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What is a plant-based diet?

Plant-based diets
Plant-based diets emphasize whole plant foods like these fresh fruits and vegetables

What is a plant-based diet?

Plant-based diets emphasize nutrient-dense, whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and minimize highly-processed foods, added sugars, sodium, artificial colors, food additives, and non-nutritive sweeteners.  A predominantly plant-based diet may occasionally include small amounts of meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs, while a 100% whole-food, plant-based diet would not include any foods sourced from animals, including honey made by bees.

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Added sugars to be listed on revised Nutrition Facts labels

FDA Nutrition Facts Label
The newest FDA Nutrition Facts label makes it easy to identify added sugars

Did you know that chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease can be improved by limiting or eliminating added sugars in your diet?  I’m not suggesting a low-carbohydrate diet that eliminates nutrient-dense foods such as apples and oranges with naturally occurring sugars bound to fiber.

Instead, you should reduce your intake of added sugars, such as high fructose corn syrup added to processed foods.  To help consumers, the FDA has ruled that by 2020 food manufacturers must use the newly-designed Nutrition Facts panel, which has been updated to include a separate line for added sugars as a subcategory of total sugars.  It’s about time!

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Eat the right fats for a healthy heart

Almonds

Almonds are a good source of healthy fats

Along with protein and carbohydrates, fats are one of the three macronutrients that supply our body with energy measured in calories.  Fats are considered energy-dense at 9 calories/gram, which is more than twice the 4 calories/gram found in both protein and carbohydrates.

But even though dietary fats are relatively high in calories, they are necessary for life because they provide the essential fatty acids that our bodies can’t make.  You must eat fats to help absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and beneficial phytochemicals such as beta-carotene from the foods you eat.

A healthy diet should contain between 20 and 35 percent fat, ideally from whole plant foods, while minimizing or eliminating sources of saturated and trans fats, which promote disease.  Here’s a list of which fats you should add to and subtract from your diet: Read more

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