plant based....

[TxRabbit]

Is anyone following a plant based diet aka vegetarian?? I have reading and researching all the plant based diets that are suppose to reverse heart disease or protect from it. I have a HUGE family history of heart disease. I am very overweight (+100) and I have slightly elevated blood pressure which I am taking a small dose medication. Plus my blood sugar was slightly raised. Well, everything says that this is suppose to be wonderful for you. I am trying to find some support from someone that has taken this on.

Thanks!

I've read all the posts. I'm not a vegetarian. In posting what I am posting I am not advocating that you don't become one. We are in the process of "taking on" how we (DH and I) eat to support better health.

For our health issues, we are pursuing a diet that is anti-inflammatory and also resulting in a lower body pH. A non-inflammed body and an alkeline (sp?) body is a much healthier body.

For us, for now, we have eliminated gluten, dairy, and soy, as well as several chemicals (caffeine, alcohol, etc.). We are also reducing our reliance on complex carbs (grains, beans, etc.) and increasing the % of veggies in our diet. The majority of calories we eat come from veggies. We eat two 4-oz servings of lean protein a day, and also make sure that we have 2 servings of a high quality fat (flaxseed oil, olive oil). So, please understand that my comments come from here. I'm eating a TON of veggies EVERYDAY.

Give yourself time to make this transition. We have been in pursuit of this way of eating since the New Year, and we just now got it fully going on. It is a difficult transition to make, to overhaul the way you eat.

Really research your nutrition. You need to know that you are getting all the different vitamins and minerals that you need. A website that I find helpful for tracking nutrients as well as calories is http://www.nutrimirror.com. It is a free site. It will track iron, calcium, cholesterol, etc etc. It's really great to see that you are getting what you need.

Get ready to chop. If you don't already own a great knife that you love to use. Get one. Veggies are so much more enjoyable when you buy them fresh.

Also. Figure out what veggies you really like, what you will have on a regular basis, and prehaps invest in some storage that will help prolong their life in your fridge. Research the best way to store for your area. It's a bummer to throw away spoiled food.

Get ready to be hungry more often. Your body is going to have an easier time with its digestion. Meat takes the longest to digest, so without it, your body will really be hauling. Be prepared. Veggies don't have a lot of calories anyway. A lot of bulk, so that you can eat a TON and get full, but then it's like the old joke about Chinese food (before it became so Americanized), 1 hour later you are hungry again.

By the same token, be sure and drink a TON of water. When you increase your veggies, you will increase your fiber intake and without proper hydration you could clog up the works, so to speak.

Be sure to pick your fat sources wisely. A lot of veggie recipes seem to try to make up for a lack of meat with cheese or soy. They can be really fatty. Watch out.

See if a grocery store near you sells bulk spices. They make look expensive by the pound, but when you buy what you need, it costs very little. You'll want to learn how to kick up the flavor in your food without adding unnecessary fat and salt.

The cookbooks that have helped me with either great recipes as is, or easy enough to tweak for my purposes:

Moosewood Restaurant (Any)
The Whole Foods Market Cookbook

and recently,
The Balanced Plate
Mexican Everyday (I know, weird, but I just got the BEST salad dressing from here...)

I would also recommend that you check out any Laurel's Kitchen cookbook.

And try to embrace what you are doing, not so much as a diet, but as a way of eating. A way of life. People say it over and over again. Lifestyle change. This is the effective way.

And not to be weird, but be sure that you are liking yourself. I recently did something for my own self improvement that just really made me more happier with me as I am. Now I feel more motivated to pursue greater health. It doesn't feel like punishment for having been inactive and eating horribly. No, now it is something that I am doing to nurture my body. See the difference? The attitude will make your change so much easier to maintain.

 

[NancyIL]

I think it would be hard to eat a plant-based diet without consuming a lot of refined carbs (rice, pasta, bread). I definitely need to increase my intake of veggies, which I normally get only when I eat a salad. However, I will try to eat more fish (I'll have eaten salmon twice today) and cut back on fattier meats and cheeses. No way do I want to give up meat and dairy.

Good luck!

**After typing above, I went to the kitchen to clean and cut some celery. I'm now eating 2 celery stalks.

 

[SanFranciscan]

I was a vegetarian for ten years, but I decided this month to become a "flexitarian" because I was diagnosed with diabetes in January. It is Type 1 so I have to make sure that my food matches with my insulin. I am still partial to vegan food other things being equal, but I will give taking care of my disease priority because many things vegan or vegetarian are very high in carbohydrates

Those seeking a gentle slide to vegetarianism might enjoy Morning Star, which I still buy. I don't go for the breaded things which are high in carbohydrates in addition to being expensive. However, the soy "bacon" and soy "sausage" are very good. I really like the fact that these soy products aren't greasy. Just looking at the drippings where someone has cooked bacon or sausage is enough to make me feel rather sick. You won't miss meat if you go for everything but meat in your chili.

I care very, very much how livestock are treated. That is why I went vegetarian in the first place. I will consider their well-being when I shop for food. However, given the choice between a high-carbohydrate vegetarian food or maybe some fish, I will not commit suicide for the fish. I never got snippity with non-vegetarians because no matter what I eat something has to die, and how were the farm workers treated while they harvested the plants that I was eating?

I hope you find what works for you in your diet. I am sure a diet of mostly vegetables couldn't hurt anybody though.