The beginner's guide to a plant-based lifestyle. You’re probably thinking that moving to a plant-based diet sounds like a great idea, but you don’t know where to start. You’re in the right place. We’ve got the recipes, knowledge, and expertise to make the change easy and enjoyable. We’ll answer your questions, provide helpful advice, and share the techniques you need.
How can a plant-based lifestyle boost your health?
One of the most powerful steps you can take to improve your health, boost energy levels, and prevent chronic diseases is to move to a plant-based diet.
There’s excellent scientific evidence that many chronic diseases can be prevented, controlled, or even reversed with a whole-food, plant-based diet. Scientific research highlighted in the landmark book The China Study shows that a plant-based diet can reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and other major illnesses.
Many people also report bigger fitness payoffs, more energy, reduced inflammation, and better health outcomes after making the switch to a wholefood plant-based lifestyle.
What is a whole food plant-based lifestyle?
A whole-food, plant-based diet lets you meet your nutritional needs by focusing on natural, minimally processed plant foods, and is based on the following principles:
- Whole foods describe natural foods that are not heavily processed. That means whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients.
- Plant-based means food that comes from plants and doesn’t include animal ingredients such as meat, fish, dairy, or eggs.
Plant-based lifestyle - The main food groups
Here’s a quick overview of the major food categories you’ll enjoy on a plant-based diet, with examples:
- Fruits: Any type of fruit including apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, citrus fruits, melons, etc.
- Vegetables: Plenty of vegetables including peppers, corn, lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, squash, etc.
- Tubers: Root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, beetroots, etc.
- Whole grains: Grains, cereals, and other starches in their whole form, such as quinoa, brown rice, millet, whole wheat, buckwheat, teff, oats, barley, etc.
- Legumes: Beans of any kind, plus lentils, pulses, chickpeas, etc.
- Mushrooms: Wild, medicinal, and cultivated varieties.
- Nuts: Walnuts, peanuts, cashew, pistachio, pecan ect.
- Seeds: Chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, etc.
There are plenty of other foods you can also enjoy, including tofu, tempeh, spices, herbs, seaweed, whole-grain flour, bread, and plant-based milk.
The benefits of embracing a plant-based lifestyle
There are several major benefits to moving to plant-based nutrition, all supported by excellent science. These benefits include:
- Easy weight management: People who eat a plant-based diet tend to be leaner than those who don’t.
- Disease prevention: Whole-food, plant-based eating can prevent, halt, or even reverse chronic diseases, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- A lighter environmental footprint: A plant-based diet places much less environmental stress.
- Ethical: A plant-based diet is free from all animals and their by-products making it an ethical and compassionate of living more in tune with nature.
How do you move to a plant-based lifestyle?
Knowledge is power. Embarking on a new way of sourcing, cooking, and eating food requires new knowledge. Approach this new journey with excitement and wonder. There are 70000 edible plants on earth; a whole new world to explore.
You can start by changing overnight or making gradual changes. Find out what works best for you. Lifestyle change takes time, commitment, and perseverance.
Listen to your body, your mood, and your energy levels throughout the transition. Once you feel the benefits it will encourage you to keep going. We're here for you along the way. Keep in touch via our Community Group.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!