The popularity of a plant-based, or vegan, diet has skyrocketed in recent years, and for good reason, including clear health benefits and reducing our impact on the environment. With documentaries such as Game Changers and How To Live to 100 landing in recent years, both of which support predominately plant-based diets, awareness of the benefits are more commonly known.
What is a plant-based, or vegan, diet?
A plant-based, or vegan, diet, is one that does not include any animal products including meat, diary and eggs. To maximize the health benefit of a plant-based diet, you will want to prioritise whole plant-based foods, limiting heavily processed foods like sugary breakfast cereals, biscuits and carbonated drinks.
Why transition to a plant-based diet?
There are numerous health benefits of a plant-based diet including lower cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure which reduces the risk of heart disease and strokes. A plant-based diet decreases your risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and autoimmune conditions.
A plant-based diet also favors weight loss and weight management as whole plant foods are typically lower in calories and higher in fibre than animal options.
Tips for transitioning onto a plant-based diet
Start gradually: Transitioning to a plant-based diet doesn't have to happen overnight. Start by including more plant-based foods into your diet and finding options to replace one animal product at a time. This might be replacing traditional milks with soy or oat milk. Another great option is to focus on one meal at a time, for example try making your breakfasts animal product free first and when you feel comfortable with this, move onto your lunch etc.
Try new foods: Whilst removing animal products from your diet may make it feel like you are restricting your diet, there are most likely a whole host of plant-based foods like certain fruits, vegetables and grains that you have never tried. Experiment with new foods and flavours to keep things interesting.
Educate yourself: Take time to learn about the essential nutrients you need to keep your body healthy, especially those less prominent on a plant-based diet, like vitamin B12 and vitamin D, and ensure you are consuming adequate amounts of these in your diet. Check my blog, Avoiding Deficiencies On A Plant Based Diet here: https://www.healthfocusedfitness.fit/post/avoiding-deficiencies-on-a-plant-based-dietre.
Focus on whole foods: Base your meals around whole, unprocessed plant foods such as fruits, whole-grains and legumes. These foods are nutrient dense and provide essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Plan Ahead: Especially when starting out, planning your meals in advance can be really useful. On busy days, or when you are limited on time, it can be hard to start with to come up with new ideas for meals. If you plan ahead and ensure you have all the required ingredients it will feel much easier to stick to your new plant-based diet.
Find support: Build a support network around you, no matter how big or small. This could be online communities, friends or family who have similar dietary or lifestyle goals or even a coach. This will provide you support and offer help and guidance when you might need it.
Be kind to yourself: Remember you are human and may slip up or make mistakes along the way and that is ok. Focus on the positive steps you are making and celebrate your successes.
By transitioning to a plant-based diet you have the potential to improve your health and well-being and contribute to a more sustainable and compassionate world!
If you need help with transitioning to a plant-based diet, or improving your health if you already consume a vegan diet, visit my website here and shoot me a message - I’d love to help!
Prefer podcasts - visit https://www.healthfocusedfitness.fit/podcast
Martin
Health Focused Fitness
Comments