In a world saturated with ever-evolving menus and fleeting health trends, the concept of a plant-based diet remains a timeless and reliable suggestion. This article explores the multifaceted world of plant-based diets, providing a comprehensive resource for individuals seeking to improve their health, manage specific conditions, and contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Understanding Plant-Based Diets
The term "plant-based diet" encompasses a wide range of eating patterns that prioritize foods derived primarily from plants. This includes not only fruits and vegetables but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. It's important to note that adopting a plant-based diet doesn't necessarily mean becoming completely vegetarian or vegan, nor does it require the complete elimination of meat or dairy.
Vegan vs. Vegetarian:
To clarify the terminology, it's helpful to understand the distinction between vegan and vegetarian diets:
- Vegan Diet: A vegan diet is a strictly plants-only diet that excludes all meat and any animal ingredients, such as dairy and eggs.
- Vegetarian Diet: A vegetarian diet excludes meat, poultry, fish, and seafood.
A plant-based diet can align with recommendations to consume a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds. At mealtimes, this might look like filling two-thirds of your plate with these plant-based foods.
Why Choose a Plant-Based Diet? Health Benefits
There’s excellent scientific evidence that many chronic diseases can be prevented, controlled, or even reversed with a whole-food, plant-based diet. Scientific research highlighted in the landmark book The China Study shows that a plant-based diet can reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and other major illnesses.
Read also: Delicious Plant Paradox Breakfasts
Choosing plants helps your body’s systems work the best they can. Eating a plant-based diet can support your immune system, reduce inflammation, promote a healthy weight and help your body fight diseases including cancer.
- Essential Nutrients: Plants have essential nutrients that you cannot get from other foods. “Plants give your body what it needs to help fight off infection,” Murray says. Your immune system protects your body from diseases, including cancer.
- Anti-Inflammatory Properties: Plants’ essential nutrients work to resolve inflammation in your body. “Antioxidants in plants grab all these so-called free radicals that can throw your body off balance,” Murray says. Prolonged inflammation can damage your body’s cells and tissues and has been linked to cancer and other inflammatory diseases like arthritis. If you've ever felt sluggish or sleepy after eating a heavy meal, inflammation may be to blame.
- Weight Management: Staying at a healthy weight is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your risk for cancer. This is because excess weight causes inflammation and hormonal imbalance. Filling up on plant-based options instead of more processed food can mean eating fewer calories. “When you're eating healthier food, it’s helping your body function the way it was designed to.
- Fiber Rich: Fiber is present in all unprocessed plant foods. Fiber is very filling. It can lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugar and support good bowel management.
Plant-Based Diets for Specific Conditions
Plant-based diets have been linked to a decreased risk for developing kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, and decreased risk of mortality in people with chronic kidney disease. If you have diabetes and/or kidney disease and you’re curious about how a vegan diet can fit into your lifestyle, then read on for guidance on planning vegan meals that are diabetes- and kidney-friendly.
Managing Diabetes and Kidney Disease with a Vegan Diet
For individuals managing diabetes and/or kidney disease, a well-planned vegan diet can be a valuable tool. However, careful consideration must be given to nutrient intake to ensure optimal health outcomes.
Nutrients of Concern:
- Protein: Plant-based protein options include beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh, and seitan. These protein sources can be high in potassium and phosphorus. Work with your dietitian to make sure you meet your daily protein needs without exceeding your potassium and/or phosphorus limits. Limit protein foods that are highly processed and high in sodium and check the labels for phosphate and potassium additives.
- Carbohydrates: Some plant-based protein options, such as beans and legumes, are higher in carbohydrates (carbs) than animal protein sources. If you have diabetes and you monitor your carbs, you may need to adjust your eating plan to accommodate the higher carb content. The good news-plant-based protein options are also often high in fiber, which can help you manage your blood glucose (blood sugar).
Recipe and Meal Planning
There are recipe guidelines that can help you plan meals and snacks that are appropriate for both diabetes and kidney disease. The guidelines for the recipe categories below have been adapted to follow a vegan diet.
Full Meals: Combine recipes, or other recipes from DaVita.com and Diabetes Food Hub® by searching/filtering for kidney-friendly and plant-based recipes to create a diabetes and kidney-friendly, plant-based meal.
Read also: Nutritious Granola Recipes
Practical Tips for Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet
Making changes to how you eat can feel overwhelming. Eating more plant foods doesn’t mean cutting out your favorite options. Don’t want to part with your favorite after-dinner snack? Challenge yourself to eat half an apple before reaching for chips or ice cream. Can’t stomach the thought of eating veggies without ranch? Instead of drowning your veggies in sauce, try dipping them instead.
Like all lifestyle changes, it is important to start slowly. Try making one change at a time and build up to your goal. Be sure to let your doctor know you are interested in making a shift to a plant-based diet. A registered dietitian can help guide you through diet changes that work best for your individual needs.
Some starting steps:
- Replace animal sources of protein (beef, fish, dairy) with plant sources of protein (legumes, nuts, soy, tofu, or grains) at a meal or snack.
- Replace more processed grain products with whole grain products.
- Keep track of the calories and protein you eat daily to make sure you are meeting your needs.
- Each week increase the number of meatless meals you already enjoy, such as spaghetti with tomato sauce or vegetable stir-fry.
- Find ways to include greens in your daily meals.
- Take favorite recipes and try them 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 extra-firm tofu rather than chicken.
- Check the internet for vegetarian menus. Buy or borrow vegetarian cookbooks. Check out ethnic restaurants to sample new vegetarian cuisines.
Navigating the Nutrition Facts Label
There are a few things to watch out for when following a plant-based diet with kidney disease:
- Serving Sizes: We tend to eat more than one serving of many food. Pay attention to the amount of protein, calories, and important minerals (like sodium and potassium) per serving of a food product.
- Sodium and Potassium: Some minerals may be out of balance in your body due to lower kidney function. Pay attention to the amount of potassium and sodium on the nutrition label. Large amounts of potassium can be found in some fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. Large amounts of sodium can be found in some soy-based or other plant-based meat substitutes (such as soy-based burgers, hot dogs, or deli meats).
Addressing Common Concerns and Misconceptions
Just because a product is plant-based doesn’t automatically mean it’s healthy. Ultra-processed foods contain additives that change their appearance, flavor or shelf-life. “You eat more because your body is searching for the nutrients in these ultra-processed foods that are high in calories and very low in nutrients,” Murray explains. Not all food preparation methods are equally healthy. One challenge of eating healthy is knowing how much to eat. Ideally, Murray suggests eating a cup of plant-based food at each meal.
Read also: Advantages of a Plant-Based Cleanse
Adding more plant-based foods to your diet can sometimes cause gas or other gastrointestinal issues due to the increase in fiber. If that’s the case for you, focus on adding one additional serving of plant-based food per day every week. Instead, choose the options that work best for you.
Nutrient Considerations for Vegetarians
To get the most out of a vegetarian diet, choose a variety of healthy plant-based foods. These include whole fruits and vegetables and whole grains. At the same time, cut back on less healthy choices. These include sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juices and refined grains. Keep in mind that the more foods you cut out of your diet, the harder it can be to get all the nutrients you need.
- Calcium: Calcium helps build and maintain strong teeth and bones. Milk and dairy foods are highest in calcium. Dark green vegetables are good plant sources if you eat enough of them. Examples include turnip and collard greens, kale and broccoli. Other options include calcium-enriched and fortified products.
- Vitamin D: Vitamin D also plays an important role in bone health. Vitamin D is added to cow's milk, some brands of soy and rice milk, and some cereals and margarines. Be sure to check food labels. People who don't eat enough fortified foods and have limited sun exposure may want to talk with a health care provider about vitamin D supplements.
- Vitamin B-12: Vitamin B-12 is necessary to produce red blood cells and prevent anemia. Anemia a condition in which the body doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Vitamin B-12 is found almost exclusively in animal products, so it can be difficult to get enough B-12 on a vegan diet. Vitamin B-12 deficiency may go undetected in people who eat a vegan diet. This is because the vegan diet is rich in a vitamin called folate that can mask vitamin B-12 deficiency.
- Protein: Protein helps keep skin, bones, muscles and organs healthy. Eggs and dairy products are good sources, and you don't need to eat large amounts to meet your protein needs. Eating a variety of plant-based foods throughout the day also can provide enough protein.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, canola oil, soy oil, walnuts, ground flaxseed and soybeans. Vegetarian diets that do not include fish may be low in two types of omega-3 fatty acids called DHA and EPA. Some evidence suggests that taking in EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk for heart disease. Also, these two omega-3s may be important during pregnancy for fetal development. Research on other health effects of EPA and DHA varies.
- Iron: Iron is important to red blood cells. Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, dark leafy green vegetables, and dried fruit are sources of iron. But the body doesn't absorb iron from plant sources as easily as animal sources. So the recommended intake of iron for vegetarians is almost double that recommended for nonvegetarians. To help your body absorb iron from plants, eat foods rich in vitamin C at the same time as you're eating iron-containing foods.
- Zinc: Like iron, zinc is not as easily absorbed from plant sources as it is from animal products. Fish, including crab and shrimp, are sources of zinc for pescatarians. Cheese and yogurt are sources of zinc if you eat dairy products. Plant sources include whole grains, soy products, lentils, beans, nuts and wheat germ. Zinc helps the body make proteins and grow cells.
- Iodine: Thyroid hormones are made partly of iodine. Thyroid hormones help control the body's metabolism and play an important role in muscle growth. Iodine can easily be added to food by using iodized salt. Seafood and dairy also are sources of iodine. People who do not eat seafood or dairy may be at risk of iodine deficiency if they do not use iodized salt. Iodine deficiency can lead to the thyroid getting bigger as it tries to meet the body's need for thyroid hormones. When that happens to the thyroid it's called goiter.
Plant-Based Diet and the Environment
Plant-based diet benefits also extend beyond your own body: Switching to a WFPB lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for the environment. The main reason is that raising animals for food is an incredibly inefficient use of resources. Growing crops to feed animals “introduces a major extra step of waste relative to the efficiency of us just eating the plant foods directly,” explains David L. Katz, M.D., MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM. “If you just eat the plants, you cut out the middleman.” A 2018 analysis found that livestock provides just 18% of calories consumed globally but takes up 83% of farmland. Whole and minimally processed plant-based foods are not only the healthiest and most sustainable foods around; they’re also some of the most affordable. In fact, going plant-based can cut grocery bills by $750 a year per person, according to research published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition.
Plant-Based on a Budget
Whole and minimally processed plant-based foods are not only the healthiest and most sustainable foods around; they’re also some of the most affordable. In fact, going plant-based can cut grocery bills by $750 a year per person, according to research published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition.
When you stock your kitchen with WFPB staples such as brown rice, potatoes, and dried beans, you can assemble nutritious, satisfying meals for just a few dollars.
Eating Out and Traveling
Most restaurants are very accommodating of dietary needs, and you should be able to review their menu online. Scan the menu in advance to see if a restaurant offers vegan options, and you’re already most of the way there. You will need to plan ahead a little, but it’s pretty easy to find whole-food, plant-based meals on the go. You can usually find fruit and dishes made with pasta, rice, and potatoes wherever you are.
Key Differences Between WFPB and Vegan Diets
While there are certainly some similarities between eating a whole-food, plant-based diet and being vegan, there are some key differences as well.
Vegans avoid all animal products or exploitation in food, clothing, shoes, or any other aspect of their lives. Vegans do not necessarily focus on whole plant-based foods; they may eat refined and processed foods, although many choose not to. By comparison, a whole-food, plant-based diet is defined as one that eliminates or minimizes all animal products and highly refined foods.