Jennifer Newman - The Plant-Based Cookbook: Delicious & Healthy Whole Food Recipes to Burn Fat, Crush Your Cravings, Boost Your Energy, and Calm Inflammation

D o you remember the phrase, are you what you eat? As we are certainly much more than what we eat, the scientific evidence is showing more and more that what we eat affects us. Choosing the foods we put on our plates and which ones we avoid gives us unprecedented power to live longer, healthier lives.

What can be eaten on a plant-based diet?

Although this name may seem to suggest that with this diet we can only eat plants, the truth is that it is something broader. It refers to eating a more vegetable diet and reducing the consumption of products of animal origin. Thus, within this new food method, the following foods can be consumed:

• Vegetables and greens
• Fruits
• Grain
• Walnuts
• Seeds
• Vegetables

And, yes, to get a healthy diet what you have to choose is to choose that these foods are as little processed as possible. In other words, the equation is simple: increase fruits and vegetables to the detriment of meat and fish, mainly.

The secret of the success of this type of diet is that it is a much healthier method for our body. But, also, it is a diet that is more respectful with the environment and that reduces our ecological impact. In addition, the consumption of meat or fish from large-scale companies or factories that may keep animals in rather questionable health and life conditions is reduced.

By basing the highest amount of plant intakes, you transform your diet into a more alkaline and physiological one, incorporating food-medicine within its many benefits:

• Plants are high in fiber, which provides satiety, controls the absorption of glucose avoiding peaks of glycemia, stimulates the correct evacuation.
• They have antioxidants, prevent premature aging, have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory neuroprotective effects.
• They have a high concentration of vitamins and minerals: by consuming whole plants, a good dose of vitamins and minerals is provided, enzymatic cofactors of many metabolic reactions of the organism, which stimulates the general biochemical functionality of the body, increases energy and improves the state of spirit.
• They are cleansing, they help eliminate toxins through our cleansing organs, liver, kidney, urine, fecal matter, perspiration.
• They alkalize the body, which helps to compensate for acidosis caused by excess consumption of meat and/or processed foods.
• It is important to accompany the transition to a plant-based diet, - vegan or vegetarian -with complete blood tests with vitamin B12 and homocysteine dosages, to assess the state of health and supplementation protocol, since it is not covered with foods of plant origin , it is very normal that in cases of flexible vegetarians without nutritional control, sometime after the change of diet, the values drop and symptoms appear.

F or some it is very simple to make the Plant-Based shopping list, go to the supermarket, buy and organize the weekly menu. For others it is the most difficult task they face every Sunday night. If the idea is also to start taking care of food and leading a healthy lifestyle, having a plan outlined seems to many an impossible mission.

Below, there are some points that must be taken into account when going to the supermarket and how to combine them to lead a balanced lifestyle.