by Jeff Nelson

A plant-based or vegan diet is amazing for so many reasons, and can confer substantial health benefits!

There are a variety of plant-based diets out there . . . from “junk food vegan” (being plant-based doesn’t automatically mean healthy) all the way to what I call the “therapeutic” vegan diet used in clinical settings.

If you’ve read our story, you know how profoundly diet has impacted my family: my wife reversed a deadly autoimmune disease; my father reversed serious heart disease (after a massive “widow maker” heart attack); my daughters reversed severe, uncontrollable cystic acne; other family members solved a variety of problems. Each of these personal health transformations – and many more I’ve witnessed first hand – led me to appreciate the value of the “therapeutic” plant-based approach.

The “therapeutic diet” is the kind taught by people like McDougall, Esselstyn, Ornish, Barnard, Pritikin and others. This plant-based diet has been the subject of substantial published research. These are diets used in clinical settings to help people reverse serious diseases, lose substantial weight, and dramatically regain health.

The diet is centered on whole plant foods, and is low in processed foods and fat. You can see articles and videos from a variety of experts on this website for more detail; for the purposes of this summary, I advocate following.

These are diet principles recommended by longtime plant-based dietitian, Jeff Novick MS RD, who for years ran the Pritikin nutrition program, and who has run the McDougall nutrition program for over 15 years.

Jeff lays out a set of principles which he calls “a common sense approach to nutrition.”

Those principles are:

1) Plant-Centered

Center your plate and your diet around minimally processed plant foods – fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, roots/tubers, intact whole grains, and legumes (beans, peas & lentils).

2) Minimally Processed

Enjoy foods as close to “as grown in nature,” with minimal processing that does not detract from the nutritional value &/or add in any harmful components.

3) Calorie Dilute

Follow the principles of calorie density choosing foods that are calorie adequate, satiating and nutrient sufficient.

4) Low S-O-S

Avoid or minimize the use of added Salts/sodium, Oils/Fats and Sugars/sweeteners.

5) Variety

Consume a variety of foods in each of the recommended food groups.

Healthy eating is also tied to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. So as part of our “what to eat” position, we recommend eating using Calorie Density as your guide.

Check out our page on Weight Loss and calorie density, linked here.