6 tips for adopting a whole food, plant-based diet from NY cardiologist
Robert Ostfeld, MD, a cardiologist, recommends his patients at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, New York adopt a whole food, plant-based diet, U.S. News & World Report reports.
Ostfeld wrote that a whole food, plant-based diet can help prevent and treat heart disease. He defined the diet as one rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and yams and one that excludes meats, dairy and other highly refined foods and animal products.
Ostfeld gave readers six tips on how to incorporate a whole food, plant-based diet into their lives:
- Turn your body into a health-promoting powerhouse. Bathe it in vegetables and fruits throughout the day so it’s teeming with antioxidants, plant-based nutrients and more.
- [Ostfeld has] yet to see someone become obese eating vegetables and fruits. So please eat them to your heart’s (and blood vessels’) content.
- Recruit a friend or family member to join you on this incredible health journey. Work as a team, and build your community.
- Keep it tasty. There are tons of amazing plant-based recipes and restaurants out there to choose from.
- Check out the many amazing resources online, such as Forks Over Knives, The Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease—or check out [Ostfeld's] program in the Bronx.
- Bonus theme! Please take your B12. Although I am unaware of a more nutrient-dense diet than a plant-based diet, the one nutrient it is missing is B12. Since it lives in the soil and we wash our foods so well, we no longer get B12 via fruits and vegetables. Animal foods offer B12 because animals eat soil, or eat other animals with B12. A simple blood test can check your B12 level.
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Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.