Unless you have been unplugged from the internet and news for the past decade, you have probably heard about plant-based diets.
Unlike other diets where you use it to try to lose weight or attain other big goals, the goal of a plant-based diet is simply to make you healthier, help the environment, and just make a healthy lifestyle change.
With a plant-based diet, you are not strictly vegan, but instead add in more whole plant-based foods, and reduce your meat and animal products consumption.
If you’re wondering why you should consider it, take a look at the many health benefits.
Overview of the Health Benefits
If you are just looking for the general health benefits of switching to a plant-based diet, you will be happy to know that helping with your heart health and preventing stroke is at the top of the list. It can also help to reduce cholesterol, level out your blood pressure levels, help you lose weight naturally, and even prevent type 2 diabetes.
Some research is also showing promising results in helping to reduce your risk for certain types of cancers as well.
Balance of Nutrients in Your Diet
When you start eating more plant-based food, you naturally increase your nutrients as well.
For example, if before you ate a turkey sandwich for lunch, you now want to replace the turkey with more veggies and maybe include some hummus in your sandwich for extra protein.
All these extra veggies, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, tofu, and other plant-based foods contain such an amazing source of nutrients for you.
Less Cholesterol and Fat
You are also going to naturally eat less cholesterol and fat in your diet when you start reducing eggs, meat, cheese, and dairy.
This will happen naturally without you really needing to do anything. You don’t need to remove them from your diet completely just to experience the effects.
You can start slow by having one taco night with meatless crumbles instead of beef, or by having a black bean burger instead of beef burger.
This alone will make a very large impact on the cholesterol in your diet.
Greens, Fiber, and More
Lastly, you will benefit from the extra greens, fiber, and other important nutrients than you might have been lacking in your traditional diet.
When you fill up on foods that aren’t balanced nutritionally, you might feel satiated, but your body isn’t getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs to function optimally.
Just by adding more fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and other plant-based foods will make a big difference in your overall health.
