My favourite post workout meal at the moment and an all-time favourite of my non-vegan friends!
This is my all-time favourite dinner at the moment. I don´t like savoury things for breakfast but my mum loves this recipe in the morning too. This is also a great post workout meal because the tofu gives it a high protein content and the veggies provide the antioxidants that will help your recovery.
Have a look at my Instagram for other easy but delicious recipes ans leave a comment down below if you like this style of posts ; )
what you should include into your everyday meals in orderr to get all the health benefits of a whole foods plant-based diet
Every healthy meal should consist of the five groups: fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains, legumes and vegetables. Try to include each of this food groups in your main meals or in general around the day. Always remember that you don´t need to do this very strictly with every meal and that you should rather look on the total you get in a day. I have included some meal ideas for you below, maybe that will help you! For more meal inspiration have a look at the recipe section or if you want it even more easy, on my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mylifeasanathlete_/?hl=de
5-A-Day : a minimum of five servings of fruit and vegetables every day to improve your health!
The idea behind this concept, which is used by multiple health and well being organisations around the world like the NHS, is to make sure that we eat five servings of fruit and vegetables every day to stay healthy or to maybe improve our health by making these small changes to our diet. Almost all fruit and vegetables count towards your 5-A-Day, so it may be easier than you think to get your recommended daily amount if you take a closer look at it!
There are many health benefits from eating more vegetables and fruit on a daily basis that can have a very big impact on our lives, especially as we get older or if we do a physically challenging job or sport. As I mentioned in previous posts, the fibre that we partially get form fruits and vegetables is crucial to our health, as well as the antioxidants that they contain.
A diet high in fibre is known to decrease all cause mortality risks with “an 11% reduction in mortality risk for each 10g/d increment of dietary fibre consumed” (1) where as antioxidants are found in colourful foods and limit the free radicals which would otherwise cause oxidative stress to our bodies which can lead to fatigue and even DNA damage.
Studies have shown that individuals consuming a amount of >20 g fiber/day which is equal to around 200g of fruit, had significantly lower risk of premature death by about 40% and also showed to be really beneficial for successful ageing. Furthermore a diet high in fiber has proved to have a good effect on mental well-being, reduces the risk of depression and provides the body with anti-inflammatory markers that help it to recover. (3) This is because of the gut-brain connection, which has a huge influence for example on our mental well-being. The gut microbiome thrives on fibre, the more diverse the better!
Furthermore a diet high in fibre has ben proven to be beneficial for weight loss as fibre satiates us. Studies have shown that by simply changing your diet to a more plant based one, which is naturally higher in fibre, without controlling portion sizes, the individuals lost weight automatically. (1,5)
The lowest target that everyone should try to achieve is 5-a-day which means five hands of vegetables and fruits every day because there are so many benefits of having those, as shown below. But research in the UK has shown that young adults get the fewest portions of fruit and veg and only 21% of 16-24 year olds achieve the 5-a-day target mostly because they don´t know how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diet.
If you feel the same, that you would like to have a healthier diet but don´t know how, have a look at some meal inspiration and try to make small steps until eating more healthier options becomes a habit and gets easier. Why nor try to incorporate a fruit or vegetable in every meal… chop an apple into you morning cereal or add some berries, take a extra piece of fruit with you when you go to work or school or generally start to think about what vegetables you have in the house before you start cooking and try to include them and build the meal around it.
1 Stephen, A. M., Champ, M. M.-J., Cloran, S. J., Fleith, M., van Lieshout, L., Mejborn, H., & Burley, V. J. (2017). Dietary fibre in Europe: current state of knowledge on definitions, sources, recommendations, intakes and relationships to health. Nutrition Research Reviews, 30(02) http://sci-hub.st/10.1017/s095442241700004x
2 sci-hub.st/10.1017/s095442241700004xhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6356661/
3https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315720/
4https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/why-5-a-day/
5 https://jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(09)00700-7/fulltext
My first book review about the perfect Morning Routine that can change your life for good to be more successful, productive and happy…
I recently thought about starting a series of book reviews of the ones that I have read and would recommend. If you like the idea let me know and feel free to write your own favourites in the comments down below!
The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams
Oprah
The Miracle Morning is a book by Hal Elrod. I stated reading it about 5 months ago and I must say it has changed my start in the day immensely. I feel more motivated to start in the day than before and see more of a purpose in my life and actions which continues to excite me every day. I am sure you know that feeling when you get up in the morning, not particularly looking forward to the upcoming tasks, nothing to be excited for this day, just the usual going to work/to school. Then this is a book for you!
The idea is that a particular morning routine can turn your everyday into something completely different, by simply performing a few tasks in the morning that will set you up for the day, to be a more archiving, productive and happy person. In order to achieve that the author integrated several concepts of successful and popular people like Will Smith, Bill Gates and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the routine that he describes and that he carries out in the morning at 6 o´clock before he has to continue with his other tasks.
In the beginning I confess I was a bit sceptical… I found that some of the steps appeared to be a bit weird and I definitely wasn´t convinced that this is worth waking up 1 hour earlier that usual because I value my sleep a lot and I couln´t imagine how I would have a better day if I would be sleep deprived every night. Never the less I started reading the book and after a few chapters decided to give it a go but in a short more doable way for me at a time.
The author calls this the 6 minute Miracle Morning because you do all the 6 steps he does in a hour spending each 10 minutes on a different one, in 6 minutes instead. To be honest I never took a close look to the clock but just started and spent 1-3 minutes on each task and I must say that really appealed to me. That way I didn´t have the pressure of spending exactly 10 minutes on all of them but was able to do the timing myself and I found that these varied every day depending on my mood and stress levels.
It´s the repetition of affirmations that leads to the belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.
Muhammad Ali
Ordinary people beliefe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not only what is possible, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible.
Cherie Carter-Scott
Ideas can come from anywhere at anytime. But the problem with making mental notes is that the ink fades very rapidly.
Rolf Smith
These are the intentional steps that will change your morning for ever. It doesn´t matter in which order you choose to do them or at what time but I must say I find it makes a lot of sense to use them to get ready for the day, instead of doing them at night or at a random time during your day because the intention is to create a more purposeful and productive day, which is set up in the morining.
For me the corona virus had one good side by giving me a lot more influence on the way I want to structure my day. Now I have the opportunity to plan my day all by myself and am able to make the time in the morning to extend the 6 minute miracle morning that I previously did. I still don´t spend an entire hour on the steps but the better part of 30 minutes whereat I don´t take the same amount of time for each part and I don´t need to do them at 6 in the morning, but relaxed around 8.
As I am currently in the midst of my exam preperation and the Miracle Morning routine has definitely helped me to structure my day and to make it less stressful as a start my day way calmer and structured. Especially if you:
If you have any of these issues, I think building as routine like this would be really beneficial for you. It helps you to remind you of your goals and own capabilities which keeps your motivation high and also helps you to be more focused because you know what you want and what you are working for. Doing the same thing every morning also helps you to get out of bed every time because it just becomes a habit that you do without thinking, which is beneficial for other aspects of your life as well if you previously lost a lot of time in the morning procrastinating, which you could have spent with your family or getting some movement in.
Let me know if you like this sort of style for posts and comment your book recommendations down below ; )
The Miracle Morning Website:
Qick & Easy cookies made only from whole foods and sweetend with dates. The perfect delicious, but healthy afternoon snack!
These healthy cookies are made without sugar and only of nutritious ingredients like dates, peanuts and oats. I personally always need something sweet after lunch and dinner and these are just perfect! If you are used to a lot of artificially sweetened treats then these might appear a little bit bland to you but trust me when you taste buts start to adapt to more nutritious and whole foods they will be just perfectly sweet. Nevertheless feel free to add more chocolate if you are more of a sweet tooth than I am ; )
*sub with normal flour if you don´t have access to coconut or peanut flour (just blend peanuts)
** if you like your cookies more fluffy and with a little bit more flavour you can also swap out the peanut flour with 30g of nut butter of your choice. I tried this with cashew butter and I personally loved the consistency, but I think peanut or almond butter would work just as well and give it an even better taste
If you enjoyed this recipe please give this post a like and let me know in the comments how it worked out for you or what kind of recipes you would like to see next ; )
Delicious squares with layers of chocolate, caramel and shortbread made form healthy, whole foods.
These are super easy to make and only require a short amount of time because they are served raw! This recipe is mostly made of healthy, whole food ingredients such as dates and almonds that make this treat even more delicious. If you love chocolate and caramel, like basically all of the people I know, you definitely need to try these.
* I used half coconut oil, half cacao powder as I ran out of oil
If you enjoyed this recipe be sure to give it a like and comment down below. Click the button to follow this blog for more delicious recipes ; )
Inspiration:https://thehappypear.ie/recipes/vegan-millionaire-square/
Tips and Tricks to motivate yourself and to introduce self-discipline into your daily routine, in order to achieve everything you want in all the aspects of your life.
HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED?
This is a question I recently heard a lot. Whether that is due to the current circumstances that we face as we all can´t go to the gym or do the sports that we are used to, or just in general. Most of us have a lot more free time and feel like, probably because of the enormous amount of at-home-workouts that suddenly turn up on social media, that we should move more. So this is a very good time to start being more active and take a step towards our fitness goals. However, motivation is not only required in sports, but all parts of our lives if we want to be successful and fulfil our whole potential.
For me this has never been a problem. “Get up and move” – easy, but “rest and recover” – not really my thing. You probably think : “I wish I had your problems” but I can tell you it is far worse for your body if you don´t know when to stop and rest because you always end up doing to much. But this is a completely different issue and to get back to the one you want to get rid of let me tell you as an athlete, who always trains alone, without a coach or someone that keeps me accountable, I can tell you that once you can motivate yourself to train alone and feel motivated to do so, you will benefit for the rest of your life in all imagenable aspects. Now I know how to work hard for my goals and don´t get sidetraked that easily because I know I can get things done alone, without someone pushing me, because I don´t need anyone else to tell me what to do or when. But this took time to develop and if you feel like you never end up doing the things you set yourself to do, than I will try to help you manifest that attitude of approaching things like I do, into your routine.
Let´s take the example of exercise. Regardless the reason why you want to get into exercising more, be that to loose fat, built more muscle or to stay in shape, we all face the same problem and the same question: Why should I do this home workout/ go for this run now if I could just as easily stay on this sofa and enjoy the time that I have at home? Do you always assure yourselves that you can do this tomorrow because now is not the right time, because you feel tired or simply not in the mood to get up?
Well in this case I have to tell you that THIS WILL NOT MIRACLIOUSLY GET EASIER ALL OF A SUDDON and that you will at some point get a magic motivation boost, but that you need to GET UP AND MOVE ! The question that you need to ask yourself is not Should I do this? but rather HOW am I going to do this? This might be different for everyone which is the reason why the question should be: How am I going to do this? and not How do all the other people approach this?. By asking yourself that particular question, you acknowledge that you decided on doing something. Now you just need to work out a technique that works for you and gets you to move away for you comfort zone and do that something .
If you now think “easier said than done” I agree but there are some things that can help you to get into the right mindset which will motivate you every time and will keep you motivated in the long term.
How to set the right goals that are realistic and keep you motivated to carry on.
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
Jim Rohn
https://www.miraclemorning.com/
Please let me know if you found this article useful and give this post a like. Follow my blog if you don´t want to miss out on any other interesting posts around the topics of fitness, nutrition and living a healthier life. – If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly via social media.
How to set the right goals that are realistic and keep you motivated to carry on.
Will I loose all my progress during isolation or detraining? Science explained and some tips to remain fit.
How to fuel yourself properly for training and optimal recovery – the benefits of plant-based nutrition
health benefits that you did not know about and how plants can be the remedy for many common issues like high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes
Quick and Easy Granola Bars to fuel you training with a healthy snack.
During this time, where food options might be limited in our households, I think it is especially beneficial to have some healthy and easy to make snacks on hand to satisfy or cravings. Whether you just want something in between your meals, just before training or as a recovery snack, these are perfect and really easy to make in 20 min!
Inspired by https://minimalistbaker.com/super-seedy-granola-bars/
health benefits that you did not know about and how plants can be the remedy for many common issues like high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes
How to fuel yourself properly for training and optimal recovery – the benefits of plant-based nutrition
How to fuel yourself properly for training and optimal recovery – the benefits of plant-based nutrition
Among the other benefits of a plant based diet, like reduced risk of morbidity and mortality, heart disease, cancer, or developing type 2 diabetes, a plant-based diet also has shown to be especially beneficial for athletes. Many studies show multiple benefits that I am going to review in this post, so if you are interested how to get your performance to the next level, have a read. In the end I also mention the most important facts that you should take away from all of this in order to benefit you training, recovery and health and some practical advice to take small steps towards a better nutrition.
This is about what you should try to eat more of, rather than what you should not eat!
If you want to built muscle and help your muscles recover faster from training, getting a good amount of indispensable amino acids like BCAAs (what proteins are made of) through our diet is really important as they are important for promoting muscle protein synthesis and our bodies can´t make them themselves. Many people are worried that they won´t get enough protein on a vegan diet because they won´t get the protein from meat or dairy protein such as Whey. (7) According to the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine the protein recommendation for endurance and strength-trained athletes ranges from 1.2 to 1.7 g/kg (1). From my own experience I can say that it is really manageable to get that amount of protein on a fully vegan diet if you eat enough calories from whole foods such as legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds (have a look at my earlier blog post if you want to learn how to built a perfect healthy meal). Protein is in everything we eat and that´s where the animals get it from in the first place. Therefore animals are just the middle men and we can avoid them by eating the plant ourselves. If you are not convinced picture just picture an ox for a second. Does this animal look weak to you? NO, because it is huge, has enormous muscles and you definitely don´t want to come near it if it looks angry. And guess what it eats… not meat but only plants. For long, the misconception that vegan diets provide insufficient amino acids, labelt plant protein as an incomplete protein source as they don´t have a “complete” amino acid profile. But even if whole foods like quinoa or even cacao didn´t have that it wouldn´t matter because we don´t need to get all amino acids at exactly the same time, but throughout the day or week and that is easily done by eating a variety of vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Furthermore, consuming animal protein also results in us having higher circulating levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO).TMAO is a substance that injures the lining of our vessels, creates inflammation, and facilitates the formation of cholesterol plaques in our blood vessels. And that, of course, is highly problematic for cardiovascular health and inhibits blood flow to our muscles which results in poorer recovery. (4)
Data of a huge cross sectional study showed that omnivores consumed more total energy, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and protein but less fiber, calcium, and iron than vegetarians. Vegans consumed the least energy, saturated fat, sodium, and calcium, but the most fiber and iron as the diet is naturally higher in whole foods and furthermore provides the body with more vitamins and nutrients. The study concluded that the main advantage for the serious athlete to adopt a nutritarian-style vegan or near vegan diet may be the improved immunocompetence (better immune response to viruses etc.) with the positive effect of not missing training and events because of illness . This is especially important for people doing all sorts of sport because training causes stress to the body and alone a single intense workout temporarily diminishes immune function. So we should do all that we can to help our bodies to reduce stress and inflammation in the first place as we are more vulnerable anyway if we train hard. For example excess fat intake and poor food choices may exacerbate exercise and induced immunosuppression where as Carotenoid (pigment molecules abundant in green and other coloured vegetables) are known to enhance immune function. Furthermore antioxidants (molecules in colourful vegetables) are really helpful to reduce inflammation in the body which is created through free radicals which are produced during exercise and are known to play a role in prominent conditions such as cardiovascular disease and the development of cancer. Antioxidants can neutralize inflammation and studies found that supplements of specific isolated antioxidants would be vastly outperformed by the complex combinations of antioxidants and other phytonutrients in high-micronutrient, whole foods. So it can be said that it is most effective to eat more foods that are high in antioxidants, some of which are listed below (the same is observed in epidemiological studies). In Conclusion there are simply many proven benefits of eating more colourful vegetables to help recovery and reduce inflammation that is created through training.
All that said it has also be taken into account that “vegan” does not necessarily directly mean healthy as it can nowadays also consist of processed foods such as meat alternatives. Furthermore athletes should be testing their blood from time to time in order to make sure that their ferritin (iron stores) is high enough due to the reduced bioavailability of the type of iron that is found in plants. But again I have made the experience that if I eat a good amount of whole foods I don’t have any problems with that. (coffein has also a big impact on iron absorption so if you always have coffee straight after or with your meals you should consider that the iron absorption is really limited). Furthermore vegans or vegetarians should take a vitamin B12 supplement because B12 is made from bacteria in the soil and we can’t make it ourselves (animals can’t either, but they get supplemented as well so you can get vitamin B12 through meat). In Addition to that I would advice to take a Vitamin D supplement as well, at least during the winter, as our bodys need sunshine to produce it and we would need around 15 min of direct exposure to strong sunlight in order to produce a good amount (most effective on bare forearms or the forehead).
If you found this post interesting please give me a like and make sure to follow this blog ; )
The next recipe will be a healthy snack to fuel you training and recovery properly so stay tuned for that!
1 Nutrition and Athletic Performance. (2009). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION DIETITIANS OF CANADA
2Fueling the Vegetarian (Vegan) Athlete Joel Fuhrman and Deana M. Ferreri Dr. Fuhrman.com, Inc., Flemington, NJ
3https://www.pinterest.de/pin/419679258997532825/
4https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/animalproteindangers/#gs.31a9wn
health benefits that you did not know about and how plants can be the remedy for many common issues like high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes
Being plant based… this is a very important topic for me hence this article. This is not about me trying to convince you of veganism by any means but just my honest opinion on the issue ( one of the many being climate chance) that we are going to face in the future and some of my own experiences with the plant-based lifestyle. As I feel really passionate about this topic there is a lot that I want to touch on, but at first I want to talk about the health benefits for everyone on a plant-based diet and how to include some more plant foods in your life. In order to make this a little bit easier I included a 5 step plan to achieve that. So please just have a read and conclude for yourself if this is important for you or not. If you do want to improve your nutrition please have a look at some of my ideas to make life easier for you, that I included at the end.
By the way, by plant-based I mean a vegetarian or vegan diet as many studies concern these rather than only a vegan diet. The following shows that even if you are not prepared to go fully vegan, there are already many benefits by going vegetarian or by just adding more vegetables and whole foods to your diet.
For the past year I have more or less adopted a plant-based nutrition approach. At first more accidentally because I started to cook a lot for myself and that way started to become more interested in cooking in general. A lot of cookbooks that we had had for years and that I had previously never looked at suddenly sprang to my attention. Cookbooks like “Deliciously Ella” which worked with a lot of ingredients previously unknown to me like quinoa, chia seeds or hummus. Combined with me new goals for nutrition at the time I started to investigate a lot of plant based recipes primarily because they were deemed healthy from social media and other sources, not knowing that over time I started to prefer these over a lot of other food. At first all those recipes seemed really complicated, containing ingredients that I could not remember to ever heard of and was far from using before.
But time by time I got my staples together, Avocado, tempeh/tofu and generally more vegetables and fruit. Avocado on toast and smoothies became my go-to meals and without me noticing I found myself only eating meat or fish on special occasions, going out or when my mum cooked for us and at was just more convenient for me to eat what she had prepared. Diary milk had long gone from my pantry as I found that I always felt sick after having it and was replaced by plant milk wich made my skin a lot better. Over time I watched some documentaries and listend to tome podcasts that made me aware of the actual benefits for my health, my environment as well as my recovery. In the following I want to share these with you, alongside some of my experience in my daily life as well as with the stigma around “being vegan”. I have no intentions on converting you to veganism but on the contrary just want to educate and tell my personal experiences.
Suboptimal nutrition is a leading contributor to chronic disease and premature death in the United States and worldwide
Don´t we all want to life a long, happy life, without having a chronic illness or dying of cancer at the age of 50. At least I, want to see my grandchildren grow up and be able to play with them, instead of telling them that I am too old and can´t move that much anymore because I am in risk of a stroke or have too high blood pressure. I don´t want to be taking pills at a certain age every day to counteract all those symptoms that I could have avoided even getting by just optimising my nutrition. This might take me a few weeks to get used to, but what are a few weeks compared to my whole life?
Even if you don´t see it that way, I beliefe that if you were on of those people having diabetes or cardiovascular disease you would probably do anything to get rid of those and continue with your normal lives. I am no doctor and I am not giving out any advice if you are ill but I just want to outline some of the recent studies about the power of a plant-based lifestyle on disease prevention and even treatment. In my opinion our healthcare system should focus a lot more on disease preventions rather than prescribing pills to everyone who has a problem. There is a lot one could say about the links between the pharmacy Industrie and health care but this isn´t the intention of this post. So if you are interested in proves where a plant-based diet has done much good for ill people and which is not commonly known, because doctors usually don´t look at diet, go on and have a read.
Almost one half of cardio-metabolic deaths in the U.S. might be prevented through proper nutrition.
According to a recent analysis, certain dietary factors, including high intakes of sodium and processed meat products and low intakes of fruits and vegetables, were associated with 45.5% of cardio-metabolic deaths, were as a “plant-based diet” (vegan or vegetarian) is associated as effective strategy for improving nutrient intake. Plant-based diets are also associated with decreased all-cause mortality and decreased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease. This is mainly due to the risk factors for those, being diets high in animal fat and refined foods alongside obesity (being over-weight). (2)
For example all the time a lot of people die from suvere illnesses like cardiovascular disease. It is the leading cause for deaths in the United States and every 37 seconds one person dies. It is caused by a damage to your heart or blood vessels through Plaque building in your arteries and venes (atherosclerosis). These blocked blood vessels can lead to a heart attack, chest pain or stroke and are mainly caused though too high cholesterol levels. (3) Which are in turn caused by a diet to too high in saturated fat and trans-fats found in animal and highly processed products (diary,eggs,meat) , obesity and Diabetes because high blood sugar contributes to higher levels of Cholesterol. (4)
Diabetes: An estimated 382 million adults worldwide had diabetes in 2013; this number is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035. Numerous studies have shown that vegans and vegetarians are at a much lower risk of diabetes and additionally those diets have shown to be helpful not only in prevention but also in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in several clinical trials. Compared with more conventional diets in treatment of type 2 diabetes, vegetarian diets are almost twice as effective and showed a significantly better control over blood sugar levels. The glycemic control also seems to be linked to diet as the release of an important hormone (gastrointestinal hormone) is for example diminished after eating processed meat. (2)
High Blood pressure is another common issue that many people take daily medication for. 143 million life-years of disability were attributable to hypertension (high blood pressure) and is associates with other leading causes of death as even only 10 mm Hg increase in diastolic blood pressure doubles the risk of a stroke. On the contrary the reduction of 5 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure leads to a 7 percent reduced risk of all-cause mortality, a 9 percent reduced risk of heart disease. That shows the immense impact of good blood sugar levels of out whole health status. A meta-analysis of multiple studies and trials proved that subjects on a vegetarian diet had much better blood pressure levels compared to a omnivorous control group and that furthermore a vegetarian diet decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure independent of other factors such as salt intake or exercise levels. Again it is important to notice that only the reduction in systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg is estimated to result in a 7% reduction in all-cause mortality, a 9% reduction in mortality due to coronary heart disease, and a 14% reduction in mortality due to stroke, which shows how important even a slight decrease in blood pressure levels can be and that these can be accomplished without medication on a plant-based diet. (2)
Almost 10 Millon people die from cancer every year. Already in 2007 a study published by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research showed that the consumption of processed as well as red meat has been associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer because some chemicals in meat and especially meat cooked at high temperature, induces DNA damage which is the source for tumours that then spread around the body and create what er know as cancer (9)When we ingest animal protein, it results in our bodies producing higher levels of the hormone insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)which stimulates cell division and growth in both healthy and cancer cells and, for this reason, having higher circulating levels of IGF-1 has been consistently associated with increased cancer risk, proliferation, and malignancy(12) .
The World Health Organization(WHO) estimates that more than 1.3 billion adults worldwide are overweight. As mentioned before a plant-based diet is also the optimal diet for weight loss as it generally provides a higher volume, due to a lot more focus on vegetables and leafy greens and a higher Fiber intake that is not only good for our gut microbiome but also keeps us full for longer. Additionally the BMI(Body Mass Index) tends to increase with the frequency of consumed animal products. So if you want to loose weight easily you might want to consider this. Furthermore even if a plant-based diet does not directly mean a healthy diet, as nowadays nearly every desirable product has its replacement, it is easier to loose weight, without changing a lot, if you stop eating those highly processed foods that are high in saturated and trans-fats and mainly found in animal products. Start to replace them with whole plant foods that provide your body with the minerals and antioxidants that it needs to thrive. Many cases have also shown that issues with acne disappears if you cut diary out of your diet.
In addition I want to outline that against many believes fruit sugar is really different to for example the sugar in sweets, as fruits contain fibre which makes us digest the sugars in fruit totally different and don´t give us that sugar rush that we can experience otherwise due to the spike in blood sugar and that imbalances our glucose levels in our blood. Fruits have proven to help with weight loss as they reduce hunger and increase meal satisfaction especially if consumed briefly to a meal.
But even more important is the fiber intake through fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that individuals consuming a amount of >20 g fiber/day which is equal to around 200g of fruit, had significantly lower risk of premature death by about 40% and also showed to be really beneficial for successful ageing. Furthermore a diet high in fiber has proved to have a good effect on mental well-being, reduces the risk of depression and provides the body with anti-inflammatory markers that help it to recover. (10)
The lowest target that everyone should try to achieve is 5-a-day which means five hands of vegetables and fruits every day because there are so many benefits of having those, as shown below. But research in the UK has shown that young adults get the fewest portions of fruit and veg and only 21% of 16-24 year olds achieve the 5-a-day target mostly because they don´t know how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diet.
Now you see that a little thing, like just eating more plants, has a huge impact on your overall health. It is easy to make small steps towards a healthy life by including some more fruits in vegetables into your diet that will make you feel better and life longer. So if you are ready to start but don´t really know how to do then scroll down because I have worked out 5 tips to make your life a lot easier ; )
Approach it like this: Think about the foods that you would like to incorporate more into your diet, rather than thinking of the foods you believe you shouldn´t eat.
! generally eating more fruits and vegetables is really important as they contain the vitamins, antioxidants and fibre that we need on a daily basis, so try to get at least your 5-a-day in (5 hands full)
I believe that everyone needs to come to his/her own conclusion on this topic and as I said earlier I don´t want to convert anyone to veganism as I think that this is such a big decision that it will only be sustainable if you decide for yourself. But I do want to mention that some of the main reasons for me to go vegan were environmental ones alongside the great benefits for performance in sport. But I think that this discussion would go to far at this point as I already bombarded you with so many facts and researches and I don´t want this post to be too long so that everyone eventually looses interest. So stay tuned for more and subscribe to my blog if you don´t want to miss that.
But if I convinced you that including at least some more plants in your diet wouldn´t hurt, on the contrary probably make your life a bit better, than I am more than happy and want to help you a little bit if you now know that you want to improve your diet but don´t know how exactly. Please don´t fall for the common believes that a plant-based or vegan diet is expensive and complicated for it is not, if you give yourselves the chance to get used to it and built a basis of staples and recipes that you enjoy.
– Deliciously Ella
– The happy Pear
– Five Sek Health
– Simnett Nutrition (Calestenics, Nutrition)
– Maddie Limburger (at home workouts, Lifestyle)
– Jon Venus (body builder, fitness)
– Game Changers
– What the Health
– Cowspiracy
– Vivo Life (supplements)
– Myprotein(supplements)
– Raw Sports(supplements)
If you are interested in more detailed information such as recipes or meal plants, please let me know ; )
1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19278045
2https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28792455
3https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353118
4https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/symptoms-causes/syc-20350800
7https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30513704
8https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/why-5-a-day/
9https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6294997/
10https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315720/
12https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/animalproteindangers/#gs.31a9wn
My life as an Bunk üathlete 