NATURALLY NOURISHED, LLC: Plant-Based Nutrition & Wellness Consulting: January 2023

ISCONCEPTIONS: Of a Plant-Based Diet

1. YOU NEED ANIMAL PRODUCTS FOR "COMPLETE" NUTRITION, such as complete proteins: FALSE (#13)

-Plants contain ALL of the nutrients we need for optimum health (including protein and all amino acids) as long as we’re eating a variety of plant foods in different

combinations

Exception: B12 has been eliminated out of our natural food system due to destruction of our soil and likely needs supplementation or addition of nutritional yeast BUT meat eaters are also lacking this nutrient

2. WE NEED ANIMAL PROTEIN TO BE HEALTHY: FALSE (#13)
* Plant- protein is actually healthier than animal protein

-20% decrease in overall mortality, decreased CVD

-More animal protein= increase mortality BUT Plant protein= DECREASE in mortality! (#23)

*Not only can you be strong, muscular, and energetic on a plant-based diet, you can Thrive and even increase your performance!

-There are many athletes out there such as tom brady, cam newton, Nate daiz (MMA fighter), alex caceres (ufc fighter), serena williams, arnold Schwarzenegger, just to name a few, that have had tremendous success in their sports while eating a plant-based diet.

Example:
- Low Protein, High Carb with High Fiber has been shown to be healthiest with reducing/controlling type II diabetes. High carb is around 60%.

* All of the protein we get from animals, they get from plants! Plants are the only producers of protein, so why don’t we get it straight from the source without all of the related chronic diseases animal proteins contribute to?

3. OUR BODIES REQUIRE ANIMAL PROTEIN TO BE STRONG AND GAIN MUSCLE: FALSE (#14, #15)

Example:
-Americans get about Double the amount of protein that we need
-Excessive protein is actually shown to have NEGATIVE impacts on our health
Such as: increased mortality rate

4. WE ABASORB NUTRIENTS BETTER FROM ANIMAL FOODS VS PLANTS: FALSE

Example: (#16)
-You absorb 50% to 60% of the Calcium from green vegetables like kale, arugula and broccoli, roughly twice as much as the Calcium in comparison to dairy products whose absorption rate is about 30%

Sources:

13. Plant Protein sufficiency and benefits

Plant Proteins: Assessing Their Nutritional Quality and Effects on Health and Physical Function - PMC (nih.gov)

14. High protein diets: negative effects

Protein Consumption Linked to Longevity | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

15. Animal protein and Plant protein on muscle strength

Animal Protein versus Plant Protein in Supporting Lean Mass and Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials - PMC (nih.gov)

16. Calcium absorption

Calcium | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Golden Rules Of Nutrition:

Plant-Based Focused

1) EAT PLANTS: AND YES Complex Carbs With FIBER!

2) EAT AS LOCAL AS POSSIBLE

3) EAT RAW WHEN POSSIBLE AND SOME COOKED

4) EAT JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU HEALTHY, Nothing More, Nothing Less

5) FOODS NOT SUPPLEMENTS

6) UNPROCESSED/WHOLE FORM

7) VARIETY IS KEY!!- Eat The Rainbow

1) EAT PLANTS, AND YES CARBS WITH FIBER!

Plant-based eating is the most scientifically researched lifestyle to increase lifespan & decrease all-cause mortality rates & chronic diseases that plague the US today

Studies Show:

“A systematic review demonstrates evidence that a plant-based diet can significantly improve psychological well-being, quality of life, control of type ii diabetes measured by hbA1C and a number of physical characteristics (weight loss, fbg, total cholesterol, ldl cholesterol, triglycerides) in people with t2d”(#1)

Examples:

A plant-based diet has been shown effective at greatly improving and even Reversing type II diabetes and heart disease such as arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure, reducing strokes and heart attacks and overall mortality (#1/#7)
Have been shown to reduce biometrics: weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, Etc (#1-#4, #7)
Plant-based diets have been shown to improve auto-immune diseases, hormone function, including thyroid function
Plant-based diets have been proven to decrease many cancer risks (#6)
Every 3% increase in calories from plant protein was found to reduce risk of death by 10% (#8)

v There is more long-term, life-time plant-based lifestyle research than any other diet by far

Examples:

· The China Study, Seventh-Adventist Studies, Mediterranean diet studies, Blue Zone Studies

The longest lived people/cultures ALL thrived on a largely plant based diet (roughly 90% or more) as those of the blue zones including the seventh day Advantest’s

v Plants are the only producers FIBER that is crucial to human health and digestion (#9)

v Healthy digestion, detox pathways, microbiome diversity, Cardiovascular , brain health, & much much more!

v Carbs as in complex carbohydrates and resistant starches: those in beans, legumes, potatoes, and whole grains are crucial to long-term health and longevity (#10)

Examples:

· Legumes have been shown to be the most important dietary predictor of survival in older people (#11)

· Resistant starches in plants like potatoes and beans are being shown to be critical for gut health, microbiome diversity, longevity, and overall health. (#11)

v Complex Carbohydrates are our bodies preferred source of energy and most easily utilized. (#17)

v Complex carbohydrates are packed with healthy fiber

v There’s no reason to worry about the sugars in complex carbs, the fiber paces the release of glucose, so it doesn’t go directly into the blood stream as does simple carbs and isolated sugars.

-We NEED glucose in our bodies, but in the way as nature intended it, packaged with other nutrients, paced out in digestion, and utilized slowly, not isolate

SOURCES:

1) Systamatic review: diabetes, overall well-being, CVD

(Effectiveness of plant-based diets in promoting well-being in the management of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review (bmj.com)

2) Plant-based diet and heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity **

The BROAD study: A randomised controlled trial using a whole food plant-based diet in the community for obesity, ischaemic heart disease or diabetes | Nutrition & Diabetes (nature.com)

3) Weight, CV health

A multicenter randomized controlled trial of a plant-based nutrition program to reduce body weight and cardiovascular risk in the corporate setting: the GEICO study - PMC (nih.gov)

4) General overview of benefits of plant-based diet

The effects of plant-based diets on the body and the brain: a systematic review - PMC (nih.gov)

5) Increased life expectancy

Does low meat consumption increase life expectancy in humans? | The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

6) Prostate cancer