Blog

Are Plant-Based Diets Adequate?

Hello everyone: Have you wondered if there is any benefit from going plant-based? Yes, there is and here is some information to assist your choices: “Vegetarian, including vegan, dietary patterns were associated with reduced risk for CVD (cardiovascular disease) incidence and CVD mortality (death) compared to non-vegetarian diets. (Consider the sobering fact that CVD is the number one cause of death worldwide.) Vegan dietary patterns were associated with reductions in CVD risk factors including blood pressure low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and body mass index compared to non-vegetarian dietary patterns, as well as c-reactive protein concentrations (a measure of inflammation!!) in a novel meta-analysis.” Conclusion: Practitioners can consider recommending vegetarian dietary patterns to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors and risk of CVD incidence and mortality. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39430429/ Bottom Line: Here is another good reason to upgrade your food plan. It is certainly worth your while to move towards a Flexitarian type of food plan to protect your health, your future, and help you overcome any current health issues. Flexitarian is what the Mediterranean diet looks like, which I covered in a previous blog. Overall, the data is shifting so strongly to this model that even our USDA has commented that their recommendations are going plant-based due to the overwhelming science supporting its benefits. This approach significantly benefits the environment as well as our health is not separate at all from our planetary health…there is a good reason that our planet is called “Mother Earth” and we should take good care to respect and nourish our planet so that we can be good stewards and healthy as well. One strong step in that direction is to lower our animal-based foods by at least 50% as the research reveals that it will help both human and planetary health significantly. Do some research and see what you find. My bet is that you find this type of food plan is the optimal one, which means lower inflammation and feeling better with a safer future for one and all. The Traditional Mediterranean Diet has been characterized by: 1. Plentiful fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains. 2. Olive oil as the principal fat. 3. Lean red meat consumed only a few times per month or in very small portions. 4. Low to moderate daily consumption of dairy products. 5. Poultry, fish and eggs consumed a couple of times per week; and 6. Moderate consumption of wine. (Low or none is actually best)

Hello again everyone: As you know, I keep promoting a healthy unprocessed whole food plant-based dietary pattern to reduce inflammation and optimize health and longevity. I did not know that beans were so essential till I read this paper!  Conclusions : The FHILL (Food Habits In Later Life) longitudinal study shows that a higher legume intake is the most protective dietary predictor of survival amongst the elderly, regardless of their ethnicity. The significance of legumes persisted even after controlling for age at enrolment (in 5-year intervals), gender, and smoking. Legumes have been associated with long-lived food cultures such as the Japanese (soy, tofu, natto, miso), the Swedes (brown beans, peas), and the Mediterranean people (lentils, chickpeas, white beans). https://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/13/2/217.pdf Bottom Line : For a little more information, consider consuming legumes daily, and it does not take that much to make a difference. Even as little as several tablespoons per day is enough to make a difference. Perhaps it is the vegetable protein, or the resistant starch, or the fiber and gut microbiome effects that cause such a boost in health, but whatever it is, just eat some beans every day. There a quite a few to choose from: Mung beans, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, adzuki beans, red beans, white beans, butter beans, Lupini beans and more…lots of different tastes and textures to add to your plate! One reason that people do not eat beans is due to fear of flatulence! Studies show that this does not affect most of us, and for those that it does the effect will diminish and go away after several weeks of consistently consuming them. So, eat your beans within the context of a great Mediterranean plan! The Traditional Mediterranean Diet has been characterized by: 1. Plentiful fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains. 2. Olive oil as the principal fat. 3. Lean red meat consumed only a few times per month or in very small portions. 4. Low to moderate daily consumption of dairy products. 5. Poultry, fish and eggs consumed a couple of times per week; and 6. Moderate consumption of wine. (Low or none is actually best) PS: As more modern data becomes available, you might see # 3,4, & 5 get smaller as the advantages of vegetarian protein sources are proving superior for longevity and chronic illness and inflammation benefits.

Hello again everyone: As you know, inflammation causes, aggravates, and/or perpetuates all chronic conditions. Another way to say this is that inflammation is the final common pathway of environmental stress…what we eat, what we are exposed to, what we think, and what we do (exercise etc.) can either create health or a lack of health (inflammation). There is a lot of good research that reveals vegetables can reduce inflammation, therefore, going into a whole foods plant-based food plan has many advantages: Conclusions: This study suggests that the previously observed health benefits of cruciferous vegetable consumption may be partly associated with the anti-inflammatory effects of these vegetables. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24630682/ Conclusion : Study results show that the beneficial effects of fruit and vegetable intake on markers of inflammation and oxidative stress are already present by early adolescence and provide support for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans "to consume five or more servings per day" of fruits and vegetables to promote beneficial cardiovascular health.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19248856/ Conclusions: This study suggests that soy food consumption is related to lower circulating levels of IL-6, TNFα, and soluble TNF receptors 1 and 2 (markers of inflammation) in Chinese women. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22889631/ “Epidemiology studies indicate that diet or specific dietary components can reduce the risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. An underlying cause of these diseases is chronic inflammation. Dietary components that are beneficial against disease seem to have multiple mechanisms of action and many also have a common mechanism of reducing inflammation, often via the NFkB pathway. Thus, a plant-based diet can contain many components that reduce inflammation and can reduce the risk for developing all three of these chronic diseases.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24944766/ Bottom Line: Go whole food plant based. Ditch the sugar, bad fats, additives, preservatives, processing, fried, nutrient deprived food like objects and opt for real food that your biology craves and protect your health. To eat any other way is way too risky.