EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO FOLLOW A PLANT BASED DIET

Sustainability is a growing concern for people and so we have all made small changes to our daily lives that are of benefit to everybody, like recycling or using public transport. But in recent years, more and more people are adopting a Plant Based diet.

What is a Plant Based diet?

It is simply eating only foods of plant origin. There are different styles of diets, but the best known ones are vegetarian and vegan diets. The difference is that vegetarians do not eat meat and vegans do not eat any animal products, like honey, eggs and milk.

There is also another type of Plant Based diet, that includes meat but in very small quantities. The main ingredient in each dish will be a vegetable, pulse or cereal and meat or fish is added as a garnish.

What are the benefits of a Plant Based diet?

Clean up the planet. By reducing the consumption and purchase of meat products we help to minimise our environmental impact, significantly shrinking our carbon footprint.

Plant Based diets are not just good for the planet, but also improve the health of the people who follow them. It prevents disease by balancing inflammation markers, glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides.

Although many people think otherwise, it is 100% suitable for athletes. In fact, the diet has benefits that support exercise such as improved blood flow and heart function. Today there are many professional athletes who follow a Plant Based diet like Novak Djokovic, Lewis Hamilton and Venus and Serena Williams.

How to switch to a Plant Based diet

When we switch to a Plant Based diet we often don’t know how much of each type of food we should eat. The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate can always be relied on for guidance.

It involves filling up a plate with different foods to control the quantities. To start, halve the plate and fill one half with your chosen vegetables. Divide the other half into two quarters, one for cereals and root vegetables, the other for protein such as meat, fish, pulses or eggs.

This approach will help you to eat a varied balanced diet and makes it easier to see what you are eating.