How To Start Plant-Based Eating And Do It Right (For Your Health And The Planet): An Expert Explains

As an exercise physiologist and the CEO and founder of 22 Days Nutrition, I've dedicated my life to helping people live their best lives. This means encouraging people to transition to plant-based eating so they can lose weight, prevent (and in some cases reverse) chronic disease, boost their energy, and transform their health. 

Why do I do this? Because I care about you, I care about my children, and I care about other people's children. I want to see you live your best and healthiest life. You see, in the last hundred years, our diets have radically changed—for the worse. We've gone from eating whole foods that nourish and heal the body to eating processed junk that is high in fat, sugar, additives, toxins, and fillers yet lacks vital nutrients. We've gone from eating around 100 pounds of meat (which was raised on farms, grass-fed, and free from chemicals) each year to, on average, more than 200 pounds, nearly all of it grown on factory farms and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones to satisfy the need for cheap, readily available meat. It's no wonder that, as a whole, we are the fattest and unhealthiest generation thus far. 

Before I elaborate, I bet you're wondering, What's a "greenprint"? A greenprint is a measure of the impact of our food choices on our weight and overall health and on our planet. For example, let's say you switch to a 100 percent plant-based diet (I hope you do). The impact—the greenprint—of this change on your health can be measured in years: Studies show that plant-based people, particularly if they don't smoke and drink only a little, if any, alcohol, live four to seven years longer than people whose diets include animal products. It can also be measured in positive changes in health parameters: lower blood pressure, lower blood lipids, lower blood sugar, and lower weight. 

From an environmental standpoint, expanding your greenprint through plant-based living saves an amazing amount of energy. We're all guilty of taking our sources of energy for granted. Just 1 calorie of animal protein requires 8.5 times more energy to raise than 1 calorie of protein from grains—incredible! That's not even counting how much rain forest is cut down to create grazing land for animals each year. 

By following a plant-based diet, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 1,560 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents annually. This is a bigger reduction than if you switched from driving a gas-guzzling SUV to a hybrid-electric Prius. 

You can even make a huge impact with the most incremental changes in your diet. Even if you ate one less hamburger a week for one year, this would be the equivalent of driving 320 fewer miles. 

So just think of the impact on the environment if everyone in the country cut their meat intake by half and made up the difference with wholesome plant foods, such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. That's why embracing meatless menus can mean a lot to our earth—even if it's not every meal or every day. 

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