There are so many ‘terms’ or ‘buzzwords’ out there! Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Keto, Gluten/Dairy/Sugar free, Clean, Lean, Pescatarian, Pesco Pollo, Lacto Ovo…..the list goes on and on! Do you know what all these mean? It’s so confusing to know what is healthy and whether you’re receiving all the nutrients your body needs to regenerate and heal.
PLANT BASED has become one of the most researched terms over the past few years! Everyone knows that they’re meant to eat more fruit and vegetables, but get caught up in what that might actually mean. Some people don’t like fruit, others can’t stand certain vegetables and the thought of eating only fruit and vegetables for the rest of your life can be quite depressing.
How about if we make our eating plans Plant BASED, meaning the foundation of our diet and what we eat most of is Plants – Fruit and Vegetables, and then we add on what we like from there! Wouldn’t that be an easier and better place to start?
Lets take a look at the benefits of becoming Plant Based:
- More Micronutrients
- More Insoluble Fibre, which prevents constipation by acting as a broom through the colon.
- The soluble fibre acts as a Prebiotic
- Provides enzymes which help aid digestion (raw vegetables and fruit)
- Helps detox the liver (cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts and bitter greens), especially from excess oestrogen!!
- Provides water containing electrolytes that are essential for the cells to function properly
- Vegetables and Fruit are catalysts in helping the body absorb other nutrients efficiently
Being vegan or vegetarian doesn’t necessarily mean the person is healthy. These lifestyle choices could mean that you would still eat a lot of processed food, such as bread, noodles, pasta, rice etc. which are not beneficial to your health. And often, when you give up a major food group, such as meat/protein, you feel amazing for a while because you’ve given your digestive system a break, like a mini detox – but this can only last so long! Another point to note is that one tends to make up for cutting out meat or protein with carbs, or dense food such as nuts in order to feel full and satisfied. This isn’t considered a healthy way of living.
I personally don’t follow a meat free lifestyle, as I feel that I need the important nutrients one can only get from animal products, such as all the Amino Acids (in an absorbable form), Vitamin B’s – especially B6 and B12 and Iron and certain minerals! Without them, I feel lethargic and start heading towards anaemia, and when I was on a vegan diet, I found that my body started to break down the muscles in my body for protein. AND, especially when starting out on detoxing the body, it’s best not to cut out too much of the food you’re used to eating, as your body will detox too quickly and REtox the body or make you feel rotten.
There are stages of cleansing, which I will be focusing on in future blog posts! In the meantime if you have any questions, please feel free to message me.
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