Why cutting down on animal products can improve your health.
Every nutrient we need can be found in a whole foods plant-based diet.
As a species, we have been eating animals for thousands of years. However, more and more people are now leaving animal products off of their plate for ethical reasons, environmental reasons and increasingly for the health benefits that are becoming more and more apparent.
If you’ve eaten animal products your whole life, it can be concerning to read that they may be detrimental to your health. However, more and more studies are suggesting that you may see health benefits from cutting down your consumption of animal products, if not removing them altogether from your diet.
A whole foods plant-based diet is focused around foods in their complete, unprocessed state, avoiding any animal products: meat, dairy, eggs, honey and any hidden ingredients like gelatine. The diet has a huge emphasis on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (beans and pulses), and seeds and nuts. It removes refined sugars, white flour and processed oils. So you may eat sunflower seeds, but you would avoid the processed form of sunflower oil.
It is worth stating that the whole foods plant-based diet is not the same as a vegan diet. A vegan diet excludes animal products, but can still include the vegan junk food now found in every supermarket.
So what health benefits could you see if you were to switch to a plant-based diet?
Obesity The world is currently facing an obesity crisis, and many more studies are coming out suggesting that a switch to a whole foods plant-based diet could help people lose weight.
In 2006, after reviewing data from 87 published studies, Berkow and Barnard reported in Nutrition Reviews that a vegan or vegetarian diet is highly effective for weight loss. In fact, on average, vegans have the healthiest BMI among all different diet groups.
Fish-eaters, vegetarians and especially vegans had lower BMI than meat-eaters.
International Journal of Obesity (2003)
From my own anecdotal experience, I lost two stone in two months when I switched to a plant-based diet and now I feel the best I have ever felt!
Heart disease The number one killer in the western world is coronary heart disease. If you are eating a diet high in saturated fats (commonplace in animal products) then you may be at risk of high cholesterol, which can lead to coronary heart disease. It’s not widely known that cholesterol is only found in animal products like meat, fish, eggs and high-fat dairy products.
The only diet proven to reverse heart disease is a whole food plant-based diet. A study published in 2014 looked at 198 patients to investigate whether eating a strict plant-based diet could stop or reverse heart disease. It found that, of the 177 patients who stuck to the diet, the majority reported a reduction in symptoms and 22% had disease reversal confirmed by test results.
Diabetes Another common disease proven to be controlled through a whole food plant-based diet is diabetes. A study conducted by Harvard Medical School in Boston found that people whose diets were more plant-based were around 23% less likely to develop diabetes.
Why can diabetes be helped through a plant-based diet? It’s to do with the beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. It’s thought that a diet high in plants and low in animal products may reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the beta cells, allowing them to function better.
Protein We have always been under the impression that we need to eat meat and eggs for protein. But the truth is, every nutrient we need can be found in a whole foods plant-based diet.
Protein is actually found in a huge array of different food types, for example seeds, nuts, beans and pulses.
Per 100g, an apricot contains around 1.5g of protein. Not a huge amount, but still surprising, as you might not think of fruit as a source of protein.
A common source of protein in a whole food plant-based diet is the all-important soybean (often eaten in the form of tofu or tempeh). This is because of its delicious taste and texture, but also the huge amount of protein found in the soybean. In fact, it has 18g per 1 cup serving, which is equivalent to a 75g portion of salmon or 180g of cottage cheese.
Calcium Dairy has always been regarded as an important part of our diet for the calcium content. But the truth is that we can get just as much calcium from plants. One cup of 2% fat cow’s milk contains just under 300mg of calcium. In comparison, 1 cup of oats contains just over 400mg of calcium!
Whilst you don’t need to make a full switch to a whole food plant-based diet, it’s worth considering that you really can get the nutrition you need to keep healthy without animal products.
Why not try one day a week on a plant-based diet, or commit to a weekend cooking meals made up of totally unprocessed ingredients?