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Whole plant based diet. Plant-based nutrition made easy

Read this story about how a plant-based diet helps you lose weight, what nutritionists say, how to choose a menu, whether you can eat vegetable oil while on a diet, and how it affects your health.

Hello friends! “If you want to lose weight, ask me how” - this was the motto of Herbalife, whose propagandists made good money on the gullibility of our compatriots. For many modern authors of fashionable diets, another slogan would be suitable: “Let's save the animals - let's give up animal products!” But on a plant-based diet, you don't have to give up meat and dairy.

What's the point this method for weight loss? How to use it correctly? I will talk about this and much more briefly and clearly.

Plant-based diet or about weight loss mania and food choice

There is a subjective thirst to bring oneself to anorexia nervosa, but there is an objective need to bring the weight back to normal. In order not to get confused in such concepts, there are body calculators. You can find out yours

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If you urgently need to get rid of a few kilograms in order to fit into your favorite clothes or swimsuit, a diet rich in plant fiber will come in handy. But let’s first separate the “sheep from the goats” and define the difference between a raw food diet and a diet that we are talking about.

What do raw foodists advertise?

It is clear that it is not cheese, but eating raw vegetables and fruits without salt and sugar. There are books and manuals on switching to unprocessed thermally processed food, which retains more vitamins and microelements. For example, you can read the book “Say Yes to Your Health” by Lindsay Nixon.

Three points to mention:

  • in order to eat only vegetables, herbs and fruits, you need to have a wide variety of them, which is practically inaccessible for our area of ​​residence, especially in winter;
  • herbivores need salt, so when eating a raw food diet, you may experience cramps and muscle weakness, poor transmission of nerve impulses from a lack of sodium ions, which we get only with salt;
  • For the intestines, a huge amount is just as harmful as its deficiency, and although fans of raw food nutrition swear that among them there are many long-livers, this is not true.

Lack of animal fat will affect brain function. Fans of a raw diet are also not strong enough, and raw foodists are not keen on sports - they have nothing to restore their strength with. It won’t be good for pregnant women either, because the normal formation of a full-fledged fetus requires a huge amount of protein and fat.

As for the rest, this pure veganism probably has all its advantages.

The method is designed for 10-14 days. The whole plant diet menu includes any vegetables and fruits, roots and herbs. Low fat diet. There are options where you can consume lean meat, fish and milk.

  • grated dried dates
  • cocoa powder
  • grated nuts, preferably almonds
  • mix and form candies.

With some options, no oils are allowed. The question of how to replace vegetable oil during a diet can be solved radically, for example by preparing a sauce from raw strawberries.

The result, according to reviews and promises, is at least 6 kg in 10 days.

Plant Based Diet: Important Additions

When leaving the above diet, remember that if you grab hamburgers and chips with pies, you will gain back everything you lost quickly and easily.

Of course, if you give up fast foods and baked goods, the effect will certainly come. But if, nevertheless, a purely plant-based diet does not appeal to you, you can try a diet, or even. They allow you to consume healthy fermented milk and lean meat, fish and seafood, which will significantly enrich your menu and will not cause harm.

I was able to lose half a centner, and at the same time I ate deliciously, got rid of hypertension and other ailments inherent in obese people, and was happy. I will also teach you how to achieve this. If you have any questions, please contact us! I will be happy to answer any question that concerns weight loss.

That's all for today.
Thank you for reading my post to the end. Share this article with your friends. Subscribe to my blog.
And let's move on!

Full description

Many years of research by scientists, which are detailed in the book, which has become a global bestseller, "China Study" , convincingly prove that our diet, or rather WHAT we eat, affects the occurrence of various diseases - cancer, autoimmune diseases, bone diseases, kidney diseases, vision, brain disorders in old age (such as cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease).

However, there is a diet that can counteract all these ailments: whole foods plant origin.

What does a “whole plant-based diet” actually mean, and what foods does it include? And is it worth sticking to this type of diet?

A whole plant-based diet is a type of nutrition in which the basis of what you eat comes from whole foods. herbal products and animal protein is completely excluded.

Whole foods are foods that have not undergone special industrial processing. Products that are eaten as nature created them, without adding or, conversely, extracting any substances or chemical elements. For example, apple, not industrial Apple juice. Brown rice, not white, which became so after industrial refining. Seeds and nuts, but not their oil.

Eating whole plant foods prevents the development of modern diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Results " Chinese study” indicate that the lower the proportion of animal foods in the diet, the greater the health benefits. “A diet without animal protein is the factor that will cause the genes for these diseases, even if we have them, to remain dormant.” - says Colin Campbell, the world's leading specialist in biochemistry, an outstanding scientist, doctor of science and humanist. Campbell made a number of discoveries that changed the nutritional outlook of millions of people. He is sure: main source Our health and ill health is nutrition. “People have been looking for a pill for all diseases for centuries, while it is right in front of their eyes - on their plate. It's better than anything modern medicine can offer to fight cancer, multiple sclerosis, stage 2 diabetes, heart disease and other autoimmune diseases.”

What are the benefits of this type of nutrition?

Eating whole, plant-based, low-fat foods:

· Promotes easy and natural weight loss (without the feeling of hunger).

· Significantly lowers blood cholesterol levels.

· Prevents, and in some cases helps to cure, chronic stage II diabetes, and significantly improves the condition of patients with stage I chronic diabetes.

· Prevents and helps cure diseases of cardio-vascular system, including high blood pressure.

· Relieves the condition of people suffering from digestive disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and chronic constipation.

· Slows down the progress of, and in some cases helps to cure, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

· Eliminates skin problems such as acne, psoriasis and eczema.

· Is a preventive measure, and in some cases slows down the development of cancer.

· Relieves the condition of asthma patients.

· Strengthens immune system body, while colds and acute respiratory viral infections are happening less and less often.

Eating animal foods leads to increased cholesterol levels in the blood. Animal protein provokes the risk of kidney stones and affects their re-formation. Eating animal foods acts as a trigger for not only cardiovascular diseases, but also obesity, type 2 diabetes, breast, colon and prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

The truth is known to us today: a diet based on whole plant foods can prevent and reverse cardiovascular disease and thus save hundreds of thousands of people every year.

“Over the past 100 years, little has changed in the treatment of cancer and no serious efforts have been made in the field of prevention of both cancer and cardiovascular diseases" - says Dr. Esselstyn, who has demonstrated the most effective cure cardiovascular diseases throughout the history of medicine. “However, the epidemiology of these diseases is provocative: three-quarters of the world’s population does not have cardiovascular disease, and this fact is closely related to their diet.” Over the course of his long career, Esselstyn has never encountered death from cardiovascular disease among patients with low level cholesterol in the blood. “Recognizing that medications, angiography, and surgery only address the symptoms of cardiovascular disease and convinced of the need for a completely new approach to treatment,” Esselstyn decided to test how a diet based on whole plant foods would affect people with already diagnosed heart disease. coronary disease hearts. Using minimal doses of cholesterol-lowering medications, combined with a very low-fat, plant-based diet, he achieved the most impressive results ever achieved in the treatment of cardiovascular disease - patients who faithfully followed all the doctor’s prescriptions were able to not only stop the development of the disease, but also reverse it. In 70% of patients, blocked arteries opened.

Ornish, who was the first to treat cardiovascular diseases without the use of drugs or surgical intervention and who has proven the significant economic benefits of this method for patients and insurers, advocates a diet based on whole plant foods.

His most famous research is “Treating the Heart with the right image Life", during which he treated 28 patients with cardiovascular diseases, only by changing their lifestyle.

The health benefits come with economic benefits. More than a million are held annually surgical operations aimed at treating cardiovascular diseases. GP services and hospital care for patients with cardiovascular diseases, cost of medications, medical care at home and the services of home nurses - all this costs a lot of money today. The angioplasty procedure alone costs $31,000, and bypass surgery costs $46,000. In stark contrast to these figures is the cost of participation in the lifestyle program, which is only $7,000. Comparing the patients who participated in the program lifestyle interventions and patients who chose the traditional surgical route, Ornish and colleagues showed “that participation in a lifestyle intervention program reduced costs for each patient by an average of $30,000.”

Campbell, author of the internationally acclaimed book The China Study, cites decades of research to show that a diet rich in animal proteins can potentially influence the activation of genes linked to cancer and a number of other diseases and advocates a diet based on whole foods. plant products.

In his works, Campbell describes in detail the observation that all animals participating in experiments whose diet consisted of 20% animal protein developed liver cancer, while none of the animals consuming 5% protein fell victim to this disease. This is one hundred percent evidence that nutrition neutralizes the effects of carcinogens, even very powerful ones, and helps reduce the risk of cancer.

Food choice has an impact a huge impact not only on the occurrence and cure of diseases, on our energy, physical activity, emotional and mental state and on environment, but also on our metabolism. Obesity is another urgent problem modern society. It is known that many people are obese, that is, their weight is more than a third higher than normal. Similar frightening trends are observed even among two-year-old children. These days it is difficult not to notice the struggle that is being waged against excess weight. Open any newspaper or magazine, turn on the radio or TV - and you will find out that many people have problems with weight. The saddest aspect of this problem is the growing number of children who are overweight and obese.

The solution to excess weight is eating whole plant foods combined with reasonable physical activity. This is a long-term lifestyle change, not a newfangled idea offering fast decision. Moreover, such changes can provide sustainable weight loss with minimal risk emergence chronic diseases. In one intervention study, those who were overweight were allowed to eat as much food as they wanted, consisting primarily of whole plant foods with reduced content fat After three weeks, these people lost an average of 7.7 kg of weight. At the Pritikin Longevity Center, 4,500 patients who completed a three-week program achieved similar results. They found that by eating a predominantly plant-based diet and encouraging physical exercise their clients lost 5.5% weight in three weeks.

Proper nutrition helps achieve best condition health. Eating whole foods, plant-based foods may help reverse heart disease late stage, helps obese people lose weight, and patients diabetes mellitus return to the lifestyle they led before the illness.

What could be better proof of the correctness of the chosen path than own example?! The author of the book, Colin Campbell, and his family and friends adhere to a diet of whole plant foods.

The author himself says: “By the time this book appears on store shelves, I will be 70 years old. I stopped eating meat 15 years ago, and in the last 6-8 years I have given up, with rare exceptions, almost all animal products, including dairy. Despite my age, my blood cholesterol levels have decreased; I'm in the best place now physical fitness than at 25 years old; and my weight is now 20 kg less than when I was 30 years old. I have ideal weight for my height. I still go for a run every morning, sometimes 10 km a day. I am actively working, perhaps more than ever before. I still spend my free time actively: visiting my grandchildren, having lunch with friends, working in the garden, traveling, playing golf, giving lectures, or doing minor repairs, such as putting up a fence or fixing something, as I once did on the farm. Mine The family also switched to this diet, largely thanks to my wife Karen, who managed to create a completely new menu, all the dishes in which look attractive, are tasty and healthy. All this was done to improve my health, since as a result of my research I seemed to awaken from a dream.”

Additionally, James Cameron, director of Titanic and Avatar, says he and his family changed their eating habits overnight after reading The China Study. Bill Clinton publicly claims that a plant-based diet helped him cope with heart disease. Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Gwyneth Paltrow are also supporters proper nutrition whole plant foods.

A healthy plant-based diet doesn't mean you have to eat a limited selection of boring foods. You'll be able to eat more variety and find delicious alternatives to animal products and sugar.

So what can you eat when eating whole plant foods?

Specific examples

Fruits, fruits

Oranges, okra, kiwi, red peppers, apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, zucchini, blueberries, strawberries, green peppers, raspberries, butternut squash, pumpkin, blueberries, mango, eggplant, pears, melon, cranberries, acorn squash, papaya , grapefruit, peaches

Vegetables

Inflorescences

Broccoli, cauliflower(usually only a few of the many varieties of edible flowers are eaten)

Stems and leaves

Spinach, artichokes, kale, lettuce (all varieties), cabbage, chard, collards, celery, asparagus, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, turnip tops, beet tops, bok choy, arugula, Belgian endive, basil, cilantro, parsley, rhubarb, seaweed

Roots

Potatoes (all varieties), beets, carrots, turnips, onion, garlic, ginger, leek, radish, rutabaga

Green green beans, soybeans, peas, peanuts, adzuki beans, hyacinth beans, cowpeas, cannellini beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, white beans

Common champignons, cremini champignons, bisporous champignons, shiitake, oyster mushrooms

Walnuts, almonds, macadamia, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios

Whole grains (in bread, pasta, etc.)

Wheat, rice, corn, millet, sorghum, rye, oats, barley, teff, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, spelt, spelled

Minimize

Refined carbohydrates

Pasta (except those made from whole wheat flour), white bread, crackers, sugar and most of cookies, cakes and pastries

Vegetable oils added to food

Corn oil, peanut butter, olive oil

Salmon, tuna, cod

Avoid

Beefsteaks, hamburgers, lard

Chicken, turkey

Dairy

Cheese, milk, yogurt

Eggs and foods high in egg content (such as mayonnaise)

Eating whole, plant-based foods can seem like a completely strange way to eat at first, especially for those who grew up eating meat, dairy, and processed foods. Some even mistakenly believe that it is basically impossible to enjoy food with this type of nutrition.

In reality, things are somewhat different, and many of those who consciously decided to try to eat according to this scheme discover completely new world. Tasty, healthy, and most importantly HEALTHY!


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10.08.17

Do you want to lose weight, but at the same time not limit yourself in the amount of food you eat, do not count calories, and remain cheerful and healthy? Then take a look at Professor Campbell's plant-based diet. Its essence lies in the fact that plant products are beneficial to human health, but animal products are not. In the course of research, Chinese scientists have identified a connection between the development of certain diseases and the level of cholesterol in the blood. As soon as cholesterol dropped to lower levels, the risk of developing leukemia, cancer of the liver, brain, mammary glands, etc. significantly decreased. more people consumes animal food, the higher the level of cholesterol in his blood. Studies have shown that people who adhere to vegetarianism have a greater chance of living a long and healthy life.

Summer is the best time to take care of your health, eliminate all fatty and unhealthy foods, and include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Plant foods are high in antioxidants, fiber, and minerals. Everyone knows that genes are responsible for our predisposition to certain diseases. With the help of nutrition, you can regulate the action of “bad” genes, for example, by adjusting the amount of animal protein in food.

So what can you eat when eating whole plant foods?

Fruits: oranges, okra, kiwi, red peppers, apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, zucchini, blueberries, strawberries, green peppers, raspberries, butternut squash, pumpkin, blueberries, mangoes, eggplants, pears, melon, cranberries, acorn squash, papaya, grapefruit, peaches

Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower (only a few of the many varieties of edible flowers are commonly eaten),
spinach, artichokes, kale, lettuce (all varieties), cabbage, chard, kale, celery, asparagus, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, turnip tops, beet tops, bok choy, arugula, Belgian endive, basil, cilantro, parsley, rhubarb, seaweed, potatoes (all varieties), beets, carrots, turnips, onions, garlic, ginger, leeks, radishes, rutabaga, green beans, soybeans, peas, peanuts, adzuki beans , hyacinth beans, cowpeas, cannellini beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, white beans.

Mushrooms: common champignons, cremini champignons, bisporous champignons, shiitake, oyster mushrooms.

Nuts: walnuts, almonds, macadamia, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios.

Whole grains (in bread, pasta, etc.): wheat, rice, corn, millet, sorghum, rye, oats, barley, teff, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, spelt, spelled.

What to minimize

Pasta (except those made from whole wheat flour), white bread, crackers, sugar and most cookies, cakes and pastries.
Corn oil, peanut oil, olive oil.
Fish: salmon, tuna, cod.

Give up completely

Meat: all types, as well as steaks, hamburgers, lard.
Poultry: chicken, turkey.
Dairy products: cheese, milk, yogurt.
Eggs: Eggs and foods high in egg content (such as mayonnaise).
Liquid oils of all types.
Butter.
Margarine.

Should I completely stop eating meat products? At first, you shouldn’t dwell on this issue. If you eat a portion chicken soup or a slice of bread baked with eggs, great harm your body doesn't care about it.
Still, if you decide to go on a plant-based diet, you should remember its advantages:

  • you will soon feel better
  • you will get rid of extra pounds
  • learn many new and healthy vegetarian dishes
  • reduce the cost of your grocery basket

Photo: Depositphotos.com/Syda_Productions



My article for Vegetarian.ru magazine

Recently, we have been bombarded with new concepts in the field of proper nutrition. The volume of information is so large (and often so contradictory) that we hardly have time to read everything, let alone “digest” the incoming stream in the literal and figurative sense.

Just 15 years ago, vegetarians in Russia were equated with “sectarians,” and a little later such fame was attributed to raw foodists. Both of them are distinguished by an enviable figure, good health and a positive attitude. What a miracle - “he doesn’t eat meat, but he’s still alive”! And as soon as our traditional grandmothers learned to cook vegetarian sweets without baking, herring under a nori coat, and buy seasonal grass for food at the market, vegetarianism and raw food began to be criticized in the West, putting forward new theories about food - clean eating, colorful and other. However, only a few of the hundreds of hypotheses have a convincing scientific basis, many years and extensive research of facts and relationships, such as the plant-based diete proposed by Dr. Colin T Campbell and described in his best-selling books, “The China Study” and.

Is vegetarianism harmful?

Of course not. However, vegetarian and raw food diets are not synonymous. healthy eating. Although vegetarians are less likely than others to suffer from the so-called “diseases of abundance”—type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer—they generally have higher mortality rates from other diseases.

Raw food, vegetarian, sports, yoga or any other food system is not 100% healthy just because you replace all animal with plant based. According to statistics, “greens” simply care more about their health than everyone else. However, there are a lot of problems with a plant-based diet. For example, people come to me with digestive problems (constipation, diarrhea, IBS, gas), over/underweight, skin problems, reduced level energy, bad dream, stress, etc. It turns out that there is something wrong with the classic approach to plant-based nutrition?

CIA - no longer vegetarian and not yet a raw food diet

Boston, USA. Film preview of Nelson Campbell's new film Plant Pure Nation, April 2015.

Dr. Campbell, does the CRH apply to a raw food diet or vegetarianism? - question from the audience.

Neither one nor the other.

People become vegetarians for a number of reasons: religious, moral and even geographical reasons. (I answered this question in detail in my interview). However, the most conscious choice in favor of a plant-based diet can be called a balanced approach, based not on belief in the miraculous, let alone divine, qualities of cucumbers and tomatoes, but on studying an impressive amount of facts and research that confirms them.

Who would you be more willing to believe - those who spout high-flown esoteric phrases or a professor of biochemistry and nutrition from one of the best universities peace? Medical sites without special education It’s difficult to understand, and checking everything on yourself is unsafe, and there may not be enough time.

Dr. Colin Campbell has done a great job, devoting most of his life to it, and making the task much easier for you and me. He included his findings in a diet he called TsRD.

However, let's figure out what's wrong with traditional vegetarianism and a raw food diet. Let's start with the basic principles of the DDC:

  1. plant food should be as close as possible to its natural look(that is, whole) and minimally processed. For example, all vegetable oils that are present in traditional green diets are not whole.
  2. As opposed to a mono-diet, Dr. Campbell says that you need to eat varied. This will provide the body with all the necessary nutrients and vitamins.
  3. CRD excludes salts, sugar and unhealthy fats.
  4. It is recommended to get 80% of kcal from carbohydrates, 10 from fats and 10 from proteins (vegetable, those that are usually called “low-quality” only because the rate of formation of new tissues from animal proteins is higher than from plant proteins).
  5. Food should be local, seasonal, without GMOs, antibiotics and growth hormones, without pesticides, herbicides, organic, fresh. That's why Dr. Campbell and his family are currently lobbying for legislation to support private farmers in the US as opposed to corporations.
  6. Dr. Campbell encourages you to prepare food at home whenever possible in order to avoid all kinds of flavor enhancers, preservatives, E-additives, etc. To help followers of the DRC, Leanne Campbell, the wife of Dr. Campbell's son, has published several cookbooks on the principles of the DRC. Only one, “Recipes for Chinese Research,” was recently translated into Russian by the MIF publishing house. Most of the products in “health food” and “vegetarian” stores are often processed foods, convenience foods, snacks, ready-to-cook or ready food, meat substitutes, etc. To be honest, they are no healthier than regular processed meats.
  7. The quality of food is more important than the calories and amount of macronutrients in it. Classic green diets often contain “low-quality” food (even raw food and vegetarian diets). For example, in the US, most soy is GMO, and almost all dairy products contain growth hormones.
  8. Complete abstinence from all animal products: milk, milk products (cheese, cottage cheese, kefir, sour cream, yogurt, butter and so on), eggs, fish, meat, poultry, game, seafood.

One of the main ideas of the CDC is that health is available to everyone. But due to the simplistic (or reductionist) approach, many are looking for magic pill from all diseases and quick ways cure, resulting in more more harm your health and acquiring side effects. But if a carrot and a bunch of greens cost the same as expensive medical supplies, then they would be more willing to believe in their healing properties.

Dr. Campbell, while a scientist, is nonetheless grounded in philosophy. He talks about integrated approach to health or . The concept of “holism” was introduced by Aristotle: “The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.” All traditional healing systems are based on this statement - Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, ancient Greek and Egyptian, etc. Dr. Campbell did the seemingly impossible: he proved with scientific point sight, what has been true for more than 5 thousand years, but just a “gut feeling.”

___________________

I am grateful to my teacher, Dr. Colin Campbell, who connected the Law of Natural Integrity with best achievements modern science, and changed to better life millions of people around the world through his research, books, films and educational programs. And the best confirmation that the central development center “works” are reviews of gratitude and real stories healing.

_____________
Best wishes ॐ
Julia

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The debate about what is more natural and healthy for humans - meat or vegetables - began a long time ago and still will not subside. And every time more and more new facts and figures appear that confirm the rightness of one side or the other.

I think that we should listen to our body and eat what is in this moment he needs it, be it cabbage, meat, fish or dairy products. In addition, I personally believe that a daily steak or a strict fruitarianism and raw food diet will not lead to anything good, like any extremes. Who says what if you can't just cut your meat intake to a minimum and increase your plant-based diet? Those who feel sorry for the cow can give up meat, but continuing to eat dairy, fermented milk products and cheeses is not a crime. The accusation of weak willpower is all the machinations of fanatics, and you should not undermine your health by trying to swallow a spoonful of the next “soup” that was prepared at a temperature of 40-45 degrees Celsius, proving to another fanatic that you are not a weakling. There are much nicer roads to . Not very short and simple, but still pleasant.

And now let's move on to the most important and interesting thing - the transition plan from standard food on, based mainly on plants, which was compiled for himself by Leo Babauta, author of the Zenhabits blog and already quite an impressive number of small books about minimalism, productivity and healthy way life.

Benefits of a Plant Based Diet

Losing excess weight. When people eat a lot of meat, processed foods, processed flours and refined sugars, they gain weight. When do people eat most of the time? plant foods, and the consumption of the listed products is minimized, they finally feel much better.

Prevention of cardiovascular diseases. If you do not consume animal products or have reduced them to a minimum, it means that your body begins to receive less food, which settles on the walls blood vessels and thus cause cardiovascular diseases.

Prevention of diabetes. If you give up refined sweets, then you reduce your chances of developing type 2 diabetes to almost zero. And this will be better not only for our pancreas, but also for our waist, since this sugar is included in cakes, pastries, lollipops and other sweets. It is better to replace all this with what nature gives us with such generosity - honey, sweet dried fruits (dates, figs, dried apricots, prunes, etc.).

Most centenarians adhere mainly to: Okinawa - a plant-based diet based on sweet potatoes, soy, lots of vegetables and a small amount of fish and very occasionally pork; Sardinia - a large number of vegetables and legumes, cheese and meat only once a week.

Preservation of the environment. It sounds a little strange and unusual, but have you ever thought about how much waste the animal industry gives us? Cows, goats, lambs and other artiodactyls, birds and pigs eat a lot and, as a result, leave behind a large amount of waste, which is released into the air not only unpleasant odors(whoever has driven near a poultry farm at least once will understand what I’m talking about), but also the notorious CO2. According to the UN, in 2006 the share of greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth's atmosphere resulting from livestock farming was 18%, while the share of emissions from transport of all types combined was 13.5%. That is, what we eat literally kills us in an indirect way. Not to mention how many additional resources are spent on raising animals on a farm. “One hamburger” requires from 4,000 to 18,000 liters per day.

I won't talk about the feeling of compassion. There are religious movements that believe that even plants and stones have a soul. So we will all have to switch to a diet based solely on prana and solar energy. They say that there are such people. But I haven’t come across anything like this yet. And you?

Transition plan

If you eat every day, immediately switching to a plant-based diet will be difficult and fraught with health risks. Therefore, you need to do this gradually and it is advisable to consult a doctor before doing this, especially if you have health problems. That is, go to normal nutrition definitely necessary, but carefully!

Step #1. Reduce meat consumption. If you're a heavy meat eater but feel it would be better for your health if you at least cut down on your meat intake, start doing it gradually. If you are used to eating meat every day, introduce one fast day a week. Once you get used to this, you can gradually either reduce your meat consumption to a minimum (leave one meat day per week or even month) or give it up completely. Start by avoiding red meat, then move on to poultry, then fish and seafood. And in parallel with giving up meat, try new plant-based products by experimenting with different products.

Step #2. Refusal. This step is not mandatory, but not particularly difficult either. Just try it.

Step #3. Reduce your intake of dairy products. Leo suggests trying to phase out dairy products, but if you can't imagine complete failure from cottage cheese or cottage cheese, you can leave these products in your diet, simply reducing their quantity.

Step #4. Switch to whole, unprocessed foods. This is much more difficult to do than it seems at first glance. If only because the shelves of our stores are littered with processed foods and semi-finished products, while the choice of whole grain bread is quite limited. Instead of salted peanuts or pistachios, try raw almonds. Walnut or cashews. More vegetables and greens, less flour, sweet and salty snacks.

How can we replace the products we are used to without harming the body? There are quite a large number of options.

Substitutes

Legumes and other proteins. This includes not only beans, peas, black and red beans, various types of lentils and peas (I love chickpeas - they have a nutty taste!), but also soy tofu cheese, soy and almond milk, soy yogurt and much more. The main thing is that they are made from non-genetically modified soybeans.

Nuts and seeds. It seems to me that now you can buy almost any nuts in stores and markets. The situation with seeds is a little more complicated, but sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds can brighten up a surprising number of dishes. I think you can add sprouted wheat and soybeans here.

Good fats. our body needs. It’s just that vegetable fats are absorbed better and without consequences by our body. Vegetable oils, avocados, nuts and seeds are all sources of good fats.

Greenery. This is one of the most important components of a plant-based diet, especially dark green greens - they contain huge amounts of vitamins, calcium and iron. These are spinach, kale, broccoli and White cabbage. Another plus is almost zero calories and a lot of fiber!

Healthy starch. It is found in sweet potatoes, red potatoes, sprouted wheat, pumpkin and brown rice.

Berries. Any berries in any form are always incredibly tasty and healthy! Just don’t forget about them, and if you have the opportunity to freeze them, don’t miss the chance! So great in the winter with soy milk and frozen blueberries or adding a couple of raspberries to your oatmeal.

Beverages. Despite an almost entirely plant-based diet, Leo does not completely give up and. In the morning - coffee without sugar, in the afternoon - green tea, and in the evening with dinner some red wine for a pleasant end to the evening.

As I said, you shouldn’t completely give up pleasant little things. If you like coffee, try drinking it without sugar and in smaller quantities. At first it may be a little unusual and I immediately warn you that you will have to switch to very high-quality and not very cheap coffee, since sugar and milk can easily mask the taste of a not very high-quality drink. But if you drink it without sugar, even one flaw will not escape your taste buds. Do you know how there is a type of coffee that makes you cringe even after one sip? Better more expensive, tastier and less frequent than often and tasteless!

Experiment, look for new ones interesting recipes, play sports, read good books, travel and enjoy life. Because living is great O rovo, but healthy O living is even better ;)