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The LIFE-CHANGING POWER OF PLANTS


Let me start by saying that this is not a book that’s trying to convince you to become a vegan or a vegetarian. I am neither, but I have absolutely no problem with people who decide that is how they want to eat and live. I like and eat all types of food, and I don’t feel guilty for doing so. However, what I’ve learned over the years is that what I consume and the rates at which I consume certain foods, ingredients, and beverages is something that I should reconsider and be willing to reevaluate, as I believe our diets and how we treat our bodies should be in perpetual evolution. I have always understood and respected the power of plants, but I have been lagging in implementing more of their potential into my daily nutrition regimen—until now.

It really goes back to when we were children. At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard from a parent or a teacher, “Make sure you eat your fruits and vegetables.” This instruction was more than just another developmental cliché; rather, it came from centuries of scientific research and observation that have for a long time explained the magical and impactful powers of plants on our entire bodies, including our minds and outlooks on life.

Simply put, plants help prevent and treat numerous illnesses, and they increase not only the length of our lives but the quality as well. People who eat more plant-based foods tend to have lower rates of obesity, heart disease, cholesterol levels, and cancer, among other things. Studies have also found that people who predominantly eat plant-based diets are more active, and their habitus tends to be leaner.

So what is it about plants that makes them so powerful? It’s all built into their nutritional profile, which makes them without peer. When you do a side-by-side nutritional comparison of plant-based foods and animal-based foods, the numbers speak for themselves. Eating a predominantly plant-based diet means that you will consume more concentrated amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (disease fighters that neutralize dangerous free-radical compounds). Plant-based foods also tend to be lower in the less healthy saturated fats and cholesterol, both of which can lead to heart and blood vessel disease and all the related medical complications that follow.

Why should you eat more plant-based foods? That answer is quite simple. They are overwhelmingly the best fuel for our bodies and help us both prevent and fight disease. Most early forms of medications came from plants by way of herbal remedies. Their medicinal properties have been known and used for thousands of years and are still used today around the world. Food should be fun and tasty and bring great pleasure, but it also should be considered for its quality to fuel our bodies so that we remain healthy, fight disease, and achieve peak performance in whatever we ask of ourselves, whether it be a physical or mental task.

The benefits of a plant-based diet have been well documented and universally accessible to those who desire and can afford to load up on these nutritional powerhouses. Thousands of studies have been conducted around the world looking at various aspects of plant-based diets and how they directly and indirectly impact the quality and length of our lives. Below you will find just a sampling of the benefits you can derive from loading up on the plants and keeping your animal product consumption to a much smaller fraction of your dietary regimen. Let’s be clear—I love a juicy rib eye as much as anyone else, but studying and learning about all the wonderful health advantages I can get from eating more plant-based foods has inspired me not to give up my steaks but to increase the gaps between the times I eat them. While at first I thought it might be difficult, I’ve never felt stronger or more alive since I made the switch. The increased energy level I experienced is something that has been found in several studies, including one published in Public Health Nutrition in which researchers found a 50 percent decrease in the prevalence of hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) in those who largely consumed a plant-based diet compared to those who consumed an omnivorous diet (one in which plants and animal products are eaten).1 Hyperthyroidism can cause decreased energy because it leads to increased metabolism that leads to exhaustion. It’s akin to a battery-operated device constantly running without being charged. Eventually, the battery will run out of power, and the device will shut down.

BENEFITS OF A PLANT-BASED DIET

Lower your cholesterol

Reduce risk for heart disease

Lower your blood pressure

Help with weight loss

Reduce risk for cancer

Help you live longer

Reduce risk for stroke

Reduce risk for diabetes

Increase energy

Improve immune system function

Boost your mood

LOWER CHOLESTEROL

High levels of cholesterol in the blood can be very dangerous. Too much cholesterol can lead to fatty deposits that stick to the interior walls of our blood vessels, causing the opening through which blood flows to narrow. This narrowing causes the blood flow to be restricted or limited. Imagine taking a water hose and squeezing it from the outside. Water can still flow, but much less than before you applied the restrictive pressure. Reduced blood flow is not a good situation, because the body needs blood to circulate as fast and as full as it can to reach all our organs and tissues so they can be properly nourished with the nutrients being carried within the blood plasma. When blood vessel disease develops (this usually takes time and is typically a quiet process until enough damage has occurred to cause a problem), it can lead to all kinds of problems, including heart disease, heart attacks, kidney disease, eye disease, and strokes. Research has convincingly shown that transitioning from a predominantly animal-based diet to one that’s plant-based can lower the LDL (bad) cholesterol by 10 to 15 percent and by as much as 25 percent for those who go strictly vegan.

FOODS AND NUTRIENTS THAT MAY HELP LOWER CHOLESTEROL

Avocados

Fiber (oats, beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables)

Fenugreek seeds and leaves

Liquid vegetable oils (canola, olive, sunflower, safflower)

Nuts (almonds and walnuts)

Red yeast rice

Soybeans (tofu and soy milk)

Whey protein

Yarrow plant (tea)

REDUCE HEART DISEASE RISK

Two big contributors among many when it comes to heart disease are excessive blood levels of cholesterol and saturated fats. Meat and other animal-based foods are high in both of these heart-unfriendly compounds, so replacing them with more plant-based foods can pay important health dividends. Many studies, including one by the American Heart Association, found that eating a plant-based diet reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 16 percent, and the risk of dying from the disease was reduced by approximately 31 percent. It’s important to note that the type of plant-based foods also matters. Fruits, vegetables, healthy oils, whole grains, and legumes are where your efforts should be focused while avoiding unhealthy plant foods, such as refined grains (cookies, cakes, and doughnuts) and sugary beverages like soda and certain sweet teas that have little or no nutritional value at all. The American Heart Association gives guidelines on how we can eat better for our hearts.

HEART FOODS

EAT MORE

Variety of fruits and vegetablesWhole grainsNontropical vegetable oils (canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean, sunflower, etc.)NutsLegumesLow-fat dairy productsSkinless poultry and fishEAT LESS

Saturated fatTrans fat (also called hydrogenated oil and partially hydrogenated oil)SodiumRed meatSweetsBeverages with added sugars (like soda and some iced teas)LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE

High blood pressure (hypertension) is often called the “silent killer,” because it can go undetected for years before the damage it does becomes evident and often leads to a catastrophic event like a stroke or a heart attack. Unfortunately, suffering from this condition for a length of time can lead to several medical complications, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and kidney failure. The good news is that multiple studies have shown that eating a plant-based diet can significantly lower blood pressure in many people, and one study showed that vegetarians had a 34 percent lower risk of developing hypertension compared to nonvegetarians.2

It’s important that you check your blood pressure at least once or twice a year if you have no underlying medical conditions and haven’t been diagnosed with high blood pressure. If you have received this diagnosis, then work with your health-care provider to figure out a schedule of how many times it should be checked. It’s also important that you know what is considered normal versus abnormal blood pressure. Use this table from the American Heart Association to help you make sense of your numbers.

The good news about eating more plants is that extensive research has been conducted regarding plant-based diets and their impact on lowering blood pressure. There’s evidence suggesting there’s a connection, and researchers have even identified various foods that have a greater chance of delivering significant impact. Check them out below and load them up in your grocery cart.

BLOOD PRESSURE–LOWERING FOODS

Bananas

Beets

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cinnamon

Dark chocolate

Fermented foods (apple cider vinegar, kimchi, kombucha, miso, natural yogurt, tempeh)

Garlic

Kiwis

Leafy green vegetables

Lentils (and other legumes)

Oats

Olive oil

Pomegranates

Seeds (pumpkin, flax, sunflower)

Tree nuts (especially pistachios)

Watermelon

LOSE WEIGHT

Many people who have made the switch from an animal-based diet to one that’s plant-based have been rewarded with not only better health but also weight loss, even if that was not their original intention. There’s no doubt that for most people who begin to eat predominantly plant-based meals, their risk of obesity decreases. A major study in Diabetes Care found there to be a substantial body mass index (BMI) difference between non–meat eaters and meat eaters.3

There are several reasons why many experience this weight-loss benefit when eating more plant-based foods. First, these foods tend to be lower in calories when compared to animal-based foods such as meat and dairy. The fewer calories you eat, the more likely you will lose weight or avoid putting on excess weight. Second, whole grains and vegetables typically have a lower glycemic index (GI), which means they are digested more slowly, thus leading to a slower, evener rise in blood sugars. Third, these foods tend to be much higher in fiber, and this is beneficial, because fiber gives us a longer feeling of fullness, which means we will be less hungry and eat less often.

There is one caveat that must be mentioned when it comes to the presumption that a plant-based diet automatically means someone is going to lose weight or get thinner. There are plenty of vegans and vegetarians who struggle with weight problems just the way people who consume animal-based diets do. It can be confusing when you associate diets full of meat and other animal-based products full of calories and compare them to plant-based foods, which you assume would be just the opposite. How does someone gain weight or not be able to lose weight when they’re eating less of the “bad” stuff and more of the “good” stuff? The answer is pretty simple. Depending on how and with what you cook and eat your plant-based foods, you can still load them with excess calories (butter, cream, heavy sauces, frying). Regardless of what type of food you eat, the fundamental rule still stands—consuming more calories than you burn will lead to weight gain, and that still holds even if you’ve been eating nothing but large kale salads and quinoa.

REDUCE CANCER RISK

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., and it’s a complicated and frustrating disease process that not only afflicts millions of people each year but also baffles medical experts and researchers who constantly study its causes and ways to prevent and treat it. Often, it’s difficult to point to one thing that actually triggers the cancer process, as there tend to be multiple factors involved (genes, environmental toxins, poisons, and other carcinogens). Nonetheless, research suggests a plant-based diet could help reduce one’s cancer risk. Nutrients that help protect us against cancer include vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals). These nutrients can be found in large supply in beans, fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.

Red meat has been heavily studied, and it’s been found that the more we eat of it, the greater our risk of dying from all causes. When red meat is cooked, chemical compounds are created that are thought to contribute to the cancer development process. In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated more than eight hundred studies looking at the association of cancer with eating processed red meat and unprocessed red meat and concluded that the risk of developing cancer rises with the amount consumed. Each 50-gram portion of processed meat (e.g., 3.5 slices of bacon) eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent.4 The IARC goes on to conclude that those who eat a predominantly plant-based diet along with a moderate amount of fish can experience a 45 percent reduced risk for colorectal cancers when compared to those whose diets include meat. If you’re going to eat meat, make sure you consume a greater proportion that is unprocessed rather than processed.


Copyright © 2022 by Ian K. Smith