Passionate about Plants and Health!

Yesterday afternoon I went to a conference held by the Flemish vegetarian association (EVA), on the future of plant-based diets. The day's program was extremely interesting but I was most excited to hear Brenda Davis, a Canadian dietician whose specialty is vegetarian, vegan and raw diets. She has written several wonderful books on these topics, including one that has been a huge source of information and inspiration to me over the past five years, "Becoming Vegan".

It was great to hear Brenda speak! The main focus of what she talked about yesterday was the impact of plant-based diets on health. When you see the big picture as she presents it, it is not hard to see why more and more research points to plant-based diets being a major factor in prevention of the big three diseases in affluent societies: cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Having several family members who have had to fight cancer over the past ten years, I am especially passionate about the things we can do in our own lives to prevent this modern plague. I wanted to share with you Brenda's recommendations for optimal prevention of these diseases, because even if not everyone we care about is willing to make changes, we really do have the power to reduce our own risk by what we put in our mouths:

1. Depend on whole plant foods as your foundation: 3 fruits, 5 veg, 1 or more servings of pulses, 30-60 grams of nuts or seeds, and 3 or more servings of whole grains are the basis of a healthy diet.
2. Achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
3. Maximise nutrient density! This means choosing foods that give you the most nutrition - green leafy vegetables are at the top of this list, followed by other non-starchy vegetables and fruits.
4. Don't depend on refined carbs as a dietary staple! This means not loading your plate up with white pasta, processed cereals, white bread, etc. Choose whole grains.
5. Aim for 35 grams or more of fiber every day. (Hint: meat and dairy contain NO fiber.)
6. Replace unhealthy fats (saturated and hydrogenated fats) with healthy fats from whole foods: nuts, seeds, avocado, olives.
7. Boost antioxidants by expanding your diet to include a whole range of different plant foods.
8. Minimize the harmful chemicals in your diet by avoiding highly processed foods, fish from contaminated waters, and deep fried foods.
9. Moderate your sodium intake.
10. Be picky about beverages - don't drink your calories!

And I would add one more thing to a disease-preventing lifestyle: regular exercise! I know a lot of you will agree with me on that one!

So, in the spirit of health, Stefaan and I went for our Sunday run this morning and enjoyed an hour of running through the fall leaves...it was great! And then I enjoyed a plant-strong Indian feast for lunch: chickpea-spinach curry, curried lentils with pumpkin, and brown rice. I think Brenda would definitely approve!