Plantsanity Philosophy

Eat more plants and eat less animal products and processed foods.

We recommend a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet. Never heard of it?  Let's break it down.

Whole Foods - foods that have been processed or refined as little as possible and are free from additives or other artificial substances.  These are the foods that don't have nutrition labels or if they do, they have very few ingredients. 

Plant-Based - food that comes from plants aka fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, seeds, and nuts.

No going hungry, no banned foods (except during the trials), no counting calories. You aren't excluding foods or depriving yourself, you are just crowding the old out with better foods. If you want cake on your birthday, then eat cake. If you want turkey on Thanksgiving, eat turkey. The goal is simply to move towards a more healthy lifestyle. 

Why Whole Foods and why Not Processed Foods?

You could eat nothing but Oreos and potato chips and it would technically be a plant-based diet. Obviously this would not be a very healthy diet. The key is to eat whole foods as close to their natural form as you can. In general, processing either removes some of the good stuff or adds in some bad stuff. For example, consider apples vs. apple juice. Yes, apples have carbohydrates, but carbs themselves are not bad - they are our source of energy. In addition, the apple skin contains fiber and numerous other nutrients. On the other hand, apple juice is a concentrated source of sugar without any of the fiber. An 8 ounce glass of apple juice is made from 3-4 apples, but it is not filling because it does not contain the fiber of 3-4 apples, in fact it does not contain any fiber. 

Why Plant-Based and why not animal products?

We know what you're thinking - everything causes cancer or heart disease or diabetes or something else. There is so much misinformation that it is difficult to know what to really believe. But let's be real, have you ever heard of broccoli causing cancer? Or kale?  We've heard eggs are good for us, then bad for us, and then good for us again. And the same goes for meat, fish, and dairy. There seems to be a common theme that the majority of the controversy surrounds animal products. Strawberries? Nope. Beans? Nope. We all can agree that plant-based foods are good for us. They provide tons of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants and in general are pretty much awesome. 

So what to think about animal products? A single search will give you a mixed bag of "animal products are killing us" and "we were meant to eat animals." The same goes for studies and experiments. One of the reasons for this is the majority of studies focus on a single nutrient or food item while ignoring all of the other variables that are at play. So how do we prove to you without a doubt that animal products are bad in a couple paragraphs? The answer - we can't. While we've found data that seems to show a positive association of animal product consumption to cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc., we will never be able to prove it to your satisfaction, ours either.

But, we can give you a few stats on the current state of America that might lead you to believe the way the majority of us eat isn't working:

• More than 2 out of 3 American adults are overweight or obese (CDC)
• 39% of people will get cancer (SEER of NIH)
• 46% of American adults have high blood pressure (American Heart Association)
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, accounting for 1 out of every 4 deaths (CDC)

It is well worth your time and effort to do a little bit of research for yourself. Everything you eat is impacting your health in some way whether you realize it or not. Whoever came up with "ignorance is bliss" definitely wasn't referring to this.  Check out the Resources page for recommended websites, books, videos, and documentaries.

FIVE NO-FUZZ FACTS

There is no doubt that we need to be eating more fruits and veggies and less processed foods. It is up to you to decide how far you want to take it. No matter what you believe, it is hard to argue with these five facts:

1. Eliminating/reducing processed foods is a good thing
2. Increasing fruits and veggies is a good thing
3. Whole grains are better for you than refined grains
4. Not smoking is a good thing
5. Exercise is a good thing

Plantsane Kind of Day

No meat, dairy, eggs, processed foods, added sugar? What in the world do you eat?  

Answer: Real Food

Breakfast

Smoothie

Oatmeal

Toast

Fruit

Entrees

Soup/chili

Stir fry

Tacos/Mexican

Veggie Burger

Pasta

Sides, snacks, and sweets

Roasted Veggies

Guacamole

Salsa

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen

Still wondering what to eat, but not ready to jump into recipes just yet? Dr. Greger, author of How Not to Die, recommends these 12 things on a daily basis: beans, berries, other fruits, cruciferous vegetables, greens, other veggies, flaxseeds, nuts, spices, whole grains, beverages, and exercises. Print off a copy of the daily dozen (Printable Version), put it on your fridge, and see how many items you can cross off each day (or download the app for Android or iPhone). You will find it is pretty challenging, but you will definitely not be going hungry and you won't have room for the foods that don't give you any "credit." The table below shows the number of servings, serving size, and suggestions.