Many studies reveal about the benefit of consuming variety of colorful fruits and vegetables including grains, and legumes can reduce the risk of getting chronic disease. According to the American Dietetic Association, following a plant based diet plan combined with other healthy lifestyle can lower cancer development, as well as the risk for other serious disease such as diabetes mellitus and heart disease.
Those who follow a plant based diet plan focus on nutrients source from plant kingdom, fortunately what our body need such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are exist on plant base foods. Another goodness of those foods is naturally less in calorie compared to the animal-base foods. Please keep in your mind that, following a plant based diet plan is not always you should jump into a vegetarian life, it just mean that you are recommended to choose most of your foods plant source.
Plant based diet tips
1. According to the mayoclinic.com website, for balance plant based diet plan, those plant-base foods such as whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables should cover 60 percent or more of the plate. Meanwhile meat, poultry, fish, or low-fat dairy products should cover no more than 40 percent of the plate.
2. Incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables on the plate besides processed plant-base foods such as whole grain breads, pastas, or noodles. Consume five or more serving of fresh fruits and vegetables per day. Moderate consuming canned foods since it may be loaded with preservatives, sodium, or sugar.
3. Choose foods with high dietary fiber such as legumes, whole grains, and fruits. Fiber scientifically proven gives our body health benefit. It can lower cholesterol level, reducing the risk of getting heart-related disease, and stroke. It also makes us stay away from constipation.
4. Utilize plant-based protein source such as tempeh, tofu, and mushroom to substitute or as additional to animal base protein source. Watch on the food labels, and choose only the low sodium pre-packed foods before you put those foods in your shopping chart.
5. Drink adequate plain water, experts recommend to drink at least 6-8 glass per day. You may also substitute one or two glass of them with fresh fruits or vegetables juice. Choose humus and baby carrots as snack between your meals.
6. Choose plant-based healthy fats. Avocados, olive oil, and rapeseed oil are rich in monounsaturated fat. Replace table salt or high-fat cream with olive oil, herbs, spicy, and lemon to spice up your meal.
Conclusion
Following a plant based diet plan doesn’t mean you should become a vegetarian, it just means that you should pick more plant source foods instead of animal source foods. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, the diet plan can lower the risk of getting cancer, diabetes mellitus and heart disease.
If you planning to follow the plant based diet plan, it would be better to meet a certified dietitian or health practitioner, they will help you to create best fits menu plan according to your calories and nutrients requirement.
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