Friends of the Pacific Electric Trail: CAN A PLANT-BASED DIET IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH?

Plant-based food is incredibly delicious and if you're wondering whether cutting out more animal products can work for you, the answer is almost certainly yes -- assuming you're eating a varied diet with plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and plant protein sources. While a plant-based diet will not turn you from an occasional tennis player to a professional athlete, you may see athletic performance gains stemming from quicker recovery times. Plus, you have a good likelihood of enjoying other outcomes like lowered cholesterol and a healthier heart. Start with just one day a week where you eat a vegetarian diet, like a "Meatless Monday," and see how your body responds. Or, just try cutting out junk food in your diet and replacing empty calories with plant-based foods like nuts, legumes, or veggies. We all look forward to holiday gatherings when we see a bowl full of mixed nuts containing cashews, almonds, filberts and brazil nuts on the coffee table. Why wait for the holidays to treat yourself to a delicious, healthy snack? Consider the long-term health effects when you reach for the empty calories when buying snacks such as chips vs. dried fruit and nuts. Treat yourself to delicious healthy snacks because you’re worth it. The bottom line is that if you're interested in the benefits of a plant-based diet, you should experiment with what you're eating, try to add more plant-based whole foods and figure out what makes you feel best. Just by reducing the amount of animal protein in your diet to occasional consumption can reap health benefits you can feel quickly.

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We have all read that the Mediterranean diet is generally accepted that people in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea live longer and suffer less than most Americans from cancer and cardiovascular ailments. The not-so-surprising secret is an active lifestyle, weight control, and a diet low in red meat, sugar, and saturated fat and high in produce, nuts, and other healthful foods. The Mediterranean Diet may offer a host of health benefits, including weight loss, heart and brain health, cancer prevention, and diabetes prevention and control. By following the Mediterranean Diet, you could also keep that weight off while avoiding chronic disease.

There is not a standard Mediterranean diet, per say. Greeks eat differently from Italians, who eat differently from the French and Spanish. But what they do have in common is that they share many of the same principles of consuming more fruit, legumes, vegetables, grains, nuts, and olive oil daily or the Mediterranean way. According to us news

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More and more professional athletes are embracing plant-based diets as a healthy choice that not only tastes good, but provides the necessary vitamins and nutrients for endurance, performance, and energy. Researchers were intrigued as athletes in a wide range of sports announced they were following vegan diets to boost performance. Professional athletes who have gone public about going vegan, at least during training, include tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, several members of pro football's Tennessee Titans, arm wrestler Rob Bigwood and Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton. Compared with meat-eaters, people on vegan diets consume more antioxidants: vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene." Onions, garlics, and leeks – members of the allium vegetable group – also have antioxidant properties.

Patrik Baboumian is the world's strongest man, and he is vegan.

Clearly Veg

Why are so many athletes following plant-based diets? Reducing the amount of meat you consume could actually help your overall health goals Andre Patton, a wide receiver who plays in the NFL, has said that he feels the difference from eating a vegan diet, and that he wakes up in the morning more energetic and ready to go. American tennis legend Venus Williams eats a vegan diet to reduce fatigue and joint pain. Patrick Baboumian -- who once carried the heaviest weight ever recorded -- has said that he has lowered his blood pressure and increased his recovery time by avoiding all animal products. Tom Brady reportedly eats a diet that's 80% plant-based. Everywhere you turn, there seem to be more and more elite athletes going vegan, or at least vegetarian.

Harvard Medical School says that a vegan diet reduces heart-damaging inflammation, and a meta-analysis of various studies concluded that vegetarian diets are helpful in managing long-term inflammation. Multiple other outlets have echoed the same thing -- eating more plants and less animal products will help lower your inflammation. Medical researchers are thinking more and more about inflammation as a root cause of a lot of our ailments. Inflammation is a necessary immune response.

On a day-to-day level, inflammation can cause swollen and painful joints, chronic bloating and fatigue -- three things that would make any athlete's performance suffer. Therefore, it makes perfect sense why so many people say they feel better when they switch to a more plant-based diet. By simply combining two sources of plant protein -- like beans and rice -- will also give you all the amino acids you need. Glycogen is essentially the fuel your muscles use to perform, and more readily available fuel means a higher energy output. So, a higher intake of healthy carbohydrates allows athletes to perform at high intensity levels. A plant-based diet filled with whole grains, fruits and vegetables typically gives people the fuel they need when exercising. If a plant-based diet is something you have been considering, now is the time to try it for yourself and discover how much energy you’ve been missing. Please comment below