You will be deficient in important macronutrients
Fruits and vegetables will provide you with fiber and carbohydrates, but they won't give you the fat and protein you need. And they are vital for the body. Fats are for brain health, sufficient energy and metabolism, proteins are for strong muscles and a strong immune system.
“If you eat only fruits and vegetables, you will lose muscle mass and strength,” says nutritionist Amy Shapiro. “A plant-based diet can provide protein, but it needs to include grains.”
How many vegetables do you need per day?
The average person needs about three servings of vegetables per day. However, nutritionists advise listening to your body and, if digestibility is good, do not limit yourself. However, it is better to eat exotic vegetables in limited quantities, because they can cause allergies and disruptions in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
By adding vegetables to your menu, you can lower your blood pressure, lower your bad cholesterol levels, and improve your immune system. The effect is based on the content of a complex system of vital substances in vegetables. The question arises, if vegetables are so good, then what happens if you switch to a plant-based diet on a regular basis?
Your inflammation levels will decrease
Inflammation occurs when the body tries to defend against viruses and bacteria or repair damaged tissue. But some foods—among them meat, cheese, and processed foods—enhance Dietary pattern analysis and biomarkers of low-grade inflammation: a systematic literature review. inflammatory processes.
This negatively affects the body: chronic inflammation is associated with the development of atherosclerosis, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and autoimmune diseases. .
A plant-based diet, on the contrary, reduces inflammation due to the high content of fiber and antioxidants in the diet. In addition, this diet is significantly lower in inflammatory triggers, including saturated fat and endotoxins (these substances are released when bacterial cells break down).
According to scientists, in people who switched to a plant-based diet, the level of C-reactive protein, an indicator of inflammation, sharply decreases.
Vegetable and fruit diet: cons
Let's start with the fact that since the late 80s of the last century, instead of a system of balanced eating behavior, nutritionists have been actively promoting the postulates of adequate nutrition. Among them there is a point about what and how to eat depending on the ambient temperature and region of residence. Based on this, it is advised to adhere to diets, the basis of which (and not the entire diet!) consists of vegetables, berries and fruits; they are recommended not in the winter-spring, but in the summer-autumn period. And this advice is not based on saving money.
Food consisting almost exclusively of carbohydrates covers the energy, but not the plastic needs of the body. If you lose weight, you will lose weight, but this will happen due to a decrease in muscle mass. There will simply be no need for fat to be broken down, because there will be more than enough energy sources, but there will simply be nothing to maintain the volume of old ones and produce new muscle cells from. Therefore, the disappeared kilograms will return quite quickly. As soon as proteins begin to enter the body, the muscles will begin to recover.
Vegetable-fruit diet and its absolute disadvantages:
- After a meal that contains a large amount of vegetable and fruit fiber, you will experience a quick return of hunger. Especially if you managed to stretch your stomach. Ballast substances quite quickly go into the duodenum, where the body begins to feel the deception - the absence of proteins and fats. In addition, the stomach begins to send impulses to the brain, asking it to be filled. As a result, it sucks in the pit of the stomach and the number of meals increases. In the future, getting rid of such consequences will require significant time and willpower.
- The absence of fats in food leads to a decrease in not only bad (low-density) cholesterol, but also good, high-density cholesterol, which is extremely necessary for the normal functioning of the body.
- A carbohydrate diet clearly and severely affects the pancreas, kidneys and liver. In some cases, it can cause purulent acne.
- Indulgence in sour fruits and berries can cause gastritis.
- Excluding proteins from the diet, especially animals, leads to protein-free edema. And here is advice on daily limiting table salt to 2 mg or less - a dead poultice. It can only get worse. NaCl is a necessary mineral nutrient, which is intensively lost during training through sweat, and requires, if not complete, restoration.
- Carbohydrate-containing silage is no less effective in producing intestinal gases than legumes or meat.
- The lack of proteins and fats creates a deficiency:
- hormone-like substances necessary for the gastrointestinal tract, which by the way produces more hormones than all other endocrine glands and adipose tissue combined;
- c-reactive protein, precursors and neurotransmitters themselves, as well as some amino acids of unique functional significance, for example, Omega-3 and Omega-6;
- minerals - calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, chromium;
- vitamins - D, B2, B5, B6, B9, B12, H, PP, lipoic acid.
And in conclusion, we would like to advise you to lose weight on a diet that limits carbohydrates and fats. Let the fruit and vegetable diet for weight loss be an addition. Leave fruit or vegetable days for low-calorie fasting days, which are necessary for the body to prolong life expectancy.
You will become less energetic
On average, a man with a moderately active lifestyle needs Calculating how many calories are burned in a day 2,400–2,800 calories per day, and a woman needs 1,800–2,200. But if you do not eat grains, seeds, nuts and vegetable oils, it is extremely It's hard to get that many calories. To give you an idea, 2,200 calories is about 100 cups of chopped cabbage or 23 apples.
Of course, there are higher calorie vegetables, such as avocados. But even if you diversify your plant foods as much as possible, you will still have to eat a lot. At the same time, you will not get the type of carbohydrates that provide energy and help you concentrate.
Reducing cholesterol levels
When a person switches to vegetables, the level of bad cholesterol drops by 35%. This is comparable to drug treatment. Therefore, anyone who wants to do without medications can go on a plant-based diet (consultation with a doctor is required). After all, to lower cholesterol, it is important to avoid processed sugar and fats. Namely, they are not found in vegetables. However, the menu should be compiled by a competent nutritionist so as not to cause irreparable harm to yourself.
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You will be left without important vitamins and minerals
"A diet where fruits and vegetables are the only source of energy will be deficient in key nutrients," says nutritionist Stephanie Di Figlia-Peck. While many popular diets, including the Mediterranean diet, are high in fruits and vegetables, they also include other types of foods in a balanced manner.
An exclusively plant-based diet will not provide the body with vitamins B12 and D and will provide little iron. And although spinach and other dark leafy greens are rich in iron, they also contain phytates, which block Mineral Absorption from absorbing this trace mineral.
What about vitamins?
Undoubtedly, vegetables contain a large number of various vitamins. Thus, carrots, parsley and spinach contain a lot of vitamin A, garlic, sweet peppers and broccoli contain vitamin C, and cauliflower and white cabbage contain vitamin B. In addition, vegetables are rich in water, organic acids and minerals, which helps maintain water balance and helps remove swelling.
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How to cook fruit
So, the child does not like fruits, but it seems to you that he should receive them at least in small quantities. Because it’s more comfortable and convenient for you.
— Some children love canned fruit puree. Until about 99 years old, even adults do not deny themselves of it, especially in “Little Sissy”. Perhaps jarred puree is healthier than exotic fruits that have been forcibly ripened as a result of gas treatment or other tricks. Or wax apples and pears in stores in winter. And get rid of the stereotype “eats cans like a little kid!” And don’t look back at other children who are always more successful than yours in some way. The fact that a child prefers the consistency of purees may have important reasons related to health and physiological characteristics.
- Bake it. This method is also suitable for allergy sufferers. When baked, healthy pectin is released. The taste of baked fruits is often liked by reluctant children.
Typical mom techniques collected from forums:
— Making food more attractive. You can make fruit skewers and canapés on wooden and plastic skewers.
— Fruits are added to cottage cheese, disguised in dishes with meat. Cottage cheese whipped in a blender with fruit is a delicious dessert where the ingredients are unidentifiable. Peaches, apricots, apples and pears disappear without a trace in porridges. And puree soup will hide anything in itself - the same apples, combined with many vegetables, are added to any recipe.
— If you grind fruits and add a little oatmeal to them, you get “jam” for bread. Another gourmet dessert option: fruit puree with baby cookies. It can be offered fresh or kept in the refrigerator and served in a mold.
— For children over three years old, fruit sorbet is suitable: mix fruit puree with yogurt and freeze in silicone molds.
— It is known that young children imitate adults: eat fruit with the whole family. Create a ritual where at the same time a beautiful bowl of fruit pieces appears on the table, and everyone takes a little.
When to start giving your child fruit
Previously, it was believed that complementary feeding should begin with fruits. Then the opinions of experts shifted in favor of vegetables as less sweet. And these days, complementary foods are generally introduced according to individual preferences, and this is wise. The main rule of road safety remains: do not rush!
Up to 2-3 years of age, children better absorb vitamins with milk protein, and other products remain familiar with tastes and textures. And if a child stubbornly rejects fruit, there is no tragedy in this, except for the shaking of the nervous system of sensitive mothers. As for vitamins, fruits from the branches are rich in them - from the country apple tree, pear tree, plum tree. Vitamins are unstable, especially vitamin C, which does not tolerate oxygen, light or heat treatment. One should not exaggerate the benefits of store-bought fruits, most of which were not ripened in nature, but forcibly, losing their vitamin reserves.
Normally, a child from one to three years old should receive 50-100 g of fruit per day, schoolchildren - 200 g. Typically, young children eat healthy food without excess salt and chemical substitutes. When your schoolchild declares an ultimatum to home-cooked food, describing how many chips their wonderful parents allow his friends to eat, you will remember with emotion how he pushed away a banana at the age of 3.
The real problems sometimes happen later in life. The reason is the taste is off. A child under one year old simply does not know other tastes; he gets acquainted with them through complementary foods. Kindergarteners and schoolchildren have already tasted harmful foods and spicy, over-sweetened dishes; it is more difficult to achieve healthy nutrition.
