Nutrition Blog #2 Plant-Based vs Animal-Based Diets 101128262
A Plant-based diet is a diet that involves eating foods mainly derived from plants, such as vegetables, legumes, grains and soy. While a plant-based diet consists mostly of vegetables, it is not vegetarian or vegan as it may allow animal products in the diet.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-black-wooden-blocks-3669638/
Following a plant-based diet can have many benefits, one of the most obvious benefit is better nutrition. As there are so many plant based foods, each with different nutrition benefits, you are able to incorporate them into your diet. While a Animal-based diet does provide some nutritional benefits, it can often have a negative impact for our health, An animal-based diet is usually higher in protein,fat,sodium, and calories. While higher protein can be beneficial to us, we are able to consume protein though plant-based foods such as legumes.
With better nutrition, weight loss follows. With more nutrients and less calories consumed, our body is able to burn more calories which leads to weight loss. Following a plant-based diet can prove to be more beneficial for someone who is trying to lose weight, compared to an Animal-based diet.
Another benefit that comes with a plant-based diets is a lower risk to diabetes. A study found that people who ate a mostly plant-based diet reduced their risk of diabetes by 23% (Reporter,Serena Gordon Healthday.”Plant-Based Diet Helps Keep Diabetes at Bay.”WebMD, WebMD, 25 July 2019. https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20190725/plant-based-diet-helps-keep-diabetes-at-bay#1). Eating mainly meat in your diet can come with some serious health risk, while you do not have to exclude meat entirely to have a plant-based diet, adding plants into your diet may help you in the long run.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-vegetable-lot-1300972/
3. In my future culinary profession I can definitely see myself incorporating plant-based foods in my menus. In my personal experience in the industry I have worked with many menus that is composed of different plant-based dishes, I personally have seen a big rise in eating plant-based dishes in the restaurant I work at as well as restaurants that contain almost all items on the menu being plant-based. The current restaurant I work at Kasa Moto features a menu that is approximately 34% plant-based menu (as per my chef), However, my sister restaurant in my company Planta features a 100% plant based menu, with 4 locations 3 in Toronto (Planta,Planta burger,&Planta queen) and 1 in Miami (South beach) it is quickly gaining popularity and promotes healthy eating while serving delicious food.
4. Here’s a recipe for a vegan Paella that I made during my time at George Brown College, it is simply to make and delicious!
2 tablespoon Olive oil
4 cups vegetable stock
100g chickpeas
1 bell pepper
100g zucchini
1 shallot
1g saffron
1 teaspoon paprika
1 ½ cup arborio rice
100g grape tomatoes
50g green beans
100g frozen green peas
10g garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Method: Heat up Paella pan and add olive oil, sautee onions and peppers until colored, and add all vegetables, set aside. Add arborio rice and sautee with shallot and garlic, for approximately 1 minute, slowly add hot vegetable stock little by little, and add saffron and paprika, once rice begins to cook at about halfway add all vegetables and mix, from this step DO NOT STIR and being to keep adding vegetable stock slowly, from here season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon wedge or herbs.
This dish does require patience as well as constant supervision, it taught me to not worry about burning the rice, or overcooking is was my first time making paella and I really enjoyed it. Something a person might not have in their kitchen would be a paella pan, as it is not necessary as you can use a wide pan, it helps with the cooking, the only challenge I had was standing still and not touching my rice letting it cook, as much as I wanted to stir I could not as it would release more starch from the rice and ruin the dish. Paella is something I really look forward to cooking in the future.
Bibliography
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20190725/plant-based-diet-helps-keep-diabetes-at-bay#1
http://www.eatingwell.com/article/291622/the-health-benefits-of-eating-a-plant-based-diet-and-how-to-get-started/
https://www.health.com/nutrition/what-is-a-plant-based-diet
