Food and Health
About “Plant-Forward”
Under the menu Food and Health you’ll find specific food-related information on health. The phrase plant-forward comes from John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America (1985). My use of the phrase reflects a bias and the bias of Food Revolution Network. You don’t have to be vegetarian — and I am not — but the eating patterns that faithfully lower disease risk and support active health and longevity are rich in whole plant foods (rich in complex carbohydrates) and they keep the animal products on the low side.
I am a life-long student and formerly a HS science and math teacher. I remain a science nerd and I’m no spring chicken. What the science tells us is that when our diet shifts towards more whole plants, a cluster of interconnected disease risks are reduced and the body begins to assume its natural, leaner shape. A few of these disease risks are noted below.
The phrase plant-forward says a lot, but some believe broadly in humanity’s (mythical) “carnivore” past — that high levels of meat intake is a path to “healthy.” Respectfully, that’s not what the peer-reviewed science tell us, and that’s where I get my information.
Of course, health is not solely about food, but the dietary patterns that produce the greatest longevity, unquestionably, are low in animal products and high in whole plants.
Plant-forward reduces:
Blood-sugar
Serum-insulin and insulin resistance
Markers of heart and vascular disease — like triglycerides, T.M.A.O., LDL-cholesterol, and A1c (serum T.M.A.O., trimethyl-amine-N-oxide, is associated with the vascular disease and the high consumption of certain animal products)
Problems with anxiety and depression
Waistline.
Plant-forward means more antioxidants, nature’s disease fighters and animal products contain approximately zero. Firstly the antioxidant compound protected the plant from the sun’s UV light. Now, once you’ve eaten the plant, the same compound protects your body from the same problem—free radical damage. There are at least 8,000 unique molecules that fit the term antioxidant (polyphenols).
AT RIGHT — A family enjoys a meal rich in disease-fighting antioxidants.
In the words of one of my teachers, (through his writing) Michael Greger, M.D., founder of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine: “The human body is a disease-fighting machine!” May it be so for you. In several places on this website, I paraphrase Dr. Gregor: we die from disease, never old age. Lowering disease risk improves day-to-day health and extends life-span. The incremental lifestyle changes add up: physical, mental, and social factors — all are part of “health.”
Today, there is a ton of good science that shows how the higher intake of whole plant foods improves mood, lowers the anxiety hormone (cortisol) and improves mental health. However, I must take care here, as I am not suggesting that improving “problems with anxiety and depression” mean that difficult behavioral health challenges will be quickly reversed.
Blood sugar and insulin yo-yoing through the 24-hour day is terrible for health and shortens one’s life-span. Please look at the page Understanding Real Food — my thoughts about what “Real” means. We are surrounded by the Standard American Diet (SAD). There is no question that SAD is a driver of America’s epidemic of chronic disease and will cost us over $4-trillion this year. On net, whole plant foods are: filling and high in fiber, high in vitamins and minerals, high in antioxidant disease-fighters—and low in calories.