Plant foods are good for health for a number of reasons. Here are the main advantages of eating plant foods as part of a healthy balanced diet.
Fibre
Plant foods contain a range of different soluble and insoluble fibres. These fibres not only keep the gastrointestinal tract healthy, they are an important source of energy as gut bacteria can convert some fibres to short chain fatty acids, and these can be absorbed and oxidised.
Vitamins
Plants manufacture a range of vitamins that are essential to human health. These include B vitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin K. Vitamin C and vitamin E are important antioxidants and plant foods are the main sources of these vitamins.
Minerals
When pants are grown on mineral rich soil they absorb minerals in their water and this enters the plant tissues. When we eat the plants the minerals are absorbed and contribute significantly to the daily intake.
Antioxidant
Plants are replete with antioxidant nutrients of many different chemical groups. These antioxidants contribute significantly to human health as in many cases they are not available from other foods in the diet.
Low in Energy
Another benefit of plant foods is that they are generally low in energy compared to the nutrients they provide. This means that overeating plant foods is not likely to cause weight gain or ill health and in fact high plant diets can supply large amounts of essential nutrients with minimal amounts of energy.
Essential Fats
Plants are rich sources of the two essential fatty acids alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid. Green leafy vegetables contain high amounts of alpha linolenic acid, whereas most seeds contain linoleic acid.
Specific phytochemicals
A large number of medicinal plants are known, and these contain specific phytochemicals with particular pharmacological activity. Many have been evidenced to treat specific ailments as well as or better than pharmaceutical drugs.
