Healthy lifestyle habits — the plant powered body

“Food as medicine is a reaffirmation that food and nutrition play a role in sustaining health, preventing disease, and as a therapy for those with conditions or in situations responsive to changes in their diet.” Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics [source]

What are the lifestyle diseases?

Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some types of cancer.

“Today, chronic diseases are a major public health problem worldwide. In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 61 per cent of all deaths -- 35 million -- and 49 per cent of the global burden of disease were attributable to chronic diseases. By 2030, the proportion of total global deaths due to chronic diseases is expected to increase to 70 per cent and the global burden of disease to 56 per cent.” [source]

Have you considered food as an option to prevent and even reverse lifestyle disease?

What are you giving up when you change your diet?

Time
Old habits

Time and convenience are issues that can be addressed. If you want help, reach out.

What are you giving up with other interventions?

Does it reverse the issue or just mitigate it?
Does it address the root cause of the issue?
What are the potential side effects?

What are the side effects of eating a balanced diet that is predominantly whole food plants?

I’ve yet to find any.

Whether you eat predominantly plants or have a diet higher in animal products, we all require an annual doctor’s visit to confirm we don’t have any nutrient deficiencies.

“National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) that assess the nutritional and health status of a nationally representative sample of the civilian, non-institutionalized US population have reported a high prevalence of select micronutrient inadequacies in the US population.” [source]

And what percentage of the population is vegan?

1%

This includes all vegans, including those whose diet may be closer to ‘junk food vegan’ vs. whole food plant-based.

Is the cause, or even a contributing factor, of deaths from chronic diseases — which again, are expected to grow to 56% of total disease burden globally by 2030, inadequate protein intake? I’ve not seen any research to support lack of protein as the cause of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or cancers. If you have, let me know.

If you want help dialing-in plant sources of specific nutrients you’re low in, reach out.

I share these thoughts because I believe that knowledge is power.

Health is one of my values and if I can avoid a lifestyle disease, I will do everything that is safe and available to me to do so. I want to live a long and healthy life. I want my loved ones to live in good, even great, health.

Are plants safe?

According to the science, yes.

For those interested in making dietary changes, I’d like to show you the daily systems and habits that have been working for me for the last 8 years and counting.

I follow the guidance of the growing number of plant-based physicians who are treating their patients with decades of science, and dietary interventions backed by clinical results [1, 2, 3].

There’s a lot of information out there. That can be confusing. I align my approach with the doctors who have results reversing disease in their patients.

If you want to go 80% plants, great. If you want to go 90% plants, great. If you want to go 100% plants, great.

The science is available. It points to a dietary pattern comprised of mostly plants. The difficulty for most people is in the implementation.

Food for thought!

Pun intended. 😎

Additional reading

Impact of a Whole-Foods, Plant-Based Nutrition Intervention on Patients Living with Chronic Disease in an Underserved Community
Diet, Nutrition and Cancer

Thanks for reading!

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Food As Medicine