Healthy eating is all about making smarter food choices. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans outlines healthy eating.
Read more about The Dietary Guideline.
Consume a healthy eating pattern that accounts for all foods and beverages within an appropriate calorie level.
A healthy eating pattern includes:
- A variety of vegetables from all of the subgroups — dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy, and other
- Fruits, especially whole fruits
- Grains, at least half of which are whole grains
- Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages
- A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts, seeds, and soy products
- Oils
Protein is essential to all the major functions of the body and is a major building block to produce things like muscle, hair, and nails and help with growth and regeneration of tissue. Protein is essential to pretty much all major functions of the body.
Getting protein from plant sources has many benefits: They are low in fat, hormone free and they are easy to digest. Plant Proteins are also better for the environment..
Some common sources of plant-based protein:
Beans: Fresh or canned organic beans, green and yellow split peas, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, navy beans, white beans
Butters: Almond, pumpkin, cashew, sunflower
Greens: Chlorella, spirulina, blue-green algae, kale, chard
Nuts: Almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts
Protein powders: Hemp, pea, brown rice
Seeds: Tahini, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, chia, quinoa, amaranth
Soy: Sprouted tofu, tempeh, edamame
Sprouts: Mung bean, adzuki, pea, sunflower, lentil
Soy is one of the few plant proteins that approaches or equals animal products in providing a complete source of protein.
Soy protein also helps reduce/lower cholesterol which is a risk factor for heart disease.
