What Is A Plant Based Diet

There is no one right way of eating for everyone. Each person needs to find the right balance of foods for them to live their best life!

Plant based diets seem all the craze if you keep up with social media. They are, however, not new. Both vegan and vegetarian style diets are plant based and have been followed for years. While vegans typically avoid all animal products and many vegetarians only include eggs and dairy foods as part of their protein options, plant-based eating doesn’t have to be so stringent and is certainly open to interpretation.

The reasons for going towards a “plant forward” dietary approach are many. Research has shown us that there are many health benefits from including more plant foods in our diets including

• weight loss
• lowering blood sugar
• being heart healthy
• lowering blood pressure.

However just know that plant forward diets may or may not be healthier than those diets that include meat. Refined grains, added sugars and vegan fast food are all plant based but have very little nutrition. A little information and a few guidelines may be helpful. If you are looking at food labels here are some guidelines:

• Any food that contains 3 grams of fiber or more is considered a good fiber source.
• Any food that has less than 10 grams of “added sugar” per serving is considered acceptable. The lower the better. No added sugar is optimal.
• Foods that contain no more than 3 grams of fat per 100 calories is considered healthful.
• Consume the least amount of saturated fat possible.

So what is included in a plant forward eating plan? Lots of fruits and veggies, corn, tomatoes and all fruits including canned, dried and frozen options, nuts and seeds, refined and white breads as well as whole grains, cold and hot cereals, seeds and pasta, potatoes and sweet potatoes, legumes, and also meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy.

There are no foods that you cannot eat while being plant forward in your approach to food. This is really important because being flexible is key when it comes to your health and well being. We need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and strictly speaking, plant based diets often come up short in key nutrients. What are the health risks and concerns associated with plant based diets?

• Nutrient Deficiencies: vegans and vegetarians must pay attention to ensure their dietary choices provide enough protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B12 in their diets. The most absorbable forms of iron and B12 are found in animal proteins like red meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. Dairy foods are also a good source of absorbable calcium and vitamin D. The above nutrients can be found in some plant foods, but because of the fiber in these plants, our bodies do not absorb these nutrients as well as from animal proteins.
• Protein Needs: plant based foods do contain some protein, but plant proteins are not complete meaning they do not contain all the amino acids needed for our bodies to completely use the protein for muscle building, for immunity, to make hormones, or to make red and white blood cells. The exceptions are soy and quinoa. It is important to include complementary proteins such as those found in soy, legumes, nutritional yeast and nuts. This is why it may be beneficial to include poultry, fish, lean red meat, eggs, and dairy foods often during the week to give your body added nutrients and protein.
• Requires Planning: to have a balanced diet means that you may have to spend some time planning meals and snacks as well as going food shopping . This can be tedious and time consuming. Any eating plan that requires you to restrict foods or live by “good” and “bad” food rules is similar to disordered eating. Be careful.

How you feed and care for yourself should be enjoyable and not restrictive. If your food rules leave you feeling exhausted and consuming foods that do not also feed your soul then it is not a good choice for you or anyone.

If you are considering following a plant forward diet, start small. Perhaps the best way to approach it is to just start by adding more fruits and vegetables to your day. The next step may be to explore recipes that include less meat and more legumes, nuts and soy. You might decide to have meat or poultry 3 or 4 times per week and have fish more often. There are no rules and no foods that cannot be incorporated. Make gradual changes and enlist the help of a registered dietitian to help put a plan together that keeps you healthy and satisfied.

Example of a plant forward eating day:

Breakfast:

Bowl of oatmeal topped with blueberries and banana, cup of zero sugar vanilla Greek yogurt, handful of walnuts, warm beverage

Lunch:

Bowl of lentil soup topped w/part skim milk swiss cheese, cup of cooked brown rice, side salad w/olive oil based dressing

Snack:

2 cups plain popcorn
1 orange
1 cup vanilla soy milk

Dinner:

Grilled salmon with sweet potato and asparagus, green salad w/lots of veggies and olive oil based dressing, coconut milk ice cream (for fun!!!)