Why we recommend a plant-based diet

The term plant-based diet means that you are eating a diet that is predominantly based around the consumption of fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, beans, nuts and seeds. At plant-based health professionals UK, we recommend a 100% plant-based diet, which is one of the healthiest choices you can make. Eating a plant-based diet has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of our commonest chronic diseases, whilst helping you live a longer and healthier life. For example, a healthy plant-based diet reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 25%, cancer by 15%, type 2 diabetes by at least 50% and helps you maintain a healthy weight through-out your life. Plant-based diets are not only optimal for disease prevention but can also be used to treat established illness in conjunction with conventional medical treatments. A 100% whole food plant-based diet has been shown to be extremely useful for weight loss, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and much more. The impact of a plant-based diet is such that national and international guidelines now recommend plant-based diets for prevention of cardiovascular disease, and cancer and the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Major dietetic organisations around the world, including the BDA in the UK have confirmed that a 100% plant-based diet can meet nutritional requirements for all stages of life from birth through to old age.

A diet that supports both human and planetary health

We can no longer only be concerned about personal health. The health of our planet is in crisis with climate change threatening our very existence and the sixth mass extinction event already in progress. The global food system is a major contributor to the climate crisis with animal agriculture contributing significantly through its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, species loss and water pollution. Animal agriculture is also constantly generating new infectious threats and these infections can result in human epidemics and pandemics at any given time. The use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is also a major driver in generating antibiotic-resistant infections, which again poses a real threat to human health. There is now global consensus that to sustain both human and planetary health, we must all shift to a plant-based food system.