health + HAPPINESS
Make it MEATLESS Why you should consider a plant-based diet
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lant-based diets are more popular than ever, and interest is growing if Google searches are any indication. Plant-based eating focuses on foods primarily from plants. This includes not only fruits and vegetables, but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. Eating plant based doesn’t necessarily mean that you are vegetarian or vegan and never eat meat or dairy. Many choose instead to take steps toward a plant-based diet by choosing more foods from plant sources or giving up meat one meal or one day a week. All of the other potential benefits roll into one major one: living longer. An American Heart Association study found that a plant-based diet lowers the risk of all causes of death by 25 percent.
Benefits of a plant-based include:
• Healthy body weight. Those who follow a plant-based diet tend to weigh less. • Heart health. A plant-based diet can help prevent or reverse heart disease, the number 1 killer of Americans. • Cancer prevention. A plant-based diet is believed to provide greater
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protection against all types of cancer. • Diabetes prevention and management. Plant-based diets are effective in preventing, managing and treating diabetes. • Protecting the environment. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable.
Getting started
Go meatless once a week. Pick one day of the week to eat foods only of plant origin. You may have heard of “Meatless Monday,” the movement to “once a week, cut the meat.” Begin with breakfast. Make your breakfast meatless with these ideas: • Oatmeal or quinoa with fruits, nuts and seeds • Green smoothies (leafy greens, vegetables, frozen or fresh fruit, non-dairy milk, nuts, seeds) • Unsweetened cereal with nondairy milk, topped with fruit • 100 percent whole-wheat bread with nut butter • Tofu scramble with beans Add a plant-based power lunch. • Large salad with your favorite greens, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and fruits with a low-
BY » Martin Rose
fat vinaigrette dressing • Vegetable and bean-based soups, stews or chilis • Veggie wrap with hummus or nut butter Change the way you think about meat. Eat less. Think of meat as a garnish rather than the centerpiece. Adopt non-dairy beverages. Replace dairy milk with non-dairy milk such as almond, soy, coconut, cashew, rice, flax, macadamia or oat. Substitute for meat in recipes. Try your favorite recipes without meat. For example, make vegetarian chili by leaving out the ground beef and adding an extra can of black beans. Or make fajitas using extrafirm tofu in place of chicken. Adopt meatless snacks • Fresh fruit or unsweetened dried or packaged fruit • Nuts or seeds • Vegetables or pretzels with hummus • Edamame • Air-popped popcorn, kettle corn • Bars made with only whole ingredients • Unsweetened cereal with plant-based milk • Whole-grain English muffin
