Plant Based: What It Is, Advantages, Foods and How to Get Started

Have you ever heard of plant based? This diet, which consists of prioritizing fresh food and cutting out ultra-processed products, can bring countless benefits to health and even the environment.

After all, fresh foods are responsible for providing a greater supply of nutrients, important for physical and mental well-being, in addition to making production more sustainable.

Interesting, isn’t it? So, continue reading the article to learn more about this diet, the advantages of trying it, allowed foods, menu suggestions and much more.

What is a plant based diet?

Its philosophy is to prepare meals that contain fresh, in natural and minimally processed ingredients, in addition to excluding refined and industrialized products.

The concept, created by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, arose from the concern to follow a healthy diet from a diet low in fat and high in vegetable fiber.

Thus, “real” food, that taken from nature and that goes straight to the plate, without undergoing major transformations, became the protagonist of meals.

Priorities are foods of plant origin, such as vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, tubers and whole grains.

Fans also make a point of taking full advantage of vegetables, such as leaves, stems, roots, seeds and everything that can serve as a natural source of nutrition for the body.

What is the difference between a plant-based, vegetarian and vegan diet?

Those who think that everything is the same are wrong. Although they seem similar, each of these concepts has its own characteristics and peculiarities.

The plant-based diet is more natural and sustainable, however, the main concern is with the health and nutrition of the body.

However, unlike vegetarianism and veganism, the exclusion of foods of animal origin is a recommendation. That is, the consumption of these ingredients is allowed, provided that it is done in moderation and taking into account the origin of the product.

In the vegetarian and vegan diet, there is a need to exclude foods of animal origin, such as meat, dairy products, eggs and even honey.

It is also worth mentioning that in these two diets people are not always concerned with the nutritional quality of the food. Therefore, there may be an excess of carbohydrates, farinaceous and industrialized products, which is harmful to health.

Advantages of plant-based

A healthy diet based on vegetables, whole grains, fruits and oilseeds is very beneficial for health. Among the benefits, we can highlight:

• decreases the incidence of some types of cancer, such as gastrointestinal;
• reduces cognitive decline and prevents Alzheimer’s;
• increases satiety;
• ensures a more nourished and healthy body;
• contributes to weight loss;
• decreases the inflammation of the organism, which reflects on the skin, hair, nails, etc.;
• accelerates metabolism, which helps in burning fat.

In addition to bringing benefits to our health, this type of diet is also sustainable and contributes to the protection of the environment.

That’s because a plant-based diet tends to leave a smaller environmental footprint, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of water and land used by large-scale agriculture.

allowed foods

As we have seen, the diet includes all plant-based foods. So it includes legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts and more.

Check out the foods that are allowed:

• vegetables: fruits, vegetables and greens;
• tubers and roots: sweet potato, cassava, yam, carrot, ginger, etc;
• legumes: beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas and soybeans;
• plant-based milk (sugar-free): such as chestnut, almond, oat and coconut milk;
• whole grains: brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa and oatmeal;
• seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, linseed and chia;
• mushrooms;
• sugar-free natural juices;
• healthy fats: avocado , coconut oil and olive oil, both extra virgin;
• oilseeds: almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts and Pak nuts;
• plant-based peanut and chestnut spreads
• natural spices: basil, rosemary, pepper, etc;
• coffee and teas (without sugar);
• tofu.

forbidden foods

In addition to focusing the diet on natural foods, it is also necessary to eliminate or reduce the consumption of industrialized, processed and preservative products as much as possible.

Check out the list of foods that should not be consumed:

• simple/refined carbohydrates, such as flour, bread, crackers and white rice;
• sugar and sweets in general, such as cakes and pies;
• greasy food;
• fried food;
• fast foods, such as snacks, french fries, hot dogs and hamburgers;
• sausages;
• soft drinks and artificial juices;

Foods that should be avoided

Unlike veganism and vegetarianism , a plant-based diet does not exclude animal foods.

However, these products should be avoided and, if they are consumed, they should be in smaller quantities compared to plants.

In addition, it is crucial to know the origin of the products and to prioritize meat and milk from animals raised free (on pasture) with a natural and/or organic diet, without the use of hormones and antibiotics.

Fish and seafood, if possible, should be wild and caught using sustainable fisheries.

The birds and eggs must be free-range chickens, free-range with organic food, free of transgenic grains, as is the case with the Korin brand, for example.

How to adopt the plant based diet?

To follow this type of diet, it is necessary to include natural, fresh, in natural and whole foods.

Whenever possible, give preference to organic products to avoid ingestion of pesticides.

In the philosophy of the plant-based diet, the more wholesome the food is, the healthier it is. Therefore, it is also necessary to cut industrialized and ultra-processed foods.

Now, check out some more tips to start this new phase:

• eat more vegetables;
• reduce or cut consumption of animal foods. Avoid eating these products at every meal;
• include whole grains, seeds and oilseeds in the diet;
• replace milk with vegetable drinks;
• eat fruit for dessert and avoid sweets.

plant based menu

In theory, you already know how the plant-based diet works. But, what to consume in each meal of the day? Here are some menu suggestions:

Breakfast

• fruit juices and smoothies;
• avocado with chopped chestnuts;
• fruit bowl with chia;
• coffee with vegetable milk or teas;
• oat porridge .

Lunch or Dinner

• leafy greens + brown rice + beans + cooked vegetables;
• vegetable soups with tofu;
• cooked lentil + mashed potato + braised zucchini;
• arugula salad with tomatoes and carrots;
• watercress salad with pineapple + roasted vegetables + brown rice;
• zucchini spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Snacks

• fruits;
• portion of oilseeds (chestnuts, almonds, macadamias and walnuts);
• sweet potato chips with hummus.

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