A plant-based diet is extremely beneficial for your health. Other than helping in weight loss and reducing inflammation, if followed the right way and teamed with a proper exercise regimen, it helps in keeping some heavy-duty diseases at bay.
Cancer
A plant-based diet may protect you against all kinds of cancers. This is because nearly all plants are loaded with phytochemicals (plant compounds) and antioxidants. They assist the body in protecting the good cells and in eliminating toxic compounds (these result in the cells within a body being cancerous). Phytochemicals, also known as phytonutrients, are also anti-inflammatory. In particular, polyphenols have shown a direct anti-cancer mechanism of action.
They can be found in vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds. But the type and amount of phytochemicals in different plants are different. Remember, it’s not as if a single plant food can protect you from disease. You can get the most protection by eating a variety of plant foods.
Additionally, plant foods are full of fiber, which helps by removing excess hormones. The latter could lead to certain types of cancer, including prostate and breast cancers. A diet is full of fiber aids in getting rid of waste from the digestive system rather effectively, which can play a role in preventing colorectal cancer.
Diabetes
Diabetes, as we all know, is a disease that occurs due to improper insulin secretion or action in the body. One of the most common diseases worldwide, it affects all age groups and eventually leads to more serious medical consequences.
Plant-based diets and lifestyle are effective tools for type 2 diabetes prevention and management. Certain plants have organic compounds that have been reported to show anti-diabetic activity. Research has proven that animal-based foods tend to promote insulin resistance, particularly processed and unprocessed red meat. A plant-based diet, on the other hand, especially if it’s the whole plant-based, is low in fat, which allows insulin to function properly.
There is no other way to emphasize the goodness of eating legumes, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Cardiovascular Disease
Plant-based diets can help in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. A diet that is rich in vitamins, fiber, and minerals helps lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol. Such a diet can help you in maintaining a healthy weight, lowering the risk of diabetes. All of this, in turn, lowers your risk of heart disease.
But, we must remember that not all plants have the same effect. It is important to focus on the quality of plant foods. For instance, white rice and white bread are also plant-based foods. But they are highly processed, have little to no heart-healthy nutrients. Again, drinking juice out of a can, no matter what the box says, is never the same as eating the whole fruit. Packaged fruit juices have extra additives and no fiber. They also squeeze out healthy vitamins.
A healthy plant-based diet that lays emphasis on consumption of only healthy plant foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and healthy oils, definitely leads to better heart health.
“If you change your diet, and do it very vigorously, you have enormous power. You can reverse heart disease. You can prevent it. ”
The writing is on the wall: a plant-based diet is a way forward towards better health.
DISCLAIMER:
The priority, in this blog, is to supply the reader with clear and unambiguous information. However, neither The New Me nor Gagan Dhawan makes promises, or guarantees regarding the completeness of the information found here. The content is not a replacement for advice of a licensed professional. The opinions expressed in this blog are solely that of the writer’s.
