When it comes to the benefits of wholefood plant based diets, there is now a wealth of evidence to support the claim that not only are wholefood plant based Diets (WPBD’s) completely satisfactory for human health, they are also extremely good for human health, and can be very helpful in both prevention and treatment for a number of debilitating illnesses. And there is a growing body of evidence that points to the harm caused by consuming various animal products. One of the main reasons people choose to go vegan is because of the health benefits of WPBD’s.

 

The key word for health when it comes to plant-based diets is ‘wholefood’. A diet based on grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, beans and pulses provides complete and optimum nutrition in its wholefood form, that is unprocessed. There have been some unnecessary scare stories in the media recently about ultra processed foods – most plant-based foods even when processed do not fall into this category – but a wholefood plant-based diet is the optimum for health and energy, as well as being the cheapest. There is a perception sometimes that a vegan diet is expensive, and whereas it can be true that some vegan products can be expensive, overall a WPBD has been shown to be up to a 3^rd cheaper than standard Western diets

 

Vegans definitely benefit from 2 supplements – B12, and Vitamin D. These can easily be found in fortified milks and supplements. Its worth bearing in mind that although you can get B12 from animal products, the B12 has been supplemented in the animal’s diet – so either way all of us get our B12 from supplementation.

 

And for those of us that wish to consume vegan products that mimic animal products (something that may well happen more often when transitioning to plant based diets), there is now a wealth of options from vegan ice cream through to milks, cheeses, meats and other replicas, as well of course as there now being a whole lot more choice and options available when it comes to eating out.

 

 

The Plant Based Health Professionals UK are a unique resource to help understand the benefits of WFPD’s in relation to health and disease, in particular coronary heart disease, cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, & maintaining a healthy weight, including links through to research and further reading.

 

 

Further Reading