What exactly is plant based food?
Have you ever heard of plant based foods? There’s a chance you have and don’t understand why it needs to be explained, but we hope that this article can illuminate those in the know while also bringing something new to those who already believe they know everything there is to know about plant based food. So, please take a look below to see what we have to say about exactly what plant based foods are and what they can do for you.
Not only is choosing to live off plant based a largely ethical decision, it’s also a huge move in the right direction when it comes to your general health. Not only can it help with general energy issues in the short-term, it also staves off long-term health issues such as cancer and heart disease. There’s a lot of information regarding the positives of a plant based diet which you can find throughout the internet, but it’s good to point this out before we move onto exactly what plant based food is!
Plant based food is essentially what you’d expect it to be, food that is based pretty much entirely around plants rather than animals or meat. Some people feel they’d struggle with this, but you’d be surprised by how rewarding a plant-based diet can be, both for your emotional and physical state. If you want to go slowly to see if it gives you any health benefits in the immediacy, you can always just start to remove meat from you diet and add some more plants, maybe a meal or two a week.
If it’s more the lack of meat than it is the taste or texture of plant based food, you can always mix in various types of false meats such as Tofu to give your meals that extra something. Rather than just throw it in plain, which is what gives these sorts of substitutes their bad name, you can always marinade it in various herbs and spices before frying it or baking it. This will allow you to start on a new routine without having to completely change how you’re eating completely. You’ll also find that with time, you start to enjoy things that you previously didn’t think were that tasty.
Another big part of any plant based diet is legumes which are generally quite healthy for you, offering up high levels of nutrition and can be great to snack on. Whether you’re getting your fix in some form of lentil stew or chomping on legumes between main meals, you will find that they’re one of the easiest plant based foods to work into your meat heavy diet without having to force much of a change. Definitely worth a look if you’re intrigued by the concept!
Last on our list are smoothies which can give you a quick hit of energy and nutrition while staying entirely plant based. Comprised of both fruit and vegetables, pair the solids with things like coconut or rice milk rather than dairy to offer you a pure experience rather than something spoilt at the last hurdle by animal products. I can promise you that milk alternatives are generally much sweeter and healthier than cow’s milk, so they’re worth a look even if you’re not trying to change your diet that drastically.
While many of you will still be sceptical of an entirely plant based diet, we implore you to give it ago. You don’t have to give up meat cold turkey, pun intended, as you can always just keep throwing more and more plant based foods into your diet to find out what you like. Not only can you get all the nutrition you need from entirely plant based foods, it can be fantastic for your health in both the long and short term. If you’re worried about what meat is doing for your long term health or short term energy, give a plant based diet a chance.
How Lots of High Carbohydrate Foods Can Make You Feel Sluggish
When our bodies turn what we eat into energy, carbohydrates are the main component that they turn to for longer lasting fuel, as opposed to sugar which kicks in in the immediacy. That being said, when you choose to gorge yourself on them you’ll struggle to get yourself out of any kind of snooze as they keep you lethargic and sluggish. If you’re finding yourself unable to get out of bed or that most of your middays are spent napping, then maybe carbohydrates are your problem.
Once you eat some food that is high in carbohydrates, you system will begin to break them down and your blood sugar will rise. If the carbs are simple, your blood sugar will rapidly spike with your energy levels and then crash horrendously, leaving you feeling highly sluggish. If you try to stay away from large meals made up of simple carbohydrates, then you shouldn’t have this problem, with complex carbohydrates allowing you to keep your levels high, but even this will change if you gorge yourself rather than keep the levels sensible.
This information doesn’t mean that you should cut out carbs entirely, it just means you should be careful with whatever carbohydrates you’re giving your body and in what levels they’re being given as well.This carbohydrate watch can also help you keep your weight at a standard and consistent level while also allowing you to stay more alert. A lower weight and higher fitness level will also allow you to keep the malaise at bay. For the most part, simple carbs tend come in the form of sugars, so you know that any food or liquid that comes with a high level of sugar is likely to end up leaving you sluggish.
People ingesting a high level of carbohydrates, no matter whether they’re complex or simple, will also find that they have a higher level of serotonin in their bloodstream than those that struggle to get carbs into their diet. These high levels can lead to feeling a lot sleepier, which means that during the day you should stay away, but that if you’re struggling to get to sleep then a light snack that’s high in complex carbohydrates could actually help you get to bed a lot earlier than you would otherwise. Always worth looking at!
Sometimes it’s the mere overeating that can lead to the sleepy feeling. There’s not much food in this world that if you eat too much of will leave you feeling high in energy and ready to take on the world, but it can lead you to feeling incredibly drowsy. This is to do with the way your bloodstream is messed with when you’re eating excessively, the blood being routed towards your stomach to make sure that your system can digest the food that you’re putting into the body. This means that while carbohydrates could be getting you sluggish, you should try eating in much smaller portions so that your body doesn’t have a chance to react to the carbs negatively.
If the idea of changing to more complex carbohydrates and smaller meals appeals to you, then you can look for solutions on many websites and start to change your daily routine. Once this has been changed, you will start to realise that your diet becomes something you don’t have to think about much, and hopefully your sluggish nature will change with it.
Many people will be surprised to learn that when they go to the doctor complaining of lethargy or fatigue that this sleepiness is actually down to their diet. While it can always be a sign of something much more serious and we would never suggest you don’t get any consistent issue looked at by a medical professional, it’s always interesting to see how many people get a boost just from a good change in their diet. This movement towards balance can really change how people feel on a day to day basis, so why not see if a change in carbohydrates can really chance your feelings for the better.
Why Snacking on Complex Carbohydrates Is Better Than Snacking On Simple Carbohydrates
Would we be right in thinking that a lot of people out there don’t really know the difference between complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates? You wouldn’t be the first one, we struggled with it for a while ourselves. As we’ve written about before, the macronutrient is highly important in a balanced diet, so it’s probably time you looked into exactly what kind of carbs you’re putting into your body and how the two different types can make a whole lot of difference on both you and your levels of energy.
Anyone looking for a fad diet or a key change in your general meal making that will help you lose some weight will have heard that cutting our carbs is how you will be able to bring on some seriously positive health effects. However, there are many others that say instead of getting rid of carbohydrates entirely, what you need to do is find the right ones to keep your energy levels up while making sure that your body doesn’t struggle with weight gain. There’s even a chance that you can see a serious reduction in weight by looking into the kind of carbs you’re eating on a regular basis.
One of the issues here is that many people refuse to label their foods so that you can tell whether you’re eating either simple or complex carbohydrates, but with some effort you can figure this out for yourself. For the most part, simple carbs tend come in the form of sugars, which you will usually find is added to your food without you realising and will give you a quick but short boost of energy. As for complex carbs, they contain more fibre and digest far slower inside your body, meaning they allow for more sustainable energy levels. They’re also significantly more filling, meaning that their inclusion in a balanced diet can allow for much greater weight control.
People who ingest too much simple carbohydrates tend to snack on things such as breakfast cereal, fruit juice and biscuits. However, if you’re looking to start snacking on more complex carbohydrates, then it’s time you chucked these and started to go for more traditionally healthier food such as fruit, vegetables and whole grains. As for ideas regarding complex carb snacks, you should be throwing yourself at fruit and veg during your snack breaks, while relying heavily on whole grains or beans during your main meals.
As with almost all foods that offer you a quick boost of energy, the crash that follows will provide you with very little to be happy about and it’s also not very good for your general blood sugar levels. If you’re looking to keep unpleasant health issues at bay, it’s important that you start to move far closer to complex carbohydrates. Your intestines and stomach will thank you for it in the long run, as well as providing you with lower chances of diabetes in your future. Regarding your energy levels, complex carbohydrates will keep you going throughout the day, offering slow burning energy that doesn’t leave you with an unpleasant crash.
If you’re still worried about not understanding exactly how to find complex carbs over simple ones, you can always Google search for snack and meal ideas. However, you’ll find that most of the time it’s just common sense, with well-known unhealthy foods usually being rich in simple carbohydrates and healthier ones being the opposite. There’s a lot of information out there if you need it, so don’t be afraid to look.
Hopefully this article has been able to inform of you of things you weren’t previously aware, or even remind you of facts you’d completely forgotten. While we will always suggest that you have a balanced diet, it is also important that you know exactly what it is that’s balancing that diet. With this information, you’ll be able to go away and sort yourself out with some healthy carbohydrates to keep you going on a daily basis. There’s no reason that work or exercise should ever be an issue when you know exactly what you’re getting from the food you’re putting into your body.
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