Eat a plant-based, wholefoods diet for a healthy life and help save the planet too! Yes, fruit and vegetables taste great but they are also a healthy basis for your diet. Nutrition experts have been telling us for years that a diet based on fruit, vegetables and wholefoods is the best way to good health. If you want to know more, then read the New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford…it really is the bible on good health!
Nowadays, many people follow a diet that is poor in nutrition. Two-thirds of their calorie intake comes from energy-rich, nutrient-poor foods full of fat and sugar. The best way to improve your diet is to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. Plant foods are nutrient power-houses providing the vitamins and minerals we all need for a healthy life.
If you decide to switch to a diet higher in plant and wholefoods, follow the tips in healthy eating on a vegetarian diet.
Antioxidants to slow ageing
A plant-based diet is full of antioxidants which slow down the process of aging and protect against cancer and heart disease. We all know that oxygen is necessary for life in the air that we breathe. It drives the energy processes that allow us to think and move. But oxygen also causes problems as it attacks other cells in the body creating ‘free radicals’.
Free radicals roam throughout the body, attacking and damaging cells wherever they can. This free radical damage plays a major part in ageing, inflammation, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Antioxidants are critical in the fight against free radicals as they are able to neutralize the free radicals and slow down the the body’s degeneration.
Vitamins A, C, and E are the well-known antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. There are also many other antioxidants found in plant foods which cannot be found in supplements. Eating around 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day gives you maximum protection against the degeneration caused by free radicals.
Fiber for healthy digestion
Wholefoods such as rices, beans, grains, pulses and vegetables are full of fiber. They keep your digestive system healthy and lower the risk of bowel cancer, diverticular disease, IBS and diabetes.
Fiber absorbs water and thus makes feces softer so it can pass easily through the bowels. It also reduces the time that food waste is left in the body. If food waste is allowed to rot in the bowels, it forms bacteria and cancer-causing substances. A plant-based, wholefoods diet can help prevent this by reducing the time that it takes for food to pass though your body.
Green fact – five times as much water is needed to grow feed grain rather than fruit and vegetables.
