A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet Promotes Good Health

People have been experimenting with diets and promoting plant-based health for a long time, but it is only recently that we have scientific studies showing exactly how this diet can benefit health. These studies overwhelmingly show that a whole foods plant-based diet can stop, or even reverse, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other degenerative diseases. A whole foods plant-based diet can also help prevent, and perhaps even heal many forms of cancer.

How I Discovered Plant-Based Health

I always liked the idea of a vegan diet. Yet, I was never quite sure that it was the best diet for health until the Internet gave me access to recent research. I had read The China Study when it came out. That book made it clear that animal products are one of the main causes of many of our modern diseases. However, it didn’t address how to stay healthy on a vegan diet.

Way back in the early 70s, I had tried Arnold Ehret’s Mucusless Diet and ended up with way more mucus than ever (not a bad diet, but I jumped into it way too fast). I explored Natural Hygiene as taught by Sylvester Graham and Herbert M. Shelton. I read Paul Bragg, Gayelord Hauser, Adelle Davis, Frances Moore Lappe, and any other nutrition books I could get my hands on.

Later, I became familiar with Doctors Ornish, Barnard, Esselstyn, McDougall, Fuhrman, Klaper, and Goldhamer. They have been promoting a plant-based diet for many years.

Then there was Dr. Mercola who promoted just about the opposite. There was also the raw food craze, 80-10-10, Atkins, Pritikin, Paleo, Body Ecology, and an endless barrage of health claims from so-called experts.

Remember, most of this was before the advent of the Internet. In 1970, when I first chose to be vegetarian, I only had access to bookstores and the local library. I had never met a vegetarian and had never even heard of a vegan. I was pretty much on my own, aside from the books I could find.

The end result was confusion!

Thanks to the Internet

Fast forward to today, 50 years later. Thanks to the efforts of two amazing teachers (and a few others), I finally feel that I have the facts I need to achieve plant-based health and I feel confident in sharing those facts with you.

The teachers are Dr. Michael Greger, and Anthony William, The Medical Medium. They don’t agree on everything, but their conclusions overlap enough to provide a solid foundation for a healthy diet. I highly recommend both of their websites, blogs, videos, audio recordings, and books.

The reason these two teachers were able to convince me that we would all be healthier without eggs, fish, meat, and dairy is because they dedicate their lives to promoting health. And they do not take money from any special interests.

Dr. Greger and his team have sifted through thousands of scientific studies to determine what really keeps people healthiest. He shares what he learns in short videos, often featuring the phrase, “Put it to the test.” The tests overwhelmingly show that we are better off without animal products.

Anthony William gets his information directly from a source that he calls “Spirit.” There is nothing scientific about it, but his information has helped tens of thousands of people regain their health. Through reading his books and listening to his radio show, I have been able to make sense of so many mysterious health symptoms I have had since infancy, and discover nutritional solutions that actually work.

Anthony William does not discourage people from eating one serving or less of pasture-raised organic or wild meat per day, though he eats a plant diet himself. But he makes it very clear that eggs and dairy will undermine your health. Like Dr. Greger, he says that fresh, whole fruits and vegetables should be the primary foods in our diet.

At last, I have found the plant-based health I was looking for since 1970!

Take a look around this website to find out what I have discovered. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but now I have the facts to support my healthy plant-based lifestyle. I feel stronger and healthier every day. You might want to start with this page What Vegans Eat.

Wondering What Is the Ideal Diet for Humans?

This TED talk explains it very eloquently.

 

Plant-Based Health Video!

There are so many great videos available now about the benefits of a whole foods plant-based diet. It is hard to choose which one to share here. I really like this one by Dr. Lin, because he is a doctor who has discovered the benefits of a whole foods plant-based diet and he is very enthusiastic. He talks about why he changed from Paleo to a plant-based diet and how the diet can benefit you.

Here’s another great video interview with cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn. It is long, but well worth the time to listen.

Change is in the Works

Finally, a quote from Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets

This article is amazing. It clearly directs main-stream Medical Doctors to recommend a plant-based diet. Progress is happening!

Here is how the article starts out (emphasis mine) –

The objective of this article is to present to physicians an update on plant-based diets. Concerns about the rising cost of health care are being voiced nationwide, even as unhealthy lifestyles are contributing to the spread of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. For these reasons, physicians looking for cost-effective interventions to improve health outcomes are becoming more involved in helping their patients adopt healthier lifestyles.

Healthy eating may be best achieved with a plant-based diet, which we define as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products, and eggs as well as all refined and processed foods. We present a case study as an example of the potential health benefits of such a diet. Research shows that plant-based diets are cost-effective, low-risk interventions that may lower body mass index, blood pressure, HbA_1C, and cholesterol levels.

They may also reduce the number of medications needed to treat chronic diseases and lower ischemic heart disease mortality rates. Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.

To learn more about a healthy plant based diet start with What Vegans Eat.

Whole Foods Plant Based Compassionate Eating