Leslie Beck - The Plant-based Power Diet: 10 Simple Steps To A Healthier Leaner Energetic You

Advance praise forThe Plant-Based Power Diet

The Plant-Based Power Diet presents a powerful, scientifically based program for trimming down and getting healthy. Its step-by-step approach makes changing the menu incredibly easy, and the delicious recipes will make you wish youd tried this years ago. This book will change your life.

Neal Barnard, M.D., president,
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

I truly believe that a plant-based, whole foods diet is the future, necessary for peak personal and environmental health. The Plant-Based Power Diet will help you get there.

Brendan Brazier, bestselling author of
The Thrive Diet and formulator of Vega

The Plant-Based Power Diet offers a wonderfully sensible, smart, and enthusiastic path to eating healthyits an excellent book for people who are new to the concept and for people whove been plant-strong for years. Highly recommended!

Gene Stone, author of Forks Over Knives and
The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick

If you want to pursue a vegetarian diet, Leslie Beck has created the quintessential plan of action with her book The Plant-Based Power Diet. This book outlines everything you need to know on how to get your protein, calcium, iron and omega-3 needs met to ensure vibrant health. Leslies book does good for your body, for the planet and for the future of food!

Julie Daniluk, R.H.N., bestselling author of
Meals That Heal Inflammation

PENGUIN

THE PLANT-BASED POWER DIET

LESLIE BECK , a registered dietitian, is a leading Canadian nutritionist and the bestselling author of 12 nutrition books. Leslie writes a weekly nutrition column in The Globe and Mail, is a regular guest expert on CTV News Channel and can be heard one morning a week on CJAD Radios The Andrew Carter Morning Show in Montreal.

Leslie has worked with many of Canadas leading businesses and international food companies and is the National Director of Nutrition for BodyScience Medical, based in Toronto, where she oversees the delivery of all nutrition and weight-management programs and works one-on-one with clients. She also regularly delivers nutrition workshops to corporate groups across North America.

Visit Leslies website at www.lesliebeck.com.

ALSO BY LESLIE BECK

Leslie Becks Healthy Kitchen

Leslie Becks Longevity Diet

The Complete Nutrition Guide for Women

The Complete AZ Nutrition Encyclopedia

Heart Healthy Foods for Life

Foods that Fight Disease

The No-Fail Diet

The Complete Nutrition Guide to Menopause

Healthy Eating for Preteens and Teens

Leslie Becks Nutrition Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

10 Steps to Healthy Eating

Leslie Becks Nutrition Guide for Women

Leslie Becks Nutrition Encyclopedia

Leslie Becks Nutrition Guide to Menopause

LESLIE BECK RD

THE PLANT-BASED

POWER DIET

10 Simple Steps to a Healthier, Leaner, Energetic You

PENGUIN

an imprint of Penguin Canada

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

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Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published 2013

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (WEB)

Copyright Leslie Beck, 2013

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author and is designed to provide useful information in regard to the subject matter covered. The author and publisher are not engaged in health or other professional services in this publication. This publication is not intended to provide a basis for action in particular circumstances without consideration by a competent professional. The author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

Manufactured in Canada.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Beck, Leslie (Leslie C.)

The plant-based power diet : 10 simple steps to a healthier, leaner, energetic you / Leslie Beck.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-14-318387-7

1. Vegetarianism. 2. Vegetarian cooking. I. Title.

TX392.B43 2013 613.262 C2012-906278-2

Visit the Penguin Canada website at www.penguin.ca

Special and corporate bulk purchase rates available; please see

www.penguin.ca/corporatesales or call 1-800-810-3104, ext. 2477.

Contents

Introduction

While we dont have statistics, more and more Canadians are interested in plant-based eating. As a dietitian in private practice, my clients often ask me to design meal plans that contain little or no animal foods. People want to be healthyand stay healthy longerand are turning to food to help them do just that. Theres solid evidence that plant-based diets have substantial health benefits, from preventing heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers to halting disease progression in its tracks. In fact, President Bill Clinton brought international attention to plant-based eating after crediting his weight loss and improved health to a vegan diet. Many professional athletes have also turned to a plant-based diet to give themselves a competitive edge.

Theres more than presidential and celebrity endorsements to the growing popularity of plant-based eating. Today, its easier to go meat- and dairy-free. No longer do you have to go to your local health food store to seek out plant-based alternatives. Youll find an enormous selection of plant foodsfrom non-dairy milks to meat substitutes to vegan food productsin mainstream grocery stores. When it comes to grains, weve never had more choice: quinoa, millet and farro, to name just a few. And judging by the number of plant-based cookbooks available, it seems that people are very interested in cooking plant-based meals.

There are plenty of good reasons to adopt a plant-based diet. We live in a society in which being overweight is considered the norm, not the exception, and in which type 2 diabetes is now an epidemic. Even with powerful drugs that lower cholesterol and blood pressure, heart disease continues to kill us. Its early signs are even showing up in kids. And a growing number of cancers are being clearly linked to diet and obesity. The good news is that the majority of chronic illnesses that afflict us today are largely preventable with a plant-based diet.