Plant-Based Diet for Beginners: A Must Have Guild for Beginning a Plant-Based Diet with Quick and Easy Recipes for Everyday Meals

By Adam Weil

Do you want to go for a plant-based diet but do not know where to begin? Do you want to live a life full of energy yet enjoy mouthwatering and easy-to-prepare meals? Ready to transform your body and improve your health?

 

If this sounds like you, keep reading!

 

What does a plant-based diet actually mean? As the name suggests, it deals with food that has plants as its source. By plants, we are not restricted to only fruits and vegetables but include legumes, whole grains, nuts (in its infinite variety), seeds (a popular eating fad), oils, and beans. However, a plant-based diet does not completely exclude meat and dairy products. Opting for a plant-based diet means you go in for more portions of food based on plants rather than animals. If you go through this book you will not face any shortage of dietary options for a plant-based diet.

 

There are many reasons in going for a plant-based diet. The primary reason is health. Research has suggested that red meat may be linked to colorectal cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other deadly diseases. Going for a plant-based diet not only boosts our health but also saves the environment.

 

This guide will give you all the necessary information to embark on a plant-based diet. There are recipes galore that will make each day's diet plan interesting and give you infinite variety in your food items.

 

Within these pages, you will discover:

 

• A Comprehensive Guide to Both Plant and Even Animal Products;

 

• Health Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet;

 

• How to Make a Gradual Switch to a Plant-Based Diet.

 

• Quick and Easy Recipes for Everyday Meals;

 

AND MUCH MORE!

 

Eating a diet rich with whole-food, plant-based ingredients is one of the best decisions you can make to support your overall health—and now it's easier than ever!

 

If you're ready to take control and learn what a plant-based diet can do to better your life, look no further.

 

Don't waste another minute, scroll up and hit "BUY NOW" to get started today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishing Forte
• Release date: Sep 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215396230

Book preview

Introduction

The concept of following a healthy diet is the rage today. What to eat and when to eat occupy many minds. We are spoiled for choice, considering the mind-boggling variety of food available in the market. However, the history of human life on earth reveals that this was not always the case. The early human beings were cave dwellers. They were hunter-gatherers and mainly lived on raw flesh. Cooking was known only after the discovery of fire. Fruits formed a part of their food much later. Even when humans began to learn the art of cultivation, they learned to eat plants and cereals but had little choice. The primary purpose was to eat for survival, whatever they could get. As the ages rolled by, the ability to choose came into being. Human Beings could pick and choose what they wanted to eat. However, till lately though men ate a mixture of plants and animal flesh, the scales remained heavily tilted towards animal flesh. Many, however, are now gravitating towards a plant-based diet, which they feel is healthier.

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The origin of the term plant-based diet can be traced to nutritional biochemist T. Colin Campbell belonging to Cornell University. He presented in 1980 a research paper on the subject to the US National Institutes of Health. He had devoted ten years to studying the dietary practices of rural China. He came to the conclusion that following a plant-based diet which contained less animal fat could help one overcome several diseases.

What do We Mean by a Plant-Based Diet?

As the name suggests, it deals with food which has plants as its source. By plants, we are not restricted to only fruits and vegetables but include legumes, whole grains, nuts (in its infinite variety), seeds (a popular eating fad), oils, and beans. However, a plant-based diet does not completely exclude meat and dairy products. It is not as popularly supposed vegan or even vegetarian. Opting for a plant-based diet means you go in for more portions of food based on plants rather than animals. It does not mean meals sans meat.

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In a plant-based diet, the proportion and quantity of a meat-based diet must be reduced. Most of what you consume should be based on plants. There is no shortage of dietary options you can go in for in a plant-based diet. Any form of diet can be termed plant-based if it relies only on plants as its source and most of the ingredients used do not originate from animals. However, you can encompass poultry-based items like ( eggs, chicken, duck, turkey) fish ( including all edible aquatic creatures), beef, lamb or goat or any other exotic animal meat. Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt and cream can also be included. Most of the nutrients you consume should be extracted from a plant source.

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Suppose you are a beginner going in for a plant-based diet. In that case, your dietary regime has no set rules or proportions of plant and animal sources. Still, the ideal way to start would be to concentrate on the fact that two third of your intake in each meal taken should be based on plants. If we generalize the popular food we love, we can say that hummus, rice in any form, avocado toast, beans, sprouts, and meat burgers are plant-based. Macaroni, cheese, ice cream, pizza, shrimp cocktail, quiche and egg-based bread are certainly not plant-based.

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A plant-based diet is not limited to your diet alone. It is a term used loosely by people to suggest that their diet consists entirely of plant-based food. Yet others call themselves plant-based though they include certain animal-based products in their daily diet. Some people love to dub their diet as whole foods, plant-based. They mean to say that they concentrate on consuming entirely raw or minimally processed food.

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Many on a whole plant-based diet love to avoid any types of oil or even processed grain. Those who are following a vegan diet partake in the food mentioned above. There are many processed vegan food available in the market, like various boxed mac and cheese, bacon, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, burgers, and slices of cheese. These items, however, will not be included by anyone following a whole food plant-based diet.

Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet

As the name suggests, a whole food plant-based diet means excluding all unrefined, processed food. It includes unprocessed natural food which sprouts from the soil like all fruits and vegetables, seeds, legumes as well as whole grains. A person consuming this diet will veer off products like refined sugar, refined oil or bleached flour. We can consider a plant-based diet to be a nutritional trend that avoids items like milk and other dairy products, meat, fish, eggs etc. Many like to even exclude processed food, including sugar and oil, from their diet. Preference is given to fruits, vegetables, tubers, cereals, pulses and legumes.

What to Eat?

If you want to go in for a plant-based diet, you have to lay stress on whole food, preferably food which is not processed or minimally processed. Help yourself to servings of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, and whole grains. Try to restrict animal-based, including dairy products, as far as possible. Again, attempt to avoid processed food like white bread, tinned food, processed cheese, sugar, refined oil etc. You can also try out organic and locally sourced food as far as possible.

What You shouldn’t Eat

When following a plant-based diet, it is better to go off certain food stuff. Junk food is a strict no, no. French fries, burgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. should be avoided like the plague. Run for miles before partaking any kind of processed food. Any frozen ready-to-eat food, chips, tempting cookies in shops, cereal bars etc. should be a no, no. Even refined grains are to be avoided. White rice, white bread, pasta (not homemade) in fact anything made from white flour comes under the category of refined grains. That added sugar to your dessert, artificial sweeteners, candy, or soda is not for those following a strict plant-based diet regime. They should veer off processed meat items like sausages, bacon and deli meat. Try to add as little as possible seafood, pork, poultry, eggs, dairy products, and meats to your plate.

Is Meat Strictly off Your Plate?

A plant-based diet can certainly improve your health. Unlike the general belief, a plant-based diet is full of variety that may startle you. They can also be adapted to your taste, need or desire. After all, individual preference is subjective. You may include a small quantity of animal-based diet like eggs, fish or meat on your platter if you can’t do without them completely. A few prefer to say goodbye to any kind of dairy or animal-based diet and concentrate strictly on plant-based food items. Some feel that meat taken even in small quantities is unnecessary. While others may choose to limit the amount of meat-based diet they partake instead of doing away with it altogether.

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However, people who veer entirely off animal-based protein are at a disadvantage. According to Quebbemann, Exclusively plant-based, or vegan, diets are lacking in vitamin B12, which is very important in early brain development, central nervous system health and maintaining a healthy supply of red blood cells. Lack of adequate amounts of B12 can indeed be a health hazard. Therefore, if you want cent per cent to exclude meat-based products, then do consult a doctor or a dietician. You may be given supplements of B12, which are necessary for maintaining good health. Therefore, a healthy mix of plant and animal-based diets is advisable. There are various types of diets that people go in for.

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A Lacto-vegetarian diet means not having seafood, eggs or meat but partaking dairy products besides a plant-based diet. On the other hand, a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet means people who add eggs to their diet besides dairy products and plants. They, too, do not go for any kind of seafood or meat.

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Another popular diet is vegan, where the diet followed is restricted strictly to plant food. All animal and dairy products are absent. There are two other diet plans followed which are not as popular as the above mentioned. These too focus on decreasing the quantity of animal-based food, though not completely forgoing it. These are Pescetarian and Flexitarian.

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Pescetarians do eat seafood, dairy products, and eggs besides plants but shy away from meat. Flexitarians can be dubbed as partial vegetarians. They primarily have a plant-based diet but are not averse to including small quantities of seafood and meat at times. They intend to consume large quantities of plant-based food and reduce their intake of animal-based food but can have it when they so desire. The name Flexitarian is given to those who are flexible about their diet plans and do not mind wavering from a strictly plant-based diet.

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Those following a vegetarian diet do not take seafood, chicken meat, or pork but include dairy products, cheese, eggs, and honey.

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Today many prefer a vegan diet. What does vegan mean? The term vegan can be traced to English animal-rights activist Donald Watson in 1944. He was talking of persons who altogether forgo not only eating but also using any product based on animals.