• Origins and Principles of Blue Zones
• The series is based on the Blue Zones by Dan Buettner. Simply put, the Blue Zones are the areas of the world where people live the longest. What Dan did is figure out the commonalities amongst these places and distill them down into ways we can shape our lives with them. Those include:
• Community: One of the hallmarks of these areas is that the people there have a strong sense of community. They have meaningful friendships and genuine connections with people. They are supported and support others when necessary.
• Low Stress: If you’re stressed out, chances are reading this stresses you out even more! I run a food business. I should know. But finding time to unwind is important not just for your mental health but your physical health as well. So is living with purpose. The term ikigai has been making its way into the mainstream, but it’s not the only one. There are a variety of phrases used to describe what essentially boils down to knowing what you wake up in the morning and what you bring to the world.
• Movement: Yes, you actually have to get off your butt. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean getting in the gym. It means taking walks, doing a physical activity like gardening, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, you get the picture. It means doing something physical besides reading an article about the Blue Zones on your computer, tablet, or phone!
• Wise Food Choices: The vast majority of food eaten in the Blue Zones is, you guessed it, plant-based. By the vast majority, I’m talking 90 percent or more. And it’s not heavily processed plant-based foods. The focus is primarily on beans, greens, and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, breads, pastas, tortillas, etc. Whole foods prepared in interesting and delicious ways. People in the Blue Zones, except in the Loma Linda Blue Zone, also enjoy a glass of wine daily. Does this have a physical effect, or is it a stress reliever? I don’t know. It simply is a commonality amongst these regions.

Personal Insights and Contributions

THIS IS IMPORTANT: When I spent time with Dan (I did the food editing and contributed A LOT of recipes for his last book, Blue Zones Kitchen the thing he impressed upon me the most was that environment and not willpower was the most significant determinant of whether someone’s longevity and quality of life. I knew that intuitively, but I had never put it into words. When I was regaining my health, I knew that if I created an environment around me that promoted good choices, it would be easier to make good choices. It’s rather obvious when you put it that way.

The Journey of The Vegan Taste

This is a big reason I started The Vegan Taste all those years ago (2006, if you can believe it.) If I provided people with healthy, great-tasting meals throughout the week instead of doing the one-off plates you might get at a restaurant, I would make it easier for people to make good food choices. Because I needed it myself. I hate admitting that I struggled to force myself to make good choices, but I did, so I crafted a system that made it easy for me to do. I can’t take care of the first three tenets of living a Blue Zones life, but I can with the food, and I’m honored for those of you who let me.

Jason Wyrick
Executive Chef of The Vegan Taste

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Initial Expectations

At the start of a change to a vegan diet, you could experience a variety of differences to your body. These may include being hungrier, getting gassier, a change in your skin or body odor, weight loss or gain, better or worse sleep, headaches, tiredness, or having more energy. As you can see, it can go many ways! Changes, of course, depend on what you were eating previously and how your body responds to the different types of fuel it’s getting on a plant-based diet. Your journey is yours, although it will likely draw on the experience of others.

Common Results of a Change to a Vegan Diet

No matter who you are, when you change to a vegan diet, you will likely see some differences in your body. Most of those are positive, but some can be more challenging. Here are some of the most consistent experiences people have with the switch.

You’re going to get gassy.

One of the hallmarks of a plant-based diet is an increase in fiber. Remember that you’re eating plants, which include more grains, vegetables, and fruits, all of which are loaded with fiber. In fact, a study showed that vegans eat about 41 grams of fiber a day, the most of any of the major ways of eating.

Naturally, fiber is an excellent addition to your diet, but if your body isn’t used to that much of it, it’s going to take a bit to transition. And that means you’ll be gassier and probably have to poop more. Getting on a regular schedule is ideal for your body, so stick with it!

You could lose weight—and be hungry.

When you eliminate certain foods from your diet, it can take time to find great alternatives. Cutting out meat, dairy, and cheese, which can be higher in calories than plants, may mean that you’re eating fewer calories on a daily basis. It might also leave you feeling you have fewer snack options, another reason you won’t eat as much. That reduced calorie intake often leads to initial weight loss or being hungrier.

On the other hand, if you change to a vegan diet that is loaded with processed foods and simple carbohydrates, that may result in gaining weight. That approach to being plant based is a much less healthy option (and processed foods aren’t good for anyone), so it’s best to stick to whole-food choices.

Your gut health will improve.

Your gut is full of microbes, and several leading gastroenterologists encourage a plant-based diet to create a healthier microbiome. One excellent book that explains how all this works is The Gut-Immune Connection by Emeran Mayer, MD. According to Dr. Mayer, by making the change to a vegan diet, you’ll boost your immune response, and that’s a huge benefit. While your gut microbiome is changing, expect more gas (and maybe tummy aches), but it will pass, and it’s all worth it in the end.

You may need to change your supplements.

Many of us take daily vitamins and minerals in an attempt to get all the nutrients our bodies need. When you eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet, you’ll get most of what your body needs from your food. But there’s an exception: B12. Vegans must supplement their diets with this gem; a lack of vitamin B12 can result in neurological issues, metabolic problems, and in severe cases, death. It can only be found in animal products, so if you’re not eating animals, you must take B12. Other supplements to consider when you change to a vegan diet include calcium, iron, and omega.

The More You Know…

Making any changes in your diet can result in changes to your body, inside and out. The same is true when you change to a vegan diet. The Vegan Taste helps you enjoy delicious plant-based fare delivered direct to your door. All you do is heat and enjoy. And if you have questions about the transition, we can help you with that too!

Check out what Chef Jason has on this week’s menu and place your order!

The post What to Expect When You Change to a Vegan Diet appeared first on The Vegan Taste.

Available Plans

Both The Vegan Taste and Purple Carrot are plant-based meal-delivery services. Unlike other similar services, neither offers meat options.

The Vegan Taste is made for convenience. With award-winning chef Jason Wyrick at the helm, ready-to-eat plant-based meals are the specialty. Starting at $12.49 per serving, options are freshly prepared weekly, delivered to subscribers’ doorsteps on Monday, and can be purchased in bundles of six or 12. Chef Jason can also alter recipes to fit individual desires, including no oil added, gluten-free, or extra spicy.

Purple Carrot is all about options. It offers two plant-based subscriptions: meal kits and prepared meals. If you like to cook, you can choose the meal kits, which start at $11 per serving. Prefer a heat-and-serve option? Purple Carrot also has prepared meals starting at $13 per serving. Meal choices include high protein, less than 600 calories, soy-free, or gluten-free, and subscribers can opt for either all kits, all ready-to-eat, or a mix of the two plans. In addition to dinner options, Purple Carrot also offers add-on Plantry™ items, breakfast/brunch, and lunch supplements.

Sustainability

Given their focus on providing plant-based meals to the masses, The Vegan Taste and Purple Carrot are both passionate about sustainability and recycling, as illustrated by their packaging options.

The Vegan Taste delivers across the Phoenix metro area using minimal, recyclable packaging in reusable coolers. Each week, members leave their coolers outside to be picked up as their new week’s worth of goodies are delivered. They can also throw in their freezer packs to be reused on a future delivery.

While Purple Carrot is not local, it does ship nationwide and provides reusable and recyclable containers, including their boxes, food containers, and cooling packs. The company even provides some innovative ways to upcycle its containers in a video on its website.

The Vegan Taste and Purple Carrot: The Bottom Line

You’d be hard-pressed to find two meal-delivery services as similar as The Vegan Taste, and Purple Carrot are. Both only offer plant-based options, both have a focus on recycling and sustainability, and both provide multiple options. Your choice may, therefore, come down to what you want from your meal service. Many people choose a plant-based lifestyle because of its reduced impact on the environment, and when you choose local, you certainly reduce your carbon footprint. As for supporting local, according to Intuit MintLife, “for every $100 spent at small businesses, $48 is put back into the local economy.”

When determining which meal-delivery service to choose, you’re likely reviewing several factors, including:

• Convenience
• Cost
• Environmental impact
• Choices that support your lifestyle

When considering The Vegan Taste and Purple Carrot, they are quite similar in many of these categories. In fact, The Vegan Taste is slightly less expensive than Purple Carrot, and with the added bonus of it being local, it definitely feels like the more sustainable choice.

Check out what Chef Jason is preparing this week and schedule your next delivery.

The post The Vegan Taste and Purple Carrot: Which Service Is Right for You? appeared first on The Vegan Taste.

Vegan-Specific vs Vegan Option

One of the first considerations when making a comparison is if other services support vegan lifestyles.  The Vegan Taste specializes in plant-based, ready-to-eat meals. Options are also available to customize meals, making them with no added oil, gluten-free, or extra spicy. Menus change weekly and are developed by Chef Jason Wyrick, an award-winning vegan chef, in his Phoenix-area kitchen. He tests every recipe to ensure it’s not only 100% plant based but also 100% delicious! His specialty is vegan cuisine, and you can taste his care and attention in every bite.

Factor offers five different options for its meals: keto, calorie smart, vegan and veggie, protein plus, and chef’s choice, keto. They aim to do it all, which means they may or may not create mouth-watering vegan options. Factor does provide add-ons, including vegan cold-pressed juices and smoothies, for a change of pace. Menus update regularly, and subscribers can choose which options they prefer.

Whether you choose The Vegan Taste or Factor Meals, you’ll receive readymade heat-and-eat meals. Both companies have a focus on ease, convenience, and health, which we all need a bit more of these days.

Shipping, Delivery, and Sustainability

The Vegan Taste hand-delivers a week’s worth of prepared meals every Monday between 9 am and 3 pm in chilled coolers. They are made and delivered within one day since they come from a local Arizona kitchen and are delivered to homes and businesses across the Valley. The following week, coolers are picked up and replaced with the next week’s meals. Packaging is minimal since all meals are self-contained in their own reusable tray. Given that delivery is local, The Vegan Taste is actively reducing its carbon footprint, as opposed to a company that ships nationwide.

Based in Chicago, Factor’s meals are sent through UPS and FedEx. The meals are in BPA-free plastic containers placed within boxes insulated with gel packs to keep them cold. The company shares that its plastic containers and boxes are recyclable, while gel packs can be reused or donated to food shelters.

Both companies will leave deliveries outside the door, so members do not need to be present to receive them.

Cost Comparison

Cost is always a consideration when determining which meal-delivery service to choose: The Vegan Taste or Factor Meals. Certainly, convenience is a huge factor, but it’s not the only thing, especially when most households are on a budget.

Factor Meals’ prices range from $10.99 to $12.99 per serving and decrease as more weekly meals are purchased. Plans range from six to 18 meals weekly. For 12 “vegan and veggie meals,” the first box costs $137.88.

The Vegan Taste offers weekly prepared deliveries of six meals for $79.99 a week or 12 meals for $134.99 per week. When reviewing these at a per-serving cost, they range between $13.33 for the 6-meal plan and $11.25 for the 12-meal plan.

As you can see, your investment for The Vegan Taste vs. Factor is comparable. In fact, Vegan Taste costs slightly less per meal.

Should You Choose The Vegan Taste or Factor Meals?

Unlike many meal-delivery services that require members to purchase additional ingredients, prepare, and then cook the meal, both The Vegan Taste and Factor deliver ready-to-eat premade meals. The only thing you have to do is heat and enjoy. Since they are so similar, which should you choose?

The choice depends on whom you want to support: a large company based in Chicago or a small hometown local business. Whether it’s The Vegan Taste or Factor Meals, your costs and quality will be comparable. However, when you support local, it makes a huge difference to the local economy. Plus, your meals will arrive fresher and always be 100% plant-based.

Ready to choose your meals? Check out what Chef Jason is cooking this week.

The post The Vegan Taste or Factor Meals: Which Service Is Right for You? appeared first on The Vegan Taste.

Diet

If you’re considering The Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron, you’re probably already following a plant-based diet or want to incorporate more vegan meals into your routine. As the name implies, The Vegan Taste uses only 100% plant-based ingredients. Can Blue Apron say the same?

In short, yes. Blue Apron does have an option to choose plant-based meals under their veggie category. And both sites allow subscribers some choice in which meals they prefer. Vegan Taste goes a step further, letting you choose other specifics, such as using no meat alternatives, no added oil, and gluten-free meals.

Convenience

Life is busy. It can be challenging to even think about what you’re going to have for dinner for the week, much less find the right recipe, purchase the ingredients, and make dinner for your family. And if you’re also planning lunch, how do you do something that’s healthy, skipping the convenience of fast foods?

No matter what meal you’re using your meal-delivery system for, there certainly is a difference between The Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron.

Blue Apron sends you recipe cards and ingredients. Sometimes, you need to stop by the store to buy supplementary ingredients to complete the recipes. That means you still need time and basic cooking skills to get dinner ready.

The Vegan Taste handles all of the meal preparation for you. There’s no measuring, cutting, planning, or preparing; all you do is heat and eat. Talk about convenience! Meals go from fridge to table in mere minutes and are easy to take to work for lunch too.

Sustainability

If you’re living a plant-based lifestyle, you are probably a bit “green” in everything you do. You’re the person who is all about reducing, reusing, and recycling; you always have a cloth bag in your car for a quick grocery stop. For those of us who care about sustainability, you may wonder how sustainable the packaging is for Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron.

At Blue Apron, you’ll receive a big box shipped to your front door. Inside that box will be printed recipes, a mini cooler to keep ingredients fresh, multiple bags and boxes to separate ingredients, and small plastic containers with the oils and sauces you need to make the recipes.

Meanwhile, at The Vegan Taste, meals are packaged one per tray with no extra packaging other than a reusable cooler. That’s because we believe in doing better for the planet, both in our diets and our routines.

Cost Comparison

Whether convenience and sustainability are important to you or not, we’re guessing cost is. After all, many of us are on a budget and can’t afford to spend much on food, no matter how healthy or convenient it is.

Blue Apron has meal kit delivery for two or four servings covering two, three, or four meals a week. The price per serving ranges from $7.99 to $11.99 per week, and a $9.99 shipping fee is added to your weekly charge. That means you’re spending anywhere from around $60 up to $140 a week.

The Vegan Taste offers weekly prepared meal delivery of six meals for $79.99 a week or 12 meals for $134.99 a week. Delivery adds $5 weekly to locations across the greater Phoenix Valley of the Sun. As you can see, your investment for The Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron is comparable. In fact, Vegan Taste is just $.75 more per meal.

The Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron: Which Is Better?

The real difference lies in the quality. Vegan Taste’s meals are ready to eat, prepared by a renowned vegan chef, and the ingredients are sourced locally. You can’t get fresher than that!

When choosing The Vegan Taste vs. Blue Apron, it’s important to look beyond how much the service will cost you. Are you looking for the convenience of ready-made meals? Do you prefer to minimize packaging and have more control over what you eat? Then the choice is clear.

See what Chef Jason has on the menu this week and make your choice. We know you’ll feel great about your choice.

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More than just cute alliteration, meatless Monday is a movement that can deliver huge benefits to the world as a whole. Plus, it’s good for your health as well.

History of Meatless Monday

During World War I, Herbert Hoover, in his role as head of the US Food and Drug Administration, was charged with helping reduce intake of limited foods, including meat, pork, fat, sugar, and wheat. These were the foods that were in short supply during the war and needed to go further. To avoid rationing, the FDA launched a campaign to highlight specific items to eliminate throughout the week.

Individuals and restaurants got on board with the initiative, leading to a 15% reduction in consumption of these valuable commodities during a 12-month period that spanned 1918 and 1919. Education about the reductions was incorporated into the initiative, with home economists engaged to publish cookbooks and share how foods could be substituted for limited ingredients without compromising flavor or nutrition.

After the war ended, supplies were no longer limited, and meals of meat and potatoes with bread returned in full force. This was a staple dinner across America until the 1980s (and in some houses even today).

Then, in 2003, Sid Lerner, founder of The Monday Campaigns, launched an initiative similar to Hoover’s original idea, labeling it meatless Monday. With a different focus than the first meatless program, Lerner was driven by the health benefits of reducing meat intake. Why Monday? Not only does meatless Monday sound cool, but Monday is a day when people are more willing to take on change. Those who embrace meatless Monday are encouraged to go without meat for the entire day. Making a small change often leads to bigger changes, such as incorporating more plant-based meals into other days of the week.

Benefits of Meatless Monday for the Planet

If every American gave up meat on Mondays, 1.4 billion animals would be spared in a year’s time. But it’s not just animals that would benefit from going meatless. Farming animals for food results in greenhouse gas emissions, and forgoing meat one day a week would result in a .3% decrease. It may not sound like much, but it’s a good start.

Then there’s the water used for the grain that farm animals eat as well as the water they need to drink. By giving up just one meat-based meal, you’ll save 133 gallons of water. And each meatless Monday results in an eight-pound reduction in your carbon footprint.

Benefits of Skipping Meat for Yourself

We’ve shared several benefits of a plant-forward lifestyle on The Vegan Taste’s blog previously, including:

• minimizing lifestyle diseases
• living longer
• boosting athletic performance
• supporting your immune system
• losing and maintaining weight loss
• reversing diabetes

Dr. Emeran Mayer’s 2022 book, The Gut-Immune Connection (an excellent read), highlights how a plant-based diet can help minimize the effects of chronic disease by focusing on gut microbiomes. And there are many studies about the health benefits of switching to veganism. Starting with meatless Monday is a smart way to get on board.

The Vegan Taste Supports Your Plant-Forward Lifestyle

Whether you’re already vegan or ready to start your journey toward improving your health and benefiting the world, The Vegan Taste is here to support you. With ready-to-eat vegan meals delivered right to your door, all you’ll do is heat and enjoy. Try it for one day a week or all seven days, and you can even get your family in on it with you!

Check out what Chef Jason is making today and put in your order.

The post The Benefits of Incorporating “Meatless Monday” into Your Routine appeared first on The Vegan Taste.

Plan Your on-the-Go Snack Items

When your goal is to be successful, planning is essential. This is true with anything in life and business. And it, of course, holds true with on-the-go snack items to support your plant-forward lifestyle. If you’re going to be out during the day, your best bet for success is to plan ahead.

Depending on the type of snacks you’ll be carrying with you, a small cooler might be a smart idea. That way, you don’t have to worry about taking perishable snacks, especially in the hot Phoenix weather. Plus, that will give you the opportunity to carry along water, which is always good to have for a quick drink—and way more cost-effective to bring your own than to buy it.

As you’re planning your on-the-go snack items, where should you start? Your options will be a little more limited from what you might eat at home, but there are still plenty of choices. And the bonus is that, if you fail to plan ahead, many of these goodies are available at convenience stores you’ll encounter along the way.

Nuts, Seeds, and Legumes

Packed with proteins and healthy fats, nuts, seeds, and legumes are some of the best on-the-go-snack items you can find, and they’ll fit with nearly every diet. In the nut family, some portable options include:

• Almonds
• Brazil Nuts
• Cashews
• Hazelnuts
• Macadamia Nuts
• Pecans
• Pine Nuts
• Pistachios
• Walnuts

Nuts can be raw, cooked, salted, or unsalted. You can purchase them nearly everywhere, and they can be mixed with seeds and legumes or even with dried fruits to create a perfect on-the-go trail mix (even if you’re nowhere near a trail).

If seeds are more your style, you have numerous choices here as well:

• Chia Seeds
• Flax Seeds
• Hemp Seeds
• Sesame Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds

While some of these seeds may seem more like additions to other foods than choices you’d eat on their own, consider mixing them together or adding them to other items. Chia and flax go great in smoothies, for example.

And then there are legumes, which are commonly thought of as beans.

• Chickpeas
• Green Peas
• Peanuts (yes, these are legumes, not nuts)
• Soybeans or Edamame

Other than peanuts, which function mostly as a nut, most legumes that you would eat as on-the-go snack items will come roasted and even seasoned. Look in the snack-food section of the grocery store or convenience store for some delicious varieties.

Nut Butter

While nuts are a great on-the-go option, so are their smoother cousins, the nut butters. Made mostly from peanuts, cashews, and almonds, many manufacturers have started to package nut butters to go. Paired with fresh fruit or crackers, these can make for a hearty snack while you’re out and about.

Fruit

Fruit is probably one of your go-to ideas for a vegan snack option. And for good reason! Not only are they portable and easy to eat while you’re running from place to place, fruits are also packed full of nutrition and delicious. The obvious choices for fruits include:

• Bananas
• Grapes
• Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, etc.)
• Apples

Additionally, consider nutrient-packed dried fruits, such as:

• Apples
• Bananas
• Prunes
• Dates
• Fruit Leathers

Just shy away from fruit snacks, which are generally full of sugar. And remember to mix your dried fruits with nuts, seeds, and legumes for extra flavor and vitamins and minerals!

Energy Bars and Granola

Energy bars and granola (whether in bars or loose) can make delicious on-the-go snack items for a plant-forward lifestyle. Your best bet is to make your own so you can control what’s included. Energy bars chock full of nuts and fruits provide an easy way to eat in the car, between meetings, or before a game, but too may store-bought options are loaded with sugars. If you must purchase ready-made options, consider those with minimal, whole-food ingredients, such as LÄRABAR and RXBAR Plant, a vegan version of their popular RXBAR.

Power Up with Plants

A plant-based lifestyle is easy when you know what to eat—and it’s not all about on-the-go snack items. While we’ve given you some ideas to stay full and happy while you’re out and about, The Vegan Taste is here to make life even easier for you by preparing and delivering ready-to-eat meals for your family. Just heat and eat after you’re home for the day. Or take them with you for lunch at the office. Either way, our delicious plant-based meals make eating healthy easy.

See what Chef Jason is cooking this week!

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Here’s a list of just some of the things you might be eating now because you think they’re plant based, but surprise! These foods aren’t vegan:

Jell-O

Gelatin is the base of Jell-O and is made from boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones of pigs or cows with water. Some people don’t understand what goes into Jell-O, so they consider it to be vegan, but it’s not. Agar agar is a plant-based thickener that does the same thing as gelatin, if you’re up for making some homemade Jell-O.

Sugar

Innocent sugar comes from beets or cane, so it’s not the sugar itself that is the culprit; it’s the way it’s processed. Bone char is often used to make sugar white, rendering it not vegan. Even brown sugar can fall into the non-vegan trap since it’s made by mixing white sugar with molasses to turn it brown. Your best bet for a sweetener is to opt for a certified organic sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, monk fruit, or stevia. For liquid sweeteners, agave and maple are excellent options.

Marshmallows

You might think a nice s’more on a hot summer day is a tasty vegan treat, but you’d be wrong. Marshmallows’ primary ingredients are gelatin and sugar, and powdered sugar is used to keep them from being sticky. All three of those ingredients fall into the category of foods that aren’t vegan. Thankfully, there are now vegan marshmallows on the market to fulfill your need for the sweet stuff.

Alcoholic Drinks

Wine, beer, and spirits are similar to sugar on the vegan/not vegan scale in that they’re inherently vegan. However, it’s the distillation, or processing, process that causes the issue. Fish bladders, gelatin, and egg whites can be used in manufacturing your favorite libation, and unfortunately, the FDA does not require that information to be included in labeling. If you want to be sure you’re drinking a vegan beverage, do a little research on the company first (or Google “vegan wines” for instance).

Red Foods

The dye used to make some foods red is listed on the ingredient label (if it’s listed at all) as carmine. Carmine is harvested from crushing cochineal beetles. If you hike in Arizona, you may have even seen these little parasitic bugs who live and feed on cacti in the desert. It’s not a foregone conclusion that red foods have carmine, but you should definitely read ingredients if you want to avoid these foods that aren’t vegan.

Fortified Foods

From cereal to fruit juice, many of the foods in modern supermarkets are fortified. The goal here is to provide consumers with the vitamins and nutrients they’re not getting from a well-balanced diet. But in doing so, manufacturers may add fish oils for omega and dairy products for calcium. This is, of course, in addition to the refined sugars (not vegan) so many prepackaged foods contain. Read the ingredients of fortified foods to ensure you’re not getting something you don’t want along with your bowl of Raisin Bran!

Avoid Foods That Aren’t Vegan

Choosing a healthy lifestyle can be arduous at times. For a person with celiac disease, for example, gluten lurks in way more foods than breads and pastas. The same is true for so-called vegan food. Not everything is as it seems, and if you truly want to avoid foods that aren’t vegan, you need to be diligent in what you’re eating.

Lucky for you, The Vegan Taste ensures that every ingredient we use is vegan. We don’t use anything that’s even questionable, opting instead for fresh, wholesome, and delicious ingredients. Take the worry out of living a plant-based lifestyle and check out what Chef Jason has on the menu this week.

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Defining Lifestyle Diseases

You may think that lifestyle diseases are a Western issue, but that’s no longer the case. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 71% of global deaths are associated with lifestyle diseases, or what the WHO calls non-communicable diseases. Of these, 77% occur in low- and middle-income countries, making this far from an “American” or “Western” problem.

The WHO defines these non-communicable, or chronic, diseases as a result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors. In other words, lifestyle diseases.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ’s list of chronic diseases includes heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and tooth decay. These can lead to disability or death, not to mention the considerable cost of care and burden on the healthcare system.

We refer to these issues as lifestyle diseases because the risk factors are generally things within our control, including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical activity, obesity, sleep, and diet.

Minimize Lifestyle Diseases by Eating Plants

Several activities affect your proclivity for developing a chronic disease. And you can change all of them:

• If you smoke, stop.
• If you drink excessively, eliminate alcohol or cut back on your intake.
• Increase your physical activity.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get deep, consistent sleep.
• Eat a balanced diet.

Studies show that eating plants can go a long way to reducing your risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease:

• Research from The Journal of the American Heart Association concludes that a plant-based diet can minimize lifestyle diseases by leading to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Research presented by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), as reported in The Permanente Journal, shows that a plant-based diet can reduce the number of medications patients take to manage chronic conditions, as well as help to reduce body weight, risk of cancer, and risk of death from heart disease.
• The American College of Lifestyle Medicine offers several publications highlighting the benefits of a plant-based diet to minimize lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, reproductive cancers, and autoimmune diseases, in addition to leading to a longer life.

It is well known within the medical community that a plant-based diet is the best option to help minimize lifestyle diseases, and research continues to back it up.

Take Steps Toward a Plant-based Lifestyle

You don’t have to relegate yourself to living with chronic disease. Even if you are currently overweight or have been diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease, or any other lifestyle-related ailment, there’s a good chance you can minimize the effects—and in some cases, reverse the diagnosis.

Dr. Michelle McMaken, the executive director of nutrition and lifestyle medicine for NYC Health + Hospitals, believes in the power of healing through healthy eating. She is involved with The Plantrician Project and NYC Health + Hospitals’ Plant-based Lifestyle Medicine Program and is a firm believer in plant-based nutrition. In an article on Helio, Dr. McMaken shared that the US’s top four causes of death can be directly related to diet choices. And nearly half of deaths due to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are due to a poor diet. By eating better, says Dr. McMaken, we can prevent 80% of lifestyle diseases. Plus, she believes we can reverse chronic diseases.

You can start your new path to minimizing lifestyle diseases by switching to a plant-based diet today. And The Vegan Taste can help you get there easily with delicious, ready-to-eat meals. See what Chef Jason has on this week’s menu.

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