If you hear the phrase, “plant-based diet”, what comes to mind is likely a whole lot of fruits and vegetables. While those certainly have their place, there’s more to eating a plant-based diet than just that. Eating a plant-based diet means the foods that you eat focus mostly on foods that come from plants. Nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, beans, and oils can all fall within that category. Going plant-based doesn’t have to mean that you avoid all animal products (unless you want it to). It just means that most of what you consume is sourced from plants, rather than animals.
What Are the Benefits of Eating a Plant-Based Diet?
Eating a plant-based diet has been shown to have multiple benefits. It tends to make weight loss easier. Better still, it can help keep the weight from coming back. You may find that your health improves. Cardiovascular health and diabetes are just two health concerns that can be positively impacted by eating a plant-based diet. You may even find that it’s healthier for your wallet, since meat and animal products tend to be a bit more on the expensive side of things.
Tips for Eating a Plant-Based Diet
Those benefits sure sound good, but how do you get started with a plant-based diet? A lot of it involves your mindset. Think of meat and other animal products as more of a garnish to be had in smaller portions than the main part of the meal. You might center your meal around a salad instead. Choose whole grains instead of refined grains. Eat lots of vegetables and aim to consume a variety of colors. Consume different leafy greens and experiment with different ways to prepare them in your meals.
What constitutes eating a plant-based diet is going to change somewhat from person to person. It’s important to remember that everyone’s needs are a little different when it comes to the food they eat. Just remember, if you want to keep the changes you observe, you’ll need to keep going with the changes you make to your diet. That will hold true no matter what dietary regimen you choose to follow.
Want some tasty, plant-based food for lunch, but aren’t sure where to find it? We’ve got you covered with directions to The Nauvoo, a great place to eat with plenty of options for those eating a plant-based diet.
