USDA Recognizes Value of Vegan Foods
The antiquated food pyramid is slowly toppling: the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee—a panel established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—recently recognized the value of a vegan diet and instructed people to eat more plant-based foods! While the new dietary guidelines still aren’t as good as they should be, they do stress the importance of eating healthy vegan foods more than previous guidelines have. Hopefully, they’ll even convince more people to opt for chickpeas rather than chicken flesh.
With all the health benefits of a wholesome vegan diet—including a slimmer waistline, fewer cataracts, and protection against heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease—I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t aspire to be vegan. I lost nearly 30 pounds when I incorporated more fruits, veggies, whole grains, and legumes into my diet, and I’m the only one in my family who doesn’t suffer from weight problems, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. (Of course, I feel even better knowing that I’m saving animals and the environment too.)
Healthy eating is hardly a chore with supermarket produce aisles and farmers markets bursting with fresh berries, juicy melons, ripe tomatoes, citrus, corn on the cob, and lots of asparagus, avocados, artichokes, and other delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables. If eating mouthwatering produce—as well as barbecued veggie burgers, pasta primavera, spicy soy sausage, hummus wraps, falafel, coconut-pineapple curry, wild mushroom risotto, faux-chicken sandwiches, black cherry sorbet, and other tasty vegan foods—doesn’t sound like a hardship to you, why not take PETA’s “Fit for Summer, Healthy for Life” pledge?Or, if you’re already vegan, click here to recruit your nonvegan loved ones to take the pledge. They’ve got nothing to lose but pounds, plaque, and polyps!
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