AnimalsDream

It has been for me. As a fellow tea enjoyer, lung function, gut health, a melting away of aching joints and physical malaise, seasonal allergy alleviation, and a shockingly boosted immune system are all benefits that I’ve personally enjoyed since going fully plant-based. Most likely heart benefits as well, but I won’t know for sure until I get my cholesterol levels tested.

But of course personal anecdotes are not valid evidence. Which is fine, because the science largely favors diets that are at least mostly plant-centric anyway.

In my experience sacrifice is a relative matter, and soon dissipates. Every abstained choice gets replaced with an alternative, and the more alternatives that are explored the more it becomes apparent that there is an entire culinary world that has been ignored. It becomes apparent that what felt like sacrifice is in fact opportunity, and those opportunities are well worth investigating in full.

If you keep exploring plant-based options you will be a lot more likely to find what works for you, than if you just give up.

It should also be noted, dairy impairs the bioavailability of beneficial plant-based compounds. Here are a few studies. Milk and coffee. Milk and blueberries. And Milk and tea.

Oh no, you’re owning the vegans! 😵

But, uh, what’s going on here? Do you think animal abuse is funny?

This is a little bit of a myth, but also a little bit true. Virtually all plant-sources of protein have all essential amino acids. It’s just that legumes have a slightly lower amount of one amino acid compared to what’s in our muscles, and grains have a slightly lower amount of another. So while they do complement each other and ensure plenty of all amino acids, it’s also actually not that hard to get all necessary protein from one or the other just by eating a bit more of it.

In other words, if you go a day or even a few days only having grains or only having legumes, it’s probably not going to hurt you, so there’s no need to be overly concerned about protein combining. But in any case there are other reasons why it is better to eat a variety of foods, so getting grains and legumes is still better.

There’s often a confusion between people who go “whole-food plant-based” for personal health reasons, and people who go vegan which is about animal’s rights. Of course a person can want both too.

In any case, people who adopt more plant-centric diets do often see a reduction is bodyweight, but it’s not guaranteed. As the pic up top shows, it can still be very easy to have an unhealthy lifestyle even if it is plant-based.