Eating more plants can help improve your health – if you do it right, that is. Power up your plant-based meals to ensure they’re as nutritious and health-boosting as possible with these tips.
Eight weeks. That’s all it took for 21 study participants – each from a different set of identical twins – to improve their heart health. They were part of a recent twin trial at Stanford University, which pitched a vegan diet against a healthy omnivorous diet.
And the results showed that cholesterol, insulin and weight were all significantly lower in the twins placed on the plant-based diet than the twins eating meat and dairy. But a plant-based diet doesn't just help your heart: a separate study suggests that cancer risk drops by 14% for vegetarians and vegans, compared with those who eat meat more than five times a week. Why? Well, it’s all down to powerful active compounds contained in fruit, veg and pulses. ‘These support the gut microbiome and, in doing so, reduce inflammation and cellular stress, and promote healthier aging,’ explains Claire Lynch, dietitian at plantbased healthprofessionals.com. In fact, the microbiome (your gut bacteria) loves plants; consuming more than 30 different plant types a week has been shown to increase the diversity of gut bugs, which is linked to a reduced risk of serious diseases, and also less stress and anxiety.
Eating more plants will also increase fibre intake, which is important as only one in 10 adults in the UK gets enough fibre. Increased fibre lowers cholesterol – and it’s this, combined with reduced levels of saturated fat and greater weight loss (just under 2kg more, on average, than the meat-eaters), that explains the bigger health boost experienced by the vegan twins in the Stanford study. So how can you eat the healthiest diet possible if you’re vegetarian or vegan? Follow our tips to find out…
1 Don’t rely on processed food
With the proliferation of plant-based meat alternatives, it can be easy to simply replace meat and two veg with, er, fake meat and two veg. ‘But many of these foods are actually ultraprocessed, and contain additives like artificial flavourings, colouring, emulsifiers and thickeners,’ explains nutritionist Rob Hobson, author of Unprocess Your Life (Thorsons, £18.99). Studies suggest that consuming high amounts of processed foods can increase your risk of some chronic conditions. Plus, says Rob, ‘a high intake of processed protein alternatives might even counteract some of the benefits of plant-based eating. There are studies showing that an over-consumption of some emulsifiers, for example, may reduce the diversity of bacteria in the gut.’ A recent study also suggest that iron contained in plant-based meats might not be absorbed effectively, making these foods less nutritious.
Now, none of this means you can’t eve
