It is useful to have a ‘map’ you can refer to when you start out on a journey. And that is what the plant-based way of eating can be! Here are just a few good reasons why the plant-based way of eating is top scoring. Simple statements such as these can help you decide what topic to look into next, how to respond to questions from others or even reassure you that you are on track and heading in the right direction.
BENEFICIAL
- It provides a broad range of essential nutrients when a variety of whole foods are eaten
- It is packed with phytochemicals, such as antioxidants, which help prevent chronic disease
- It can improve the health of your gut dramatically by its lack of putrefying foods plus more easily-digested fibre and natural probiotics
- It leaves a smaller burden of chemical, hormonal and antibiotic residues in your body
- It establishes diet patterns in children to avoid metabolic syndrome, heart disease and obesity
- It promotes longevity and appropriate body weight
- It is rich in low-fat, plant-based proteins from lentils, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains
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EASY  
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- Easy because 80% of your diet is likely to be plant-based already (The 80/20 Rule)
- Easy because plant-based foods are usually cheaper
- Easy because it can be very quick to prepare and with little waste
- Easy because there is increasing support for it: commercial, social and ecological
- Easy because there is an abundance of plant-based food available from which to select
- Easy because the staples of most cuisines are plant-based foods ie. rice, potato, pasta
- Easy because you can ‘learn’ it and ‘start’ it at any age
- Easy because it is so good looking and makes you feel well!
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SAFE  
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- Safe and reliable good health when you use the Four Cornerstones to plant-based eating:
- Select a variety of plant-based foods
- Choose foods that are whole (unrefined, with little processing)
- Buy organic and/or locally grown food whenever possible
- Buy food that is in season where you live
- The Four Cornerstones help you to avoid the unhealthy ‘white bread and jam’ style of eating
- Safe at every life-stage: pregnancy, lactation, infancy and childhood, adulthood and old age
- Can safely reduce symptoms and severity of some chronic and degenerative diseases
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TIMELY  
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- It can help mitigate climate crisis: a vegan diet can reduce your carbon footprint by 50%
- It immediately takes the pressure off world resources, such as land, water and fossil fuels
- It supports food security: a state when all people, at all times, are free from hunger
- It can help reverse the epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome
- It can help reduce food waste: currently one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted
- It can help ensure there will be enough food to feed everyone in the decades ahead
- It reduces the burden of illness, which is costly in every sense
- It can help to reduce or stop the conversion of forests to cropland for animal feed
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