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Tag: plantbased

  • Plant-Based Diet for Heart Reversal, Cholesterol Reduction, and Easy Recipe Ideas Backed by Research

    Plant-Based Diet for Heart Reversal, Cholesterol Reduction, and Easy Recipe Ideas Backed by Research

    Plant-powered eating has drawn interest as more people explore how a plant-based diet can support heart health alongside standard medical care. Research suggests that focusing on whole plant foods may help with heart reversal, cholesterol reduction, and long-term protection when followed consistently.

    In this context, a plant-based diet is seen as a therapeutic pattern that emphasizes minimally processed plants over animal products and ultra-processed foods.

    What Is a Plant-Based Diet for Heart Reversal?

    A plant-based diet centers vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, while minimizing or excluding animal products and heavily processed foods. For heart reversal, many protocols use a whole-food, low-fat variation that limits added oils, refined sugars, and refined grains.

    The aim is to supply abundant fiber, antioxidants, and phytonutrients while reducing components that contribute to plaque buildup in the arteries.

    “Plant-based” does not always mean strictly vegan, but heart-focused programs often encourage eating as close to fully plant-based as possible. In these cases, the diet functions less as a trend and more as part of an intensive lifestyle approach to supporting cardiovascular repair and reducing symptoms.

    Can a Plant-Based Diet Really Reverse Heart Disease?

    Heart reversal usually refers to regression of atherosclerotic plaque, improved blood flow, fewer angina episodes, and reduced cardiac events, rather than complete erasure of disease.

    Clinical programs and long-term observations have reported such changes in some participants who follow a carefully designed plant-based diet alongside exercise, stress management, and appropriate medical treatment. Diet is one component of a broader strategy, not a replacement for professional care.

    Responses vary between individuals, and significant changes rarely happen overnight. The most promising results tend to appear in people who make substantial, sustained dietary changes. In this setting, a plant-based diet is part of an overall lifestyle pattern that can lessen symptom burden and improve quality of life.

    How Long Does It Take to See Results?

    Some people report early improvements, such as better energy and reduced chest discomfort, within weeks to a few months of adopting a plant-based diet.

    Laboratory measures like cholesterol reduction and improved blood pressure can also shift within this period when the pattern is followed consistently. These short-term gains often motivate people to continue.

    Structural changes, including partial regression of plaque or improved imaging results, usually require longer.

    Long-term study findings and intensive programs often track participants over several years, observing how sustained adherence to a plant-based diet and lifestyle influences heart function and event rates. In practice, heart reversal is viewed as a gradual, cumulative process.

    Does a Plant-Based Diet Lower Cholesterol?

    Cholesterol reduction is one of the clearest benefits linked with a plant-based diet. LDL (“bad”) cholesterol plays a central role in plaque formation, and lowering it is a priority in heart disease care. By replacing foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol with fiber-rich plant foods, many individuals see improvements in their lipid profiles.

    Soluble fiber from oats, barley, beans, lentils, apples, and citrus fruits can help remove cholesterol through the digestive tract. When these foods form the base of meals, total and LDL cholesterol often fall over time, according to the World Health Organization.

    Swapping butter, fatty meats, and full-fat dairy for nuts, seeds, avocado, and modest amounts of minimally processed plant oils supports this shift while preserving satisfaction at meals.

    What Does Long-Term Research Say?

    Long-term study data link plant-centered eating patterns with lower rates of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and overall mortality.

    People whose diets rely heavily on whole plant foods, with limited animal products and low intake of ultra-processed items, tend to have better outcomes over many years than those on more conventional diets. These associations suggest that dietary patterns meaningfully affect heart health trajectories.

    Interventional programs that emphasize a plant-based diet plus lifestyle change add more detail. Over multi-year follow-up, participants often show improved symptoms, better cholesterol reduction, and fewer cardiac events.

    While study designs differ, the recurring pattern is that sustained plant-based eating aligns with more favorable cardiovascular markers and experiences.

    What Can You Eat on a Heart-Reversal Plant-Based Diet?

    A heart-reversal style plant-based diet highlights foods rich in fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats. Whole grains such as oats, brown rice, barley, quinoa, and whole wheat offer steady energy and support blood sugar control.

    Legumes, including beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas, provide plant protein and contribute significantly to cholesterol reduction.

    Vegetables and fruits form the foundation of each plate, with emphasis on leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, berries, and citrus. Nuts and seeds like walnuts, almonds, flax, and chia supply beneficial fats and additional fiber.

    Many heart-focused approaches also recommend minimizing added oils and choosing steaming, baking, stewing, or dry sautéing instead of deep-frying.

    Foods typically limited include red and processed meats, high-fat dairy, butter, and sources of trans fats.

    Refined grains, sugary drinks, and heavily processed snacks can interfere with lipid and weight goals. Shifting the everyday balance toward whole plant foods and away from these items creates a pattern more consistent with heart reversal and long-term protection.

    Practical Plant-Based Recipe Ideas for Heart Health

    Simple recipe ideas make this style of eating more sustainable. For breakfast, overnight oats with plant-based milk, ground flax or chia, and berries deliver fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats. Green smoothies built from leafy greens, fruit, and unsweetened plant milk offer a quick way to increase daily vegetable and fruit intake.

    Lunch and dinner can revolve around bean or lentil soups, vegetable stews, and chili served over brown rice or quinoa. Tacos filled with black beans or chickpeas, topped with salsa, cabbage, and avocado, combine satisfaction with heart-friendly ingredients.

    Stir-fries using tofu or tempeh, mixed vegetables, and whole grains keep meals varied while maintaining a plant-based focus, as per Harvard Health.

    Snacks such as fresh fruit, raw vegetables with hummus, roasted chickpeas, and small portions of nuts or seeds help maintain energy and reduce reliance on processed options. Batch-cooking beans and grains, prepping vegetables, and planning several plant-based recipe ideas each week can make adherence more realistic.

    Plant-Based Diet Strategies for Lasting Heart Support

    For those interested in heart reversal and long-term protection, gradual change is often the most sustainable approach. Starting with one or two plant-based meals a day, experimenting with new recipe ideas, and steadily increasing the share of whole plant foods can build a pattern that supports cholesterol reduction and better vascular health.

    Over time, a consistent plant-based diet can become the everyday backdrop for improved heart function, fewer symptoms, and a stronger foundation for long-term cardiovascular well-being.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    1. Can someone follow a plant-based diet for heart health if they are not fully vegetarian?

    Yes. Even if someone still eats small amounts of animal products, shifting most meals toward whole plant foods can support cholesterol reduction and overall heart health.

    2. Does a plant-based diet always mean very low fat for heart reversal?

    Not always. Some heart-reversal programs are very low fat, but others allow moderate amounts of whole-food fats like nuts, seeds, and avocado while still emphasizing plants.

    3. Can a plant-based diet interfere with heart medications?

    It can change blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, which may affect medication needs, so adjustments should always be made with a healthcare professional.

    4. Is it necessary to count calories on a plant-based diet for heart health?

    Many people focus more on food quality than calories, but portion awareness still matters, especially with higher-fat foods like nuts and oils.



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  • Plant-Based Hospital Menus

    Plant-Based Hospital Menus

    The American Medical Association passed a resolution encouraging hospitals to offer healthy plant-based food options.

    “Globally, 11 million deaths annually are attributable to dietary factors, placing poor diet ahead of any other risk factor for death in the world.” Given that diet is our leading killer, you’d think that nutrition education would be emphasized during medical school and training, but there is a deficiency. A systematic review found that, “despite the centrality of nutrition to a healthy lifestyle, graduating medical students are not supported through their education to provide high-quality, effective nutrition care to patients…”

    It could start in undergrad. What’s more important? Learning about humanity’s leading killer or organic chemistry?

    In medical school, students may average only 19 hours of nutrition out of thousands of hours of instruction, and they aren’t even being taught what’s most useful. How many cases of scurvy and beriberi, diseases of dietary deficiency, will they encounter in clinical practice? In contrast, how many of their future patients will be suffering from dietary excesses—obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease? Those are probably a little more common than scurvy or beriberi. “Nevertheless, fully 95% of cardiologists [surveyed] believe that their role includes personally providing patients with at least basic nutrition information,” yet not even one in ten feels they have an “expert” grasp on the subject.

    If you look at the clinical guidelines for what we should do for our patients with regard to our number one killer, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, all treatment begins with a healthy lifestyle, as shown below and at 1:50 in my video Hospitals with 100-Percent Plant-Based Menus.

    “Yet, how can clinicians put these guidelines into practice without adequate training in nutrition?”

    Less than half of medical schools report teaching any nutrition in clinical practice. In fact, they may be effectively teaching anti-nutrition, as “students typically begin medical school with a greater appreciation for the role of nutrition in health than when they leave.” Below and at 2:36 in my video is a figure entitled “Percentage of Medical Students Indicating that Nutrition is Important to Their Careers.” Upon entry to different medical schools, about three-quarters on average felt that nutrition is important to their careers. Smart bunch. Then, after two years of instruction, they were asked the same question, and the numbers plummeted. In fact, at most schools, it fell to 0%. Instead of being educated, they got de-educated. They had the notion that nutrition is important washed right out of their brains. “Thus, preclinical teaching”— the first two years of medical school—“engenders a loss of a sense of the relevance of the applied discipline of nutrition.”

    Following medical school, during residency, nutrition education is “minimal or, more typically, absent.” “Major updates” were released in 2018 for residency and fellowship training requirements, and there were zero requirements for nutrition. “So you could have an internal medicine graduate who comes out of a terrific program and has learned nothing—literally nothing—about nutrition.”

    “Why is diet not routinely addressed in both medical education and practice already, and what should be done about that?” One of the “reasons for the medical silence in nutrition” is that, “sadly…nutrition takes a back seat…because there are few financial incentives to support it.” What can we do about that? The Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School identified a dozen different policy levers at all stages of medical education and the kinds of policy recommendations there could be for the decision-makers, as you can see here and at 3:48 in my video.

    For instance, the government could require doctors working for Veterans Affairs (VA) to get at least some courses in nutrition, or we could put questions about nutrition on the board exams so schools would be pressured to teach it. As we are now, even patients who have just had a heart attack aren’t changing their diet. Doctors may not be telling them to do so, and hospitals may be actively undermining their future with the food they serve.

    The good news is that the American Medical Association (AMA) has passed a resolution encouraging hospitals to offer healthy food options. What a concept! “Our AMA hereby calls on [U.S.] Health Care Facilities to improve the health of patients, staff, and visitors by: (a) providing a variety of healthy food, including plant-based meals, and meals that are low in saturated and trans fat, sodium, and added sugars; (b) eliminating processed meats from menus; and (c) providing and promoting healthy beverages.” Nice!

    “Similarly, in 2018, the State of California mandated the availability of plant-based meals for hospital patients,” and there are hospitals in Gainesville (FL), the Bronx, Manhattan, Denver, and Tampa (FL) that “all provide 100% plant-based meals to their patients on a separate menu and provide educational materials to inpatients to improve education on the role of diet, especially plant-based diets, in chronic illness.”

    Let’s check out some of their menu offerings: How about some lentil Bolognese? Or a cauliflower scramble with baked hash browns for breakfast, mushroom ragu for lunch, and, for supper, white bean stew, salad, and fruit for dessert. (This is the first time a hospital menu has ever made me hungry!)

    The key to these transformations was “having a physician advocate and increasing education of staff and patients on the benefits of eating more plant-based foods.” A single clinician can spark change in a whole system, because science is on their side. “Doctors have a unique position in society” to influence policy at all levels; it’s about time we used it.

    For more on the ingrained ignorance of basic clinical nutrition in medicine, see the related posts below.



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  • Fasting and Plant-Based Diets for Migraines and Traumatic Brain Injuries 

    Fasting and Plant-Based Diets for Migraines and Traumatic Brain Injuries 

    What effects do fasting and a plant-based diet have on TBI and migraines?

    An uncontrolled and unpublished study purported to show a beneficial effect of fasting on migraine headaches, but fasting may be more likely to trigger a migraine than help it. In fact, “skipped meals are among the most consistently identified dietary triggers” of headaches in general. In a review of hundreds of fasts at the TrueNorth Health Center in California, the incidence of headache was nearly one in three, but TrueNorth also published a remarkable case report on post-traumatic headache.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than a million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) every year. Chronic pain is a common complication, affecting perhaps three-quarters of those who suffer such an injury. There are drugs, of course, to treat post-traumatic headache. There are always drugs. And if drugs don’t work, there is surgery, cutting the nerves to the head to stop the pain.

    What about fasting and plants? A 52-year-old woman presented with a highly debilitating, difficult-to-manage, unremitting, chronic post-traumatic headache. And when I say chronic, I mean chronic; she experienced pain for 16 years. She then achieved long-term relief after fasting, followed by an exclusively plant-foods diet, free of added sugar, oil, or salt.

    Before then, she had tried drug after drug after drug after drug after drug—with no relief, suffering in constant pain for years. Before the fast, she started out in constant pain. Then, after the fast, the intensity of the pain was cut in half, and though she was still having daily headaches, at least there were some pain-free periods. Six months later, she tried again, and eventually her headaches became mild, lasting less than ten minutes, and infrequent. She continued that way for months and even years, as you can see below and at 1:45 in my video Fasting for Post-Traumatic Brain Injury Headache. 

    Now, of course, it’s hard to disentangle the effects of the fasting from the effects of the whole food, plant-based diet she remained on for those ensuing years. You’ve heard of analgesics (painkillers). Well, there are some foods that may be pro-algesic (pain-promoting), such as foods high in arachidonic acid, including meats, dairy, and eggs. So, the lowering of arachidonic acid—from which our body makes a range of pro-inflammatory compounds—may be accomplished by eating a more plant-based diet. So, maybe that contributed to the benefit in the fasting case, since many plant foods are high in anti-inflammatory components. In terms of migraine headaches, more plant foods and less animal foods may help, but you don’t know until you put it to the test.

    Researchers figured a plant-based diet may offer the best of both worlds, so they designed a randomized, controlled, crossover study where those with recurrent migraines were randomized to eat a strictly plant-based diet or take a placebo pill. Then, the groups switched. During the placebo phase, half of the participants said their pain improved, and the other half said their pain remained the same or got worse. But, during the dietary phase, they almost all got better, as you can see here and at 3:11 in my video.

    During that first phase, the diet group experienced significant improvements in the number of headaches, pain intensity, and days with headaches, as well as a reduction in the amount of painkillers they needed to take. In fact, it worked a little too well. Many individuals were unwilling to return to their previous diets after they completed the diet phase of the trial, thereby refusing to complete the study. Remember, the participants were supposed to go back to their regular diets and take a placebo pill, but they felt so much better on the plant-based diet that they refused. We’ve seen this with other trials, where those trying plant-based diets felt so good, they often refused to abandon them, harming the study. So, plant-based diets can sometimes work a little too well.

    All my videos on fasting are available in a digital download here.  



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  • Plant-Based Meats and Puberty, Obesity, and Fracture Risk

    Plant-Based Meats and Puberty, Obesity, and Fracture Risk

    What are the effects of plant-based meats on premature puberty, childhood obesity, and hip fracture risk?

    As noted in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association on plant-based meats, if you look only at the nutrition facts information for a conventional burger versus a Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger, as seen here and at 0:20 in my video Plant-Based Meat Substitutes Put to the Test, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to predict the health consequences without further studies.

    We’ve had plant-based meats in the marketplace for more than a century, though, as you can see in this ad for “good eating” Protose, below and at 0:35 in my video. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg filed a patent for Protose, what he called “the modern vegetable meat,” in 1899.

    Of course, products like tempeh and tofu have been eaten throughout Asia for centuries, but I think of those as separate foods in their own right, as opposed to products intentionally designed to mimic the taste and texture of meat. With such a rich history, harkening back to the days of pass-the-Proteena—another great ad here and at 1:06 in my video—you’d think there’d be some studies of consumers—and indeed, there are. 

    Researchers have found, for example, that girls who eat meat may start their periods six months earlier than girls who don’t. Is the earlier menstruation because the meat-eating girls were eating a lot of protein and fat? No, because vegetarian girls who instead ate meat analogs, like veggie burgers and veggie dogs, were able to delay menstruation by nine months. Of course, it’s hard to tease out how much of that is just from avoiding meat, but compared with girls who ate meat a few times a week, those who ate meat a few times a day had a significantly earlier age of first menstruation. This may help explain why childhood meat consumption is linked to breast cancer later in life, since the earlier you start your period, the higher your lifetime risk. 

    Now, obesity itself may contribute to the early onset of puberty in girls, so that could be another factor. Studies have suggested that “vegetarian children tend to be lighter and leaner than nonvegetarian children,” but veg kids aren’t smaller in general, though. Vegetarian boys and girls may measure to be about an inch taller than their classmates; they just aren’t as wide. So, the fact that girls who eat plant-based meats may be less likely to experience premature puberty may, in part, be because they were leaner.

    Indeed, as shown here and at 2:48 in my video, childhood obesity research found that meat consumption seems to double the odds of schoolchildren becoming overweight, compared to plant-based meat. Now, whole plant food sources of protein, such as beans, do even better and are associated with halving the odds of kids becoming overweight.

    This is why I consider plant-based meats like the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat more of a useful stepping stone towards a healthier diet, rather than the endgame ideal. The same amount of protein in a bean burrito would be better in nearly every way, as you can see here and at 3:05 in my video. 

    Similarly, in terms of hip fracture risk, in the Adventist Health Study–2, which followed tens of thousands of men and women for years, researchers found that daily intake of plant-based meats appeared to reduce the risk of hip fracture by nearly half, but daily intake of legumes—beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils—may drop the risk of hip fracture by even more—by nearly two-thirds.

    This is the fourth in a nine-part series on plant-based meats. If you missed the first three, see the related posts below.

    Stay tuned for: 



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  • Are Plant-Based Meats Good for Us?

    Are Plant-Based Meats Good for Us?

    What are the different impacts of plant protein versus animal protein, and do the benefits of plant proteins translate to plant protein isolates?

    Are plant-based burgers healthy or not? The answer is: Compared to what? Eating is kind of a zero-sum game where every food has an opportunity cost. Each time we put something in our mouth, it’s a lost opportunity to eat something even healthier. So, if we want to know if something is healthy, we have to compare it to what we’d be eating instead. For example, are eggs healthy? Compared to a breakfast sausage link, yes, but compared to oatmeal? Not even close. Sausage is considered a Group 1 carcinogen. We know that consumption of processed meat causes cancer. Each 50-gram serving a day (equal to about one or two breakfast sausages) has been linked to an 18 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer. In fact, the risk of getting colorectal cancer from eating those daily sausages is about the same as the increased risk of lung cancer we’d get from breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke living with a smoker. So, compared to sausage, eggs are healthy, but compared to oatmeal, eggs are not.

    When it comes to Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods plant-based burger patties, they may be better in that they have less saturated fat than conventional meat burgers, but if you really want less saturated fat, plant-based meats are no match for unprocessed plant foods, such as lentils and beans. And lentil soup or a bean burrito could certainly fill the same culinary niche as a lunchtime burger. But, if you are going to have some kind of burger, it’s easy to argue that plant-based versions are more healthful, as seen below and at 1:43 in my video Plant-Based Protein: Are Pea and Soy Protein Isolates Harmful?.

    There is a sodium issue with those plant-based patties, though, and they aren’t that much lower in saturated fat. That is due to coconut oil, which is as bad as animal fat, so there isn’t much advantage on that front. I am excited to say that Beyond Meat has since significantly improved their formula since I made that graph for UBS. Now Beyond has 310mg of sodium and only 2 grams of saturated fat thanks to a switch from coconut oil to avocado oil.

    The total protein is similar across the board. Does that matter? Is there any advantage to eating protein from plants over animals? Let’s look at the association between plant and animal protein intake and mortality. In the twin Harvard cohorts, which followed more than 100,000 men and women over decades, researchers wrote: “After adjusting for other dietary and lifestyle factors, animal protein intake was associated with a higher risk for mortality, particularly CVD mortality,” that is, dying from cardiovascular disease, “whereas higher plant protein intake was associated with lower all-cause mortality,” meaning a lower risk of dying from all causes put together. So, “replacing animal protein of various origins with plant protein was associated with lower mortality,” especially if processed meat and egg protein were replaced, as they were the worst.

    When it comes to living a longer life, plant protein sources beat out each and every animal protein source. Not just better than bacon and eggs, but better than burgers, chicken, turkey, fish, and dairy protein, as shown here and at 2:53 in my video. 

    Together with other studies, these “findings support the importance of protein sources for the long-term health outcome and suggest that plants constitute a preferred protein source compared with animal foods.” Why? Well, “unlike animal protein, plant protein has not been associated with increased insulin-like growth factor 1 levels.” (IGF-1 is a cancer-promoting growth hormone.) Soy protein is similar enough to animal protein that, at high enough doses, like eating two Impossible burgers a day, our IGF-1 may get a bump. But the only reason we care about IGF-1 is cancer risk, and, if anything, “higher soy intake is associated with a decreased risk of breast and prostate cancer.”

    A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that “soy protein intake was associated with a decreased risk in the mortality of breast cancer,” for instance. “A 12% reduction in breast cancer death was observed for each 5-g/day increase in soy protein intake.” But, as shown below and at 4:07 in my video, the high-soy groups in these studies were on the order of more than 16 grams a day, which was associated with an incredible 62 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer. More than 10 daily grams of soy protein may be good, associated with nearly halving breast cancer mortality risk, and getting more than 16 grams a day may be better, which is like one Impossible burger a day. (We simply don’t know what happens at consumption levels far above that.) 

    Plant protein has also “been linked to lower blood pressure, reduced low-density lipoprotein [LDL cholesterol] levels, and improved insulin sensitivity. Substitution of plant protein for animal protein has been related to a lower incidence of CVD [cardiovascular disease] and type 2 diabetes.” Indeed, 21 different studies following nearly half a million people found that “high…animal protein intakes are associated with an increased risk of T2DM [type 2 diabetes], whereas moderate plant protein intake is associated with a decreased risk of T2DM.” Those were just observational studies, though. The researchers tried to control for other dietary and lifestyle factors, but cause and effect can’t be proven until it’s put to the test.

    Enter “Effect of Replacing Animal Protein with Plant Protein on Glycemic [Blood Sugar] Control in Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” Researchers found that replacing only about a third of protein from animal sources with plant sources yielded significant improvements in long-term blood sugar control, fasting blood sugars, and insulin.

    Same with cholesterol. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on the effect of plant protein on blood fats again found that replacing animal protein with plant protein decreases LDL cholesterol. What’s more, this benefit occurs whether you start out with high or low cholesterol, whether you’re replacing dairy, or meat and eggs, and whether you’re swapping in soy or other plant proteins, as seen here and at 5:31 in my video.

    We’ve known about soy’s beneficial effects on cholesterol for nearly 40 years, but other sources of plant protein can be helpful, too. However, in the case of plant-based burgers like Beyond Beef and the Impossible Burger, beef isn’t being replaced with beans. Those products are mostly isolated plant proteins—mostly pea protein isolate in Beyond Meat products and concentrated soy protein in Impossible Foods products. If you isolate the plant proteins themselves, will you still get benefits? Surprisingly, yes. Check it out.

    The researchers concluded: “Interestingly, our…analyses did not find a significant difference between protein isolate products and whole food sources for any given endpoint, suggesting that the cholesterol-lowering effects are at least, in part, attributable to the plant protein itself rather than just the associated nutrients.” So, it isn’t just because plant protein travels with fiber or less saturated fat. Plant proteins break down into a different distribution of amino acids. So, if you give people arginine, an amino acid found more in plant foods, that alone can bring down cholesterol, for example. And the plant protein concentrates used in these meat-free products aren’t just pure protein; they retain some active compounds, such as phytosterols and antioxidants, which also can have beneficial effects.

    This is the third in a series on plant-based meats. If you missed the first two, see The Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Meat Substitutes and Are Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger Healthy?.

    Check the related posts below for the upcoming videos on plant-based meats.
     



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  • What Are the Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Meats? 

    What Are the Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Meats? 

    Environmental assessments of 50 different plant-based meats show them to be vastly more sustainable than animal-based meats.

    “There is increasing consensus that transitioning towards reduced meat consumption and more plant-based diets is a key feature to address important health and sustainability challenges” that humanity is facing, yet the graph below and at 0:25 in my video The Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Meat Substitutes shows that the trajectory of global meat consumption has increased.

    According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “we will have to double the production of meat and dairy to meet the predicted demand for animal proteins in 2050.” However, we would have to do the exact opposite to contain the ecological damage and “environmental impact of livestock.”

    “Nearly every credible forecast shows that if we’re to have any chance of meeting future food in a sustainable fashion, lowering our meat consumption will be absolutely essential.”

    More centralized governments may be effective in influencing consumption patterns. For example, the “Chinese government has outlined a plan to reduce its citizens’ meat consumption by 50%,” but since the main drivers of global meat consumption are factors such as rising incomes, urbanization, and Western culture, the “main identified drivers of meat demand are difficult to influence through direct policy intervention.” Thus, we must take our case directly to the consumer. However, information and education may not be enough. We may need the “increased availability of ready-made plant-based products.”

    Too often, alone, “ethics and sustainability does not stand much of a chance in a world of consumers…Many consumers seem deaf to ethical arguments…[that] are quickly forgotten when one is buying food.” When it comes to “consumers’ perceived barriers to following a plant-based diet,” the largest barrier may simply be “meat appreciation,” enjoying the taste of meat. So, in practice, if we want people to shift to plant-based options, “the taste, structure and nutritional value of vegetarian meals could be developed to more closely follow the preferences of meat eaters.” Why design a veggie burger primarily for vegetarians? They’re already not eating meat. When Patrick Brown founded Impossible Foods, “his goal was to create something a burger lover would say is better than any burger they’ve ever had.’” Also in the marketplace is “the Beyond Burger, created by Beyond Meat, a company founded to tackle climate change by creating vegan products free from meat and animal by-products” that are “Juicy, Meaty and Delicious.”

    But are they better for the climate? If so, how much better? Reputable groups have published environmental lifecycle assessments covering the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger, and I did a short piece for the Swiss investment firm UBS summarizing the results, as you can see below and at 2:48 in my video. 

    Indeed, switching to either plant-based meat option, the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water footprints by about 90 percent, compared to beef.

    Similar lifecycle analyses have been performed on more than 50 different plant-based meats. All such studies found them to be vastly more sustainable than meat and processed meat products, with no real differences in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions observed between the different sources of protein used in the plant-based meats, whether wheat, soy, or another. Though, obviously, any products containing eggs would be significantly worse with “significantly higher amounts of GHG.”

    Now, of course, if we went straight to the unprocessed peas and soybeans from which the Beyond and Impossible Burgers are made, we wouldn’t get just a 90 percent lower environmental impact, but around a 99 percent lower impact. That impact drops to zero, however, if no one is willing to eat it.

    A review of consumer research on meat alternatives found that although considerations like “health, environmental and animal welfare aspects can persuade consumers and influence their decision to try a meat substitute, the appearance, and taste of those meat substitutes are crucial factors for their consumption on a regular basis.”

    Interestingly, these days, plant-based foods may actually have a leg up. Researchers gave omnivorous college students both animal- and plant-based chocolate milk, macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, and meatballs, but told them they were actually all made from plants. The researchers “surprisingly and unexpectedly found that when subjects tasted the food and rated how much they liked the taste, those who were told the food was vegan liked the food significantly better than did those who were told the food was of animal origin. Thus, thinking a food was vegan actually increased liking for the taste of that food.”

    Other demographics may have a different reaction, though, in which case there is always “sustainability-by-stealth,” using blended products that substitute some of the animal protein for plant protein. Recently, such “hybrid products (meat analogs in which part of the meat is replaced by plant-based ingredients) have made a promising entrance,” so much so that Perdue and Tyson, two major meat producers, are bragging about the incorporation of plant protein into their blended products, as you can see here and at 4:41 in my video. 

    This is from the first of nine videos in a series on plant-based meats, which includes the titles in the related posts below.

    For background on food and climate change, see Diet and Climate Change: Cooking Up a Storm. 



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  • 250 Vegan Recipes – Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Plant-Based Meals for Every Occasion – 250 Plant Based Vegan Recipes

    250 Vegan Recipes – Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Plant-Based Meals for Every Occasion – 250 Plant Based Vegan Recipes

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  • Treat Type 1 Diabetes with a Plant-Based Diet? 

    Treat Type 1 Diabetes with a Plant-Based Diet? 

    Is it possible to reverse type 1 diabetes if caught early enough?

    The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention has already had its share of miraculous disease reversals with a plant-based diet. For instance, one patient began following a whole food, plant-based diet after having two heart attacks in two months. Within months, he experienced no more chest pain, controlled his cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugars, and also lost 50 pounds as a nice bonus. Yet, the numbers “do not capture the patient’s transformation from feeling like a ‘dead man walking’ to being in command of his health with a new future and life.” 

    I’ve previously discussed cases of reversing the autoimmune inflammatory disease psoriasis and also talked about lupus nephritis (kidney inflammation). What about type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease we didn’t think we could do anything about? In contrast to type 2 diabetes, which is a lifestyle disease that can be prevented and reversed with a healthy enough diet and lifestyle, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which our body attacks our pancreas, killing off our insulin-producing cells and condemning us to a life of insulin injections—unless, perhaps, it’s caught early enough. If a healthy enough diet is started early enough, might we be able to reverse the course of type 1 diabetes by blunting that autoimmune inflammation?

    As I discuss in my video Type 1 Diabetes Treatment: A Plant-Based Diet, we know that patients with type 1 diabetes “may be able to reduce insulin requirements and achieve better glycemic [blood sugar] control” with healthier diets. For example, children and teens were randomized to a nutritional intervention in which they increased the whole plant food density of their diet—meaning they ate more whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils), nuts, and seeds. Researchers found that the more whole plant foods, the better the blood sugar control.

    The fact that more whole fruits were associated “with better glycemic [blood sugar] control has important clinical implications for nutrition education” in those with type 1 diabetes. We should be “educating them on the benefits of fruit intake, and allaying erroneous concerns that fruit may adversely affect blood sugar.”

    The case series in the IJDRP, however, went beyond proposing better control of just their high blood sugars, the symptom of diabetes, but better control of the disease itself, suggesting the anti-inflammatory effects of whole healthy plant foods “may slow or prevent further destruction of the beta cells”—the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas—“if dietary intervention is initiated early enough.” Where did this concept come from?

    A young patient. Immediately following diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at age three, a patient began a vegetable-rich diet and, three years later, “has not yet required insulin therapy…and has experienced a steady decline in autoantibody levels,” which are markers of insulin cell destruction. Another child, who also started eating a healthier diet, but not until several months after diagnosis, maintains a low dose of insulin with good control. And, even if their insulin-producing cells have been utterly destroyed, individuals with type 1 diabetes can still enjoy “dramatically reduced insulin requirements,” reduced inflammation, and reduced cardiovascular risk, which is their number one cause of death over the age of 30. People with type 1 diabetes have 11 to 14 times the risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to the general population, and it’s already the top killer among the public, so it’s closer to 11 to 14 times more important for those with type 1 diabetes to be on the only diet and lifestyle program ever proven to reverse heart disease in the majority of patients—one centered around whole plant foods. The fact it may also help control the disease itself is just sugar-free icing on the cake.

    All this exciting new research was presented in the first issue of The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention. As a bonus, there’s a companion publication called the Disease Reversal and Prevention Digest. These are for the lay public and are developed with the belief I wholeheartedly share that “everyone has a right to understand the science that could impact their health.” You can go behind the scenes and hear directly from the author of the lupus series, read interviews from luminaries like Dean Ornish, see practical tips from dietitians on making the transition towards a healthier diet, and enjoy recipes. 

    The second issue includes more practical tips, such as how to eat plant-based on a budget, and gives updates on what Dr. Klaper is doing to educate medical students, what Audrey Sanchez from Balanced is doing to help change school lunches, and how Dr. Ostfeld got healthy foods served in a hospital. (What a concept!) And what magazine would be complete without an article to improve your sex life? 

    The journal is free, downloadable at IJDRP.org, and its companion digest, available at diseasereversaldigest.com, carries a subscription fee. I am a proud subscriber.

    Want to learn more about preventing type 1 diabetes in the first place? See the related posts below.



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  • Unlock the Power of Greens: The Surprising Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

    Unlock the Power of Greens: The Surprising Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

    Unlock the Power of Greens: The Surprising Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

    The Science Behind a Plant-Based Diet

    In recent years, the importance of a plant-based diet has gained significant attention in the health and wellness community. More than just a fad, a plant-based diet has been proven to offer numerous health benefits, from weight management to disease prevention. In this article, we’ll delve into the science behind a plant-based diet and explore the surprising benefits that await those who make the switch.

    Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases

    A plant-based diet has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This is largely due to the rich influx of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals found in plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In particular, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 42% (1).

    Weight Loss and Management

    A plant-based diet is often associated with weight loss, and for good reason. Plant-based foods tend to be naturally lower in calories and higher in fiber, making it easier to feel full and satisfied. Additionally, a plant-based diet reduces the likelihood of overconsumption of saturated fats and added sugars, common culprits of weight gain. In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, participants who adopted a plant-based diet saw a significant reduction in body mass index (BMI) over a period of six months (2).

    Better Gut Health

    A healthy gut is essential for overall well-being, and a plant-based diet can play a significant role in maintaining a balanced gut microbiome. Plant-based foods are rich in prebiotic fibers, which act as fuel for beneficial bacteria in the gut, promoting a diverse and thriving ecosystem. This can lead to improved immune function, reduced inflammation, and even mental health benefits. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, researchers discovered that a plant-based diet was associated with improved gut health in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (3).

    Increased Energy and Cognitive Function

    A plant-based diet is not only good for the body but also for the mind. Plant-based foods are rich in B vitamins, which play a critical role in energy metabolism and cognitive function. In a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers found that a diet rich in B vitamins can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and age-related dementia (4).

    The Environmental Benefits

    A plant-based diet is not only good for human health, but it also has a significant impact on the environment. Animal agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and water pollution. By adopting a plant-based diet, individuals can reduce their carbon footprint and support sustainable agriculture practices. In a study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers estimated that a plant-based diet can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50% (5).

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, a plant-based diet offers a plethora of benefits, from improved health outcomes to environmental sustainability. It’s time to unlock the power of greens and make the switch to a more plant-based diet. With the numerous benefits outlined above, it’s clear that adopting a plant-based lifestyle is a vital step towards achieving overall well-being and contributing to a healthier planet.

    FAQs

    Q: What does a plant-based diet look like?
    A: A plant-based diet focuses on whole, minimally processed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. It’s important to note that a plant-based diet is not the same as a vegan diet, as the former can include small amounts of animal products.

    Q: How do I get started with a plant-based diet?
    A: Start by incorporating small changes, such as replacing one meal with a plant-based option or trying new recipes. Gradually make changes to your diet and consult with a registered dietitian or healthcare professional for personalized guidance.

    Q: Are plant-based diets suitable for everyone?
    A: While a plant-based diet can be beneficial for many, it’s essential to consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes, particularly for individuals with certain health conditions or dietary restrictions.

    Q: Can I still eat animal products if I follow a plant-based diet?
    A: While a plant-based diet emphasizes whole, plant-based foods, it’s not necessary to eliminate animal products entirely. Incorporating small amounts of animal products, such as dairy or eggs, can be part of a balanced plant-based diet.

    Q: How do I find plant-based recipes and resources?
    A: There are numerous resources available, including cookbooks, online blogs, and social media platforms. Some popular resources include Plant-Based Magazine, Oh My Veggies, and Forks Over Knives.

    As we’ve seen, a plant-based diet is more than just a fad – it’s a lifestyle that offers numerous benefits for human health, the environment, and the planet. With the right information and guidance, anyone can unlock the power of greens and start their journey towards a healthier, more sustainable future.

  • V3 Plant-Based Fitness

    V3 Plant-Based Fitness

    Product Name: V3 Plant-Based Fitness

    Click here to get V3 Plant-Based Fitness at discounted price while it’s still available…

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    V3 Plant-Based Fitness is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

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