A Plant-Based Lifestyle
Written by Connie Rogers Health & Brain Health Coach
First Stage Of Change - The Balancing Act
The human body balances itself with the signature of foods. Carrots have a signature of our eyes; tomatoes have a signature of our heart; broccoli has a signature of our lungs; avocados have a signature of a woman’s womb, and so on.
Every cell in our body has a job to balance a positive and a negative electrical charge. Red blood cells have a positive charge internally and a negative charge on their surface. This surface negative charge causes red cells to repel each other so that there is ample room between them for oxygen and nutrients to flow and for the white cells to perform immune functions.
According to Fritz Frederick Smith, the body compensates for the energetic or vibratory loss. When there is an energetic deficiency, the body attempts to limit further loss by reducing its function. A deficiency can lead us down the road to ill health and depression. “When energy intake equals energy expenditure, the body is in energy balance, and body energy (generally equivalent to body weight) is stable.”
Choosing to chow down on junk and processed foods robs energy and interferes with the body’s elimination processes. Processed foods are energy blockers, shorten lifespan, and increase premature aging. Fact: “A true enemy of energy and a public health crisis is energy drinks.”
There is considerable evidence today that refined carbohydrates do not only promote heart disease; processed foods lead to obesity, diabetes, dementia, mental illness, and cancer.
Diet and lifestyle, particularly plant-based diets, are practical tools for the prevention and management of diabetes. In the elderly, diabetes increases our risk of institutionalization. “Scientists recommend eating patterns that emphasize legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds and discourage most or all animal products.” Additionally, plant diets reduce our risk of blood sugar imbalances, neuropathy and help balance cholesterol levels.
Humans Eat For Energy
Humans consume plant foods to help support the necessary energy our body and mind need to thrive.
The Journal of Human Nutrition suggests that plant-based estrogens prevent oxidative stress and offer nutritional benefits to our bodies. For instance: Lignans are found in fiber-rich foods such as berries, flaxseeds, raw nuts, and organic fruits. “Dietary intake of lignan-rich foods may prevent certain types of cancers.”
Incorporating a plant-based lifestyle can help reduce belly fat. For instance: Cruciferous vegetables are noted to be effective for burning belly fat with the bonus of fueling our brains. Asparagus are a great source of micronutrients and are beneficial for reducing belly fat. Spinach is a belly fat fighter and a must-have at least twice daily!
Eating organic apples in the morning surprisingly helps wake up our brain without reaching for coffee, plus helps reduce belly fat.
Beetroot is considered a superfood. “ Beetroot has properties to help prevent DNA damage and reduce LDL. It also has been found to exert anti-tumor activity by inhibiting cell proliferation, angiogenesis, inducing cell apoptosis, and autophagy.”
“Beetroot is classified as one of the ten plants with the highest antioxidant activity.”
There is a Balance found in eating vitamins when consuming plant-based foods.
Humans can’t survive without vitamin C. Two great sources of vitamin C are found in lemons and pineapple. “These help to boost immunity and lower inflammation and cancer risk.”
Vitamin D helps our body absorb Calcium. “Deficiency in vitamin D is linked to an increased risk for osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, depression, and autoimmune disorders.”
In the plant world, ‘Shiitake Mushrooms’ is a rich source of vitamin D.
Fact: If we are experiencing imbalances, they are found in both body and mind. “It has long been established in traditional forms of medicine and in anecdotal knowledge that the health of the body and mind are inextricably linked.”
Second Stage Of Change - Choose Wisely
“Vegan diets can satisfy the nutritional requirements of all life cycle stages. They can promote normal growth and development in infancy, childhood, and adolescence and meet the needs for energy and nutrients of these life cycle stages as well as those of pregnancy, lactation, and older adulthood.”
We live in an environment where eating cows fed trash and injected with hormones and antibiotics is considered normal, and eating organic plant-based food is considered weird. Hotdogs and buns are all American, and carrots are frowned upon.
Americans and Australians may depend on pollution, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics in their food supply. Fact: Ingesting Industrial farmed animals, and Monsanto crops may increase our toxic exposure in order to increase their profit and efficiency of growth.
An NIH Study explains how pesticides disrupt the brain and can be linked to most Central Nervous System Diseases. For instance: “The herbicide/antibiotic Glyphosate™, the active ingredient in Roundup®, is very disruptive to cellular systems causing neurotoxicity and may increase the risk for Alzheimer’s Disease and cancer.”
In the book The Hundred Year Lie, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control involving 2,400 adults and children, where more than two hundred synthetic chemical toxins were found in the subjects’ bodies, with a hundred more chemicals suspected to be present.
The human body was never intended to deal with this kind of chemical assault.
Make it a point to Choose Organic Produce, avoid GMOs and choose these plant foods that are organically grown.
Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Lentils, Strawberries, Bell Peppers, Carrots, Peaches, Sugar Beets, Salad Greens, Cherries, Bananas, Apples, Potatoes, & Yellow Crook-Neck Squash
Third Stage Of Change - Homeostasis
“Homeostasis is involved in every organ system of the body. In a similar vein, no one organ system of the body acts alone.”
“The endocannabinoid system is well known to be involved in regulating appetite, food intake, and energy metabolism.”
”In order to understand the endocannabinoid system, it’s also important to understand the key biological concept of “homeostasis,” which refers to any process or reaction that the body utilizes to actively maintain a stable internal environment.
The endogenous cannabinoid system is perhaps the most important physiologic system for establishing and maintaining human health. It is composed of endocannabinoids, which are endogenous lipid-based retrograde neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are found throughout the body in the brain, organs, connective tissues, glands, and immune cells. In each tissue, the cannabinoid system performs different tasks, but the goal is always the same: homeostasis.” Fact, “Almost every physiological process is affected by the endocannabinoid system on some level.”
Research shows the signals triggered by the endocannabinoid system send instructions to our ten systems, helping them operate efficiently bringing our body back into homeostasis.
Fourth Stage Of Change - Mental Atitude
“In Australia, snacks that have chips laced with eco-friendly cricket protein are being sold in 1000 school canteens.” I believe we need to eat plants rather than insects for protein requirements. For me, the idea of governments promoting eating insects is too hard to swallow. Chitin ( a bug protein) is different from plant proteins.” Some claim eating insects are environmentally sound and sustainable. “It turns out insect protein isn’t necessarily more sustainable than plant-based foods.” “If the world were to eat plant-based protein rather than insect protein, farmers would not have to clear as much land.”
There is also a belief that we need burgers and steaks for protein. Fact: plants can meet our protein needs. Avoid wheat and gluten products and eat mung beans. (last) Sprouted mung beans are a great plant protein and fiber source and are considered a superfood.
Plants & seeds containing protein include but are not limited to:
- chickpeas
- lentils
- Almond butter
- hemp seeds
- cooked quinoa
- black beans
- oats
- sunflower seeds
- green peas
Footnotes:
first stage
second stage
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2012/dec/brain-and-nervous-system-damaged-low-level-exposure-pesticides see also https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4132934/
third stage
- https://www.livekindly.com/is-eating-insects-ethical-future-protein/ chitin found in wheat products: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9324883/
