How a plant based diet can help you, the planet and others.
How a plant based diet can help you, the planet and others.
The act of riding a wave sounds simple, but for the surfer looking to explore new challenges, it comes with travel, buying things, and being conscious of the food we eat. As a travelling surfer, you're often unable to store food for long periods, which makes food options fairly limited.
Enter plant based diets - exactly what it sounds like, made up of whole and minimally processed plant-based food such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, and grains. Fruit and vegetables are perfect on-the-go, and are often accessible whether it's in a supermarket or fruit & veggie stalls which can be found just about anywhere.
More than being incredibly accessible for the travelling surfer, we explore how plant-based diets can help change your life and the planet.
Plant-based diets can be healthy.
Plant-based diets can be incredibly healthy, building strong bodies and providing the right energy levels to carve waves. They’ve been associated with lower risks of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. It also positively influences the microbiota, supporting our immune system, which reduces the risk of certain diseases. On the flip side, high consumption of red meat and poultry has been associated with an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Eating a plant-based diet can also help with losing weight - body mass indexes (BMI) between non-meat eaters and meat eaters are significantly different, with age-adjusted BMI averaging 24.4 for male meat-eaters and 23.5 for women, compared to their vegan counterparts at 22.5 and 22 respectively.
As a bonus, having new fruits and veggies on display can add some colour and diversity to your living space which can help brighten up your mood.
It’s environmentally friendly.
Plant-based diets can also be an avenue to support sustainability causes (beyond not needing a fridge!). One of the most noticable consequences of climate change is the loss of iconic surf spots given their proximity to the water.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) identified a shift to plant-based diets as a possible solution to an accelerating threat of climate change from agriculture. The University of Oxford led research on the impact of meat and dairy farming, and points to plant-based diets as the single biggest way of reducing the impact on our environment through increasing greenhouse gasses, global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use. Pound for pound, animal proteins require almost 100 times the amount of water as their grain-based alternatives.
Today, more than 80% of global farmland is used for animal farming which could be reduced by more than 75% with a shift to plant based diets, which can reduce our climate footprint and make more room for forests that combat climate change.
It’s cheaper for your wallet.
When you’re on a budget saving for your next surf adventure, there aren’t a lot of choices, and plant-based diets can be cheaper than their more expensive meaty counterparts. The University of Oxford research identified that in high-income countries, such as the US, UK, Australia and Western Europe, plant-based diets can reduce food costs by up to a third. With increasing costs of living across the globe, a few more dollars in the pocket can contribute towards more travel to explore the world or financial goals such as buying a house.
With all this said, it’s not for everyone but maybe it’s worth giving it a try if you haven’t. Here are some tips on starting:
Don’t go cold turkey on meat (pun fully intended). Have smaller amounts of meat, and increase your vegetable intake. Enjoy it in a main as a salad, or as a snack with hummus, salsa, or your favourite guacamole.
Whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat, and oats can help you feel fuller.
Nuts, olives, seeds, olive oil, and avocados are good fats to fuel your body and top up on calories.
Fruit can be a healthy dessert - eat them as they are, or process them into tarts, pies, or fruit salads to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Plant-based diets offer a huge opportunity to help you live a healthier life, positively impact the planet, and save you some money for your next surf excursion. Give it a go and create a win, win, win!
Stoke Kitchen
Check out some of my recipes to take action toward sustainable living.
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