Vegetarianism, Veganism, and Plant Based
There are many diets to choose from these days and those that limit or avoid animal products have become more popular than ever. This is due to anecdotal evidence of friends and family members and the research of medical doctors from data gathered from multiple year clinical studies. The knowledge that an excess of animal products can harm health is being discussed and starting to be taken seriously by medical doctors
Vegetarianism is a diet excludes the meat of animals such as cow, pig, chicken, turkey, deer, bison, duck, fish, shrimp, oysters, mussels, clams, crawfish, crab, snails, frog, turtle, alligator, etc. Vegetarians do consume animal products such as milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, eggs, and honey. Some people crave the taste and texture of meat when they go vegetarian. There are several companies that make mock, or faux, meats such as Gardein, Beyond Meat, and Quorn. These companies produce vegetarian and vegan versions of ground beef, chicken, meatballs, and more. Many people enjoy dining at restaurants and in this day and age every restaurant has vegetarian options. Pizzerias can make vegetarian pizzas. Mexican restaurants offer chips and salsa, guacamole, veggie fajitas, cheese quesadillas, and veggie burritos. Middle Eastern restaurants will serve you hummus, baba ganouj, lentils and rice, and a vast array of delicious salads. Indian restaurants are known for vegetarian items including lentils, potatoes and peas, and okra. Thai restaurants feature delicious savory curries and stir fry dishes. There are several vegetarian sushi options available at Japanese restaurants and even a steakhouse has potatoes, salads, and side veggies. As a vegetarian you do not have to stay home feeling lonely while your family and friends enjoy a restaurant meal and if you aren't the type to eat out there is a plethora of vegetarian cookbooks on the market.
Veganism is the progression from vegetarianism to a diet that excludes meat as well as all dairy products, eggs, and honey. The diet includes fruits, vegetables, greens, grains, beans, and nuts and seeds. Surprisingly, the scientific and medical communities have embraced a well planned vegan diet after decades of clinical studies and the American Dietetic Association says that a vegan diet is "appropriate for all stages of the life-cycle (3)." The studies show that a vegan diet can prevent and reverse both heart disease and type II diabetes as well as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, and irritable bowel syndrome among many other dis-eases.
Like with vegetarianism, some people crave the taste and texture of meat when they go vegan and companies such as Gardein, Beyond Meat, and Quorn make mock meats. Because many vegetarian foods are also vegan, nearly every restaurant has vegan options. Pizzerias can make vegan pizzas. Mexican restaurants offer chips and salsa, guacamole, veggie fajitas, and veggie burritos. Middle Eastern restaurants will serve you hummus, baba ganouj, lentils and rice, and tasty salads. Indian restaurants are known for vegan items including lentils, potatoes and peas, and okra. Thai restaurants feature rich curries and stir fry dishes. There are limited vegan sushi options at Japanese restaurants and steakhouses have potatoes, salads, and side vegetables. Like vegetarians, vegans can enjoy dining at most restaurants and if you prefer eating at home there is a plethora of vegan cookbooks on the market. There are vegan cookbooks for traditional American cuisine, Thai, Lebanese, Caribbean, Mexican, Cuban, Italian, and Indian cuisine.
There are several types of vegan milks on the market. These include soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk, coconut milk, rice milk, and oat milk. There are recipes online that detail the very easy process of making your own nut milk. You won't find pecan milk, walnut milk, or pine nut milk in a store but you can easily make your own!
For those who miss cheese, there are many varieties of vegan cheeses from makers such as Follow Your Heart, Treeline, Daiya, and Kite Hill that are made of soy or tree nuts. These cheeses range in types from parmesan, creamy and spreadable, cheddar, Monterey Jack, nacho, feta, provolone, and mozzarella and can be found in blocks, slices, or even shredded forms.
There are vegan options for yogurt as well. SO Delicious has a cultured coconut milk yogurt that comes in both a regular style and a Greek style as well as a cultured almond milk yogurt in Greek style. Amande and Almond Dream are other brands that offers cultured almond milk yogurt. Whole Soy and Co, Stonyfield Organic, and Silk offer a soy yogurt.
Earth Balance and Smart Balance offer vegan butter options and for baking purposes, and the best egg replacement is to whisk together 2 Tbsp of ground flax seed with 3 Tbsp water for each egg.
Plant based is a relatively new term and there is some confusion as to what it means. Most people think it's another word for veganism but if you read the books by doctors such as Dean Ornish, MD, Neal Barnard, MD, Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, John McDougall, MD, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Michael Greger, MD, and Joel Fuhrman, MD you will find that they include some animal products. Can one be plant based and still eat bacon, cheese, and eggs? As long as the bulk of your diet comes from plants you are plant based. There's a reason it's called plant based and not vegan or vegetarian and there are strong arguments that we need at least small amounts of animal foods in our diet.
A plant based diet is based on three main principles. The first is that it's ideal to consume "whole foods". Consuming whole foods means eating foods with the least amount of processing. Eating an apple is better than drinking apple juice and whole wheat bread is better than white bread. The second principle is that fruits and vegetables are the original health food and should make up the bulk of your diet. Harvard Medical School recommends up to 13 servings of them every single day (1). The third principle is that the total percentage of calories coming from fat are best kept below 20%. Every cell in the human body runs on carbohydrates in the form of glucose while the brain runs on glucose almost exclusively (2). This is why it is important not to overeat fats and proteins and consume enough carbohydrates from whole food sources.
What mainly distinguishes a plant based diet from veganism and vegetarianism is the principle of eating food in its whole, or least processed form. Oreos and Twinkies are vegan and vegetarian but they're highly processed and are not considered part of a plant based diet. It's a bit of arguing over semantics, but the point of the term, coined by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, was to distinguish itself from veganism and vegetarianism by focusing on healthier ways of consuming plant foods.
All three diets feature fruits and vegetables. A sample of popular vegetables would include potatoes and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, rice, wheat, quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, artichokes, beans, celery, onions, garlic, leeks, cabbage, mushrooms, lettuce, kale, collard greens, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, okra, turnips, radishes, eggplant, spinach, carrots, peas, sprouts, and several herbs. A sample of popular fruits would include apples, pears, bananas, mangos, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, papaya, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries, figs, kiwi, oranges, peaches, plums, pineapple, pomegranates, dates, and strawberries.
1) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vegetables-full-story/
2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/
3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27886704/
Vegetarianism is a diet excludes the meat of animals such as cow, pig, chicken, turkey, deer, bison, duck, fish, shrimp, oysters, mussels, clams, crawfish, crab, snails, frog, turtle, alligator, etc. Vegetarians do consume animal products such as milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, eggs, and honey. Some people crave the taste and texture of meat when they go vegetarian. There are several companies that make mock, or faux, meats such as Gardein, Beyond Meat, and Quorn. These companies produce vegetarian and vegan versions of ground beef, chicken, meatballs, and more. Many people enjoy dining at restaurants and in this day and age every restaurant has vegetarian options. Pizzerias can make vegetarian pizzas. Mexican restaurants offer chips and salsa, guacamole, veggie fajitas, cheese quesadillas, and veggie burritos. Middle Eastern restaurants will serve you hummus, baba ganouj, lentils and rice, and a vast array of delicious salads. Indian restaurants are known for vegetarian items including lentils, potatoes and peas, and okra. Thai restaurants feature delicious savory curries and stir fry dishes. There are several vegetarian sushi options available at Japanese restaurants and even a steakhouse has potatoes, salads, and side veggies. As a vegetarian you do not have to stay home feeling lonely while your family and friends enjoy a restaurant meal and if you aren't the type to eat out there is a plethora of vegetarian cookbooks on the market.
Veganism is the progression from vegetarianism to a diet that excludes meat as well as all dairy products, eggs, and honey. The diet includes fruits, vegetables, greens, grains, beans, and nuts and seeds. Surprisingly, the scientific and medical communities have embraced a well planned vegan diet after decades of clinical studies and the American Dietetic Association says that a vegan diet is "appropriate for all stages of the life-cycle (3)." The studies show that a vegan diet can prevent and reverse both heart disease and type II diabetes as well as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, and irritable bowel syndrome among many other dis-eases.
Like with vegetarianism, some people crave the taste and texture of meat when they go vegan and companies such as Gardein, Beyond Meat, and Quorn make mock meats. Because many vegetarian foods are also vegan, nearly every restaurant has vegan options. Pizzerias can make vegan pizzas. Mexican restaurants offer chips and salsa, guacamole, veggie fajitas, and veggie burritos. Middle Eastern restaurants will serve you hummus, baba ganouj, lentils and rice, and tasty salads. Indian restaurants are known for vegan items including lentils, potatoes and peas, and okra. Thai restaurants feature rich curries and stir fry dishes. There are limited vegan sushi options at Japanese restaurants and steakhouses have potatoes, salads, and side vegetables. Like vegetarians, vegans can enjoy dining at most restaurants and if you prefer eating at home there is a plethora of vegan cookbooks on the market. There are vegan cookbooks for traditional American cuisine, Thai, Lebanese, Caribbean, Mexican, Cuban, Italian, and Indian cuisine.
There are several types of vegan milks on the market. These include soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk, coconut milk, rice milk, and oat milk. There are recipes online that detail the very easy process of making your own nut milk. You won't find pecan milk, walnut milk, or pine nut milk in a store but you can easily make your own!
For those who miss cheese, there are many varieties of vegan cheeses from makers such as Follow Your Heart, Treeline, Daiya, and Kite Hill that are made of soy or tree nuts. These cheeses range in types from parmesan, creamy and spreadable, cheddar, Monterey Jack, nacho, feta, provolone, and mozzarella and can be found in blocks, slices, or even shredded forms.
There are vegan options for yogurt as well. SO Delicious has a cultured coconut milk yogurt that comes in both a regular style and a Greek style as well as a cultured almond milk yogurt in Greek style. Amande and Almond Dream are other brands that offers cultured almond milk yogurt. Whole Soy and Co, Stonyfield Organic, and Silk offer a soy yogurt.
Earth Balance and Smart Balance offer vegan butter options and for baking purposes, and the best egg replacement is to whisk together 2 Tbsp of ground flax seed with 3 Tbsp water for each egg.
Plant based is a relatively new term and there is some confusion as to what it means. Most people think it's another word for veganism but if you read the books by doctors such as Dean Ornish, MD, Neal Barnard, MD, Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, John McDougall, MD, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Michael Greger, MD, and Joel Fuhrman, MD you will find that they include some animal products. Can one be plant based and still eat bacon, cheese, and eggs? As long as the bulk of your diet comes from plants you are plant based. There's a reason it's called plant based and not vegan or vegetarian and there are strong arguments that we need at least small amounts of animal foods in our diet.
A plant based diet is based on three main principles. The first is that it's ideal to consume "whole foods". Consuming whole foods means eating foods with the least amount of processing. Eating an apple is better than drinking apple juice and whole wheat bread is better than white bread. The second principle is that fruits and vegetables are the original health food and should make up the bulk of your diet. Harvard Medical School recommends up to 13 servings of them every single day (1). The third principle is that the total percentage of calories coming from fat are best kept below 20%. Every cell in the human body runs on carbohydrates in the form of glucose while the brain runs on glucose almost exclusively (2). This is why it is important not to overeat fats and proteins and consume enough carbohydrates from whole food sources.
What mainly distinguishes a plant based diet from veganism and vegetarianism is the principle of eating food in its whole, or least processed form. Oreos and Twinkies are vegan and vegetarian but they're highly processed and are not considered part of a plant based diet. It's a bit of arguing over semantics, but the point of the term, coined by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, was to distinguish itself from veganism and vegetarianism by focusing on healthier ways of consuming plant foods.
All three diets feature fruits and vegetables. A sample of popular vegetables would include potatoes and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, rice, wheat, quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, artichokes, beans, celery, onions, garlic, leeks, cabbage, mushrooms, lettuce, kale, collard greens, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, okra, turnips, radishes, eggplant, spinach, carrots, peas, sprouts, and several herbs. A sample of popular fruits would include apples, pears, bananas, mangos, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, papaya, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries, figs, kiwi, oranges, peaches, plums, pineapple, pomegranates, dates, and strawberries.
1) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vegetables-full-story/
2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/
3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27886704/