HEALTHY LIFE ON PLANT-BASED DIET
A healthy plant-based diet builds a strong immune system. The essential nutrients provided by plants cannot be replaced with any animal products. Anderson Murray, MD Anderson Health Education Specialist says that “plant-based diet is necessary for our bodies to fight various infections, as plants provide us with the necessary phytonutrients and shield our biological systems against germs and microorganisms.”
Multiple pieces of research have shown that people who follow a plant-based diet significantly lower their risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other health conditions. Research also shows that a plant-based diet can be much less expensive than a diet consisting of animal products.
Preventing and fighting Cancer:
A recent study compared prostate cancer cells grown in petri dishes exposed to organic animal-based milk and plant-based milk, respectively. The cells exposed to animal’s milk was seen to have stimulated the cancer growth by over 30%, whereas the opposite effect was seen for the cells exposed to plant-based milk.
High cholesterol from dairy, meat, eggs, fish etc. are implicated in the risk progression of breast cancer. On the other hand, phytosterols from sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, soy foods (in moderation) are anticancer nutrients and play a role in reducing breast cancer risk. Cancer cells feed on LDL cholesterol and fat, and any intake, therefore, directly feeds the cancer cells growing in the body. Unfortunately, patient survival tends to be low when cholesterol uptake by the cancer cells is high.
IGF-1 (Insulin like Growth Factor -1) is a hormone produced in our body during adolescence. However, higher circulating levels of IGF -1 poses a threat to our body.
Protein from dairy, fish, poultry, red meat, and other sea food increase the level of IGF-1 in our body, without proportionately increasing the level of IGFBP -1 (insulin like growth factor binding protein -1) to absorb the IGF-1 in circulation.
Lower levels of IGF-1 translate to lower probability of the incidence of cancer.
Plant-based diet protects us from developing a risk of cancer. The pigments that give fruits and vegetables their bright colours are the beta-carotene and lycopene, which help our bodies fight cancers.
Achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight:
Research suggests that people who primarily follow plant-based diets tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) and lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease than those who eat meat.
Plant based diets are high in fibre, complex carbohydrates, and water content. This helps people feel full for longer and increases energy use when resting.
Healthy heart on a plant-based diet:
Elevated level of LDL cholesterol is the major reason for development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. To reduce the LDL cholesterol, we need to avoid trans fats, saturated fats and dietary cholesterol, the main sources of which are dairy, meat, eggs, and fish.
Trans fats, in addition to cholesterol from meat, dairy products and hydrogenated vegetable oils are a risk factor for cardiovascular problems. The National Academies of Science concluded that the safe intake level of trans fats is zero, as it increases the coronary heart disease risk.
Adopting a plant-based diet can lower down several risk factors for heart diseases as:
- A plant-based diet, rich in potassium, improves blood pressure
- High-fiber foods help lower cholesterol
- Plant-based diet provides monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and lowers the bad cholesterol that causes plaque build-up in the arteries
- Plant-based diets help reduce inflammation, which can otherwise lead to heart disease and other conditions
Bye-Bye Diabetes:
The non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) from chicken, fish, egg, livestock, vegetable oils etc. in the bloodstream impairs beta cell function.
The saturated fat from dairy (esp. cheese) and chicken are not only toxic to the pancreatic beta cells but also cause fatty liver disease.
These saturated fats can also enter into the cells and accumulate as intramyocellular lipid. This blocks the activity of insulin to facilitate the transport of glucose from the bloodstream into the cell, which decreases the blood glucose level. This causes muscle insulin resistance, which is type II diabetes.
Research suggests that plant-based diets prevent, manage, and reverse type 2 diabetes. Plant-based diets help in lowering body weight, improving insulin function, and increasing beta-cells’ ability to regulate blood sugar.
Sinusitis:
Consumption of animal products leads to an inflammation of Sinus cavities and are one of the leading causes of sinusitis problems.
The milk protein casein breaks down in the stomach to produce casomorphin, which is an opiod. The opioid receptors on the mucus glands in the respiratory tract responds to the casomorphin from milk, which in turn stimulates the production of mucus from the respiratory glands. Mucus accumulation in the respiratory tract offers a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria which causes a variety of diseases like cold, sinusitis etc.
Joint Pain:
Within hours of eating animal fat, the endothelial lining of the whole vascular system gets inflamed and stiffened, thereby paralyzing our arteries. While it takes 5-6 hours to calm down, we ingest another load of animal fat (or even high levels of plant fats like refined oils rich in saturated fat), which puts us in chronic low-grade inflammation all through our lives.
The inflammation is caused due to endotoxemia, rather than the protein or fat from the animal product. The endotoxemia is caused by the animal fats turning our gut lining leaky, allowing gut bacteria to slip into the bloodstream which causes the inflammation across the body. Inflammation at the joints results in joint pain.
Research says that a plant-based diet in conjunction with intermittent fasting helps reverse rheumatoid arthritis in a matter of weeks.