Thousands of people around the world are beginning to embrace sustainable and healthy living. People’s reasons for embracing a plant-based diet span from personal health to animal rights to environmental problems associated with factory farming.
The benefits of eating mostly plants are not limited to reducing your dementia or cancer risk. A plant- based diet has also been shown to reduce your risk for diabetes, liver and heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses.
A plant-based diet offers your body all the essential protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals it needs for optimal health, and is always higher in fibre and phytonutrients. This diet naturally focuses on whole grains, beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, tubers, seeds, and nuts.
Keep reading to discover the benefits of a plant-based diet on your health.
1. Improved Gut Health
A plant-based diet has been shown to increase healthy, beneficial bacteria promoting gut and overall health. A healthy gut biome promotes a robust immune system, healthy bowel movements, effective functioning metabolism, and sufficient levels of hormones for adequate appetite regulation.
2. Reduced Risk of Certain Cancers
Plant-based foods are an=-inflammatory and are sufficient in phytochemical to fight cellular damage, and protect against breast, colorectal, gastrointestinal, and prostate cancers.
Different studies have proven that eating a whole food plant-based diet, as opposed to foods composed of artificial or animal ingredients , may be able to prevent up to a third of all cancer cases.
3. Reduced Arthritis Pain
A Low-fat, high-fibre plant-based diet has been proven to reduce inflammation. Plant-based diets can work wonders for those living with inflammatory types of arthritis.
An arthritis study, published in 2015, led researchers to investigate the effect of a plant-based diet on osteoarthritis (a form of arthritis, affecting mainly older people, caused by chronic degeneration of the cartilage and synovial membrane of the joints, leading to pain and stiffness).
Those following a whole-foods, plant-based diet experienced an outstanding reduction in pain levels and jumps in motor func=on in just two weeks.
4. A Long Term Plant-Based Diet May Help You Live Longer
A plant-based diet promotes longevity; meaning you get to live a longer life. It also keeps your brain, liver, kidneys, and other organs healthy and functioning optimally.
The Journal of the American Heart Association study established that a plant-based diet reduces the risk of all causes of death by 25 percent. The protective levels of these deaths are when you adapt to eating healthy plant-based foods.
Another study established that eating healthy plant foods versus unhealthy ones increases that protection coverage by another 5 percent.
5. Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes
Excessive weight gain is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, as it is linked to unhealthy food choices. Weight is a main risk factor since more fatty tissue makes the cells more resistant to insulin, according to the Mayo Clinic. The good news is that a plant-based diet is best in helping to tackle type 2 diabetes.
Another study found that eating a plant-based diet packed with high-quality plant foods decreased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 percent. It's obvious that plants are lower in saturated fats than animal foods, which increases cholesterol levels and your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, notes the American Diabetes Association.
6. A Happy Healthy Heart
Excessive consumption of meat over a long period can lead to heart disease and heart failure. So by reducing your meat, fried and artificial food intake, and increasing your plant-based foods consumption, you’re doing your heart a huge favor.
A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that eating a plant-based diet may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by 16 percent and of dying of this disease by about 31 percent.
To also enhance your heart health, eating anti-inflammatory foods like (fruits, green leafy vegetables, yellow vegetables, whole grains, seeds, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, and tomatoes), which happen to be mainly plant-based foods can go a long way to keeping your heart happy and healthy.
In the end, eating a healthy variety of plant-based foods is a sure way to live a healthy robust life. Leading to a more sustainable life that is good for you, the animals, the environment, and the planet.
Credit: Daniella Obuwan Oshiame - Vegan, Health & Nutrition Writer