There can be a lot of health benefits, both short and long-term, to switching to a healthy plant-based diet full of nutritious whole foods, or even of just introducing more to your diet.
Whether you're just trying to eat a bit better, or if you're going all in, Human Food is a convenient way to take care of a whole load of your nutritional requirements, particularly those that can present a special challenge to plant-based eaters. Human Food also includes a range of powerful functional foods with proven benefits for energy and focus, long-term health and well-being, including maca, ginseng, cacao, spirulina and turmeric.
1. Lose Unwanted Weight
Plant-based diets are typically higher in fibre and many important nutrients, and lower in calories than diets that contain meat and dairy.
Fibre keeps you feeling fuller for longer, and slows the breakdown and absorption of food, helping to control blood sugar levels and hunger hormones. Meaning you feel satisifed while eating more appropriately.
Unsurprisingly, this isn't true if you eat lots of vegan junk food, which is typically high in processed carbohydrates and vegetable oils.
Vegan junk food is still junk food, and it's always important make balanced and healthy food choices.
2. Increase Your Energy Levels
Many people report an increase in energy when they adopt a vegan diet.
This increase in energy is likely due to a healthier diet in general, with higher levels of important micronutrients which can improve many aspects of health and well-being, and correct sub-clinical health problems such as moderate nutrient deficiencies or chronic inflammation.
But a higher fibre diet also helps to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes, instead giving consistent, lasting energy - leaving you feeling generally more energised.
3. Improve Your Gut Microflora
The bacteria in your gut play an important role in your health and are sensitive to the food choices you make.
The American Gut Project discovered that incorporating a higher variety of plants in your diet increases the diversity of your gut microflora. This is because it's only plant foods that provide the dietary fibre and the polyphenols that the gut microflora feed on.
So eating a more, and a bigger variety of plant-based whole foods helps to feed healthy bacteria in the gut and maintain your microbiome. This brings a range of benefits for personal health, including a stronger immune system, healthier skin, better mood and better weight control.
4. Lower Your Cholesterol
In basic terms, high cholesterol means that you have too much of the wrong type of fat in your blood. It's mainly caused by eating fatty foods and not exercising enough, and can be made worse by maintaining other habits such as smoking and drinking.
High blood LDL cholesterol puts you at a greater risk of a number of diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
One University of Toronto study found that people eating a plant-based diet rich in special cholesterol-lowering foods saw a 30% drop in their LDL cholesterol levels in just four weeks.
5. Our In-House Nutritionist's Tips For Going Vegan
- Include a variety of legumes, pulses and some nuts as these are high in fibre and provide protein, helping you feel fuller for longer
- Eat more than 10 different types of fruit and vegetable a week, this will help to improve your gut microflora, while also keeping your diet more varied and interesting.
- Avoid highly processed plant-based foods and meat alternatives, as these are typically high in salt, fat and often refined sugars.
- Try Human Food as a healthy source of vegan B12, as well as a number of other micronutrients essential for your health and wellbeing, particularly those that can be lacking in a plant-based diet
