So what defines a plant-based diet? It's about most OR all of your diet including a variety of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and unrefined (whole, least processed) grains. It doesn't mean you have to become a vegetarian or vegan or follow any label, but nutrition experts say that a diet heavy in plant foods, with or without including animal foods, is the healthiest approach to eating. Plant-based diets may help to better manage or reduce the chance of developing a range of health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and dementia. The Cancer Council Australia suggests that this way of eating may also by the first step in preventing some cancers. The nutrients and other components in plant foods that likely contribute to good health include antioxidants, fibre, plant sterols, prebiotics (food for our healthy gut bacteria), probiotics, and mono and polyunsaturated fats. |
Antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, selenium and flavonoids. They are beneficial to us by preventing daily naturally-occurring chemical processes in our bodies that can result in damage. Eating foods rich in antioxidants can help slow the ageing process and prevent different diseases, as well as potentially reducing inflammation in the body.
Fibre plays a number of important roles. The roughage of fibre promotes bowel movement, bulking our poop or drawing in water to prevent or relieve constipation (and risk of colon cancers and diverticular disease). Soluble fibre (found in oats, barley, legumes, fruits and vegetables) can also assist in reducing blood cholesterol and blood glucose, which may be helpful if you are managing high cholesterol, insulin resistance or diabetes. The mechanism behind this is by reducing the glycemic load of the meal (i.e. slowly releasing glucose from the meal into the blood thereby reducing blood sugar spikes) and being able to grab hold of old cholesterol, toxins and other waste to remove it from the body. Some fibres (those high in FODMAPs) also act as food for our gut bacteria (known as prebiotics). |
Prebiotic foods include garlic, onion, legumes, lentils, rye, wheat, barley, stonefruits, watermelon, cashews, asparagus, to name a few. Our body is not able to break down and digest particular fibres in these foods, so they move from our stomach into our large bowel, to provide food for our gut bacteria.. Having healthy and well-fed gut bacteria has been linked to disease prevention, weight management, hormone balance, mental health and keeping the digestive system in good working condition. The types of bacteria living in our gut is key for health and research has shown that increasing more plant foods in the diet can significantly improve our bacteria profile within days.
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Plant sterols are have a similar structure to cholesterol (found in animal foods) and are found in small amounts only in plant foods. Because they compete for absorption with cholesterol in the gut, eating foods with high amounts of plant sterols can resulting in lowered cholesterol re-absorption in the blood and hence lowered blood cholesterol. Plant sterols are highest in plant oils e.g. nuts and seeds, with smaller amounts in fruits, vegetables and legumes.
Probiotics are bacteria commonly found in fermented foods like sauerkraut and picked vegetables. While there is little evidence that the probiotic bacteria actually survive and replicate in the human gut, but there is increasing evidence that eating these foods can impact the health of the good bacteria already living in your gut and hence helping to keep them alive, thriving and replicating. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are well known to improve heart and cardiovascular health, as well as play an essential role in producing hormones, maintain body temperature, transport vitamins A, D, E, K around the body, provide a protective layer around cells, nerves, bones and organs, maintain healthy nails and skin, and is a major component of the brain. Omega-3s (a type of polyunsaturated fat) also particularly helps to reduce inflammation in the body. Eating foods high in Omega-3 (e.g. walnuts, chia seeds (and oil), linseeds / flaxseeds (and oil) are important for people with inflammatory and autoimmune conditions such as arthritis (or simply joint pain), psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis. It can also be useful in reducing blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of blood clot formation, therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular and heart diseases. |
Note: If you have a sensitive gut, e.g. IBS, Diverticular Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, you may need to be careful of how much fibre you eat or be selective of the types of fibrous foods you eat often.
If you need advice on this, please get in touch. |