It's the Season for the Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet!
There's a saying that goes, "your healthy body is made in the kitchen, not in the gym." Anyone who has spent years sweating in the gym but eating junk will agree. You are only as good as what you eat.
As we enter the Holiday season and prepare for more time inside, physical activities may not always be readily achievable for us. One of the most important gifts we can give ourselves, especially in the year of the pandemic, is to improve our eating lifestyle. It's the season for one of the most effective diets known to man: the Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet.
What is a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet?
You may wonder: are we just eating plants? How different is this from going vegan or vegetarian?
The whole-food, plant-based diet or WFPB can fall under the two diet lifestyles, but it is also uniquely it's own. A WFPB dieter can go 100% vegan, but they can also be a pescatarian. The diet was borne out of the following principles:
· A plant-based diet means that your food comes from plants like fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds. It doesn't include animal food products such as milk, meat, eggs or even honey.
· A whole food diet, on one hand, describes organic and natural foods. This means that they have not undergone heavy processing to be edible. Look for labels such as unrefined, minimally refined, or whole ingredients.
The whole-food, plant-based diet helps you meet all your health needs by focusing on natural, minimally-processed plant foods.
What are the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet?
One of the reasons this diet has gained enduring popularity is because of the myriad of benefits it has. Numerous studies and research have confirmed the effectivity of the WFPB diet because it can reverse, control and prevent chronic diseases.
People on this diet have more energy, are less prone to illnesses, and have better health outcomes.
1. Weight Management: One of the most visible positive effects of the WFPB diet is weight loss and weight management of those who ascribe to it. Dieters shed off the pounds and become leaner compared to those who don't follow any diet. You also need not count calories because you are doing lifestyle change.
2. Prevents diseases: Studies have been conducted proving that type 2 diabetes, chronic diseases, heart diseases and cancer can be prevented and controlled by eating plant-based foods.
3. Environmentally healthy: Your decision to eat whole foods means you will be purchasing from smaller farms, organic markets and more sustainable-conscious businesses. These and more place less stress on the environment.
What makes the WFPB diet more doable and friendly for those new to dieting is its flexibility. Experts suggest that you start out slowly replacing the refined and heavily processed food with its whole counterparts.
You need not give up meat and animal food right away or at all. But you must be more conscious of its quality. Instead of buying canned goods, get your meat from a farm. Choose labels that promise "free-range, pasture-fed, and organic." Make it a clean, wholesome holiday!