Would you give up meat ?
In our society meat is placed on the upper levels on the taste hierarchy starting with hamburgers and delicious steaks. But there are other incredible foods out there that can benefit your health, not only your taste.
Going on a plant based diet doesn’t mean that you have to exclude meat. It simply means you have to switch from pork and red meat to poultry and fish adding a lot of veggies and fruits in your diet.
Are all plant based diets the same ?
No, plant diets are quite different from one another depending on which foods, beside vegetable and fruits, you add in your daily diet.
Some vegetarians eat egg and milk and are called “lacto-ovo-vegetarian”. Other vegetarians exclude any sort of meat from their meals – these are the vegans. Remember that it’s important to decide the foods that you don’t want to exclude from your plant diet. This is not a regime, but a lifetime commitment.
Step-by-step plant based diet
If you weighed the pros and cons of following a plant based diet and you decided to forget about juicy steaks, then you must commit steadily to the fruits and veggies diet.
It’s recommended to start replacing breakfast with smoothies. Also you can start including oceanic fish in your meals or simply decrease the amount of meat and increase the vegetable garnish.
Keep in mind that although it might seem less tasty at first, you will learn how to spice up your food with chilli, turmeric and other rich condiments.
Common myths
There are many myth about the plant based diet, but most of them are simple presumptions, but no scientific background. We’ve selected the top 3 myth of plant dieting:
1. Vegetarian diets are dull and boring – FALSE
On the contrary, vegetarian diets or plant based diets are tons of fun. You can combine a lot of veggies so you’ll always have an abundance of taste and color in your plate.
2. Plant based diets are nutrient deficient – FALSE
This is also a false myth started by the presumption that meat if the only protein source available. But all foods, except oil and sugar, contain proteins. The key is to eat an abundance of foods so that you can make up for the lack of meat in your diet.
Other foods that are high in protein levels are beans, seeds, nuts, whole grains and if you are an lacto-ovo-vegetarian even milk and eggs contain a lot of proteins.
3. Vegetarian diets are low in fat – FALSE
One might think that if you eat all day just fruits and vegetable you avoid fat, but that’s not true. Avocado, olives, nuts, soy milk, olive oil – all these are heavily loaded with fats. The good thing is that unsaturated fats are quite useful for your body to work properly.
Plant based diet benefits
There are a lot of benefits when consuming large amounts of mostly fruits and veggies. From your state of mind to your remodeled figure. Also because fibers and fruits, vegetables contain a lot of healthy nutrients a plant based diet can prevent constipation, high cholesterol, cataract and macular degeneration, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and skin tone.
As a measure of precaution when you decide to follow a plant based diet is better to speak first with your doctor. Because your entire eating habits will change you might need some supplements for a while to help your body adjust.