Top 8 reasons to eat & enjoy your vegetables

There may be more information available these days than there has ever been to reveal the mysteries of life, health & harmony, yet the simple task of feeding ourselves is as confusing as ever!

Here are eight reasons why a plant-based diet is truly good for you.

1. Food is information

It’s literally giving instructions to your body with every mouthful.

• caffeine makes your heart beat faster
• chicken & chips narrow blood vessels increasing your blood pressure
• porridge chats to the liver & pancreas stabilising blood sugar
• salad greens feed your microbiome
• chocolate improves your mood
• what you eat can even alter your gene expression

Moreover within each mouthful is a story of where the food was grown, how it was harvested, stored and presented to you. How you cook it and eat it also plays a part in how all this information contributes to your senses, your metabolism, your wellbeing.

Choose ‘real’ food, quality food and get up close and intimate with what you eat.

2. Fibre

We’re actually more microbial than human! Our bacterial makeup can change within a matter of days depending on what food we eat.

Fruits & vegetables have fibre; other foods do not. For a healthy microbiome & bowel we need lots of fibre. Those indigestible fibres make it past your stomach into your small & large intestine where they feed the good guys.

3. Plants have proteins

A varied wholefood plant-based diet provides all essential amino acids. They may not turn up at the same meal but over a day or two they will. You just have to look at vegan body builders to know that plants build muscle!

Greens, pulses, beans, grains, potatoes, broccoli, nuts, seeds & tofu all have protein.

We get confused thinking protein only comes from animal foods. And it surely does – animal proteins are great for growing big animals but not so great for smaller humans. It throws out out and our acid-alkaline balance affecting our bones, makes our kidneys work harder and enhances growth of things we’d rather not promote… like tumours & cholesterol plaques.

There is such a thing as too much protein. Better to stick to plant proteins.

4. Less fat

Let’s be plumbers for a minute. Tipping fat down your sink doesn’t bode well for your pipes. Same goes for your body. Fat clogs you up too and it increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes & cancer. Your cells get all clogged up as well and the insulin can’t get in.

Good essential fats are necessary and these are perfectly provided by flaxseeds, chia seeds, whole olives, avocado, fresh nuts & seeds, and even vegetables.

Whilst high fat/low carb diets get rapid weight loss results, they’re not a long-term healthy solution. In my view a) rapid weight loss causes trickery with your metabolism b) you’re pouring gas on a fire in view of your vascular health and c) life without wholegrain breads, potatoes and the odd bowl of pasta is hard!

Aim to minimise refined oils and avoid animal fats.

5. The same nutrition that prevents disease in its early stages – that is before diagnosis – can also halt or even reverse disease in its later stages, after diagnosis.

Do not hand over your health. You have way more power than you think! Many of the common diseases that cause pain, dysfunction & hospital admissions are lifestyle related. Changing that, is but a decision away.

Aging doesn’t have to look a certain way. In fact science is really catching up with the role plants can play in anti-aging and gene expression. You can read more about that here.

6. What you gain is so much more than what you give up.

Try it for 3 weeks. You won’t die. In fact you’re likely to lose weight, reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol and eat some pretty nice food within that time.

We are wired to conserve energy, avoid pain and seek pleasure. That’s how we’ve evolved. After a few days your tastebuds will switch up and what at first feels wrong, and not as satisfying as a custard square, will balance out.

7. Be sure to take B12

It’s a good idea to get tested as many non vegans are deficient in this essential vitamin as well.

Other than B12 I take a Nrf1 & Nrf2 activator which helps my body produce more antioxidants than I can eat. Together they reduce oxidative stress in the body and support mitochondrial health. You can read more about it here.

8. Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence and all parts are interconnected.

This aspect of eating only plants is perhaps the most profound life changer. Yes you’ll change your health, but you’re also, unexpectedly, changing your heart & how you see the world.