The Benefits of Whole, Plant-based Foods
“One of two guest bloggers for this month, Caterina Lindman has crossed paths with me on several occasions. We first met working together on Mike Morrice’s campaign in 2019, then again at the start of this year when I joined Basic Income Waterloo Region, in which she is active. I remember having a lively conversation when we first met about plant-based eating! It resonated with me because I became a vegan in 2015 for environmental reasons. So, Caterina is an excellent choice to make the case for a whole, plant-based diet. If you’ll forgive the pun, it is excellent “food for thought” regarding a discussion of food policy in Canada.” - Nick
The commonest diseases in Western cultures are chronic conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel conditions.
Around 40 years ago, Dr. Denis Burkitt, a surgeon who worked in Africa, wrote:
Many of the major and commonest diseases in modern western cultures are universally rare in Third World communities, were uncommon even in the United States until after World War I, yet have comparable prevalence today in both black and white Americans. This finding compels the conclusion that these diseases must be due not to our genetic inheritance but to our lifestyle. This conclusion in turn argues that they must be potentially reversible.
During the Christmas holidays of 2014, I watched the documentary Forks over Knives. The premise of the film is that many chronic diseases in our society are caused by the Standard American Diet (SAD), and can be prevented and even reversed by eating whole, plant-based foods. The title Forks over Knives is based on the use of forks (i.e. eating choices) rather than knives (scalpels used in heart surgery).
I began to experiment with whole-food, plant-based cooking. I wasn’t looking to lose weight, but I did, and now I’m the same weight as I was in my early twenties. My cholesterol levels are no longer in the “borderline high” zone, and the extra energy I feel is much appreciated!
We often think that genetics plays a major role in chronic diseases. Perhaps, chronic diseases tend to run in families because families tend to have similar eating habits.
People are beginning to realize that the SAD is not an optimal diet for health. The SAD includes a great deal of dairy products, eggs, fish and meat (about 200 lbs. of meat consumption per person per year). As well, it features highly processed foods that are designed to last longer on the shelves, thus sacrificing much of the nutrition.
Alternatively, a whole-food, plant-based diet is the only diet shown to not only prevent, but reverse many chronic diseases including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also provides thousands of phytonutrients that are essential to good health. It goes further than a vegan diet by actively avoiding processed plant foods.
Choices matter: unpeeled baked or boiled potatoes over French fries; whole-grain breads without preservatives over mass-produced white bread; fat from nuts and seeds, not refined oils; sweetness from fruit instead of processed sugar or artificial sweeteners; herbs and spices instead of excessive salt. These shifts lead to notable improvements in health outcomes and resource use.
Alarmingly, obesity rates have increased dramatically over the last four decades. In 1985, the obesity rate in Canada was 6.1% (see pg 2) and the latest numbers, from 2021, are at 29.2%. (see pg 19). We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic.
Research is shedding light on obesity, and a couple of new concepts are important to understand.
One important concept is that of calorie density. Every day, we eat about the same amount of food by weight. Foods provide different amounts of calories by weight, and humans evolved to choose more calorie-dense foods in order to fend off starvation. So, we will gravitate towards meat over vegetables, fried foods over boiled, and candy over fruit. For hunter-gatherers, this diet posed little risk, but with our current industrialized food system, over-abundance of calorie-dense foods has become a problem. As author and nutrition expert Dr. Greger puts it, “becoming overweight is a normal, natural response to the abnormal, unnatural ubiquity of calorie-dense, sugary and fatty foods.”
This chart is from Calorie Density Explained by WellYourWorld.com
Eating whole, nutrient-dense, plant-based foods provides a logical solution to weight loss and improved health. Calorie dense foods (such as dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and avocados) should be eaten in moderation. On the other hand, you can eat whole vegetables, whole fruits and whole starches until you are full. After a few weeks, your taste buds will adapt to your new diet and you will notice and appreciate the different flavours found in these healthier options.
Most people believe we need animal-based protein to stay healthy, but research shows this isn't true. Animal protein puts strain on our kidneys; plant protein does not. I like the analogy that food is a package deal: animal protein is packaged with saturated fat, cholesterol and no fibre, while plant protein is packed full of fibre and phytonutrients, with no cholesterol, and little fat. The fibre found in whole, plant-based foods feeds beneficial gut bacteria, which absorbs more nutrients and reduces inflammation. In our culture, about 97 per cent of people do not get enough fibre, while protein deficiencies are rare. Maybe we should replace the question, “Where can I get more protein? with “Where can I get more fibre?”
There are many issues with animal agriculture — including the risk of food poisoning, high cholesterol, IGF-1 (a carcinogen found in meat), bio-accumulation of toxic pollutants, saturated and trans fats, land use and biodiversity loss.
The production of beef uses approximately 10 times the resources of alternate livestock categories, such as poultry and pork. Poultry and pork use about the same amount of water and from two to six times the resources of plant-based foods.
Changing one’s diet is not always easy — it involves engaging with the people you eat with, and committing to eating different foods, or preparing the same foods differently. It is a process of experimentation to find foods that you enjoy, and it requires an open mind to establish new cooking and eating patterns. To improve your chances of success, ensure that nutrient-rich foods are readily available, and that the foods that you want to avoid (eg. animal products, junk food and oil) are either not in your home or somewhere that is difficult to access. There is more information available now on cooking whole, plant-based foods than there was 10 years ago. A couple of my favourite YouTube cooking channels are: Well Your World, and Tasty, Thrifty, Timely.
You may be wondering if a whole-food, plant-based diet is expensive. No; in fact you may find that your grocery bill goes down as you eat more whole, plant-based foods. One reason your grocery bill may go down is that you will be buying much fewer processed foods, which are generally more expensive than whole foods. For example, a box of cheerios, where the main ingredient is whole oat flour, costs about 27 cents per one-cup serving, which weighs one ounce. The cost for one ounce of rolled oats is about 8 cents. Even organic oats can be obtained for about 13 cents per ounce.
Another reason that your grocery bill may go down is that you will not be buying whole categories of foods — you will skip the pop and chips aisle entirely, as well as the entire meat, eggs and dairy section.
A diet of minimally processed plant foods is an affordable way to maintain and regain your health, ideal weight, and energy. I encourage curious eaters to discover a way of eating that is kind to the Earth, and to your body.
Caterina Lindman
Caterina Lindman is a retired actuary who lives in New Hamburg. She is a co-founder of Actuaries for Sustainable Healthcare.
