There are a ton of great pages on plant-based eating and living.
Find a simple overview below but check out the resource
list under the Plant-Based Living tab for more information.
What is Plant-Based Eating?
A plant-based eating approach emphasizes whole food versions of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. What these all have in common (besides being super delicious and healthy) is that they are all plants! Plant-based eating is not vegan eating. It isn't vegetarian either. It's right in the middle. A plant-based diet allows a person to decide if honey (an animal product) is the natural sweetener for them. Simply put, it asks: "how do you see eating more veggies and fruits working into your life?"
Why is plant-based eating healthy?
Eating whole foods preserves nutrients we need to be our healthiest. Processed foods have less or only partial nutrient values. These nutrients, vitamins, and minerals help fuel our bodies properly but also fight inflammation. Inflammation or inflammatory states contribute to disease development or cancer proliferation.
Isn't meat a whole food?
Yes, animal meat is a whole food and it's easily digested because it's structure is similar to ours. Unfortunately, a lot of animal based proteins being eaten are processed with excess sugar, fat or salt (I see you sausage). On top of that excess animal fat has been shown to promote inflammation in the body. As we just discussed, inflammation promotes disease so we want to minimize our risk by eating things that are known to fight inflammation, not promote it.
What about dairy?
Dairy is produced from animals so it counts! When a baby breastfeeds (as all mammals do), bio-feedback occurs where the breast milk changes to match whatever the development needs are of the baby. This means, the milk produced is specifically made for the baby its feeding! If it's a human baby, the calories and hormones included are perfect for human development. If it's a baby calf, the cow breast milk is perfect to grow a full-sized cow! The calories its producing aren't perfectly suited for humans but we drink it and use it to make cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc. anyway. No wonder dairy can cause so many issues!
Learn more about how plant-based living can help you by checking out the drop down under the Plant-Based Living link. When you're ready for more help, send me a note to get started with personalized counseling!