A whole-food, plant-based diet is a diet based on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Such diet emphasizes whole, unrefined plants, while minimizing meat, dairy products, and highly processed foods like sugar and oil.

A whole-food, plant-based diet is simply not a diet of leafy and raw vegetables. In fact, it is far tastier and more satisfying. While spinach and kale are important parts of the diet, they are poor energy sources. We would have to consume almost 16 pounds of cooked kale in order to gain 2,000 calories each day. It’s nearly impossible to live on leafy vegetables alone. Therefore, a whole-food, plant-based diet includes diverse ingredients that can be used to create common dishes such as pizza, lasagna, and burritos, but with less flour, sugar, and oil. Following are a few food examples of the diet.

• Fruits: apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, strawberries, etc.
• Vegetables: lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, zucchinis, etc.
• Tubers: potatoes, corn, green peas, spaghetti squash, etc.
• Whole grains: quinoa, brown rice, oats, whole-wheat pasta, etc.
• Legumes: kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.

Ample research has explained that high intakes of fruits and vegetables not only result in low chances of cardiovascular disease and diabetes but also benefit the environment. Any step you take will help, but the more plants and fewer animal goods, the better.