Magic of plant-based diets for the Best Health

Reading Time: 5 min

Plant-based diets are becoming more popular worldwide these days. A new study finds limiting animal products and increasing plant-based food in your diet is likely to benefit your blood pressure and reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases that lead to heart attacks, strokes and chest pain. Plant-based diets precisely means that plant foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts form the base of your eating habits. Does not necessarily mean that they are the only things you should eat. Let dairy products, fish and meat play a supporting character in your plant based diet. Remember, that focussing on plant based meals means you have to concentrate on what works for you and not what is the best worldwide. Mindful eating of appropriate portions of food with nutritional benefits without excessive amounts of salt or sugar is ideal.

Nowadays, due to Covid-19 (Corona virus) cases increasing day by day, we can boost our immunity by including plant-based foods and protein in our daily food routine.

How to have plant-based diets?

Fill half your plate with vegetables in every meal

Vegetables are loaded with iron, vitamin K, and other essential minerals and nutrients that help prevent a load of diseases. Green leafy vegetables are also beneficial for the proper functioning of the sensory organs. Try to fill half your plate with veggies during your meals. Not only are they highly nutritious but it also prevents you from heavy intake of carbohydrates.

As an example, for breakfast , idli sambhar is one of the best options as idli is made with rice and dal which is then cooked in steam and Sambhar curry contains lot of vegetables such as carrots, potato, brinjal, gourd, drumstick, beetroot, onion, curry leaves, ginger garlic etc. You can add whatever vegetable you want and it adds to the taste. Thus, its a complete breakfast.
We can also replace rice powder with oats to make low calorie oats idli.

For lunch and dinner, use different coloured vegetables to make your dish look more interesting. For ex: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots etc combined with a small cup of brown rice/ 2-3 pcs wholegrain roti. Soup and salad is also a great combination. Yoghurt/curd with tomatoes , cucumber, onions, capsicum, carrot, beet is also a good dish for lunch.

Include whole grains for your meals

Choose whole grains over refined grains for your meals. Eating whole grains is associated with various health benefits. Like, reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure and obesity. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel ―

• the bran – the outer layer which contains fiber, minerals, and B vitamins
• germ – nutrient packed core with B vitamins, Vitamin E, phytochemicals and healthy fats
• endosperm – starchy carbohydrate middle layer with some proteins and vitamins

The industry roller mills strips away the bran to make the grain easy-to-chew and digest. The germ is removed to increase the shelf life. Thus, leaving only the soft, highly processed grains much lower in nutritional quality. Hence, always choose whole grains over the refined ones. Examples of whole grains include brown rice, barley, millet, whole oats, quinoa, buckwheat, whole-wheat flour, bulgur (cracked wheat), oatmeal, whole cornmeal, rye.

Build a meal around a salad.

Sprout salad is also a good choice for a breakfast. There are variety of options to make interesting salads. You can include chopped raw vegetables, nuts and seeds, dried fruits, whole grains, beans and legumes, fresh fruit, roasted vegetables, fresh herbs, avocado, olives etc with oil-and-vinegar dressings.

Eat fruit for dessert.

Sometimes eating a plain fruit can be boring hence we can make interesting fruit salads like a creamy fruit salad with homemade vanilla dressing, honey and lime grilled pineapple, mango/pineapple with a pinch of chilli powder and salt to make it zesty, watermelon and banana with lime and honey etc.

Choose good cooking oils.

Based on what you want to do like frying, baking, sauteing and searing or dressing, there are different oils which are recommended by health experts. Olive Oil, Avocado oil, vegetable oil, Canola oil, Coconut oil, Peanut oil etc. Choose the best cooking oil according to the food that you want to prepare.

Consult a dietitian or doctor in case you are suffering from any specific ailments or disease so that they can advise you on your food intake.

Always remember, the most important thing in your life is to stay healthy. Everything else will follow!! 💖

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