Ensure Good Health of your Ticker with a Plant-based Diet

A plant-based diet can prove to be extremely beneficial for your ticker. You may significantly reduce your odds of getting heart disease/cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes if you’re eating mostly or only fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, whole grains, and meat substitutes like soy in comparison to a diet that includes a lot more meat.

The three most common types of plant-based diets include Vegan (no animal products such as meat, eggs, or dairy products), Lacto-vegetarian (dairy products are fine, but no meat or eggs), Lacto-ovo-vegetarian (dairy products and eggs are fine, but no meat). You might hear people calling themselves "flexitarians" or "semi-vegetarians," meaning that they occasionally eat meat, poultry, pork, or fish, you might also hear terms like "pescatarian," which means they eat a plant-based diet plus fish.

Tips to Make a Switch:

Switching to a completely new form of diet can be difficult. You can begin by eating more fruits. Cut back on animal products, or completely cut them out depending upon how far you wish to take it. Consult with a dietitian to make sure you are getting the nutrients that you need. Do check on whether you are getting enough iron, calcium, and zinc. Read the label to see how much calcium and Vitamin D you are getting if you decide to switch dairy products with rice milk, nut milk, soy milk, or other plant-based alternatives. Eat beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, quinoa, or tofu to get enough protein without meat. It’s advisable to adhere to your doctor's guidelines about fat, calories, sugar, and salt as it’s possible to get too much of those whether you eat animal products or not.

If you have made up your mind to eat more plant-based foods, rushing to the store and loading all that produce into your cart isn’t the answer as they’ll probably be spoiling in your fridge a week later. When it comes to preparation, get creative- steam, broil, roast, blend, saute. You can either mix up a smoothie, simmer some soup or toss a salad- everything counts. Improve your ticker health by sneaking in extra veggies into salads, soups and casseroles; adding berries and other fruit to whole-grain breakfast cereals, salads and snacks, etc.

According to researchers, eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains wins.

High Blood Pressure- According to a study, individuals who ate more fruits had a lower risk of developing hypertension. Eating blueberries, apples, pears, raisins and grapes particularly had a beneficial impact on blood pressure.

High Cholesterol- Researchers after reviewing 11 different studies came to the conclusion that plant-based diets helped people significantly improve both their cholesterol level and weight.

Cardiovascular Disease- Researchers after compiling the findings of 95 different studies concluded that eating more fruits and vegetables daily reduces the risk of heart disease.

Chronic Heart Disease- A large study conducted by researchers found that individuals who ate more vegetables had a smaller risk of chronic heart disease; in fact, the more veggies they ate, the more their risk went down.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans. Use the natural preventive power of plant-based foods to protect your ticker from hurt. Heart disease also increases the risk of heart attack or cardiac arrest. Get CPR trained to efficiently handle cardiac emergencies.

CPR Louisville conducts CPR classes for healthcare as well as non-healthcare providers. For more information, call on 502-804-6132.