Adjusting to a Mostly or All Plant-Based Diet

Adjusting to a Mostly or All PlantBased Diet

Easing your way to going meatless, or increasing your intake of plant-based foods? Your body may feel the shock at first, but you’ll definitely adjust. Just give it time.

At first your system may not be used to the increase in vegetables. But there are things you can do to help your body process them faster. The more your body gets used to lots of produce in your diet, the better you will get at moving it through the system.

Drink more water. Fiber attracts water in your bowel and that will give you the urge to use the bathroom. If you mostly ate meat or junk food prior to now, this may seem really weird to you. But pooping out what you eat in a timely fashion is actually the secret to good health and weight loss! Increase intake of healthy fats, like olive oil; nuts, seeds, and their oils; avocado; and coconut meat/ coconut oil. These good fats help get your blood test numbers into a healthy range, lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Omega fats help your body digest the nutrition from vegetables, grains, and fruits more completely. Have a cup of coffee or tea. Sometimes our body goes into shock when faced with a new thing. If eating lots of fiber, has you feeling full and sluggish, have an extra cup or two of caffeine to get the plants moving through your system. Dress your salads. Did you know that an acid and a healthy fat component actually help your body break down nutrients that you eat in the form of fresh produce? Salad dressing isn’t just a happy coincidence. Oil and vinegar have a job to do... and they taste great, too!

Add a probiotic. Food that lingers in your gut creates gastric disturbance such as flatulence, bloating, stomach pain and other discomforts. You can also help your body break down vegetables better by combining them with a probiotic such as yogurt or by taking yogurt cultures in pill form.

Once you have established lots of plant-based meals as part of your daily diet, your body will know what to do with these foods and overtime your toxic burden will be less. That is because these foods help cleanse the body of toxins. Many vegetables are high in antioxidants which means they lower cancer risk.