Leo Babauta and vegetable diet

The debate about what is more natural and healthy for a man - meat or vegetables, started long ago and still can not subside. And every time there are more and more facts and figures, which confirm the correctness of one or the other side.

I think we should listen to your body, and there is that at the moment he needs, whether it is a cabbage, meat, fish or dairy products. Moreover, I personally believe that the daily steak or hard veganism, Fruitarianism and raw food diet will not lead to anything good, like all extremes. Who said that if you can not just cut meat consumption to a minimum and increase your vegetable diet? Those who feel sorry for the cow can give up meat, but continue to eat milk, dairy products and cheese - is not a crime. The accusation of weakness of willpower - it's all the machinations of fanatics, and you should not compromise their health, trying to swallow a spoonful of regular "soup", which was prepared at a temperature of 40-45 degrees Celsius, proving yet another fanatic that you are not weakling. There are much more pleasant way to a healthy lifestyle. Not a very short and simple, but still pleasant.

And now we go to the most important and interesting - to plan the transition from a standard power on dietBased mostly on plants, which was for himself Leo Babauta, author of the blog and Zenhabits quite an impressive number of small books on minimalism, productivity and healthy life.

The advantages of plant-based diet

Losing excess weight. When people eat a lot of meat, semi-finished products from processed flour, refined sugar, they get better. When people eat mostly plant foods, and the use of these products is minimized, they finally begin to lose weight and feel much better.

Prevention of cardiovascular diseases. If you do not eat animal products, or reduced them to a minimum, it means that your body began to receive less harmful fatsWhich are deposited on the walls of blood vessels and thus cause cardiovascular disease.

Prevention of diabetes mellitus. If you give up sweets, based on refined sugar, Then you reduce your chances of diabetes of the second type to almost zero. And this will be the best not only in our pancreas, but also to the waist, as this is part of the sugar cakes, pastries, candies and other sweets. All this is better to replace that with a generous nature gives us - honey, sweet dried fruits (dates, figs, apricots, prunes, etc...).

Most centenarians hold mainly plant-based dietOkinawa - vegetarian diet based on sweet potatoes, soybeans, large amounts of vegetables and a small amount of fish and very occasionally - pork; Sardinia - plenty of vegetables and legumes, cheese and meat only once a week.

Preservation of the environment. It sounds a bit strange and unusual, but have you ever thought about how much waste gives us the animal industry? Ladybugs, goat, sheep and other cloven-hoofed, poultry and pigs eat a lot and, as a result, leave behind a large amount of waste, which release into the air is not only unpleasant odors (who at least once passed near the poultry farm, he will understand, I'm talking about), but also notorious CO2. According to UN data, in 2006 the share of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, formed as a result of the Earth Livestock accounted for 18%, while the share of emissions due to the transport of all types together accounted 13,5%. That is what we eat, literally killing us indirectly. I'm not talking about how much additional resources spent on raising animals on the farm. To "one hamburger" goes from 4000 to 18 000 liters per day.

On compassionate grounds, I will not say. There are religious groups who believe that even the plants and stones have a soul. So we all have to go a diet based on food only prana and solar energy. It is said that there are such people. But I still have not met such. And you?

transition plan

If you We are used to eating meat every day, go directly to the plant-based diet will be difficult and fraught with health. So you need to do it gradually and it is advisable to consult with a doctor prior to this, especially if you have health problems. That is to switch to a normal diet definitely need to, but carefully!

Step №1. Reduce the consumption of meat. If you are an avid meat-eater, but you know that your health will be better if you at least reduce consumption of meat, start to do it gradually. If you're used to eat meat every day, enter a fast day in the week. When you get used to it gradually will be reduced or eating meat to a minimum (to leave one day of meat in a week or even a month), or completely give it up. Start with giving up red meat, then go to the birds, then fish and seafood. And in parallel with the rejection of meat try new vegetable products, experimenting with different foods.

Step №2. waiver eggs. This step is optional, but not particularly complex. Just try it.

Step №3. Reduce the consumption of dairy products. Leo offers to try to phase out dairy products, but if you do not imagine can complete rejection of curd or cheese, you can leave these foods in your diet, just reduce them quantity.

Step №4. Go on whole, unprocessed foods. This is much more complicated than it seems at first glance. Although, if only because the shelves of our shops littered with processed products and semi-finished goods, while the choice of the same whole-wheat bread rather limited. Instead of salted peanuts or pistachios better try raw almonds, walnuts or cashews. More vegetables and greens, less starchy foods, sweet and savory snacks.

The same can be replaced by products to which we are accustomed, without prejudice to the body? There are quite a large number of options.

substitutes

Legumes and other proteins. It's not just beans, peas, black and red beans, various kinds of lentils and peas (chickpeas love - in He nutty flavor!), but also tofu, soy and almond milk, soy yogurt and more more. The main thing that they have been produced from non-genetically modified soybeans.

Nuts and seeds. I think that now you can buy almost any nuts in the shops and markets. With the seed situation is slightly more complicated, but the sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and sunflower seeds can brighten up a surprisingly large number of dishes. I think that here you can add wheat germ and soy.

Good fats.fats needed by the body. Just fats of vegetable origin and is better without consequences absorbed by our bodies. Vegetable oils, avocados, nuts and seeds - all are sources of good fats.

Greenery. This is one of the most important components of the plant-based diet, particularly green with a dark green color - it contains a huge amount of vitamins, calcium and iron. This spinach, kale, broccoli and cabbage. Another plus - virtually zero calories and high in fiber!

Useful starch. It is found in sweet potatoes, red potatoes, sprouted grains wheat, pumpkin and brown rice.

Berries. Any berries of any kind - it is always an incredibly tasty and healthy! Just do not forget about them, and if you can freeze, do not miss the chance! So great winter drink a smoothie of soy milk and frozen blueberries or add a couple of oatmeal raspberries.

The drinks. Despite the almost entirely vegetarian diet, Leo does not give up entirely on coffee and wine. In the morning - coffee without sugar, day - green tea, and in the evening for dinner a little red wine for a pleasant end of the evening.

As I said, we should not completely abandon the pleasant things. If you like coffee, try drinking it without sugar and in smaller quantities. At first it may be a bit unusual, and warn you that you have to go to a very high quality and not very cheap coffee as sugar and milk is easy to mask the taste is not very high quality drink. But if you drink it without sugar, and one flaw is hidden from your taste buds. You know, this is coffee, which even after one drink cringe? Better than more expensive and less tasty than the often tasteless!

Experiment, look new and interesting recipes, go in for sports, read good books, travel and enjoy life. Because to live - rearaboutRehoboam, and healthyabout live - even better;)