--Dr. Michael Greger, founder of nutritionfacts.org
I make a lot of lists. There are the “to do” lists for
home and work, weekly goal lists, and, of course, my grocery lists.
| Cashews |
When I teach healthy eating classes, people realize they can feel better and be healthier by shifting away from eating
animal foods. After preparing wonderful food together, they often ask, “Where do I start?”
The answer is simple: stock your
kitchen with essential staples and begin using them regularly.
 |
| Ground Flax Seeds |
If you are one of those people asking the question, "Where do I start?" then look below for my list of 10 Key Ingredients for Plant-Based Eating. Start by bringing these foods
into your kitchen pantry and use them daily. You will find it easy to
put meals together that are delicious, healthy, and filling. In the coming year, Wellness Wednesdays will highlight recipes, resources and simple steps to plant-based eating using these 10 powerful ingredients and more:
- Almond butter
- Cashews
- Flax seeds
- Garbanzo beans
- Lentils
- Nutritional yeast
- Oats
- Quinoa
- White miso (fermented soybeans)
- Whole grain brown rice
Every day, I eat many of the foods on this list. The more you learn
about how animal foods are inflammatory and acidic (pH of less than 7) and how diseases such as cancer need an acidic environment to grow, the more focused you become on having optimal health by eating better using fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
| Oats |
The upside of shifting to plant-based eating is you feel better, lose weight, sleep better, look better and you don’t get sick as often. I regularly observe that coworkers who eat meat, chicken and/or dairy daily are out sick 1-2 days every month. I can’t remember the last time I needed to use a sick day. I’ll take being healthy over being sick any
day!
Please pass the almond butter.
With
love and gratitude,
Nancy
L. Heinrich, MPH
Founder,
Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.
