesium; beans provide ample amounts of potassium.
However, the UK average intake of vitamin B12 has been found to be significantly below recommended levels among those who follow a plant-based diet without animal products. Vegans need a dependable source of B12 such as fortified breakfast cereals or plant milks or supplements like nutritional yeast containing active forms of B12. B12 can also be found in dried edible seaweed but its levels of active form of vitamin B12 vary between plants. Other vitamins found in plant-based food sources include vitamin A from beta-carotene as well as B group vitamins like pyridoxine and biotin.
Minerals
Minerals are essential inorganic micronutrients for human health and can be divided into two categories: macrominerals and trace minerals.
Geologists define minerals as naturally-occurring inorganic substances characterized by unique chemical composition and highly ordered atomic structure, along with specific physical properties like cleavage, symmetry and color. Minerals make up much of Earth’s crust.
Atomic composition determines a mineral’s crystal structure and this explains why certain mineral compounds have different physical characteristics like the hardness of quartz or the fragility of talc.
Mineral enrichment in crop plants has the power to maximize plant growth under stress conditions and contribute to global food security. An adequate supply of minerals is critical for proper functioning of immune system components including those involved with inborn and adaptive defence mechanisms as well as inflammation regulation.
