Lifestyle & Wellness

Plant Powered Lifestyles

Plant-based diets are all the rage right now, but what does plant-based actu­al­ly mean? The basic def­i­n­i­tion of a plant-based diet is one that empha­sizes con­sump­tion of fruits, veg­eta­bles, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Based on that def­i­n­i­tion, this would include the Mediter­ranean, pescatar­i­an, veg­e­tar­i­an and veg­an diets. Each of these is dif­fer­ent, and since we’re all dif­fer­ent, it’s impor­tant to find one that fits YOU! Con­sid­er bud­get, cook­ing skills, shop­ping habits, and food pref­er­ences when select­ing a plant-based diet.

Veg­an and veg­e­tar­i­an diets specif­i­cal­ly are well researched and sug­gest­ed to decrease the risk of dia­betes, heart dis­ease, obe­si­ty, and cer­tain can­cers. Accord­ing to the Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics, an appro­pri­ate­ly planned veg­an or veg­e­tar­i­an diet is suit­able for all stages of life. The key word is appro­pri­ate­ly planned, mean­ing when you replace meat or ani­mal prod­ucts it’s what you replace it with that deter­mines how ben­e­fi­cial this lifestyle will be.

So what gives, why is this so pop­u­lar? There are many rea­sons some choose to fol­low these diets whether it be for health, envi­ron­men­tal issues or moti­vat­ed by ani­mal-rights con­cerns. This is not some club you can be kicked out of; you should nev­er feel guilty if you don’t per­fect­ly fit one diet.