Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet Explained

A whole food plant-based diet doesn’t have to be confusing or overwhelming. The data, the research, and the science heavily support eating more whole, natural, minimally processed foods to meet your nutritional needs. By doing so, yes, you might lose weight, but at the same time eating this way allows your body and your cells to work in their most efficient state. There are no formulas, schedules, or charts to follow. You won’t find any powder to sprinkle in your drink or on your food. There are no gimmicks. Today, my tips will help you understand exactly what is a whole food, plant-based diet.

Tara’s Tuesday Tips:

What Is a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet?

Simply put, plant-based means not eating foods that contain animal products (meat, milk, eggs, or honey) and eating whole foods with unrefined or minimally processed ingredients (fruits, vegetables, tubers, legumes, whole grains, nuts, tofu). Eating this way has been proven to help with weight loss, prevent and even reverse diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. In addition, a plant-based diet is so much better for the planet!

Plants are high fiber foods, and rich in vitamins and nutrients. On the other hand, animal products are high in fat, acid, and cholesterol, and low in fiber. I addition to limiting animal products, a strict whole food plant-based diet limits processed foods as they have add very limited nutritional value, contain preservatives and chemicals that our bodies don’t need and have a difficult time processing. These refined foods have been linked to a whole host of diseases and disorders. Eating a whole food, plant-based diet doesn’t have a lot of rules outside of eat what is good for your body (foods your body needs), and don’t eat what it doesn’t need (foods that hinder optimal functioning).

My Journey Through #veganuary

As part of my research for the blog, I discovered #veganuary. I have not eaten meat for many, many years. When I saw that hashtag pop up on January 1^st2020, I became curious. So, I committed to #veganuary. Going vegan for a month didn’t sound like too big of a leap for me. I don’t eat meat, don’t eat eggs, but I did consume dairy. I began to ask myself why do I eat dairy? More importantly, is there compelling research out there to convince me to stop? I found my answers.

With some self-reflection, I found that I incorporated dairy in my diet because I had done so for all my life. It was just routine and normal for me. Above all, my research revealed that animal products are animal products are animal products. If I was going to consume one category of animal products, I was committing to accepting the cruelty of animals, the ginormous carbon footprint, and the negative health effects associated with consuming any products produced by an animal.

That is when I began to figure out exactly what a whole food, plant-based diet is. I watched many documentaries, read articles and books, and talked to people who share my same concerns. One person I spoke to told me this: the space between stimulus and response is where choice and habit live (a completely life-changing statement for me). When I am hungry (or someone in my family is hungry) do I eat/prepare foods out of habit or choice and can I improve those choices 🤔?

Are Vegan and Whole Food, Plant-Based the Same Thing?

Following a vegan diet means not consuming any animal products. In actuality, a vegan could live off soda, candy, and chips, and still be a vegan. A vegan could also live off ‘fake meat’ products. When following a whole food, plant-based diet, your foods are centered around unprocessed, unrefined, whole foods. Therefore, if the label has language such as refined or enriched, on a whole food, plant-based diet, you should ask yourself if there is a choice of food that contains more ‘whole’ ingredients in their natural state. By asking this simple question, the foods you choose will automatically have more fiber, water content, protein, vitamins, and minerals, and will make you feel very full!

Figure Out Your “Why”

If you don’t know why you are doing something, then you won’t do it wholeheartedly. When you are doing something for the wrong motivation, it won’t last. Mr. MVF and I realized we are motivated by preventing disease, not by the way a certain ‘diet’ makes us look. People we know, even people in our own families, suffer with diabetes, obesity, heart disease, arthritis, and elevated cholesterol.

Our ‘why’ is to “let food be thy medicine”. We watched a few documentaries (Game Changers, What The Health, and Forks Over Knives). A few great books we found on this topic include, “How Not To Die”, and “How Not To Diet”. We also regularly utilize the resources on ForksOverKnives.com and TheBeet.com. These are all good places to start if you are searching for your “why”, or simply are craving more knowledge about the health benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet.

Where Do We Go From Here?

For MVF, we really enjoyed #veganuary and the new recipe creations we have discovered on a whole food, plant-based diet. Our bodies are changing, we have both lost weight without counting any calories in our foods, and we have lots more energy. We have run many, many marathons as vegetarians, and look forward to seeing how eating this way affects our athletic performance. We have found a way to balance nourishment + enjoyment of food, and this is the key to success.

Food For Thought

Old Ways Won’t Open New Doors

Change is difficult. Very difficult. So, start small. You don’t have to finish reading this and commit to going vegan, or switch to a completely whole food, plant-based diet. However, if you have finished reading this and realize it’s time to reset something in your life, remember your old ways need to change to open the new door. Consider giving up just one or two of your old habits. Perhaps start by making sure your breakfast is always plant-based and made up of only whole, unrefined foods (super easy one, try oats!). Another idea is to pick two days of the week and on those days, you make a dinner without any animal products (lots of yummy recipes on this website). One small change might ignite another small change and before you know it your old ways are changing, and you are on your way to letting food be your medicine too.

All the best,

Tara 💚