Can Humans Survive on a Plant-Based Diet?

What is a plant-based diet?

A healthy plant-based diet should be rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein, and healthy oils.

Your diet should consist of:

• Fruits: Berries, citrus fruits, pears, etc.
• Vegetables: Kale, spinach, tomatoes, etc.
• Starchy vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc.
• Whole grains: Brown rice, rolled oats, brown rice pasta, etc.
• Healthy fats: Avocados, olive oil, unsweetened coconut, etc.
• Legumes: Peas, peanuts, black beans, etc.
• Seeds, nuts and nut butters: Almonds, sunflower seeds, natural peanut butter etc.
• Unsweetened plant-based milks: Coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, etc.
• Spices, herbs and seasonings: Basil, rosemary, black pepper, salt, etc.
• Condiments: Salsa, mustard, nutritional yeast, etc.
• Plant-based protein: Tofu or other plant-based protein sources, powders with no added sugar or artificial ingredients.
• Beverages: Coffee, tea, sparkling water, etc.

Is it even possible?

Although the thought of not eating meat is very difficult, it is a possibility. You would still get all of the necessary nutrients from all of the things in a plant-based diet. Your diet should consist of mostly vegetables which would be your primary source of nutrients. You want to focus on the most nutrient dense vegetables like sweet potatoes, leafy greens, carrots, broccoli, etc. There is a wide variety of ways to get everything you need from a plant-based diet as listed above.

Am I right for a plant-based diet?

Like any diet, how you go about starting one will be different for everyone. Each individual needs a different amount of nutrients for their own sustainability. A plant-based diet is not something you should start right away. You should ease into a plant-based diet because you could have health issues due do the lack of necessary nutrients. In order to maintain good health you need to intake the same amount of nutrients as you would a regular diet.

What about the environment?

We are only helping the environment by going on a plant-based diet. If everyone had a plant based diet the following would improve:

• Water and soil quality- a lot of water and soil is polluted due to industrialization
• Energy consumption- raising livestock costs a lot of energy
• Air quality- all the livestock in the world cause more air pollution than all the modes of transportation in the world combined and plants clean the air

If people ate plant based foods, farmland would be reduced by 75%, allowing ecosystems around the world to recover from deforestation and other forms of harm, while still generating enough food to feed all of humanity. Going green would help the environment, but although the environment would be able to handle the plant-based diet, should we?