Plant-based diets are all the rage and deservedly so. Studies continue to pour in supporting the power they bestow to keep us healthy and disease free. This month we have two new, big ones to add to the list.

In the first, scientists followed the diets and health status of over 10,000 US adults from 1987 through 2016, categorizing each study subject based on the proportion of plant-based vs. animal-based foods they consumed. Those eating the most plant-based foods exhibited a healthier status, including a 32 percent lower risk of dying of heart disease and a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause.

In the second, scientists combined the results of nine former studies totaling over 300,000 adult study subjects followed for up to 28 years. Study subjects with the highest intakes of “healthy” plant-based foods, namely whole grains, beans, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds were 30 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes vs. those who consumed the least amounts.

We now know unequivocally that a diet made up largely of whole, plant-based foods is the healthiest of all. I am certain that if you had read the studies and personally experienced the phenomenal goodness of plant-based foods in your own body like I have, you would be totally hooked.

Click here to see my personal tactics for eating a mostly plant-based diet.

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