As the name implies, a plant-based diet is all about getting most of your calories and nutrients from plants. But there’s room for the meat and animal products you love — sparingly.
Given the fairly wide parameters, a lot of healthy diets that focus on whole foods and fruits and vegetables are plant-based, Brie Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., RD, professor at the Arnold School of Public Health at University of South Carolina, tells TODAY.com.
The pros of a plant-based diet include health benefits and the flexibility, explains Amy Shapiro, registered dietitian, founder and director of Real Nutrition in New York City. And while you’re limiting foods, like meat and cheese, you don’t have to give them up entirely.
Here's what to know about getting started with a plant-based diet.
Plant-based eating is generally a healthy dietary approach, but don't just assume that you'll automatically be eating healthy by cutting down on animal products, Shapiro says. For example, if you eat mostly refined carbohydrates and processed foods, that's not necessarily healthy or nutrient dense.
Here are some tips to get started with a plant-based diet:
A vegan diet falls into the category of a plant-based diet, but it is more restrictive because you do not eat any animal products at all on a vegan diet. That means no eggs, honey, dairy or meat.
Because a plant-based diet is more flexible and allows enjoying animal products from time to time, it's easier to adopt. And since you're still loading up on plants, you reap many of the same health benefits as people following vegan diets.
Some of the diets that fall under the plant-based umbrella include:
Here are some known benefits of following a plant-based diet.
Filling about half your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables means you'll likely to get all of the vitamins, minerals and macronutrients and micronutrients you need, Shapiro explains.
Following a plant-based diet makes it easier to portion-control the foods that tend to be less healthy, like saturated fats and sugars, so you’re lowering risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems.
A plant-based diet is also good for people with chronic conditions, like high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, because you’re limiting saturated fats and sugars.
Research shows plant-based eating can be a good diet for weight loss. A 2015 review published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that, according to data from 15 studies, people prescribed a plant-based eating plan for weight loss on average lost the equivalent of 7.5 to 10 pounds.
A 2015 randomized controlled trial published in the journal Nutrition (in which Turner-McGrievy was the lead author) that compared weight lost over 6 months for people on vegan, vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian or omnivorous diets found that people on vegan diets lost by far the most weight over the course of the trial (7.5% of their baseline body weight). But those on all four other types of diets (including the omnivorous diet) lost just over 3% of baseline body weight.
And according to a 2016 review article published in The Permanente Journal, plant-based eating can support weight management, reduce medication needs, lower risk for most chronic diseases and heart disease deaths.
Environmentally friendly
Plant-based eating is good for the planet, given that farming animals for food is known to be one of the big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Are there downsides to a plant-based diet?
A lot of major health groups consider it a healthy diet for people of all ages and stages of life. But certain health conditions may not respond not respond well to a plant-based diet, such as digestive issues where you need to limit the amount of fiber you eat, or kidney disease, where you need to watch your intake of potassium, which is readily available in plant foods, Shapiro says.
Consult your health care provider if you have underlying health conditions and want to switch to a plant-based diet.
Another downside of plant-based diets is that prepping fresh fruits and vegetables, the mainstay of your meals and snacks, can be time-consuming. Shapiro's advice: Plan ahead. Roast vegetables ahead of time that can quickly become a salad or sandwich. Wash and cut fruit that can easily be tossed with yogurt and nuts or into a smoothie. And keep frozen fruits and vegetables on hand.
Here’s a sample menu for a plant-based diet created by Shapiro:
Smoothie (1 banana, 1 tablespoon peanut or any other nut or seed butter, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower, 1 serving chocolate vegan protein powder, cinnamon)
Large salad with quinoa, beans, olives, avocado and veggies
Pineapple slices with coconut yogurt and hemp seeds
Zucchini noodles with chickpeas and shrimp in a tomato based sauce
Oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate chips
Here are some plant-based diet recipes from TODAY.com to try out:
Gluten-Free Veggie Noodle Bowls by Kevin Curry
Creamy Vegan Cacio e Pepe by Samah Dada
Thai Coconut Red Curry by Plantable
Vegan Lentil Chili by Chloe Coscarelli
Wild Rice Salad by Plantable
Sumac-Dusted Chana Masala by Kanchan Koya
Mushroom 'Chorizo' Lettuce Tacos by Marco Borges
Jenné Claiborne's Vegan Chickpea 'Tuna' Sandwich by Jenné Claiborne
Charred Cauliflower by Kwame Onwuachi
Seasonal Lentil Soup by Dominique Khoury
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
2024-01-30T20:58:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd