How to eat a plant-based diet (without giving up meat).

 As the name implies, plant-based eating is all about getting most of your calories and nutrients from plants. But there’s room for the meat and animal products you love (sparingly).

 

Given the fairly wide parameters, a lot of healthy diets that focus on whole foods and fruits and vegetables are plant-based, explained Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., RD, associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior in the Arnold School of Public Health at University of South Carolina (who studies how diet choices affect chronic disease risk). Some of the diets that fall under the plant-based umbrella include:

• Semi-vegetarian diets, like the  

  Mediterranean Diet or the DASH Diet (that limit red meat and allow for some white meat, fish, dairy and eggs)

• Pesco-vegetarian diet (one where you avoid any meat, but fish, dairy and eggs are allowed)

• Vegetarian diet (one where you avoid meat and fish, but dairy and eggs are allowed)

• Vegan diet (no animal products)

   

  
  
  

How does a plant-based diet work?

Plant-based eating is generally a healthy dietary approach, but beware that nearly any diet can become an unhealthy one depending on which specific foods you’re choosing, explained Amy Shapiro, RD, founder and director of Real Nutrition in New York City. If you’re following a vegetarian diet, but your meals include mostly white carbohydrates and cheese, that’s not necessarily a healthy, nutrient-dense one, she said. White carbohydrates have much of the fiber processed right out of them and cheese is very high in saturated fat and salt.

To reap the health benefits of plant-based eating, pay attention to proportions, Shapiro said. Fill half your plate (for meals and snacks) with non-starchy vegetables and fresh fruits; think leafy greens, carrots, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, berries, grapes, apples, pears and melons. Fill the rest of your plate or snack bowl with lean proteins (chicken, tofu, beans or yogurt), complex carbohydrates (ones high in fiber like whole wheat pastas, farro, quinoa and other whole grains or starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes), and healthy fats (avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive and other oils).