When I first told my family that I was going to eat healthier and a lot less meat, to the point that I am now mostly vegetarian, they didn't really understand it. My dad, in particular, didn't think that I could get all of my dietary needs by eating mostly plants and grains.
But now I can show him proof that, despite most of us Latinos growing up in a meat-heavy culture, maintaining a well-planned, plant-based diet is just as healthy for us (both as kids and as adults), thanks to new findings published by the Medical Journal of Australia Open.
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As my fellow Mamás Latinas writer Sandra can tell you, living without eating meat on a Latin diet isn't easy. Families don't always understand and growing up with no other options but meat (and lots of it), it can be difficult to adjust our food sensibilities. But knowing that I'm not doing the wrong thing, and that science supports eating a plant-based diet, makes me feel good about my food choices lately.
Nutritionist Dr. Rosemary Stanton supports the findings and, despite them being a big break from traditional thinking (and certainly anything that we would expect in our culture), explains to ABC's Radio National why these findings are not surprising:
I've been aware that you can have an adequate vegetarian diet for many years, but I think this new research really puts everything together so that people can understand why. As long as you've had a variety of plant-based foods over the course of a day or so, your body will take the amino acids as it needs them. And so we don't need to fuss about having seeds and nuts together, or particular foods together, the way we used to.
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She adds that variety is actually the most important thing, and what we most forget when people start a plant-based diet:
I think we've mixed up the people who are vegetarian because they can't afford meat, or can't afford enough food to eat, with those who can eat a variety of plant-based foods. If you take meat off the plate, you need to put something else there, in the way of some legumes or grains or seeds or nuts.
As someone who's already eating more plants in order to better my diet, I am definitely excited by this news. I know it's not always so easy for other Latinos to eat less meat. But with more studies coming out about the harmful effects of meat, and now that a plant-based diet isn't bad for you, I hope that we will.
Do you eat more plant-based foods? Are you surprised by the new findings that, even when you're pregnant or a growing child, you can be sustained on a variety of plant foods and nuts? Share with us in the comments below!
Image via SurvivalWoman/flickr
