What's all the fuss about?
Plant-based Crash Course (Part 1 of 3)
This is Part 1 of our 3-part crash course. This is a long piece of reading for you to enjoy at your own pace. It may be helpful to bookmark this page for future reference.
Why should we embrace a primarily plant-based lifestyle?
If we visited the regions on earth with the longest-living populations, also known as the Blue Zones, we would find that 95% of what they eat is plant-based. Is it a miracle that such a “restrictive diet” could last so well? I could assure you these 90-or-100-year-olds are not on a decade-long weight-loss programme. They simply lead a peaceful yet physically active life, while enjoying foods that are natural, high-fibre, and rich in vitamins and minerals.
Comprehensives studies have shown that a plant-based diet could help with the prevention and even the reversal of heart disease, type-2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and many cancers. While weight loss is not the main goal of the plant-based journey, people do also find it much easier to maintain a healthy weight on a long-term basis.
Embracing a more plant-based lifestyle can have a tremendous impact on our environment too. This is especially important given our pressing need of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights that “diets high in plant protein and low in meat and dairy are associated with lower GHG emissions”, as 23-42% of global GHG emissions come from our food systems. Imagine a future where we not only feel better but also live with abundant fish in the sea, animals in the wild, and beautiful forests that have been protected for our future generations.
So what are healthy plant-based foods?
In a nutshell, healthy plant-based foods focus on being whole, unrefined, and unprocessed (otherwise known as plant-based whole foods). Unfortunately, we do not include fake meats and cheeses due to their processed nature, even though some of them can taste so much like the real thing!
We focus on eating a lot of:
Whole Grains,
Legumes
Vegetables
Fruits
Spices
Beverages
Sparingly:
Nuts & seeds
Dried fruit & sweeteners
Minimally
Plant-based oils
Refined sugars and refined grains
Let’s take a closer look at some of these food groups.
Whole grains
Whole grains are essential to a healthy diet, as they keep intact healthy starches, fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals. They have zero cholesterol and help regulate blood sugar levels, as the body digests them more slowly. Consumption of whole grains is associated with a lower risk of colon cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Whole grains include:
whole wheat pasta, brown rice, wholemeal bread, rye bread, soba noodles, quinoa, and rolled oats.
Legumes and pulses
Legumes and pulses are nutritious staples of the plant-based diet. They are a great source of protein, vitamins, complex carbs, and fibre. Studies show that legumes help prevent the development of many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, diabetes and obesity.
Legumes and pulses include:
black beans, black-eyed peas, haricot beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, chickpeas, soybeans (e.g. Tofu), green beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts.
Fruits and vegetables
We all know we need our “5-a-day”, but less than 30% of British adults meet this recommendation. More bleakly, over 90% of the people in the UK fail to achieve the recommended fibre intake (30 grams), which you could only get from plant-based ingredients. A high-fibre diet afforded by fruits and vegetables helps you maintain a healthy gut, prevent digestive issues, and reduce the risk of bowel cancer.
A misconception out there is that “fruits are unhealthy because they contain a lot of sugar”. Fruits contain only naturally occurring sugars and they are not harmful when consumed in whole fruits. Consuming fruits whole keeps intact the key nutrients (like fibre) and releases the sugar at a lower and slower rate than fruit juices. Drinking fruit juices, however, does more easily lead to a spike in blood sugar.
Spices
Spices can create a whole new dimension of aromatic flavours to your meal. A lot of the roasted and woody aromas from meat-flavoured dishes can be replicated using spices in a plant-based dish. Even better, they have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cholesterol-lowering properties to boost your health.
Spices we commonly use in our own recipes include:
cayenne pepper, chilli flakes & powder, cumin, dried parsley & coriander, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, turmeric, oregano, and paprika.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are great sources of protein, unsaturated fats, fibre, minerals, and vitamins. Incorporating nuts and seeds into our diet is also associated with lower total cholesterol (especially bad cholesterol) in the blood.
Because nuts and seeds are calorie-dense, a standard portion (or "a handful") is just 30 grams. Nuts and seeds include:
almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, Macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds.
Plant-based oils
Plant-based oils are liquid fats extracted from whole plant foods, leaving behind most of the important nutrients such as fibre, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
But wait…aren’t olive oils super good for you given they are celebrated by the Mediterranean diet? Olive oil is certainly better than butter due to a larger proportion of unsaturated fats vs saturated. However, excessively adding plant-based oils to our meals can still lead to unhealthy weight gain due to their calorie-dense nature. In our own recipes, we usually just use 1 or 2 teaspoons.
Refined grains and sugars
Refined foods are those that have been processed. They include white rice, white bread, and white pasta. The refining process strips away a lot of the protein, fibre, and other key nutrients. The remaining carbs are digested quickly, spiking blood sugar. This leaves you feeling hungry, leading to overeating and weight gain.
The repeated cycle of blood sugar spikes can cause inflammation and oxidative stress. This increases the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke in the long term.
FAQs
So what’s the difference between “plant-based” and “vegan”?
A vegan lifestyle is usually defined by what it excludes - all animal-based products. Without a health focus, someone on a vegan lifestyle can still choose to eat a lot of processed (e.g. fake meats) and oily meals (e.g. fries). Apart from health concerns, a common problem with processed meat alternatives is their high cost.
A healthy plant-based diet is about what it emphasises - nutritious plant-based whole foods. It is designed to improve our health through what we eat. These natural foods are also much cheaper and more accessible in our local supermarkets than processed meat alternatives.
Is plant-based a restrictive “diet”?
The word "diet" has two meanings (source: Oxford Languages)
1) “the kinds of food that a person habitually eats", and
2) “a special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons”.
Eating plant-based is about embracing the habits that improve our health in the long term. While weight loss can occur in that journey, it is not our goal.
Being plant-based is also not all-or-nothing. A restrictive “diet” tends to see some short-term effects in weight loss but is difficult to sustain. The focus is to eat primarily plant-based, but not necessarily have to give up your favourite dishes entirely in life. It is a continuous journey that you could begin simply with just 1 or 2 plant-based days a week. Over time you will feel better, enjoy plant-based foods much more, and progress towards a higher ratio (e.g. 75% plant-based) that is easy to sustain in the long term and much healthier than the Western Diet.
Thank you for reading! If you find this article helpful, please share it with someone who might also be interested in creating a healthier, greener future together.