Another reason why plant-based eating is increasingly recommended comes from large organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). He sees the need to consume less animal products, not only for health reasons, but also because of the conservation of biodiversity and thus the future of the earth. This WHO advice has been around for years, but has only recently been shaped by more and more countries in policy.
Switch to a plant-based diet
Switching to a vegan diet has never been easier. There is an increasing supply of dairy and meat substitutes, and it is also available in all supermarkets. These products taste better and better, there is often no difference to taste. This way you can get a huge variety of dairy substitutes, not only the standard oat or soy milk, but also vegetable yogurt, cheese and spreads for bread. As far as meat substitutes are concerned, the development is going even faster, it used to be impossible to eliminate soy burgers, nowadays the difference is almost impossible to taste. Burgers that are red and juicy inside, pieces of fillet that resemble real chicken, slices of sausage and even bacon, all vegetable. However, the disadvantage of these products is that these products are highly processed. Of course you don't get the many saturated fats found in animal products, but if you want to switch to a plant-based diet for health reasons, you will have to follow the Plant Based Whole Food diet.
What is the Plant Based Whole Food Diet?
The explanation of this diet is in the translation of the name; plant based is vegetable and whole food means whole and complete products. You may wonder what is meant by whole and complete products. The answer is actually very simple; whole products are products that have not been processed. As an example we can take a potato, it has its original shape and is unprocessed, it contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins. This is in contrast to, for example, a packet of mashed potatoes. It contains the same potato, but it has been processed enormously and has many additives.
The goal of this diet is to eat as many whole plant products as possible. What kind of products should you think of? You name it; all kinds of vegetables, fruit, grains such as oatmeal and quinoa, (sweet) potatoes, beans, rice, nuts and seeds. In addition, you can use products that have been minimally processed, such as bread, pastas, organic nut spreads and vegetable milk substitutes.
If you are reading this, this diet may seem very bland and tasteless. However, the opposite is true. When you eat whole vegetable products you get to know and appreciate the real taste of food again. For example, do not eat sugar for a few weeks and you get to know the pure taste of strawberries again. There are many websites that offer vegan recipes in which a lot of use is made of whole products, supplemented with herbs that provide a lot of flavor. Real food tastes so much better than processed products that are full of sugar and salt.
The benefits of the Plant Based Whole Food diet
The benefits of a diet based on whole and vegetable products are enormous:
• Fruits and vegetables are the healthiest foods, they are full of vitamins and antioxidants.
• Animal products, on the other hand, are full of saturated fats, hormones, cholesterol, antibiotics and toxins. These are one of the causes of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
• Whole products are unprocessed, so you get much less sugars, salt and other additives.
• Whole vegetable products contain a lot of fiber. Several studies show that fiber is extremely important for our health.
• Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of water, in combination with the fiber, this promotes digestion and bowel movements.
• You get a lot more healthy nutrients that in cooperation ensure better general health.
Do I get all the nutrients on a vegan diet?
This is a question many people ask when considering a plant-based diet. But did you also ask yourself this question when you followed a 'normal diet' with potatoes, meat, a little vegetables supplemented with biscuits, chips, cola and Mac Donalds? Still, the question is understandable, because it is often said that a plant-based diet is difficult and that you have to pay close attention to whether you get enough nutrients.
Maybe you have even made an attempt, for example through a vegan challenge. After a week you became weak and you had no energy. However, this is not due to a lack of nutrients, but calories. Animal products contain a lot of fats and therefore many calories. You should replace these calories by eating more plant-based products, especially when you exercise. So you should actually eat more of the good food. A win-win situation, right?
All the nutrients you need as a human being can be obtained from vegetable food, including proteins. A bowl of rice, broccoli and chicken is a meal that many bodybuilders are familiar with. The chicken is seen as the protein source, but did you know that rice and broccoli also contain proteins?
Why should you take B12 with a plant-based diet?
Many skeptics of a plant-based diet use vitamin B12 as an argument for why a vegan diet cannot be healthy. As a vegan you have to take B12 to stay healthy. For the answer we have to see what B12 actually is. B12 is an organism (bacteria) that lives on the earth's surface. In the past, you got enough of this organism because people lived outside more and because vegetables were less sprayed.
Today people mainly live indoors, the vegetables we eat come from clinical greenhouses or from fields that are sprayed with toxins. This kills pests and fungi, as well as important organisms such as B12. Livestock, such as cows and pigs, are also almost never left outside. Someone who eats meat gets B12 because it is added to animal feed. When you eat meat you get rumpled B12, a vegan takes it himself. That is why B12 deficiency also occurs in omnivores, without them realizing it.
Do I need to take any more additional supplements?
The plant-based whole foods diet provides you with all the nutrients you need to live a healthy life. Still, there are a number of supplements that can provide support such as vitamin D and an Vegan protein. Many people are vitamin D deficient regardless of diet. That is why it is especially recommended for older people and people with a dark skin color to take a vitamin D supplement.
Someone who is very fanatic about sports needs more protein to maintain and build muscles. To supplement your healthy plant-based diet, you can use vegan protein powder from Vnmshop, for example. Vnmshop is known for its rich range of herbal supplements, which are all a good addition to the PBWF diet.