So, you’ve finally done it. You’ve decided to take a leap of faith and change your lifestyle to align with a plant-based diet. There are tons of health benefits that come along with a plant-based diet. By following these guidelines, you’ll not only look better, but you’ll also feel better physically in the long term. If you’re just getting started with a plant-based diet, here is a helpful beginner’s guide to pretty much everything that you need to know.
Food Groups to Eat
First of all, you’ll need to know which food groups you should be eating, and which food groups you should be avoiding. Traditionally, a plant-based diet consists of food groups that come naturally from plants and that are minimally processed. This includes anything like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, and more. Any food group that comes from animal products is avoided when living a plant-based diet. These animal product foods include things like poultry, fish, red meat, dairy products, and eggs. There are a lot of different food products, such as sauces and dressings, that include animal products, such as egg or dairy, when you least suspect it–so, you’ll need to get used to checking food labels regularly. To buy foods that have minimal processing and aren’t contaminated by animal products, you’ll want to shop at a natural foods store.
Meal Preparation
Once you have the food groups and ingredients that you’ll need, you’ll be ready to do some meal preparation. Meal prep can help you to sustain a plant-based lifestyle (or any diet) more easily. Sometimes, it can be tempting to buy processed foods or fast foods when you’re in a rush because they don’t require a lot of time to prepare. However, those foods can seriously impact your health and the way that you feel. So, make sure that you’re doing weekly meal prep, which will only require a few hours each week. This will ensure that you’ll have enough healthy food prepared throughout the week.
There are tons of different plant-based recipes that are creative and delicious. Even some of your favorite recipes can be altered to fit a plant-based diet. For example, you could make a delicious pesto pasta with zucchini noodles, or a healthy air-fried filet with eggplant. The possibilities are endless! Do some research to find different recipes you can try. You don’t have to feel limited to eating salad every day!
Health Benefits
There are a lot of health benefits that come from eating a plant-based diet. Processed foods that are full of fats and sugars can lead to health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Eating a healthier plant-based diet can help you to avoid these health issues. This type of lifestyle can even help relieve daily symptoms that might not be as serious, but that can still affect you, such as inflammation, cognitive impairment, and gut dysfunction. A plant-based diet is packed with fiber, nutrients, minerals, protein, and healthy fats. All of these elements will give your body a healthy boost like nothing else can.
Shop at Natural Foods Stores
Let’s face it, your run-of-the-mill grocery store doesn’t always have the best produce options, and the whole ingredients that you need to maintain your plant-based diet might not always be in stock. You can easily avoid these problems by shopping at natural foods stores. Natural foods stores are known for having natural and organic foods that are often grown locally and have many health benefits. This will be the perfect place to shop for the plant-based ingredients that will help you to maintain this lifestyle.
So, if you’ve had the desire to improve your lifestyle and health by living a plant-based lifestyle, don’t be afraid to make the switch right away. Make sure that you remember this article for tips on food groups to eat, meal prep, health benefits, and where to shop. Soon, you’ll see that a plant-based diet will make a huge difference in your life. You never truly realize how much the processed food that you eat affects your body until you make a change. A plant-based diet will help you to lose weight and feel so much better physically and mentally. Once you see how good you’ll look and feel, you’ll never want to turn back!
Are you looking for a natural foods store to sustain your plant-based diet? Click here to shop natural and organic foods from Good Earth Markets!
