A Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet

My friend, Myra, and I volunteered this past weekend at the 8th annual NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. This two-day, plant-based event promotes healthy, sustainable, and cruelty-free products. When asked if vegan or vegetarian when stopping by booths I responded with “curious.” While I don't follow any sort of diet, and eat meat, fish and dairy in small quantities, I do have an interest in health, wellness and volunteering for a good cause.

The entire event was truly eye opening and gave me the opportunity to meet inspiring entrepreneurs. I helped run the raffle ticket booth of which all proceeds went to The Humane League whose mission is to reduce animal suffering, and objective is to reform the way farm animals are treated. I enjoyed speaking with vendors and hearing the stories behind the founding of their businesses. FullyRaw Kristina was able to rid herself of hyperglycemia (Type 2 Diabetes) after transitioning to a vegan diet. Pure Batch, a mother-daughter owned allergen-free treat company was started after the mother beat her battle with breast cancer. Rescue Chocolate, an artisan chocolate company, donates all profits to various animal rescue organizations in the US. Although it was called a food festival, there were also clothing and beauty companies as well as animal cruelty-awareness campaigns. 

In his book The Whole Foods Diet, John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, defines a whole foods, plant-based diet as "prioritizing eating whole or unprocessed plant foods (90% of diet); minimizes meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs (10%); and eliminates highly processed foods (Mackey, 2018, P. 31)." I just started reading this book and already, highly recommend it. Since Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon, it makes sense to link the book on their website, which you can find at the bottom of this page. 

Whole Foods VS Processed Foods - General Rules:

Whole Foods

• are close to their original state

• spoil faster

• are things your great-grandparents would have recognized as food

• don't usually have ingredient lists, or, if they do, have short ones

• are often sold without packaging

• are often found around the perimeter of the grocery store

Highly Processed Foods:

• bear little resemblance to their original state

• do not spoil easily

• are things your great-grandparents probably wouldn't recognize

• have (often long) ingredient lists

• are packaged or boxed

• are often found in the center of the grocery store

Although the event had vendors selling both whole and processed goods, all products were targeted towards vegans and vegetarians. Most people understand vegetarianism but I'm not sure everyone understands the extent of veganism. Of the diets listed below, vegan is the most restrictive, eliminating not only meat, but animal by-products as well. These include but are not limited to the following:

Veganism

• Meat

• Fish

• Honey

• Eggs

• Dairy (cheese, yogurt, milk, butter)

• Gelatin

• Animal broth (chicken, beef)

• Beauty and household products made from or tested on animals

• Leather (handbags, shoes)

• Fur

Vegetarians eliminate meat and fish from their diet but typically still consume animal by-products such as dairy, eggs and honey. 

Pescatarians are similar to vegetarians but do consume fish.  

Q&A:

Why the dietary restrictions?!

People follow these diets for various reasons, whether ethical and environmental concerns or for health reasons.

What's so bad about meat?

For a brief and extremely mild background on chicken cruelty, read my post on eggs. For more information on the food industry in general, watch or read Food, Inc or one of the many other documentaries available. 

What's in it for me?

"A whole foods, plant-based diet is the optimum diet for health, vitality, and longevity. It has the capacity to greatly reduce or even eliminate chronic diseased such as heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and cancer (P. 31)." However, no diet is healthy IF compensating with eating highly processed, packaged foods. In other words, don't be a junk-food vegan.

So no dairy or protein? 

Did you know cheese-like substitutes can be made from nutritional yeast and/or nuts, yogurt can be made from coconut milk, and meat is not the only source of protein?! Check out your neighborhood health food store and scan the aisles for foods you’ve never seen or purchased before, such as lentils, which are packed with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.  

Overall, I definitely didn’t feel healthier after leaving the festival. There were a couple vendors I purchased products from that used minimal and healthy ingredients but, like any industry, there will always be people interested only in making money. Aka, there was a ton of junk and I ate it all! A soda is a soda and a cookie is still a treat, with or without milk and eggs, and especially when the first ingredient is cane sugar! PLEASE learn to read and appreciate nutrition labels. It’s the only way to make sure the food you are eating is actually as healthy as the label sounds. Beware of products that use unnecessary labeling to make it sound healthier such as chocolate bars labeled as gluten-free, and unregulated terms such as natural flavoring. Know what else is natural? Beavers secretions used for vanilla, strawberry and raspberry flavoring. Yep, look it up. 

Become a skillful eater. "Every person who wants to live a long and healthy life needs to become a skillful eater, and we need to bring up our children to do the same. She knows how to see past the fog of confusion created by the media and the latest diet fads. A skillful eater makes informed decisions every day about what he puts in his mouth (P. 29)." 

As Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, has said "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much." By food, he is referring to real, whole, unprocessed* foods found around the perimeter of grocery stores. 

*Michael Greger, author of How Not to Die, defines unprocessed as "nothing bad added, nothing good taken away." 

The Takeaway:

Get involved, meet new people, do your research, read nutrition labels, and most importantly, eat more plants! 

I’m not here to tell you what not to eat. My goal is to inform and put you in a position to make better decisions for yourself.  

- Mallory

Source:

Mackey, J., Pulde, A., MD, & Lederman, M., MD. (2017). The Whole Foods Diet: The Lifesaving Plan for Health and Longevity. Grand Central Life & Style.