Building the Basis of a Healthy Diet

Maintaining good health and vitality should be straightforward, right?! Basically, you need to prioritize a nourishing diet. But what exactly constitutes a nourishing diet?

Navigating the landscape of nutrition can be bewildering, especially with the constant media claims of fad diets and so called ‘superfoods’. Despite all these claims, the foundation of a truly nourishing diet remains fairly simple.

A nourishing diet consists of fresh produce like vegetables and fruits, lean proteins (I prefer plant-based), nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Steering clear of ultra-processed foods, additives, and unhealthy fats like hydrogenated and saturated fats is important.

What are Nutrients?

Nutrients are substances crucial for growth and maintaining health. There are six classes: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water, vitamins, and minerals. Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats supply energy and are known as energy-yielding nutrients. Our body needs lots of these nutrients and therefore they are called macronutrients.

Water, though not an energy source, is also a macronutrient.

Vitamins and minerals, although essential for health, don't provide energy and are termed micronutrients due to their smaller required amounts.

Together, these nutrients contribute to energy, structure, and regulation necessary for growth, maintenance, repair, and reproduction. To maintain good health you need a balanced intake of all nutrients.

The required daily intake of essential nutrients varies based on factors like age, sex, genetics, health status, and environmental exposure.

What does ‘plant-based diet’ mean?!

In the domain of nutrition, there are a lot of dietary trends and approaches to optimal health. Myself and my family have embraced a plant-based diet.

When you eat a ‘plant-based diet’ or a ‘predominantly plant-based diet’ you are choosing to eat foods that come from plants. Some examples of plant-based foods are: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole-grains and beans. You may occasionally eat animal products.

You may have also heard the term ‘whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet’. This is taking plant-based diet to the next level because in addition to eating all those amazing plant foods, you are avoiding or limiting ultra-processed foods, oils and refined sugar. Eating whole-food means choosing foods that have undergone little to no processing.

So how is this different from a vegan diet?

Veganism is a philosophy that promotes respect for life. Vegans show compassion for all living beings and they believe that animals should not be exploited (Davis et al., 2014).

Vegans avoid consumer products that come from animals, including food, clothing, personal care and cleaning products. They also avoid activities that involve the mistreatment of animals, such as zoos.

A vegan diet excludes all products that come from animals, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, and gelatin. Like a plant-based diet, a vegan diet includes vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds.

If you are thinking of giving up meat and dairy and are out shopping, you will find many vegan options like snacks, burgers and desserts. Be careful and make sure that you read the labels because packaged ‘vegan food’ isn’t always healthy. Foods that are ultra-processed, and contain lots of sugar and fat may not have any animal products in them but they also aren’t good for your body.

Can you be vegan and eat a whole-food plant-based diet?

Absolutely! You may choose to eat whole-foods from plants 100% of the time. This would be a very nourishing diet.

Why should I choose to eat a predominately plant-based diet?

There are many health benefits to eating a diet rich in plants. According to Harvard Health Publishing, plant-based diets can significantly lower risk of heart disease. Diets that are rich in fibre, vitamins, and minerals can help lower blood pressure and LDL (bad) cholesterol, as well as help with controlling blood sugar levels which can prevent or manage diabetes. Cutting out high fat foods and replacing them with healthy plant-based foods can also aid in weight loss.

The bottom line…

Eat things that you enjoy. Try to choose foods that are minimally processed and have a high nutrient density. Nutrient density refers to the concentration of nutrients relative to calories. Foods with a high nutrient density have a variety of essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, essential fatty acids, and fibre, as well as being low in calories.

References:
Davis, Brenda, and Vesanto Melina. Becoming Vegan : The Complete Reference to Plant-Based Nutrition. Book Publishing Company, 2014.