Why Plant Based?

[caelanb]

Hello, I am confused about the reason for cutting out grains, breads, meats, dairy's and etc. I am underweight and my dietitian and parents are forcing me to gain weight (due to an eating disorder I have) and to eat all this variety of foods, however if I should cut these foods out (to clean up my diet) and become more plant based (which they say is not healthy and is what the eating disorder wants to do), what should I do, and why do it? Science says to have a variety of foods (as in meats, dairy, sugar every once in awhile if you want and etc) but then, how do I cut these out if my dietitian and parents say that it's all a fad that it's my eating disorder talking and that these are all very healthy foods (they provide a lot of nutrients according to them) as long as you eat the least amount of processed food as possible and keep it in moderation (essentially what I've been doing my whole life), so, why not eat dairy, wheat, meats and such (to become mostly vegetarian or plant based? My apologies if I seem ignorant, I am just slightly confused about all the different thoughts and ideas I have of what do to. Thank you.

[Space]

@caelanb If you're trying to recover from an eating disorder I wouldn't worry too much about sticking to a plant based diet. Your focus should just be to eat good quality whole foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts) and good quality, organic meats and fish. And of course cut out as much junk food as possible.

However it's important to realise that plant-based diets are not a fad, and there's plenty of extremely fit and healthy people who eat plant-based (See Rich Roll on Youtube for example). I mean, plant-based diets have been shown to cure serious health issues and diseases! There's a lot of very interesting research. 

 

[Michael569]

The best advice anyone can give you is to try this stuff for yourself and see how you feel. Also it is important to do your own research and not rely on what anyone says. Your dietitian could have been educated in 70s when the nutrition information was 10% of what it is now. 

Even on this forum, some people will tell you to eat a of meat, dairy and eggs and other will tell you to go vegan. I tend to find that family is usually the worst type of source when it comes to eating advice unless you are a son to nutrition expert who constantly seeks out the latest facts. 

My only advice to you is that if you want to gain weight without looking like a fat seal, you absolutely have to start lifting some weights. As per the nutrition guide, it would be good idea to look into some unbiased literature on the market. General nutrition guide book would be a good start, there are many of those on Amazon. 

[caelanb]

Thank you very much everyone, At the moment it's alittle hard to take out certain food groups from my diet because my dietician and parents (mostly my dietician, but my parents listen to her) are forcing me to eat from all the food groups, so I can get a variety of foods (including meats at least once per week), and are labelling the plant based stuff as being a fad. However, my dietician has said that in the future I can become more plant based if I want, which is nice, but the fact she says it's a fad, is not what I agree with, (though part of me does, because I would not consider myself as being a healthy/quality eater in the past, which is the same for the rest of my family but then, I don't have any health problem except underweight), because why would people be doing it then? Lol.  

[pluto]

Yeah the best form of education is self education and self experimentation, its the only way you will find out what works for you. Dieticians just like Doctors are trained to think a certain way so most don't have direct experience from both sides of the spectrum instead rely on what they been taught and statistics.

I went to see my cousins dietician once just to see what she had to say to him, one part i chimed in and mentioned fresh coconut water and fruits to help with his condition and she replied well too much fruits is bad because of sugar and coconut water is high in saturated fat. In that moment i knew this person had no idea how nature and the human body works so i kept my mouth shut and didn't bother.

Edited September 14, 2017 by pluto

[caelanb]

@Space What would you consider to be junk food? Bread, dairy, grains? Or stuff like chips, pizza, granola bars, and deserts like cakes and fast foods? If you ask me, I would go for the second ones, because I actually have a lot bread, dairy, grains and such in my diet.

[sgn]

Hey
Check out this video https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die-an-animated-summary/
I think this is a good site, I've learned a lot last couple of days.
Download the daily dozen app and you see there's a lot you can eat.
Ask your parents what makes them so sure they're right, lol.

[caelanb]

They say that there is more evidence showing that eating meats, dairy, eggs and such along with a varied diet, is healthier than only plant based as well as vegetarian. Because over a large population, there are more people that have less health problems who have consumed meats, dairy, grains, eggs, and fruits and veggies. And the nutrtionfacts.org website is just someone trying to make money off of a limited amount of evidence.

[sgn]

Edited October 19, 2017 by sgn

[sgn]

29 minutes ago, caelanb said:

They say that there is more evidence showing that eating meats, dairy, eggs and such along with a varied diet, is healthier than only plant based as well as vegetarian. Because over a large population, there are more people that have less health problems who have consumed meats, dairy, grains, eggs, and fruits and veggies. And the nutrtionfacts.org website is just someone trying to make money off of a limited amount of evidence.

He constantly reference studies that say otherwise.

Regarding the making money part:

Quote

Does Dr. Greger make any money off of this site?

None whatsoever. NutritionFacts.org is a labor of love. All donations go straight to the 501c3 nonprofit that keeps the site running, from which Dr. Greger draws no salary or compensation. In fact all the proceeds Dr. Greger gets from the sales of his own books, DVDs, and speaking engagements similarly go to support the 501c3 nonprofit that runs NutritionFacts.org. How does he pay his bills? He’s got a day job! Dr. Greger proudly serves as the public health director for the Humane Society of the United States.

10/12/16 UPDATE: Dr. Greger’s public health director position was eliminated, and so while the above answer was accurate for the first 5 years of the existence of the site, Dr. Greger now draws a salary from NutritionFacts.org as research director. All the proceeds he receives from the sales of his books, DVDs, and speaking engagements continue to be donated directly to the 501c3 nonprofit that runs NutritionFacts.org.

 

[phoenix666]

@caelanb try it out for yourself. direct experience is the only way. I've been on a plant based diet for almost two years now and I've never felt better. I also feel more connected to nature and animals <3 I could't imagine going back to eating meat, dairy and eggs.

[Space]

9 hours ago, caelanb said:

@Space What would you consider to be junk food? Bread, dairy, grains? Or stuff like chips, pizza, granola bars, and deserts like cakes and fast foods? If you ask me, I would go for the second ones, because I actually have a lot bread, dairy, grains and such in my diet.

Well i'm not really qualified to answer. But from a personal point of view I wouldn't consider things like bread junk food.  Although some cheap white breads and pastas may as well be. I eat bread every day but try to get the best bread I can. Here in the UK we always have a pretty good selection of freshly made wholemeal loafs. With dairy, again i'm not too knowledgable to be honest. But personally I don't eat cheese and drink v little milk.

[Emerald]

On 9/13/2017 at 10:42 PM, caelanb said:

Hello, I am confused about the reason for cutting out grains, breads, meats, dairy's and etc. I am underweight and my dietitian and parents are forcing me to gain weight (due to an eating disorder I have) and to eat all this variety of foods, however if I should cut these foods out (to clean up my diet) and become more plant based (which they say is not healthy and is what the eating disorder wants to do), what should I do, and why do it? Science says to have a variety of foods (as in meats, dairy, sugar every once in awhile if you want and etc) but then, how do I cut these out if my dietitian and parents say that it's all a fad that it's my eating disorder talking and that these are all very healthy foods (they provide a lot of nutrients according to them) as long as you eat the least amount of processed food as possible and keep it in moderation (essentially what I've been doing my whole life), so, why not eat dairy, wheat, meats and such (to become mostly vegetarian or plant based? My apologies if I seem ignorant, I am just slightly confused about all the different thoughts and ideas I have of what do to. Thank you.

If you go plant-based, there is only a need to cut out meats and dairy. There is no need to cut out grains. That would probably be a bad idea if you've experienced disordered eating before. You can eat a full balanced diet as a Vegan. This is not an issue. However, if you cut out grains, there are fewer source of calories that you can eat on a Vegan diet. It can be done with effort, but you don't want to add difficulty upon difficulty to getting up to normal caloric intake. So, I recommend focusing on getting yourself out of disordered eating first and adding foods back into your diet. Then, once you get back to the norm, you can start focusing toward eating a plant-based diet with grains, if your motivation is right. You want to make sure that you're not just cutting out meat and dairy for the sake of consuming fewer calories. You want to make sure that it's actually motivated by the desire to either eat healthier or eat more humanely, and not simply for the sake of limiting food intake.

[caelanb]

@Emerald Yes, I see where your coming from, though the disorder does have a lot of influence over my choices, so that does not help. However, as I gain get to a healthy weight as well as get back to the norm I'll be trying to focus on plant based. But then, because now one that I know is considered healthier because they eat a plant based diet or a vegetation diet or no diet at all kinda makes the motivation for a plant based diet weaker for me due to having not much evidence of it being healthier, that's just for me though. But thank you for your input.

[Emerald]

1 hour ago, caelanb said:

@Emerald Yes, I see where your coming from, though the disorder does have a lot of influence over my choices, so that does not help. However, as I gain get to a healthy weight as well as get back to the norm I'll be trying to focus on plant based. But then, because now one that I know is considered healthier because they eat a plant based diet or a vegetation diet or no diet at all kinda makes the motivation for a plant based diet weaker for me due to having not much evidence of it being healthier, that's just for me though. But thank you for your input.

I remember hearing on several occasions that they studied people who practiced Vegetarian diets versus people with Omnivorous diets, and they found that the Vegetarians lived longer by an average of of a handful of years. I never looked further into this though, so it could just be hearsay. I don't eat meat (or normally other animal products) for ethical reasons. I went Vegan last year in June. But a month or so ago, I temporarily went back to Vegetarianism because of our finances. It was just easier to eat what my family is eating, minus the meat which is easier to avoid than dairy which is mixed into a lot of foods. This I'll be doing until we get back on our feet after a few lean months. And I have to say, I feel so bad in my body since I've been eating dairy again. I can definitely tell the difference after having had refrained from dairy consumption for over a year. I don't know if the meat had such an effect on my overall health, but dairy definitely doesn't agree with my system. So, my recommendation is to experiment a bit with removing foods and adding foods to see how you feel during the day.

[Forestluv]

@Emerald My body had a similiar respinse after doung the same

[phoenix666]

@Serotoninluv @Emerald yeah, seems like the body becomes more sensitive. I always eat plant based, but I even feel the difference between when I eat at home and when I go out. there is such a huge difference between home cooked meals and restaurant/mensa meals. I feel more energetic when I eat at home and more heavy and a bit more sluggish after eating at a restaurant.

[pluto]

Came across this excellent video

 

[Nahm]

It is important to note that heme iron comprises only 40-45% of the iron in meat. The rest of the iron contained in meat is actually this non-heme form (55-60%). So when you see the milligrams of iron listed for a portion of meat, approximately half of that is heme and half is non-heme. This becomes important to understand when thinking about substances that help block iron absorption, as most work to only block non-heme iron.

http://hemochromatosishelp.com/heme-iron-vs-non-heme-iron/

 

[Joseph Maynor]

If it looks really good, smells really good, and tastes really good -- it's probably, but not always, bad.  Use that as a good rule of thumb.  When you develop Body mindfulness, your body will tell you want it wants and needs.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Joseph Maynor