By Seun Sowemimo, MD, FACS, FASMBS
In 2019, I received some test results from my annual check-up that were not so great.
In the same way I tell my patients diagnosed with obesity that they need to take action when irregular medical tests come back, I was forced to have the same talk with myself.
I wasn’t clinically obese, but some significant changes needed to be made to improve my overall health.
Spending nights and weekends researching health and nutrition plans, it was clear to me that I needed to get rid of the foods causing inflammation and replace them with foods that fuel my body and my mind.
I concluded from my investigation that using a whole food plant-based diet would serve as the medicine my body needed to recover and get my health back on track.
This nutrition-rich lifestyle is based on eating superfoods derived from minimally-processed plants.
About 60 percent of the American diet today is ultra-processed, meaning the nutrition consumed contains chemicals and common food derivatives such as emulsifiers, added sugars, glazers, flavor enhancers and coloring. You can also call this ‘fake food,’ which is no exaggeration.
These are ingredients you would never use in your own kitchen, but are added to commercial food products to boost the marketability, profitability, flavor, sweetness, saltiness and shelf life at your local supermarket.
These ‘fake foods’ have been scientifically proven to increase the incidence of several serious chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity.
Real, ‘whole foods’ are the opposite; they are fresh and untouched by chemicals and preservatives (non-GMO). They don’t have artificial coloring, something to make them taste differently, nor do they contain preservatives to give them a longer shelf life.
Plant-based foods have minimal interference between being harvested and being consumed.
Many people also think you’ll ‘lose strength’ on an animal food-free diet. But consider that gorillas, rhinos, elephants and horses only eat a plant-based diet.
I break down below the primary focus of plant-based nutrition; you may be surprised to learn you already have many of these items in your kitchen and pantry:
1. Legumes
Enjoy energy-boosting beans of all sorts, kidney beans, pinto beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas. They provide the protein for the plant-based diet, negating the need to eat animal-based meats and dairy products.
Let’s bust this myth: Protein does NOT equal MEAT!
Beans and other legumes can provide all the protein requirements for a healthy diet.
2. Vegetables
Enjoy non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, romaine, spinach, tomatoes, beets, kale and cabbage to your heart’s content. I’m also a big fan of adding peppers and onions to just about any food. These veggies, onions and peppers provide the bulk of this healthy plant-derived diet. They fill you up with lots of healthy fiber, keeping you ‘regular’ and are universally very low in calories.
The other subgroup of vegetables is starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, yams, other tubers and squash, which are also healthy when minimally-processed and eaten in more moderate portions.
3. Fruits
Natural fruit serves as filling snacks and desserts, packed with natural sweetness, fiber and essential antioxidants.
Bypass fruit juices, which are loaded with artificial sugars and other unpronounceable chemical additives.
4. Whole Grains
Think brown rice, wild rice, whole wheat, oats, barley, quinoa and so on. In this group, one might say white bread is made from wheat, but it is not made from the whole wheat grain; rather, it is a highly processed derivative of wheat with added sugar. Skip it!
I eat Ezekiel bread made from sprouted whole grains. Oatmeal from rolled oats is one of my favorite breakfast meals, topped with fresh fruits.
* Breakfast features oatmeal or a veggie sandwich with grilled onions, tomatoes and zucchini on Ezekiel bread.
* Lunch includes a plentiful plate piled high with assorted fresh vegetables, such as kale with grilled broccoli, tomatoes, along with chickpeas for protein and a few roasted potatoes.
* Dinner would include sauteed brussels sprouts, onions, peppers and tomatoes with quinoa, peas and grilled plantain–delicious!
Remember, what you don’t eat is as important as what you do eat.
1. Plants provide all the macro and micronutrients needed for a healthy, weight-normalizing diet.
2. As opposed to an animal-based diet, which generally promotes inflammation, a plant-based diet reduces inflammation, allowing the body to heal and return to a normal state of health and weight.
You wouldn’t start mopping the floor till you’ve turned off the faucet, right?
So while you are boosting your plant-based foods to decrease inflammation, also decrease animal meat consumption to less than 5% or 1 meal a week.
Give it a try for a week–I expect you’ll quickly see–and feel–how good it is to eat the real thing.