{"id":8761,"date":"2022-08-10T21:28:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T21:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/modifying-your-plant-based-diet-marks-daily-apple\/"},"modified":"2022-08-10T21:28:03","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T21:28:03","slug":"modifying-your-plant-based-diet-marks-daily-apple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/modifying-your-plant-based-diet-marks-daily-apple\/","title":{"rendered":"Modifying Your Plant-Based Diet | Mark’s Daily Apple"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019m not a vegetarian (although my wife and son have dabbled with it). I\u2019m certainly not a vegan. I don\u2019t recommend that anyone eat a totally plant-based diet for health reasons. Animal foods are too good, too central to our evolutionary history, and too important for our physiology to ever give up entirely. On the contrary, I think meat, eggs, seafood, and dairy are some of the healthiest foods on the planet, and most people should be eating\u00a0more\u00a0<\/em>of them than they currently eat.<\/p>\n

However, plant-based diets are exploding in popularity and I know people are going to eat them\u2014and I care about people\u2019s health. If they\u2019re going to do it anyway, I\u2019d like to help them do the diet in the healthiest way possible. <\/p>\n

Eat Whole Foods<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t live off plant-based \u201cmeats\u201d or lab-grown garbage. Ditch the Tofurkey and Facon. Don\u2019t eat canola-soaked fake chicken nuggets and mockeroni.<\/p>\n

If you insist on eating things engineered to resemble meat, maybe you should just listen to your body and eat meat. But you don\u2019t want to do that\u2014right?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Base Your Diet on Grains<\/h2>\n

There are dozens of reasons why grains are unhealthy, particularly as a staple food. They\u2019re high in anti-nutrients\u2014chemical compounds that damage your stomach lining and impair your absorption of the nutrients the grains are supposedly so rich in. They\u2019re not even that high in micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, especially when you consider the phytic acid in the grains often reduces your absorption of minerals. They\u2019re high in carbs, which most people need to be reducing in their diets, not increasing.<\/p>\n

But the main reason is that there are hundreds of better plant foods to base your diet on other than grains.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Legumes like beans and lentils<\/li>\n
  • Nuts and seeds<\/li>\n
  • Potatoes (complete protein)<\/li>\n
  • Sweet potatoes<\/li>\n
  • Winter squash<\/li>\n
  • Beets, carrots, rutabagas, turnips, and other root vegetables<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Eat Healthy Fats<\/h2>\n

    Avoid all industrial seed oils. Following a plant-based diet will necessarily increase your linoleic acid content. Therefore, you don\u2019t need any more and seed oils are the densest source around.<\/p>\n

    Instead, use extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, red palm oil, coconut oil, and macadamia nut oil. These will provide stable saturated and monounsaturated fats that won\u2019t go rancid or oxidize very easily, and they\u2019ll keep your linoleic acid content low.<\/p>\n

    Eat Mushrooms Regularly<\/h2>\n

    Mushrooms are a different category of living thing entirely. They aren\u2019t animals and they aren\u2019t plants. As such, they seem to offer special benefits and unique nutrients to plant-based dieters.<\/p>\n

    For one, they can be a rich repository of vitamin D, which is a common stumbling block for plant-based dieters. Two, they offer that meaty umami punch that so many vegan and vegetarians are looking for in fake meat products. The beauty of the mushroom is it provides that without being a processed junk food product.<\/p>\n

    Warning: they may have a degree of sentience, depending on who you ask (and which mushrooms you eat). Listen for any sub perceptible screams or cries of anguish when you bite into one to be sure.<\/p>\n

    Sprout Your Grains, Legumes, Nuts, and Seeds<\/h2>\n

    Sprouting anything lowers the antinturient content and increases the micronutrient content. More specifically, sprouting reduces or mitigates:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Phytic acid, a compound that can bind to minerals and prevent their absorption in the gut.<\/li>\n
    • Gluten, which can be a gut irritant and trigger leaky gut in susceptible people. Sprouting doesn\u2019t destroy gluten entirely, but it does reduce it and make it less problematic in some people.<\/li>\n
    • Carb content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Sprouting increases<\/em>:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Digestibility<\/li>\n
      • Protein<\/li>\n
      • Folate content<\/li>\n
      • Vitamin C content<\/li>\n
      • Vitamin E content<\/li>\n
      • Prebiotic soluble fiber<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Consume Fermented Soy<\/h2>\n

        While soy is a reliable source of protein and calories for plant-based dieters, it has its issues. The isolated soy protein can depress testosterone production in males. Plus, the many soy products out there tend to be high in phytic acid, which binds to minerals and prevents their absorption. Because soy is such a blank slate for any flavor, much of what passes for \u201csoy\u201d is actually just junk food.<\/p>\n

        You can get around this issue by eating more traditional forms of soy, like tempeh, natto, miso, and even fermented tofu. These are time-tested ways of consuming soy that use fermentation to reduce antinutrient content, render the proteins more digestible, and create new bioactive vitamins like vitamin K2 (in natto).<\/p>\n

        Take Supplements<\/h2>\n

        Plant-based diets are inevitably deficient in vital micronutrients and fatty acids. There\u2019s no getting around that. Whatever you might think about animal foods today, the fact remains that the human body evolved in the context of regular meat and seafood consumption. If you aren\u2019t going to eat any animals, you have to supplement.<\/p>\n

        What supplements do I recommend on a plant-based diet?<\/p>\n