What We Eat in America is a report prepared by the US Department of Agriculture. It contains pages and pages of data, sliced and diced. Fascinating for researchers, though leaving most readers cross-eyed.
But one way to boil it down is to look at where our calories come from in the American diet. Sadly, only about 12% of calories come from phytonutrient foods – foods that are essential for a long healthy life, like whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. The rest of our calories are spent on oils, animal products, and sugar.
So what? What if that 12% were doubled, or tripled? Would we have longer, healthier lives?
The answer is (of course) YES. Most deaths in the US are preventable, and they are related to what we eat. Our diet is the number-one cause of premature death and the number-one cause of disability. In terms of life expectancy, the US is down at thirty-five on the list of the world’s countries. People in Slovenia live longer than we do. And any extra years aren’t healthy or vibrant.
Why, with all our resources, do we have such a poor diet? Powerful players have vested interests in the status quo. The processed food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries spend billions on marketing – to influence us, the consumers – and lobbying – to influence government decisions.
But individuals like you and me can inform ourselves and make good choices. We can increase our phytonutrients with a plant-based diet. The health benefits of a plant-based diet are profound.
Many people cannot eliminate animal products all at once. It seems too drastic.
But what if you were sneaky about it? What if you came at it from a different direction and just incorporated more and more fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains into your diet? Here are ten ideas for adding more plants to your diet.
- Ditch the dairy. Replace cow milk with one of the readily available plant milks: almond, soy, oat, hemp, coconut. Try each one and find your favorite. I like unsweetened soy milk myself.
- “Plantify” chili or any sauce where you’re used to using ground beef, by replacing it with a veggie crumble. I like the Gardein products, found in the freezer section of the grocery store. Lentils are also a great substitute.
- Add greens to every meal. Spinach smoothie for breakfast, lettuce wraps for lunch, chopped kale salad at dinnertime.
- Find a new recipe using my friend Google. “whole-food vegan recipes” results in 340 million hits. Add “easy” to the search term and narrow it down to 264 million. Browse a while, print out the ones that look do-able, and experiment! Or go to McIntyre’s and leaf through the vegan cookbooks.
- Expand your whole grains repertoire. Farro, millet, barley, and quinoa are complex carbs and energy powerhouses.
- Veggie burgers have come a long way! The Beyond Meat burger and the Impossible Burger promise meat-like flavor and texture. Too close for me, actually! I’ve always liked Morningstar’s Griller myself.
- In recipes and soups, replace meat broths with veggie broth. Better Than Bouillon has several kinds: No Chicken, No Beef, Vegetable, and Mushroom. Each is a flavor bomb with less salt than those little cubes.
- Put a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter. Ours contains tangerines and bananas. Harris Teeter often has bags of little organic pears, so sweet and delicious.
- Prep and chop carrots, celery, and bell peppers, to keep in the fridge. You’re more likely to add them to salads, soups, and casseroles because they’re so accessible.
- Everyone loves soup, and here’s a tip: replace cream with boiled potato. Blend, and no one will know the difference. I make “cream” of broccoli, asparagus, and celery soups that way.