What is a plant-based diet?
A plant-based diet focuses on foods that are minimally processed and come from plants, but this isn't the same as following a vegetarian or vegan diet - you don't have to completely exclude meat or animal products in order to follow a plant-based diet. Here's why.
A plant-based diet focuses on foods that are minimally processed and come from plants, like fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, peas, beans and lentils. These are typically nutritious foods - high in fibre and other nutrients; low in salt, refined sugar, and saturated fat. A diet that includes a large proportion of these foods, and also dairy, meat, fish and eggs, is still a plant-based diet.
Here are some examples:
Omnivore: eats animal products and plant-based foods.
Pescatarian: eats fish, dairy, eggs and plant-based foods.
Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: eats dairy, eggs, and plant-based foods.
Lacto-vegetarian: eats dairy products and plant-based foods.
Vegan: eats plant-based foods only
Eating lots of fruit and veg, wholegrains, legumes, nuts and olive oil, whether or not you eat animal products, usually means you displace lower quality foods that might be more energy-dense and less nutritious (such as ultra-processed, fatty and sugary foods) with healthier foods which are often less energy dense and more nutritious by comparison. As well as being better for your health, this can also be helpful when it comes to weight loss, because it usually results in the consumption of fewer calories over time.
Of course, this isn’t always the case, and it is more than possible to follow a plant-based diet whilst still consuming lots of processed and refined foods and not achieving the variety, nutrient intake, and health benefits that a plant-based diet can usually offer. But, generally speaking, diets rich in plant-based foods usually result in a higher intake of fibre and better health outcomes for people, compared with diets that are low in plant-based foods. Eating a plant-based diet means that you focus largely on plant-based foods, not exclusively, and may also eat meat, fish, dairy and eggs - plant-based is not the same as plants-only.
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