5 Surprising Health Benefits of a Plant-Based, Whole-Food Diet
Embracing a plant-based diet means eating mostly plants. It’s more economical, and easier to find your food locally (fresh is always best). By eating mostly vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds and nuts, you lower your risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Eating a plant-based diet makes it easier to lose and maintain your goal weight, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to slim down.
Plants are on-trend, and for good reason! Research from a 2017 worldwide study involving 188 countries and comparing the effects of 79 different factors that contribute to death, showed that dietary risks are the leading cause of death and disability.
Poor diet was found to contribute to more deaths than high blood pressure, pollution, high blood sugar and cholesterol and over non-dietary lifestyle factors (like smoking or alcohol abuse).
If you want to live a long, healthy life free of pain and disease, it starts with your plate.
Gone are the days of living in ignorance about the quality and quantity of food you consume. If you want to live into your golden years with good health, you have to pay attention to everything you eat.
“We have science to suggest that if you can make three changes – give up meat, all dairy, and refined foods including free oils – you can avoid dying form cancer and heart disease.”
-Mehmet Oz, MD
We should be eating plant-based like our lives depend on it, because they do!
Transitioning to a plant-based diet is easier than ever before in 2021/22. If you live on the west coast, you are surrounded with local shops catering to a plant-based diet. You can find fresh organic produce at the farmer’s markets
, and most restaurants offer delicious vegan choices on the menu.
Canada’s Food Guide, which was recently updated for the first time in over a decade, says we need to eat more plant-based foods. This was a major update, and the first time the Agriculture Board wasn’t able to heavily influence the guidelines to suit their agenda!
“Milk and Alternatives” and “Meat and Alternatives” have lost their status as groups as official food groups, and instead been placed under the much smaller general “Protein Source” category.
Eating healthy is an investment you make for yourself. If you want to give yourself the best advantage to avoid chronic illness, pain, inflammation and cancer, choose a plant-based diet.
If you weren’t already sold on going plant-based, research has shown this diet benefits your skin, energy levels, gut health and mental health.
Want more resources to support your journey to be plant-based? All the recipes on our blog are vegan! Subscribe to our weekly e-blast for more lifestyle tips, and join our Facebook page.
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