Food

Surprising Facts About “Plant-Based” Diets

Posted: 4/29/2011

Many Americans may be surprised to learn a “plant-based” diet doesn’t have to mean “more vegetables” and can provide great flavor at less cost.

(NAPSI) - The newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture provide advice on how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.

A major recommendation is that more people pursue a plant-based diet. According to 61 percent of dietitians, however, most Americans don’t understand what a plant-based diet is. This could pose a major obstacle to combating obesity and related illnesses because 85 percent of the dietitians also believe the Guidelines will only be effective if consumers implement them in their daily diets.

A plant-based diet, the dietitians explain, emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. The vast majority of dietitians surveyed by Zoomerang say they promote a plant-based diet to most of their clients and that it has at least some influence on their own diets.

Reasons for their recommendations include that plant-based diets are:

• More nutrient rich vs. an animal-based diet (70 percent)

• Sustainable and environmentally friendly (40 percent)

• Cost effective (29 percent).

“Most Americans just think ‘eat more vegetables’ when they hear ‘plant-based.’ In fact, they’d be surprised to know that great-tasting foods like soy milk, almond milk and coconut milk also count as a way to get more plant-based foods into your diet,” said Andrea Carrothers, MS, RD. “Seventy-seven percent of dietitians agree that soy milk is nutritionally comparable to cow’s milk, while also helping consumers build a more plant-based diet.”

Dietitians believe that barriers to incorporating a plant-based diet include consumers viewing them as not as flavorful or tasty (66 percent), not having a clear definition of what a plant-based diet is (44 percent), and thinking plant-based foods are hard to prepare (33 percent) or costly (29 percent).

The good news is that there are more options than ever when it comes to plant-based nutrition. Silk, a brand long known for its creamy and delicious soy milk, has recently begun offering other plant-based alternatives to dairy milk, such as almond milk and coconut milk. All Silk products are plant based and contain no dairy, no lactose and no cholesterol.

Most dietitians (77 percent) say that nondairy milk alternatives, such as soy milk, are comparable to dairy in helping individuals meet nutrient needs for protein, calcium and vitamins A, D and B12.

For more information, visit www.SoyNutrition.com.