S01E05 Barbara Whitsitt's Insights on Holistic Living and What A Whole-food Plant-based Diet Is

There are several research papers and reports available online on healthy living, and yet there's confusion on understanding what works best for the body and mind.

A key point, no matter the research paper or report you pick up, will be an emphasis on eating more fruits and vegetables - a whole-food plant-based diet. Whole-food plant-based foods primarily come from plants and are either unprocessed or processed and refined as little as possible. For you to be on a whole-food plant-based diet, you do not necessarily need to be vegan or vegetarian, but your intake of meat is less.

In episode 5, we were in conversation with Barbara Whitsitt, a holistic nutritionist talking about the entire spectrum of a whole-food plant-based diet. Here are some of the points we covered during our conversation:

• Go local: Buying local greens helps not only in supporting small and local businesses but also helps us get fresh produce.

• Decrease climate crisis: A whole-food plant-based diet promotes sustainable land-use practices, focuses on restoring ecosystems. It also helps individuals in moving away from resource-intensive diets like meat and dairy that help decrease greenhouse gas emissions from food production.

• Promote healthy living: It is no surprise that eating fresh, green, leafy veggies and fruits help us live longer and healthier. Here's an article by Sentient Media that will help you understand how eating well can help you young and healthy.

• Reduce meat: Have smaller amounts of meat instead of larger chunks. Fill your plate with more veggies to help with excluding more meat. Check out the Reducetarian foundation for learning how to make the switch at your convenience.

• Helps reducing animal cruelty: Globally, nearly 80 billion+ land animals are raised and slaughtered for food globally each year (please note, this excludes dairy cows and bovines, sea-animals). The conditions in a factory farm aren't hidden anymore but living in denial sure does promote it.

• Homeless shelters and vegan food: The underprivileged section of society needs more attention towards living a healthier life especially with the scarcity of food they face. Here's the reason why there is an urgent need to start serving/helping homeless people, and shelters with provisions of plant-based food.

"We can't just believe what we are told. Its the age of consumerism and we just want to believe rather than think for ourselves. We have to get back to being critical thinkers and look at the source. Are we being sold to or educated too? There's a distinct difference." - Barbara Whitsitt

Here are some references for further reading:

- A complete guide to a whole-food plant-based diet

- Plant-based proteins

- Benefits of a plant-based diet

- Why factory farms are harmful to animals and the environment

- The China Study

- Vegrules.com

You can connect with Barbara Whitsitt on LinkedIn here

You can follow vegrules.com on Twitter here

References:

1. https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/what-is-a-whole-food-plant-based-diet/

2. https://thebeet.com/how-to-start-eating-a-whole-foods-plant-based-diet/

3. https://theconversation.com/how-a-plant-rich-diet-can-help-fight-climate-change-and-reduce-stress-118831

4. https://sentientmedia.org/plant-based-diet/

5. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-a-plant-based-diet-and-why-should-you-try-it-2018092614760

6. https://www.reducetarian.org/

7. https://www.hsi.org/issues/plant-based-eating/

8. https://sentientmedia.org/farmed-animals/

9. https://sentientmedia.org/moving-animals-photographing-the-undeniable-suffering-on-factory-farms/

10. https://sentientmedia.org/should-homeless-shelters-serve-only-vegan-food/

11. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/plant-based-diet-guide

12. https://sentientmedia.org/plant-based-proteins/

13. https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/5-benefits-of-a-plant-based-diet.h20-1592991

14. https://sentientmedia.org/factory-farms/

15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study