A diet that focuses on fruits, vegetables and whole grains can lower your risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It can also help you better manage your weight. While the typical American diet focuses on meat, a plant-based diet may be your healthier diet option. Not to be confused with the vegetarian diet, a plant-based diet can include animal products but in much smaller amounts.
Signficance
Nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables and grains act as a significant source of antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, lutein, lycopene and selenium. Antioxidants protect your cells from free radicals, which are molecules that can damage cells leading to cancer, heart disease and aging. In addition to the antioxidants, plant-based foods also contain thousands of phytochemicals, including molecules such as indoles and isoflavones, which also offer protection against cancer. Plant-based foods also tend to be low in calories and high in fiber, helping control hunger while limiting your calorie intake for better weight management.
Diet Guidelines
You do not need to give up meat to eat a more plant-based diet. But you do need to redesign your plate to take the focus off of meat and place more of it on the plant food. To start, plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits and grains, should fill up two-thirds of your plate, leaving one-third for your portion of meat. In addition, to maximize your nutrient intake, make most of those two-thirds fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are lower in calories than grains, and also more nutrient-dense.
Foods to Emphasize
When following a plant-based diet for health, it is important to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, tubers -- potatoes -- and legumes to vary your cancer-fighting nutrient intake. You can vary your intake by including an array of colors. Different colored fruits and vegetables offer different nutrients. For example, dark green and orange-colored fruits and vegetables such and spinach and cantaloupe contain high amounts of beta carotene, while red and purple colored fruits, such as raspberries and strawberries, contain high amounts of anthocyanins.
Tips
Making the transition from a meat-based to a plant-based diet can be difficult for some. Start slowly by adding plant-based foods to your usual meals. For example, slice some strawberries onto your morning cereal. Add green or red peppers in addition to your lettuce and tomato to your sandwich at lunch. Serve mashed sweet potatoes with your dinner instead of white potatoes.
