Plant Based? Like… a VEGETARIAN??

I recently wrote a guest-blog post for my friend Tim over at Mulligan Stew (check out the post here). I’ve been thinking more about one of the aspects that I wrote about so I thought I’d expand on it a bit in my own blog!

All of the recommendations coming out these days, as well as many of the ones from the past, suggest that eating a more plant-based diet will help reduce the risk of several chronic diseases such has type two diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. It’s what the Mediterranean Diet is based on, it’s explicit in the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it’s everywhere.

While the term “plant-based” might sound pretty easy to figure out for some of us, I think that others jump to the conclusion that it means, “you must become a vegetarian.” It’s not too surprising then that those same people run to bacon and beer festivals or their local BBQ joint. You can almost hear them covering their ears and yelling “you can’t make me!” However, I think that if people understood the suggestion a bit more they would understand that there is room in a plant-based diet for some bacon and the occasional burger or steak.

Even I actually misinterpret it sometimes, trying to make my diet as vegetable and fruit-filed as possible and suggesting to friends who are looking for suggestions on eating healthy that they do the same. I figure if you focus on fruits and veggies, you’ll probably end up getting adequate amounts of other nutrients, just not in excess. However, I think that what we need to focus on to eat health is quite literally how long ago what we are eating was a plant. This doesn’t just mean that the apple in your hand was attached to a tree growing in the ground; it means that it didn’t become something else (like apple sauce with added sugar or a McDonalds apple pie).

So you go to make lunch and look through your cabinets and fridge. Which is better for you, a bowl of brown rice with tofu and veggies or a sandwich with turkey and a piece of lettuce? Which has the most ingredients that more recently were plants? That’s all I’m suggesting you ask yourself; not to become a vegetarian or eat ONLY fruits and vegetables, but to think about what process has happened to your food since it was a plant, and what non-plant ingredients may have been added to it. And if you’ll enjoy all of that plant-based food better with a side of bacon and a glass of milk, by all means! Anything in moderation.