Plant Based Diet

THE WHOLE FOOD PLANT BASED WAY

Green smoothie with celery, spinach and apple in two glasses

By Lauren May Malis

Vegetables, fruit, seeds, cereals, beans, spices, superfoods, herbs, condiment in wooden box for vegan, gluten free, allergy-friendly, clean eating and raw diet. Grey concrete background and top view

There is evidence based on top research that supports eating a whole food plant based diet can boost your health significantly, reverse chronic disease such as diabetes and heart disease as well as decrease the risk of cancer, inflammation, Alzheimer’s and more.

Plant based diets are full of phtyochemicals which are compounds that help keep many of the body’s systems running at optimum levels. Eating this way will help to protect and enhance every area in your body. It will help stabilize weight, increase your energy, control inflammation and neutralize the free radicals that cause cellular damage.

When you base your meals on a whole food plants you will be packing your diet with fiber, minerals and healthy fats and plants can give you an adequate source of protein as well.

I believe in eating primarily whole food plant based and I wholeheartedly believe it has changed my life. It works for me and I love how it makes me feel. Plants are foods full of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and all the energy we need to live our lives. I never feel deprived without eating animal products.

I eat what I want and that’s mostly just whole foods prepared in simple and delicious ways. I try to keep my recipes as simple and minimal with good ingredients from farm stands or famers markets.

I grocery shop and cook vegan at home as much as possible and I try to eat plant-based more or less 100% of the time. Most days my diet consists of vegetables, sprouts, fruits, nuts and seeds, some whole grains like oats, brown rice and quinoa, some soy and some beans and lentils.  I am a big proponent of fresh celery juice every morning with sprouts.

There is so much written and/or filmed on the whole food plant based way of life and the benefits such as  the books-Living Foods for Optimum Health, The China Study, How Not to Die and films- What The Health, Cowspiracy, Forks over Knives, The Game Changers and a film being released in 2019 which I worked on called Eating our way To Extinction.

How do you start?  By crowding in more vegetables, plant-based foods and whole foods and eliminating anything processed, sugar and dairy as much as you can.

Here are some of my favorite super foods:

• SPROUTS
• PEAS
• SQUASHES
• POTATOES
• QUINOA
• LENTILS
• BEANS
• TEMPEH
• AVOCADOS
• CHIA SEEDS
• HEMP HEARTS
• SAUERKRAUT
• NUTS
• GREENS- KALE, SPINACH, HARDS, RAMPS, DANDELION and MORE of all of them.
• BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER, CABBAGES
• EDAMAME
• BROWN RICE
• BUCKWHEAT