However, certain types of restaurant cuisines are friendlier to plant-based eaters than others. And today, we’re going to talk about one of them: Thai food.

When visiting a Thai restaurant, diners often have the welcome dilemma of having many options that are adaptable to suit plant-based eaters. And with over 10,000 Thai restaurants in the US alone, it’s pretty darn easy to enjoy eating Thai food.

Thanks to the Thai government using food as a gateway to globalization (a concept known as gastro-diplomacy), Thai food has become more prominent and popular than ever. In fact, pad thai was originally developed because of a rice shortage — it wasn’t even a significant cultural dish to begin with. And those tasty noodles opened the floodgates for Thai food’s entrance into Western culture.

With the development of the Global Thai program, trainings, grants, and information were provided to Thai investors who wanted to open restaurants abroad. It also standardized what diners could expect on Thai restaurant menus. If you’re a Thai food lover, this may explain why you often see the same options at any Thai restaurant you visit, no matter the location.

So how do you replicate the flavors and dishes that make Thai food, Thai food? What ingredients are essential? And what Thai dishes are already free from animal products, or only require minimal changes?

If you’re a Thai food fan and want to enjoy some of the most popular dishes in your own kitchen, or if you’re looking to expand your palate, read on to discover how to create vegan Thai recipes (or Thai-inspired dishes).

What Makes Thai Food Unique

Thai food is unique in that it includes a five-flavor profile: sweet, salty, spicy, bitter, and sour. You could have a whole meal with each of these tastes: a sweet salad, spicy curry, sour soup, salty noodles, and bitter greens tossed in a stir-fry.

Thai food also stands out because of the merging of different flavors and ingredients due to the country’s geography and influence from neighboring countries.

According to May Kaidee, vegan Thai food restauranteur and author of May Kaidee’s Thai Vegetarian and Vegan Cookbook, Thai cuisine is classified into four regions: Northern, Northeastern, Southern, and Central.

Says Kaidee, “Northern Thai dishes include the well-known Khao Soi, a noodle dish bathed in a curry soup base. This region is known as Lanna, and the dishes trace their origin to the ancient Kingdom of Lanna from several hundred years ago.

Northeastern Thai food is heavily influenced by Laotian cuisine, as this region of Thailand has a large population with historic roots in Laos. Known as “Isaan,” cooking in this region makes liberal use of dill, the only region to do so. Dill is, in fact, casually referred to as “Laotian Cilantro,” whereas many Thai dishes in the other regions of Thailand use what is commonly known as cilantro or coriander. Isaan cooking is also influenced by Cambodian cuisine since Cambodia also borders part of Northeastern Thailand.

Southern Thai food is influenced by neighboring Malaysian and Indonesian cooking, all with traditions originating in countries with majority Muslim populations. Many, if not most, of Thai curries come from Southern Thailand. Dishes from this region make generous use of coconut, and use ingredients such as potatoes which are not as common in dishes from other regions.

Central Thailand (Editor’s Note: Where capital city Bangkok is located) is where most of the Thai dishes with worldwide popularity come from. These include Pad Thai (which is actually a young dish relative to the history of Thailand) and green curry. In most countries outside of Thailand when people mention Thai food, they’re usually referring to Central Thai cooking. However, by no means are the dishes better than those from other regions, they’re just better known. Cooking from all of Thailand’s regions is equally good, and collectively, they make for a diverse and complex cuisine.”

No matter what the region, however, Thai food has several core ingredients that make it recognizable, adaptable, and relatively easy to replicate. As a result, it’s approachable for many dietary preferences, including plant-based eating.

Thai Cuisine Essentials

Before we dive into tasty Thai creations, let’s talk about what you’ll need to create a more authentic experience.

Meal base:

• Jasmine rice (a fragrant long-grain rice)
• or rice noodles (used in dishes like Pad Thai)

Protein:

Traditionally, many Thai dishes often include either chicken, pork, or seafood. But you can easily sub in a meat analogue or plant-based foods such as:

• Tofu
• Jackfruit
• Mushrooms

Condiments:

• Coconut milk (used in curries, soups, and desserts)
• Tamarind (a sweet, tangy fruit that is blended into a paste)
• Red, green, and yellow curry pastes
• Lime (an acidic addition to salads, soups, and sauces)
• Peanuts (crushed and sprinkled on top of meals or used in sauces to create a nutty flavor and creamy texture)
• Prik Nam Pla/Fish sauce

To achieve the same umami flavor profile as fish sauce, without harming any fish, you can try soy sauce or tamari instead. You can also make your own vegan fish sauce with mushrooms or seaweed or purchase one premade from Tofuna Fysh or Ocean’s Halo.

Some common herbs and spices used in Thai cuisine are:

• Lemongrass
• Galangal
• Thai chilies or chili paste
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Thai basil
• Cilantro
• Shallots
• Garlic

Indeed, spices may be some of the most important ingredients for replicating Thai dishes at home. “​​At a minimum, keep a quality chili paste along with galangal and lemongrass; those ingredients can be kept in a freezer for long-term storage,” explains Kaidee.

Some of the more exotic spices may not be available at everyday grocery stores. Look for these spices at health food stores, Asian supermarkets, and South Asian and Indian markets. Many are also available online.

To balance out the sour, spicy, bitter, and salty flavors, a little sweetener may also be added in the form of palm sugar. Unlike ultra-processed white sugar, palm sugar is unrefined and comes from palm tree sap. And unlike palm oil, palm sugar is a more sustainable ingredient choice as trees are maintained for their sap for up to 100 years, and, therefore, not cut down. A suitable whole food substitute for palm sugar is date sugar or date paste.

Vegan Thai Food

Buddhism is the predominant religion in Thailand, and many Buddhists are vegetarian or vegan. The term je or jey, meaning without animal products, is used to describe many Thai dishes that are already vegan or plant-based or can be prepared that way.

But while Thai cuisine and many of its commonly used ingredients may have been more vegetarian or vegan in ancient times, gradually, meat and seafood have become the norm as Thai cuisine has become more Westernized. However, many dishes can still be easily made plant-based. As May Kaidee told us, “Since there is heavy use of fresh herbs, spices, and plentiful amounts of fruit and vegetables in Thai cooking already, the dishes can easily stand on their own when omitting animal products.” 

With the omission of meat — or by swapping out meat with plant-based alternatives such as tofu, tempeh, or jackfruit, and replacing fish or oyster sauce with a vegan option — you can still enjoy many of the flavors and dishes popular in Thai cuisine.

If you follow a SOS-free (salt-, oil-, sugar-free) diet, you can also make Thai dishes oil-free by stir-frying in vegetable broth or water and baking rather than deep-frying.

What Thai Dishes Are Plant-Based or Can Be Modified to Be So?

Now that you’re aware of the plant-based nature of Thai dishes and ingredients, let’s talk about which Thai dishes are naturally plant-based and which can easily be modified into plant-based deliciousness when ordering out or making them at home.

• Appetizers:
  • Spring rolls or summer rolls (vegetarian options are usually veggies only)
  • Tao hu tod/Fried tofu
  • Som tam/Papaya salad (omit dried shrimp, crab, or egg)
  • Pad Pak Boong/Stir-fried morning glory (omit or replace fish sauce and oyster sauce)
  • Nahm prik noom/Green chili dip (some recipes include fish sauce)
• Mains:
  • Green curry, panang curry, pumpkin curry, etc. (omit or replace fish sauce; use a plant-based protein of choice)
  • Pad Thai with tofu (omit or replace fish sauce; omit egg)
  • Fried rice (omit or replace fish sauce; omit egg or use tofu instead; use a plant-based protein of choice)
  • Tofu satay (omit or replace fish sauce in peanut sauce)
• Desserts (Many Thai desserts are naturally vegan since they’re made with rice, coconut, and fruit!):
  • Mango sticky rice (mango and sticky rice in coconut milk — need we say more?)
  • Khanom krok/Coconut pancakes
  • Ruam mit (starchy noodles, tapioca pearls, and fruit in a sweet coconut milk syrup)
  • Khao lam (naturally plant-based with sticky rice, beans, and coconut cream — yum!)
  • Woon Nam Maprao (coconut milk jelly made with agar)

Note that you can also try other entrees not on this list by omitting the meat. Or, when eating out, try looking for a plant-based Thai restaurant in your area. May Kaidee has vegan Thai restaurants in NYC and Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai).

Vegan Thai Recipes

If your mouth isn’t already watering from the helpful tips and tricks above, just wait until the aromas of Thai cuisine begin to fill your home. From our sweet and sour Thai salad to our naturally sweet and humble sticky rice, these recipes are your one-way ticket to Thailand. Buckle up and get ready for a culinary and nutritional adventure of a lifetime!

1. Vegan Som Tam

Vegan Som Tam is our version of the very popular Thai papaya salad, som tam, and is bursting with lots of rich and robust sweet, savory, sour, and spicy notes. Slightly chewy with a nice bite from the shredded papaya, this salad hits nearly every taste and texture, plus it has nutrients galore! Enjoy this wholesome fruit-based salad any night of the week!

2. Tom Kha Soup

You may have heard of Tom Yum, the famous hot and sour soup from Thailand that is traditionally made with shrimp, lemongrass, garlic, and lime. Tom Kha soup is the creamy version of Tom Yum, made with the addition of coconut milk. We’ve substituted mushrooms for shrimp to make it plant-based and to create a creamy, flavorful, and nourishing soup that will bring Thailand to your dining room.

3. Tofu Satay Skewers

One of the most beloved flavors in Thai cuisine has got to be the zingy, sweet, and nutty combination commonly found in satay sauce. Our Tofu Satay Skewers bring the delightful flavors of traditional satay to life with wholesome plant-based ingredients that are every bit as delicious and just as fun to eat. Enjoy these tasty bites as a mouthwatering appetizer or a flavorful addition to your favorite salad, roasted veggie plate, or grain bowl.

4. Drunken Broccoli in Thai Almond Sauce

As the story goes, Thai culture adopted the term “drunken” for dishes that are the perfect cure-all after a party-filled night with friends. In this case, our Drunken Broccoli in Thai Almond Sauce is a delicious way of enjoying broccoli smothered in a slightly spicy Thai almond sauce that is perfect as a side or just as delicious over a wholesome bowl of chewy rice noodles!

5. Tofu Pad Thai

Tofu Pad Thai is a vibrant, flavorful dish that brings the essence of Thai cuisine right to your table with a healthful, plant-based twist. This dish starts with firm tofu, marinated and baked to perfection, offering a wonderfully chewy texture and a protein-rich base. The tofu is then tossed with stir-fried rice noodles, lots of colorful veggies, and the classic sweet and sour pad Thai sauce. Our pad Thai recipe is a hearty and nourishing meal that’s simple to make and even better than takeout.

6. Sweet Chili Broccoli and Tofu

Crispy baked tofu, tender broccoli, and chili sauce add a little sweetness with a kick to our Thai recipe roundup! Spoon all the nourishing ingredients over organic brown rice, mix it with your favorite noodles, or top it with extra Sweet Chili Sauce for more of that somethin’ that makes this Thai dish so special!

7. Sticky Black Rice with Mango

Sticky Black Rice with Mango gets the whole food, plant-based treatment! Inspired by the classic Thai dessert mango sticky rice, this naturally sweet and fiber-rich version is a sumptuous and exotic dessert that captures the essence of the tropical flavors of Thailand in a simple yet indulgent way.

Try Your Hand at Thai!

Whether you’re a seasoned Thai food lover or newly initiated, Thai cuisine offers an enriching and delicious experience that is adaptable to different tastes.

Remember, if you stumble upon a meat-based Thai dish outside of this article, many Thai dishes can easily be made plant-based with one of the substitutions we offered above.

If you’re looking for a little guidance on where to start, try beginning with the Vegan Som Tam (a simple salad), then move on to the soup or skewers before making your way through the mains. No matter which recipe you choose, we hope you enjoy exploring the vast flavors and wonderfully diverse world of Thai cuisine.

Tell us in the comments:

• What’s your favorite Thai dish?
• Which Thai recipe will you make first?
• Which common Thai ingredients might already be in your pantry or fridge?

Featured Image: iStock.com/IriGri8

Read Next:

• Vegan Sushi: How to Make It & the Benefits of Fish-Free Sushi
• The Fifth Taste: Exploring Umami Foods and Recipes

The post 7 Irresistible Vegan Thai Recipes for the Adventurous Cook appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

At Sanctuary Farms on Detroit’s East Side, Jøn Kent and a team of volunteers use cardboard and paper bags to starve invasive weedy plants instead of using herbicides; they plant marigolds and lavender amid squash, melons, and collards instead of using pesticides; and they turn food scraps into lush, clean compost.

Kent and his business partner, Jean Parker, wanted to grow fresh produce for their working-class community, which Kent describes as a “food desert.” They also wanted to make sure their farming practices didn’t contribute to the area’s water pollution crisis.

“In Michigan, we have been left with polluted waters in Black neighborhoods from Benton Harbor to Flint,” he said. So Kent and Parker, who launched Sanctuary Farms in 2020, turned to regenerative agriculture practices, like alternating flowers with crops to attract pollinators and repel pests, to have a positive impact on the environment.

“The goal here is to really create a food-sovereign, energy efficient, zero-waste place, so our community knows it’s possible to live off the land,” said Kent.

Young Farmers Lead the Way in Regenerative Farming

Many young farmers share Kent’s commitment to sustainability, according to a new report from the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC). In a survey of over 10,000 farmers across the country, 86% of respondents under 40 said they used regenerative farming practices, which the survey defined as “an approach to farming and ranching that builds healthy soils and ecosystems, supports climate-resilient farms and communities, and addresses inequity in agriculture.”

Of course, as the survey notes, regenerative farming practices aren’t new. Indigenous communities — many of whom were pushed off the land they stewarded for millennia — innovated and practiced these farming techniques for thousands of years.

“Young farmers today find motivation to farm in environmental conservation; anti-racism; and creating healthy, food-secure, and climate-resilient communities,” said Vanessa García Polanco, NYFC’s policy campaign director.

Overhauling the United States’ agriculture system will be crucial to meeting its climate goals. Farms cover about 40% of all US land, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture, and agriculture accounts for about 11% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Some regenerative farming practices, such as no-till farming, cover cropping, and rotational grazing, can help the US reduce those emissions.

But young farmers — particularly young farmers of color — need more support.

Supporting Young BIPOC Farmers

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said finding affordable land to buy was “very or extremely challenging.” Among those who identified as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), that figure was 65%. Respondents also reported difficulty accessing capital, affording health care, and paying off student loans. In all cases, BIPOC respondents reported greater difficulties than their white counterparts.

These challenges may explain why more young people aren’t taking up the profession. The average age of a US farmer is over 57 and is steadily increasing, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture. According to that report, less than 8% of farmers are under age 35.

Kent, 29, spent his early childhood in Detroit. “My community is often hit with the reality that the government doesn’t always come through for us,” said Kent, who is Black. Kent, who only recently paid off his student loans, said accessing capital to finance Sanctuary Farms was a challenge, but added, “In spite of our lack of finances, we have faith. We just gotta keep puttin’ in that work.”

Adapting to Climate Change

Climate change poses another challenge. More than 73% of respondents said they experienced at least one “climate impact” in the form of extreme weather, hotter temperatures, or excess precipitation on their farm in the past year. That figure is up from 66% in 2017, the last time NYFC released a survey.

For some, climate change has wrought devastation.

Carolina Mueller, a farmer from Austin, Texas, and coalition manager with NYFC, said she suffered over $30,000 in losses when a winter storm in February 2021 froze much of the state.

“Winter Storm Uri last year was incredibly traumatic and damaging,” Mueller said. “Temperatures plummeted quickly, and we lost a lot of our livestock and produce.” All three members of the Texas NYFC chapter decided to stop farming after Uri.

For those young farmers across the country who continue to farm, there is an increased awareness of the need to adapt to the changing climate, said Debi Kelly, a field specialist and horticulturist with the University of Missouri’s extension program.

“Some of those old ways of agriculture can’t continue anymore,” said Kelly. “With all these weather events and with population growth, we have to learn how to do things a little bit differently.”

Taking Risks to Meet Climate Goals

Kelly said younger farmers she works with tend to be more willing to take risks and change their practices than older farmers. She said she also noticed younger farmers tend to be more concerned with how their operations affect their surrounding communities. According to the NYFC survey, 83% of young farmers reported that “one of their farm’s primary purposes for existing is engaging in conservation or regeneration.”

The NYFC report comes out as lawmakers are debating the 2023 Farm Bill, a massive omnibus bill that goes before Congress roughly every five years and includes farm subsidies, climate resilience initiatives, and food assistance programs.

If the US is to meet its climate goal by 2030, which requires a 50–52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, Polanco said she believes it will need a transformative farm bill, one that addresses the climate crisis and the rising costs of land.

A New Inclusive Farm Bill

“Land is climate infrastructure for our young farmers,” Polanco said. But land costs are soaring. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmland values increased by $420 per acre, or more than 12%, in 2021. The report, which notes that “land ownership is rooted in the dispossession of Indigenous land,” calls on the USDA to support Indigenous communities in securing greater land sovereignty and for the agency to seat the Tribal Advisory Committee, a body created in 2018 to facilitate coordination between Native groups and the federal government.

Polanco said she’d like to see a farm bill that invests in community-led projects, prioritizing projects led by and benefiting socially disadvantaged and economically distressed farmers and ranchers. She said a successful bill would also invest in climate-smart farming adaptations.

These adaptations would look like an expansion of programs like the USDA’s recently launched Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative, which supports the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities, increases funding for first-time farmers and ranchers, and improves access to crop insurance programs. The Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $20 billion for USDA conservation programs, presents an important opportunity for young farmers as well.

Getting young, climate-conscious farmers on the land “is the best way we can fight climate change,” Polanco said. “But we desperately need climate investments that are part of a safety net for farmers, so they can continue stewarding the land when a disaster strikes.”

—–

This article appeared in Nexus Media News on October 17, 2022, with editing help from YES! Magazine and was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations. Nexus Media News is an editorially independent, nonprofit news service covering climate change.

Tell us in the comments:

• How do you think farms can become more climate resilient?
• How can government and community organizations better support young farmers of color?
• In what ways can you contribute to or support sustainable agriculture in your local community?

Featured Image: Jøn Kent at Sanctuary Farms in Detroit; Photo By Britny Cordera

Read Next:

• An Overlooked Public Health Crisis Among Black Farmers
• What You Eat Can Impact Climate Change! See 9 Foods That Harm the Planet and 11 Foods That Can Help Save It

The post From Food Deserts to Fertile Grounds: The Rise of Regenerative Farming in Urban America appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the modern world, with more ways to communicate than ever, thanks to technology, you might think that feelings of connection between people should be at an all-time high. But even though we have the ability to reach people at any time with tools like email, social media, and text messaging, many people feel deeply unsatisfied with the quality of social connection in their lives.

Worldwide, people are reporting feeling lonelier than ever. A 2023 Meta-Gallup survey taken across 142 countries found 24% of people ages 15 and older reported feeling lonely. And in the US, the Surgeon General’s office even put out a special report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” to address this dire issue and make it a national health priority.

According to the US Surgeon General report, a lack of social connection can increase disease incidence, making us more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, infectious diseases, and depression and anxiety, as well as impacting mortality rates.

But why do we as a society feel so alone, and what can we do about it?

In a quest to find the answers, we turned to Dr. Janina Scarlet, a San Diego, CA-based clinical psychologist who wrote the recently released book Unseen, Unheard, Undervalued: Managing Loneliness, Loss of Connection and Not Fitting In. After her own struggles and experience with loneliness, Dr. Scarlet sought to share what she had learned about loneliness and how to navigate this uncomfortable emotion.

We sat down with her to examine the impact of loneliness on our lives, how you can feel more connected, and the ways in which you can help others feel less lonely, too.

Defining Loneliness and its Universality

FRN: Thank you for being with us. Loneliness is such an isolating emotion, which makes it hard to know if we’re truly alone or not. Can you tell us, is loneliness normal, and does it affect everyone equally?

Loneliness does not mean being physically alone in space. It means feeling emotionally disconnected from other people. And it is something that everyone who is capable of feeling emotions is able to feel.

Dr. Janina Scarlet, Clinical Psychologist and Author

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Loneliness is absolutely normal. I just think most of us don’t talk about it or might not know what it is. Loneliness is a universal emotion, much like joy and sadness and fear. Loneliness does not mean being physically alone in space. It means feeling emotionally disconnected from other people. And it is something that everyone who is capable of feeling emotions is able to feel.

FRN: What are some of the causes of loneliness? You mentioned a little bit about emotional disconnection from people, and maybe physical, too; but what else beyond that?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Grief, trauma, bullying, being made to feel like the “other.” So, any discrimination, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, all of those can greatly increase our feelings of loneliness — when we feel like we don’t belong, when we feel like we are the other, or when we are made to feel like we are the “other” by society, or when we’re invalidated about how we’re feeling.

For example, when we’re going through chronic illness other people might tell us to “get over it.” So, in many of those situations, people are likely to feel misunderstood by others and, therefore, lonely and emotionally disconnected.

FRN: Why do you think that older adults are particularly at risk for loneliness?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I think for many older adults, if they’re, for example, not able to express what they’re going through, when they’ve maybe lost loved ones to either death or illness or distance, or maybe they don’t feel like they have a safe place to express what they’re going through, even if they’re around other people — even if they’re living with other people — they’re more likely to feel lonely.

The Interplay of Loneliness and Health

FRN: Do you think experiencing chronic pain or illness plays into it as well?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Absolutely. People who are going through chronic illness are a lot more likely to feel lonely. And especially when folks have been taught to “suck it up,” they’re more likely to pretend to be okay, whereas inside, they might be really struggling.

And it’s when they meet other people who might be going through it, too, that their masks are more likely to come down. And they’re more likely to find that sense of belonging.

In 2020, before the pandemic started, the United States Surgeon General was estimating that the rate of loneliness in the United States was about 25%. The current loneliness estimates in the United States are now at about 50%.

And in places like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and, I believe, Australia, where loneliness has been studied in emergency rooms, it was estimated that about one in every four to five emergency room visits had to do with loneliness.

FRN: That’s so sad. Well, going along the lines of health, then, why is it that human connection is so important to good health, not just mental health, but even disease prevention?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Absolutely. We as humans are wired for connection, not only psychologically but also physiologically.

When we’re around other people, especially people that we like, people we trust, our bodies produce this very special hormone called oxytocin. And oxytocin is something that makes us feel better, not only emotionally but also physically. It strengthens our immune health, and it strengthens our cardiovascular health as well.

Individuals who have a steady supply of oxytocin, if you will, through meaningful social connections, are actually less likely to even develop things like the common cold because their immune system is stronger.

FRN: That’s really incredible. It also makes me think about — what is it — broken heart syndrome, too. So is that the same idea?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Absolutely. So, broken heart syndrome is a physiological phenomenon where somebody dies, usually from a heart attack, within a year of a painful loss, such as the loss of a spouse or a child. However, we find that when individuals who are bereaved have a significant support system where they feel truly seen and supported and safe to express their pain, the risk of broken heart syndrome is significantly reduced.

Food and Loneliness

FRN: Yeah. I feel like most people don’t really think about the impact that their emotions really can have on their health in the short term, but in the long term, too.

Besides health — I don’t know if you can speak on this — but what role does food and connecting over food have in preventing loneliness?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I think many cultures worldwide connect over different activities, whether it’s food or making food. For some, it’s cleaning together. For some, after disasters, it’s people getting together and helping to rebuild.

So, I think when people have some tradition or purpose that brings them together, that sense of belonging increases, and that oxytocin development really spikes, making us healthier.

So, of course, we know that ideally, we want to eat healthy; we want to exercise. But it seems that a sense of belonging is just as important as a healthy diet and exercise. So, if we can bond over activities like walking together or eating together, I imagine that we can be even healthier.

A sense of belonging is just as important as a healthy diet and exercise.

Dr. Janina Scarlet, Clinical Psychologist and Author

FRN: Yeah, totally. What if people around you aren’t necessarily eating the same diet as you or the same types of foods? Do you have any tips for navigating that situation to still connect with people?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I don’t think it matters what people are eating so long as everyone is welcoming. I think that when people have dietary restrictions or they, for whatever reason, might need to have a different eating plan, the most important thing is that everyone is accepting of whatever that person needs to eat.

So, for example, I have certain food allergies, and when I go somewhere where people are eating things that I’m not able to have, it doesn’t bother me so long as folks are inclusive. For example, when I went to my in-laws’ Thanksgiving dinner, they were very kind in terms of asking me what foods I was able to have and made me a separate dish within my allergy restrictions. And that made me feel included, even though there were certain things they were eating that I wasn’t and vice versa.

So I don’t think it’s about eating the same food. I think it’s about folks respecting each other’s differences that really matters.

Dr. Scarlet’s Experience with Loneliness

FRN: I agree. If you are comfortable, could you share how you’ve experienced loneliness in your own life and what helps you connect with others?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Yeah, absolutely. So, I grew up in the former Soviet Union. And the mentality was that if you’re feeling lonely, you’re simply not being grateful. So, the assumption was that you just have to remember all these wonderful people that are in your life — for example, your mom or your dad or whoever, or your cat — and that should magically make you feel better. Only, when I received this advice from my family members and teachers, I felt even more alone because I felt even more misunderstood about my experience.

So for me, fictional characters helped me feel more seen. You see, my family and I lived through the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, but not before being exposed to radiation. When I came to the United States, I experienced painful bullying, with many children in school asking me if I was “radioactive” or “glow-in-the-dark.”

But seeing how fictional characters dealt with loneliness in terms of people who have been discriminated against, let’s say the X-Men [Editor’s Note: A group of fictional comic book characters who are mutants with superhuman abilities], allowed me to see a stronger representation of my feelings than I was able to meet in real life. And because I was able to find even fictional characters to connect with, I felt less lonely.

When I became a psychologist, I started using fictional metaphors or fictional characters to invite folks to find someone who shares their experience. When they were able to resonate with a fictional character, they were often able to feel less lonely and more understood. And if they were able to, for example, join a support group where there were other folks who had similar experiences, they were able to feel less lonely in that regard as well.

So for me, it was finding someone, even a fictional character, who shared my experience that really helped me to manage loneliness. So that’s something I try to do even to this day.

And then my other strategy has been journaling, to become my own witness to my experience, and that’s something I encourage folks to do on a regular basis as well.

Giving Ourselves What We Need

FRN: That was actually what I was going to ask you next. What are some strategies or techniques that someone could use to help validate their own feelings and experiences?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: One exercise I really like to invite folks to do is an exercise I developed that’s called journaling in two parts. So, in this exercise, we split the page in half by drawing a line down the middle. And on the left-hand side, we write about how we feel — for example, that we feel misunderstood or invalidated by other people. And on the right-hand side, we write a compassionate response as if we’re talking to a friend.

So if we wrote a bullet point on the left-hand side about our struggles, on the right-hand side, we write a point-by-point response. Or if we wrote it as more of a narrative, on the right-hand side we write a narrative compassionate response. And a lot of folks report feeling significantly less lonely after practicing this exercise.

FRN: What do you think it is about that exercise that resonates with people?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I think it’s about bearing witness to our experience so that we know what we’re going through, and then providing that compassionate wisdom that we really seek in others. Sometimes, we might fail to get this kind of support from other people because of their lack of skills in offering support. But we know what we need to hear, so through practicing journaling in two parts, we’re able to give ourselves exactly what we need.

And then, once we are able to do that, we might even be able to advocate for ourselves. We might say to, for example, our partner or our friend, “Hey, could you maybe use this statement with me? Could you, for example, tell me, ‘Hey, I see you when you’re in pain, or I hear you.’”

And I think that once we are able to advocate for what we want, we’re more likely to get our needs met and feel significantly less lonely with folks who are willing to meet our needs in that way.

Resiliency and Loneliness

FRN: That’s great. Can you explain the concept of resiliency and building resiliency and how that might relate to loneliness as well?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: So, resilience has to do with getting back up after we feel down. It has to do with the willingness to do something difficult, to come out of something that we’re struggling with. It doesn’t mean not feeling bad. It doesn’t mean that things won’t get us knocked down. Instead, it means getting up and standing up for what we believe in.

And for many folks, I think a lot of times when we get knocked down, let’s say through something painful such as a friendship breakup, we might be really heartbroken about it. So many folks wait to feel better before they start making other friends. But that could take a long time.

So, what I often recommend instead is starting to take action even before we feel ready, because emotions follow actions, not the other way around. When we start taking action, even if it’s outside of our comfort zone, even before we feel fully ready, then we start feeling better faster. It doesn’t mean ignoring our feelings, it means finding that balance between taking action and maybe not pushing ourselves beyond our limits. It means starting to honor what’s really important to us before we feel fully healed, if that makes sense.

FRN: Do you think that resiliency also plays into the health side of loneliness, too, and how that impacts your health? The more resilient you are, the better your body is able to navigate that?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I do. Many people think resilience is a personality trait, and I don’t. I think resilience is a choice. And what it means is that, again, we might take action because of what’s important to us, even when we still feel unheard, even when we still feel heartbroken.

And I think that the more of these actions we take to start forming meaningful connections — to maybe go to a therapy support group or a grief support group or something like it — the more likely we are to feel more supported, more understood, and over time, perhaps less lonely.

And I want to be very clear. Loneliness doesn’t mean we’re doing something wrong. Loneliness means our needs are not being met. And if we can take a moment to figure out what needs need to be met, then we can better advocate for those needs.

Helping Others Feel Less Lonely

FRN: So going off of that, then, how can we help other people feel less lonely?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I think one of the best things we can do is to check in with curiosity in terms of, “Hey, would it be okay for me to check in with you? How are you really feeling today if you’re open to talking about it? And what are some ways I can meet your needs?”

I often talk about love languages, not only in terms of romantic couples but also in terms of friendship love languages. I often recommend that people talk to their friends: “Hey, when you’re feeling down, what are some ways that you would like to be supported? And what are some ways that you would like for me to show up for you? And here are some ways that I would like to be supported, and I would like for you to show up for me.”

I think when we’re checking on our friends, asking them for specific guidance is important.

If our friends are, for example, grieving or really overwhelmed, giving them a couple of choices can be really helpful. For example, if I have a friend who is grieving, and I know they’re feeling lonely and overwhelmed, I might ask them, “Hey, what would be the most supportive thing I can do for you right now? Would you like me to come over, or would you like some space right now?” So, I give them a couple of options, and I also let them know, “You don’t have to respond if you don’t want to.”

So in doing that, I’m allowing my friend to not respond at all. I’m letting them off the hook there, and I’m giving them a couple of choices. So they can say, “Yes, please come over,” or, “Can we schedule a call?” or, “You know what, I need a few days of space.” And I find that many people really appreciate choices.

Resources to Help You Feel Less Lonely

FRN: Yes, totally agree. Do you have any resources related to loneliness that you could share?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Absolutely. I put a lot of them into my book, Unseen, Unheard, and Undervalued. I do think Dr. Vivek Murthy, who’s the current US Surgeon General, his book Together is a really good book that talks about the research behind loneliness.

I do recommend that folks consider either working with a therapist or maybe a support group for whatever they’re going through at that moment. For example, a holiday support group, or for many individuals who, say, had parents with addiction, ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) is a free support group that’s available worldwide, even on Zoom, phone, and in-person that a lot of folks don’t know about. So there are many support groups for just about anything that folks are going through that are either low-cost or free that people might be able to attend even from their homes.

FRN: What about if someone has chronic loneliness — a chronic feeling of just being alone?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: It might be helpful in that regard to consider looking into either therapy or, again, either like a local support group or even starting one. Some folks might not realize that they can start their own support group. And you don’t have to be a therapist — so long as you’re not charging or pretending to be a therapist — to just start a loneliness support group. I’ve actually had clients who did that.

I had a student who started a support group in her high school where students would meet once a week for an hour and just talk about their feelings and talk about loneliness and talk about what they were going through.

Other folks might think about what are some ways that they can help other people who are also feeling lonely. This is called post-traumatic growth, when we’re able to make meaning out of what we’re going through and support other people.

So, for example, if I’m feeling really lonely and really disenchanted with something, I’ll send 12 of my friends a message like, “Hey, I love you. I appreciate you. I’m thinking of you. I hope you have a wonderful day.” I never expect a reply. But to me, sending a loving, caring message to other people allows me to feel a stronger sense of belonging.

And then, if I do hear back, that’s lovely, but that’s never the expectation.

I also often encourage people to either volunteer or support other people in those moments when they’re feeling especially alone.

What to Do When Connection Is not Reciprocated

FRN: That’s great advice. Because sometimes I feel like in order to feel connected, we have to connect. And I think some people struggle with that because maybe they always feel like they’re the ones reaching out. But at the same time, I think that’s just what we have to do sometimes.

Going off of that, what do you do if it’s not reciprocated?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Well, again, when I’m sending out those messages of love, I don’t expect anything in return. But if our needs are chronically not being met… For example, if we have a friend that maybe we reach out to, and we ask for support, and that friend is frequently not reciprocating and not giving us the support that we’re looking for, then we might have a conversation with that friend. Like, “Hey, I’ve noticed maybe we haven’t fully been aligning. Here are my needs. What are your needs? How can we make this friendship work?” And if that friend is not willing to have that conversation or isn’t validating, or is defensive, then we might need to rethink and reevaluate our friendship.

I often say that there are friends we have that are friends of convenience, friends that we’ve had for a long time because we’ve met them in school or at work. And then there are real friends. And real friends are ones that will be willing to have the hard conversations. They might not always be skillful, but for the most part, they’re going to be willing to have conversations and make the friendship work. Whereas friends of convenience are ones that we’ve just known for a while, but they might not be real friends.

So after a while, we might need to think about, do we need to think about these friends as more of acquaintances and change our expectations of them, and maybe invest in some new friendships? So if our needs are chronically not being met, we do need to reevaluate what those needs are and communicate them. And if nothing’s changed, then we need to change something.

Unseen, Unheard, Undervalued

FRN: Okay, great. I’d love for you to talk a little bit about your book and what it’s all about.

Dr. Janina Scarlet: My book, Unseen, Unheard, Undervalued, is about the different aspects of loneliness. As I mentioned, loneliness does not have anything to do with being physically alone. It’s about that emotional disconnection.

And I break it down into those three categories: feeling unseen, for example, ignored by other people; feeling unheard, so invalidated, for example, by other people or gaslit; and feeling undervalued or devalued by other people. So that’s where we’re made to feel like the “other.” So those are the three subtypes.

So the first part of the book breaks loneliness down into those three subcomponents and gives lots of examples and case studies of those three subtypes of loneliness and also research studies to support some of these findings.

And then the second half of the book talks about how we can first practice seeing, hearing, and valuing ourselves, how we can practice self-compassion, for example. And then how we can advocate for ourselves in friendships. For example, by talking about love languages, or our needs, whether it’s with our friends, with our partners, or with our coworkers. And also how we can set boundaries if somebody is not meeting our needs, or if somebody isn’t validating us. And then also how we can continue cultivating the friendships or relationships that do work, such as, for example, by sending out the “just because” text messages.

So, research studies that came out last year (in 2022) have actually found that when we send out the “just because” text — “Hey, I was thinking about you. I hope your day is going well” — people who send those greatly underestimate how significant those messages are to the recipients. The recipients who get those texts report being significantly more moved by those messages than people who send them have anticipated.

I provide some examples of messages that folks can send out and different gratitude practices that folks can do, such as sending a letter of gratitude to somebody who influenced them or supported them. And then imagining what maybe somebody else might say to them if they received a letter of gratitude.

The intentionality of the book is, first and foremost, to validate folks who have been through some of these painful experiences. And second of all, to provide folks with some skills that they’re able to use to support themselves, to advocate for themselves, and then also to deepen significant relationships that they already have.

FRN: Thank you. I’m really excited to read it.

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Thanks. I’m really excited, too. It’s probably one of the most personal books I’ve written. So it definitely has a bit of my autobiographical stuff and also a lot of case studies from a lot of different folks who very courageously contributed their stories to this book.

You Are Not Alone in Your Experience

FRN: Is there anything else that you want to say about loneliness specifically or anything related to it?

Dr. Janina Scarlet: I think the main thing I just want to add is, for anyone who’s feeling lonely, who’s feeling invalidated or unseen, who’s feeling disconnected, please know that you’re not alone in this experience. And if you’re feeling that way right now, chances are at least four or five other people you know personally are going through this right now, but they might not think to tell you.

So, if we go about our day with the assumption that most people around us are going through the same level of loneliness as we are, I imagine we might be more willing to connect with people. And maybe we might reduce how much we’re masking. And maybe through doing that and through having conversations about loneliness, we can eradicate the stigma about this universal experience once and for all.

FRN: That was so good.

Dr. Janina Scarlet: Thank you so much for interviewing me.

—–

Dr. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, author, and a TEDx speaker. A Ukrainian-born refugee, she survived Chernobyl radiation and persecution. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 with her family and later, inspired by the X-Men, developed Superhero Therapy to help patients with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Dr. Scarlet is the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award by the United Nations Association for her work on Superhero Therapy. Her work has been featured on Yahoo, BBC, NPR, Sunday Times, The New York Times, Forbes, and many other outlets. She regularly consults on books and television shows, including HBO’s The Young Justice.

Dr. Scarlet is the Lead Trauma Specialist at the Trauma and PTSD Healing Center. She’s authored twelve books, including Superhero Therapy, Harry Potter Therapy, Dark Agents, Super-Women, It Shouldn’t Be This Way, and her latest, Unseen, Unheard, Undervalued.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you ever feel lonely?
• What strategies have you used to combat loneliness and feel more connected?
• How do you help others feel less lonely?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ponomariova_Maria

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The post Navigating Loneliness in the Age of Connection: An Interview with Dr. Janina Scarlet appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Deepak Palakshappa became a pediatrician to give poor kids access to good medical care. Still, back in his residency days, the now-associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem was shocked to discover that a patient caring for two young grandchildren was food insecure. “Our clinic had set up one of those food drive boxes, and near the end of a visit, she asked if she could have any of the cans because she didn’t have food for the holidays,” he recalls.

Thirteen years later, Palakshappa’s clinic team now asks two simple questions of every patient to ascertain whether they’ll run out of food in a given month. But there are some critical questions they don’t ask: Do you drink your tap water? Is it potable and ample? Can you cook food with it, and use it to mix infant formula and cereal? Such questions could uncover some of the millions of Americans who are water insecure — a circumstance directly connected to food insecurity.

There’s no health care screener for water insecurity. The issue is not even on most public health professionals’ radar, although recent water disasters in Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi, are starting to change that. Clinicians who are aware of water insecurity “are thinking, ‘If I screen for this, what am I going to do about it?’” says Palakshappa, noting the dearth of resources available to mitigate it.

Researchers know water insecurity isn’t confined to one region or population. But “we don’t know how big of a problem it is,” says Sera Young, an associate professor of anthropology and health at Northwestern University. “And it’s going to keep biting us in the ass because we’re not measuring these things correctly.” Public health researchers talk about food and nutrition, while water researchers are siloed in infrastructure circles, and it’s rare for the two worlds to overlap. Says Young, “We need to build a bridge between those two disciplines.”

The Link Between Food Insecurity and Water Insecurity

Most estimates put US water insecurity at 2.2 million residents. Asher Rosinger, director of the Water, Health, and Nutrition Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University, says this is probably a “huge” undercount, and the actual number might be closer to 60 million. There are no official estimates of combined food and water insecurity, which makes it tough to understand the scope of the problem, let alone to propose solutions.

“We’re measuring water by how many cubic meters there are and dividing it across the land,” says Northwestern’s Young. “Or we’re measuring infrastructure, which is like, ‘Where do you get your drinking water from? Is it from a tap? Is it from a well? Is it from a borehole?’ But you can imagine 99 scenarios where you have a tap, but you can’t pay for water to flow through it, or you don’t trust the water that comes out of it, or the infrastructure upstream of the tap has gone to shit. There are lots of reasons why measuring physical availability or infrastructure only gives you a pinhole peek of what the real problem is.”

The only way to truly understand water insecurity, Young says, is to consider people’s lived experiences as clinicians have learned to do with food access.

Accurate data is essential to closing the water gap because food insecurity increases the probability of water insecurity. In a study published last July in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Young, Rosinger, and a third coauthor tracked 13 years’ worth of tap water avoidance among more than 31,000 US residents. They found that people who didn’t drink their tap water had 21% greater odds of also being food insecure than those who did. “Efforts to mitigate food insecurity should simultaneously address water insecurity issues, including tap water availability and quality,” the researchers concluded.

Addressing Water Poverty

As with hunger, there are myriad reasons a person might be water insecure — some financial, some structural, and others having to do with quality and access. Still others are short-term predicaments brought on by disaster or a failure of local government.

You might think access to ample potable water is a basic human right. Legally, in the US, it isn’t (although California has taken a stab at making it so). Still, many Americans spend more than 12% of their income on water and sewer service. Others have lead pipes that contaminate tap water (Newark), or have bacteria seeping into wells (Iowa), or have sewage backing up into pipes during storms (Milwaukee), or nitrates running off farm fields (Las Vegas). A storm may knock out the electricity that pumps water (Puerto Rico), or knock out the pump itself (Jackson). Residents of the Navajo Nation lack basic water infrastructure. Then there are regions where aquifers are running dry, such as in California’s Central Valley.

Water poverty has a lot to do with health beyond the primary need to drink a couple of liters a day. Perhaps most consequentially, research shows that children exposed to lead can suffer developmental delays and brain damage. Rosinger also found that people who avoid tap water are more likely to drink sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs, in public health parlance). This alternative increases their risk for obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases, with the implications most long-lasting for children.

Prioritizing Water Access for Public Health

SSBs are one of the few issues that public health researchers track that combines both food and water insecurity. Christina Hecht, a senior policy adviser at the University of California’s Nutrition Policy Institute, helped found the National Drinking Water Alliance in 2015, with a mission to improve access to potable water and educate people on the importance of drinking water instead of sugary drinks. “We discussed whether we needed to prioritize making sure that tap water was safe, but in 2015, we really didn’t think that that was a big issue,” she says. “Then Flint happened.”

Flint is just one in a long line of high-poverty communities now recognized for catastrophically unsafe water infrastructure. The city has a 29% food insecurity rate among its majority-Black population. In rural McDowell County, West Virginia, which will receive federal assistance to pilot wastewater infrastructure improvements, almost 32% of its (majority white) residents live below the federal poverty line. Century-old pipes, in some cases made of wood, bring in water so foul that residents capture creek water and store it in tanks. The most requested item at a local food bank? Bottled water.

The consequences ripple out from here. Someone who is water insecure can’t prepare food. Says Rosinger, “If your tap is dry, your water has been shut off, or you’re just avoiding it because you think it’s dangerous, you’re more likely to go out to eat. And research shows you consume a greater number of calories and have a lack of dietary diversity. So, it’s nutrition insecurity, too.”

Examining Tap Water Avoidance

Spending money on bottled water, which Rosinger says is “orders of magnitude more expensive than tap water,” might eat up $100 of a monthly food budget. For context, the maximum monthly SNAP benefits are $835 for a family of four. A water-insecure mother might pay for bottled water to mix infant formula or cereal; women inclined to breastfeed might skimp on their own hydration.

A colleague of Palakshappa’s, Dr. Kimberly Montez, recently met with a food-insecure mother from Latin America whose baby was failing to gain weight. She didn’t trust the tap water enough to drink it, so she was under-hydrated, which made breastfeeding difficult. Instead, she turned to formula, but that presented problems, too, because she thought she had to buy expensive bottled water to make it, says Montez.

If researchers can understand why people avoid their taps, they might better address fears and educate about the need for water over soda.

Young says questions about water trust and SSBs are a great start. “But don’t forget about cooking food. People are afraid of boiling pasta, so we should be asking, Are you drinking your water? Are you cooking with your water? Are you bathing with your water? And are you pissed about your water situation?” There’s some legislative interest in requiring the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which collects data on things like the prevalence of diabetes and fruit and vegetable consumption, to add questions about water insecurity. “If we want humans to be healthy, we need to realize that’s a product of a lot of things, and water is generally not on that list,” she says.

Water Is a Lifeline for Hunger and Hydration

As to the question of how clinicians can assist people identified as water insecure, there are a few initiatives in the works. SNAP recipients can already use benefits to purchase bottled water, although it comes out of their broader food allotment. Nourish California, an anti-hunger nonprofit, ran a pilot this year to see what happens when water-insecure households get extra SNAP bucks to cover half their monthly water expenditures. The results are still being analyzed. “We know we got to fix the welds, and we got to fix the pipes, but in the meantime, let’s not have people going hungry,” says Jared Call, a senior advocate at the organization.

The Environmental Protection Agency offers grants to help disadvantaged communities fund drinking water projects, test for lead, and conduct remediation in schools. Some states, like New York, offer assistance in paying overdue water bills.

Meanwhile, Young and her colleagues devised the Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales, which prompts researchers to ask questions about water availability, access, and reliability for domestic use. It’s similar to the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, which asks about access to nutritious food. Young says WISE provides common language to the food and water insecurity camps since they rely on common measures and indicators.

“Evidence is growing — and plus it just makes sense — that water security underpins food security, so when you ‘fix’ water, a major driver of food insecurity is handled,” Young says. “By giving people the language to talk across the aisle, the beautiful thing is, this can be a win-win.”

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you think can be done to address food and water insecurity issues?
• Do you think water access should be a right for all?
• Do you drink your tap water?

Featured Image: iStock.com/PhilAugustavo

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• Food Insecurity Is A Problem for Almost 16 Million Americans — But See What Individuals and Organizations Are Doing and What You Can Do to Take Action

The post Why America’s Food Security Crisis Is a Water Security Crisis, Too appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In fact, a 2016 archeological dig in Israel found evidence that nuts formed a major part of our ancestors’ diet 780,000 years ago.

Dig researchers discovered seven varieties of nuts, along with stone tools to crack them open. These stone tools, called “nutting stones,” are similar to those found in the United States and Europe, and archeologists date them back 4,000 to 8,000 years.

Today, many of us enjoy walnuts, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, macadamia nuts, and hazelnuts, plus honorary peanuts (even though peanuts are technically a legume) with enthusiasm.

Nuts are a popular plant-based protein source and are often used in dairy analogues like nut milk and nut cheese. And a variety of nut butters have emerged, beyond traditional peanut butter. Yet, we’re only beginning to appreciate the enormous nutritional benefits that nuts give us.

So how healthy are nuts? What actually constitutes a nut? Are there any downsides to eating nuts? And what are the best ways to store and eat them?

Types of Nuts

Nuts come in many different shapes and sizes. But most of the different types of nuts fall under the tree nut category. As the name suggests, they grow on trees. But botanically, some of what we know as nuts may technically be fruits, drupes, or seeds.

In general, the word nut is used to describe a hard covering or shell surrounding a kernel or “meat” inside.

Some of the most common types of nuts include:

• Almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Cashews
• Brazil nuts
• Macadamia nuts
• Pistachios
• Pine nuts
• Chestnuts

There are also a few other foods that have “nut” in their name that you may be wondering about. For example, are coconuts nuts? Coconuts are technically drupes because they have three layers: a smooth outer layer, a tough fibrous layer, and the fleshy part surrounding the middle.

Peanuts are also lumped into the nut category but are actually legumes. They’re the edible seeds of the peanut plant and grow underground rather than on a tree. But in terms of culinary usage, they’re very much nutlike.

Additionally, nutmeg does not come from a nut, but from a seed. Water chestnuts are actually roots or tubers. And corn nuts are still corn; they’re just roasted until they’re hard and crunchy like nuts.

Nut Nutrition

Nuts of all sorts have been an important food source for humans for centuries. In fact, it’s theorized that the discovery and inclusion of nuts in our diets may have helped shape our brains and intelligence.

This makes sense when you consider the walnut, especially. Walnuts resemble tiny brains inside a skull. As a result, they were often associated with brain health. But many different nuts have a variety of nutrients beneficial for brain health and beyond.

Nuts are a rich source of complex carbohydrates. Carbs in nuts vary, but cashews and almonds have some of the highest carbohydrate contents at 8.6 and 6.1 grams per one-ounce serving, respectively.

Nuts also contain a good amount of protein, which is why they’re often recommended as a protein source to include in a plant-based diet. Peanuts rank the highest in protein, followed closely by almonds, pistachios, and cashews.

Additionally, nuts contain fiber, contributing to satiety. Hazelnuts and almonds contain the most fiber per ounce at 3 and 4 grams, respectively.

Nuts contain both saturated and unsaturated fats. The high fat content in nuts also contributes to a relatively high amount of calories per serving. If you’re trying to manage weight, you may want to stick to some of the lowest-calorie nuts, such as raw chestnuts or cashews, or limit your portion to no more than one or two ounces per day.

Across the board, nuts also contain significant amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. A one-ounce serving of cashews contains 1.9 milligrams of iron, a vital mineral for transporting oxygen in the blood. And almonds, cashews, and peanuts are all good sources of magnesium. A single Brazil nut can also provide an entire daily value’s worth of selenium.

So with all of that to consider, what is the healthiest nut? Opinions may vary, but walnuts have some of the highest antioxidant levels and are also one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids. And researchers found that walnuts had the greatest health benefits among all the nuts studied in PREDIMED, a landmark randomized clinical trial on the Mediterranean diet.

Health Benefits of Nuts Worth Knowing About

When it comes to the health benefits of nuts, there are many worth knowing about. It seems that, unless you’re allergic to them, all nuts might be good for you in one way or another.

Nuts and Heart Health

Epidemiologic studies have linked eating nuts with reduced rates of heart disease. And that’s extremely good news for everyone since heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.

A review on nuts and cardiovascular disease risk found that higher consumption of nuts worked out to a 19% reduction in disease incidence and a 25% reduction in death from heart disease. Researchers also found a correlation between nuts and lower risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke deaths.

What’s more, a Korean cohort study discovered that even just one 15-gram serving of nuts per week (about half an ounce) was associated with a lowered risk of high blood pressure.

Nuts and Diabetes

Relatedly, recent studies have also indicated that nut consumption may help manage or prevent type 2 diabetes.

Many people with type 2 diabetes also have some form of heart disease due to its metabolic impacts on the body. As a result, researchers used a systematic review to look at the blood lipid levels in people with type 2 diabetes. They found that both peanuts and tree nuts had an impact on total cholesterol and triglycerides in the diets of diabetes patients.

A 2021 meta-analysis of clinical trials also found that tree nut consumption reduced glucose levels and HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Nuts and Brain Health

Walnuts do indeed look like little brains and may also help with brain health. A 2022 study in the journal Nutrients showed walnuts have a powerful protective effect against neuroinflammation. This is an important quality to have since neuroinflammation is directly linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Another more recent review also suggests that nuts have a positive impact on cognitive health across the lifespan and may especially help prevent cognitive decline in older adults. In particular, walnuts were noted as the most promising nut in supporting cognition due to their omega-3 fatty acid content.

Nuts and Longevity

Speaking of being protective across your lifespan, a study of Seventh-Day Adventists (a religious denomination that emphasizes healthy living and a vegetarian diet) found that those who ate nuts at least five times per week gained, on average, an extra two years of life expectancy. The nut eaters also experienced a significant reduction in heart disease risk.

And perhaps most dramatically of all, a large-scale, 30-year-long study found that people who regularly ate one ounce of nuts at least seven times per week were 20% less likely to die for any reason, compared to those who avoided nuts in their diet.

Nuts and Cancer

Many nuts have also been linked to lower rates of certain cancers. Studies done on walnuts, in particular, have found that they appear to be particularly protective against breast and prostate cancers. Walnuts and many other nuts contain a number of potent nutrients that may help fight cancer and boost overall health. These nutrients include ellagic acid, a phytochemical, and gamma-tocopherol, an antioxidant and the major form of vitamin E — both of which have strong anti-inflammatory and cancer-protective effects.

Nuts and Erectile Dysfunction

A clinical study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research looked at what happened to men with erectile dysfunction (ED) who ate three to four handfuls of pistachios a day for three weeks. They experienced a significant improvement in blood flow through their private parts. The researchers concluded that three weeks of pistachios “resulted in a significant improvement in erectile function… without any side effects.” That’s pretty impressive, considering the side effects of prescription ED medications.

Results from the FERTINUTS trial, a study examining the impact of nuts on sperm quality, also had positive things to say. The consumption of 60 grams a day of mixed nuts versus no nuts at all showed a significant increase in sexual function and desire among men.

Disadvantages of Nuts

Despite all the impressive health benefits of nuts, there are a few things to consider when adding them to your diet.

Nut Allergies

Perhaps the most obvious downside to nuts is that many children and adults are allergic to them. Tree nut allergies are the most common type of food allergy. And most children with a tree nut allergy are allergic to more than one nut and do not usually outgrow their allergy — as is sometimes the case with other food allergens.

Although peanuts are botanically legumes and not tree nuts, there is also a significant crossover between peanut and tree nut allergies. Around 25–40% of people with a peanut allergy also have a tree nut allergy.

Both peanut and tree nut allergies can have a range of symptoms, from coughing and wheezing to indigestion to hives, and, most severe of all, anaphylaxis. Obviously, if you have a peanut or tree nut allergy, do not consume them.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) suggests that seeds (sesame, sunflower, or pumpkin) are often better tolerated in individuals with tree nut allergies. Coconuts, macadamia nuts, and pine nuts are also considered okay for many people with tree nut allergies since the former is botanically a fruit, and the latter two also fall under the seed category. Individuals should consult with their health care team to confirm these foods’ safety.

Nutrient Density

Nuts are some of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. This makes sense, considering they are a small package that has the potential to grow into a tree! But because they’re loaded with nutrition (and calories), a little can actually go a long way.

So what’s the recommended serving size of nuts? In general, current dietary guidelines recommend a 30-gram serving, or a little over an ounce. However, a handful has also been suggested as a valid (although, admittedly, not very scientific) nut serving size.

The one exception to this is Brazil nuts. Because a single Brazil nut can contain up to 96 micrograms of selenium, which is almost double the recommended amount, it’s probably best to only consume one to two Brazil nuts per day. Brazil nuts also contain barium, which can be toxic in large doses.

Antinutrients in Nuts

Because nuts and seeds contain the building blocks for new life, they also tend to come with protections in place to ensure that life succeeds. Antinutrients are plant chemicals that are meant to make a plant less tasty, to deter predators.

Nuts contain antinutrients like phytates, tannins, lectins, and oxalates. Antinutrients are so named because they interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients. So, is this a reason to avoid eating nuts?

Although antinutrients are controversial in the nutrition world, they aren’t the bad guy they’re often made out to be. As we’ve seen in this article, nuts have amazing benefits. On the other hand, many studies done on antinutrients examine them in isolation, which is not how they’re consumed.

Antinutrients are found in many plant foods, along with a variety of beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other plant compounds. In fact, their very inclusion may actually contribute to some of the health benefits seen in nuts and other plant-based foods.

So there’s no need to fear antinutrients in nuts. But if you do want to lessen your antinutrient consumption for whatever reason, you can do so by soaking nuts in water for 24–48 hours. Cooking, sprouting, or fermenting nuts also has the same effect.

For more on antinutrients, see our article, here.

How to Enjoy Nuts

Based on numerous studies, it appears that eating at least one serving of nuts a week, and potentially up to a serving per day, may lead to tremendous health benefits. But how you get those benefits is up to you.

You can enjoy nuts straight as a snack, with a sprinkling of salt or other seasoning, in trail mix or granola, or added to smoothies. Nuts also go well in a nut loaf or casserole, as a topping for salads, blended into nut milk, or prepared into nut cheeses, nut butters, or even pie crusts.

However, because nuts contain different types of fat, they’re prone to spoilage. Walnuts, in particular, are high in omega-3s and may go bad more quickly than other nuts. Fresh in-shell walnuts are best. If you’re a little adventurous, you can get a nutcracker and crack them yourself.

If you opt for shelled walnuts, store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator to prevent their oils from going rancid. According to the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources, nuts will retain their nutritional and flavor quality for up to one year if stored in the refrigerator or two years in the freezer. You can find out how long each type of nut lasts by viewing this chart on Eat By Date. Throw out (or compost!) any nuts that smell or taste sour or bitter.

And, of course, a food is only as healthy as the company it keeps. When nuts are overly salted or laden with sugar or with artificial additives and flavorings, they lose much of their nutritional value and can become a less healthy choice.

Nut Recipes

Enjoy nuts of all varieties for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert with these outrageously nutty and wonderfully delicious nut recipes!

1. Toasted Pistachio and Cherry Overnight Oats

Toasted Pistachio and Cherry Overnight Oats are a tasty way to get a healthy dose of powerful plant nutrients. Oats, cherries, chia seeds, and pistachios offer a great deal of fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Not to mention, cherries and pistachios are packed with nutrients to fight inflammation from their abundant phytonutrients, making this a nourishing breakfast that provides long-lasting energy and health.

2. One Sheet Spicy Almond Tofu and Green Beans

Creamy almond butter breathes new life into protein-packed tofu and crisp green beans. In this recipe, the green beans are brushed with Spicy Almond Sauce before baking alongside the tofu and onions for a sheet pan meal that is efficient and scrumptious. Once everything’s done baking, pile your ingredients on top of rice (or your favorite whole grain), drizzle more nutty almond butter sauce on top, and garnish with additional flavors and textures for a restaurant-worthy nut recipe!

3. Fudgy Chocolate Chip and Walnut Brownies

What’s better than a warm fudgy brownie? If you guessed a warm fudgy brownie with walnuts, you’d be correct! These Fudgy Chocolate Chip and Walnut Brownies may seem too good to be true, but you certainly can have your (plant-based) cake and eat it, too. Made with fiber-rich oat flour, dairy-free, fair-trade dark chocolate, applesauce, and mashed banana, these brownies will have you coming back again and again. With dense gooey chocolate, crunchy walnuts, and a fudgy texture, these brownies are a naturally sweet treat you’ll be excited to sink your teeth into!

You’d Be Nutty to Ignore Nuts!

No matter what type of nuts you enjoy, you will find beneficial qualities in them. Nuts are nutritional powerhouses providing a potent source of plant-based protein as well as healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Their robust nutritional profiles also explain why they’re so good for you. From protecting your heart health to prolonging your life to even helping you out in the bedroom, nuts have a lot to offer.

And while there are a few downsides of nuts to consider, overall, the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks (unless you’re allergic, of course). From homemade nut butters to salad toppings, nuts offer a versatile and convenient way to elevate both taste and well-being, making them an indispensable addition to a health-conscious diet.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are your favorite types of nuts?
• What health benefits of nuts are you most excited about?
• How do you like to eat nuts?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Mykola Sosiukin

Read Next:

• Walnuts: Understanding Their Benefits, Nutrition, and Sustainability
• Healthy Crunchy Snacks to Beat Those Potato Chip Cravings

The post Nut Health Benefits: You Won’t Believe How Good They Are for You appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Unfortunately, it’s now been over 50 years, and cancer is still very much with us.

But cancer science has indeed made progress. Some cancers, like childhood leukemia, which had a 99% fatality rate in 1955, are largely curable these days. New drugs can add years of life to many people diagnosed with multiple myeloma. And many cancers have morphed from death sentences into manageable chronic conditions. Gene-editing technology also promises many more potential medical treatment advances in the years to come.

That’s the good news.

The less good news is that cancer is still a leading killer worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths every year (that’s nearly one-sixth of all deaths from all causes). And there’s a concerning uptick in cancer cases among people younger than 50, with the largest increases among those aged 30–39.

No matter what age it occurs, cancer can be a devastating disease physically, emotionally, and financially. And those burdens are often shared by friends and families. The financial toll can be especially disastrous if the person and their family lack the financial resources to take time off work or don’t have insurance.

Globally, the cost of cancers diagnosed between 2020–2050 is estimated to reach an almost incomprehensible $25.2 trillion. (To help wrap my head around that amount, I calculated that it would be enough money to provide $3,000 to every human being on Earth — with a trillion dollars to spare.)

Some researchers wonder, then, if the original framing of waging a “war” against cancer was a mistake. Viewing cancer as an external enemy took focus away from the value of prevention, which, in all likelihood, could have kept many cases of cancer from developing in the first place.

A lot of research over the last 50 years has pointed to the pivotal role of dietary and lifestyle choices in influencing cancer risk. In fact, one conservative estimate found that 30–40% of all cancers may be preventable with diet and lifestyle measures alone. (In case you’re keeping track, that could lead to savings of up to $10 trillion, and 120 million lives, over the next 30 years, which doesn’t sound too shabby to me.)

So what are these measures? How can you potentially prevent cancer in yourself or a loved one? In this article, we’ll look at 12 ways to reduce cancer risk.

What Can You Do to Help Prevent Cancer?

While many diet and lifestyle strategies have research behind them showing they can help prevent cancer, there are no guarantees in life. There are many different factors that may contribute to a cancer diagnosis. Everyone is biologically different. And what works for one person may not work for another.

But if you want to give yourself the best chance of preventing a cancer diagnosis, there are a few strategies that may help eliminate exposure to harmful cancer-causing chemicals and dietary compounds, along with preventing oxidative stress — a known contributor to carcinogenesis — in the body.

1. Don’t Smoke or Vape Tobacco

Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of cancer in the US and accounts for 25% of all cancer deaths globally (including the majority of lung cancers). Cigarette smoke contains numerous carcinogens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), N-nitrosamines, aromatic amines, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, aldehydes, and ethylene oxide.

And while smokers’ risk of lung cancer can be a whopping 22 times higher than that of nonsmokers, smoking increases the risk of many other types of cancer as well. Associations also exist between smoking and skin cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, endometrial carcinoma, and breast cancer

While the long-term effects of vaping and e-cigarettes are as of yet unknown, preliminary research suggests that they may also increase cancer risk. Similarly, vaping can expose you to nasty-sounding carcinogens such as nicotine derivatives (nitrosonornicotine and nitrosamine ketone), PAHs, heavy metals, and complex organic compounds such as formaldehyde.

While quitting smoking at any age can improve your health, doing so at a young age can significantly lower cancer incidence and increase life expectancy.

2. Avoid Plastics

Plastics are another environmental toxin linked to an elevated risk of cancer. This is most clearly seen where plastic exposure is the greatest such as in occupational exposure during manufacturing.

But as industrially-produced plastics continue to grow and infiltrate our lives, it’s harder and harder to find water, food, or soil that doesn’t contain microplastics. Even more concerning is their ability to find their way into living tissue due to their tiny size. While researchers first noticed microplastics in the flesh of marine creatures, now studies show they’re increasingly prevalent in human bodies as well.

Even if you avoid seafood and don’t work in a factory that produces or uses plastic, you still risk exposure to potentially carcinogenic chemicals from plastics found in everyday items.

Plastic packaging for food products can leach harmful chemicals into that food, especially if the contents are heated or acidic (like tomato sauce). Two of the most frequently implicated plastic chemicals are BPA and phthalates.

BPA may cause metabolic disease, obesity, infertility, and ADHD; while phthalates, as endocrine disruptors, can compromise pregnancy, child growth, and reproductive system development. Both chemicals have links to cancer.

BPA has a role in promoting several hormone-dependent cancers (breast, ovarian, and prostate). Exposure to phthalates during childhood is associated with an increased incidence of childhood osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and lymphoma (blood and lymph cancers).

BPA and phthalates aren’t limited to food packaging, however. They’re also in toys, medications, and beauty and personal care products.

The plastics industry has responded to growing concern by using plastics touted as “BPA-free” and “phthalate-free.” But the problem is, other chemicals found in plastics — nearly every type of plastic — turn out to be toxic as well.

It’s not clear whether swapping one type of plastic for another will pay health dividends, at least not nearly as much as finding ways to reduce overall exposure to plastic. Reducing your plastic footprint benefits not just you, but the wider environment.

You can replace plastic food containers with safer ones that have the added benefit of being long-lasting. And for both health and environmental reasons, you can eliminate, as much as possible, highly wasteful and polluting single-use plastics from your life.

Here are nine tips to help you live without plastic (yes, it really is possible!).

3. Avoid Processed Foods and Meats

Now it’s time to talk about food. Many processed foods contain harmful cancer-causing ingredients. While many countries have banned these ingredients, they’re still very much a part of the ultra-processed US food system.

A 2023 study found that eating large amounts of ultra-processed food is associated with a higher risk of developing cancers of the upper digestive tract, such as mouth, throat, and esophageal cancer.

Processed meat, in particular, has been associated with increased cancer risk. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified it as a class 1 carcinogen back in 2015. Specifically, a comprehensive 2021 meta-analysis found that processed meat consumption was associated with “a 6% greater breast cancer risk, an 18% greater colorectal cancer risk, a 21% greater colon cancer risk, a 22% greater rectal cancer risk, and a 12% greater lung cancer risk.”

Fortunately, it’s possible to replicate a lot of the taste and texture of processed meats with plant-based alternatives. Some are definitely kinder to your health than others. And the healthiest will generally be the ones you make yourself. You can even make bacon out of plants!

4. Filter Your Water

Multiple carcinogens exist in drinking water, too. Some, like arsenic, occur naturally, while others are the result of contamination from industry or agriculture. Still others are created when chlorine, used to disinfect tap water, comes into contact with organic material.

The 2000 movie Erin Brockovich told the true story of a town’s contaminated water supply. Unfortunately, a 2022 survey of US federal and state water testing found that the tap water of more than 250 million Americans still has dangerously high levels of this contaminant (chromium-6).

A 2023 study found that the tap water consumed by half of all households in the US is contaminated with cancer-causing PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” so named because they’re extremely resistant to breaking down, either in the environment or the body.

Microplastics are also increasingly concentrated in drinking water.

For tips on how you can treat your drinking water to reduce health risks, check out this comprehensive article on drinking water treatment.

Editor’s Note: Having a good home water filter is a great way to protect your family (and to save money over buying bottled water, which typically comes in plastic). One option that FRN likes is the AquaTru — a countertop RO unit that includes excellent carbon filter technology, delivers high-quality water and flavor, slashes the purchase cost, requires no installation fees, is remarkably water-efficient, and has extremely minimal maintenance costs. The manufacturer, AquaTru, states that their system removes chromium-6, arsenic, PFAS, and a great many other contaminants. It’s available for a $100 discount for FRN members. If you’re interested, you can find out more here.

5. Filter Your Air

While many people think that lung cancer only happens to smokers, up to 29% of all lung cancer deaths are attributable to poor air quality. Some of this comes from outdoor pollution, including car exhaust, factory and power plant emissions, and wildfire smoke, which can travel indoors, where the carcinogenic particles can become even more concentrated.

Your home is also a potential source of airborne cancer-causing chemicals. Cooking with a gas stove, it turns out, can be more of a contributor to carcinogenic air than even second-hand cigarette smoke. Gas stoves can raise indoor levels of benzene, a carcinogen linked to leukemia and other blood cell cancers.

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are chemicals that can off-gas from cleaning supplies, paints, insecticides, lacquers and stains, and many other products. Some of these are suspected human carcinogens, as well as having multiple other health effects.

Another chemical that can build up in the home and raise the risk of cancer is radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. You can get your home tested, and if levels are high, you can either increase the rate of airflow, get a suitable home air filter, or install an underground ventilation system to divert the gas before it enters your living spaces.

To find out more on the top sources and stunning health effects of indoor air pollution, and what you can do about it, see our article, here.

6. Reduce Your Stress

There are also internal contributors to cancer development: how we process stressors. While the stress response is a crucial system that has evolved to keep us safe in the presence of a threat, many people experience a chronic stress response that remains active even in the absence of an external threat.

Animal studies (our view on the use of animals in medical research is here) and lab-grown human cancer cells have provided evidence that chronic stress may cause cancer to get worse and spread. That’s because prolonged stress triggers inflammation, suppresses immunity, and promotes tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis.

There’s also evidence that persistent and chronic stress exposure might also contribute to tumor initiation in specific cancers.

While you can’t avoid all of life’s stressors, there are some proven strategies that can help you manage stress more effectively. Certain foods can help (here are seven of them.) And adaptogens are plants and herbs that could be especially useful in helping your body deal with stressors and come back into balance.

Exercising and spending time in nature are also documented ways of lowering stress levels. For an added boost of calm, you can do both at the same time, an approach known as green fitness.

7. Use (Natural) Sunscreen

Skin cancer accounts for almost one-third of all diagnosed cancers, and the incidence of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades.

The main factors that predict the development of melanoma appear to be a combination of a history of sunburn from ultraviolet radiation and continued recreational exposure to the sun.

One way to keep the sun from damaging your skin is by using sunscreen. Studies have shown that it does reduce the risk of skin cancers. Unfortunately, not all sunscreens are benign. Some contain benzophenone, a suspected carcinogen that also can interfere with key hormones and reproductive organs.

It’s ironic that many people who seek to avoid one type of cancer end up doing so with products that promote other cancers, as well as additional health problems. To avoid this “from-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire” scenario, look for natural sunscreens or other forms of natural sun protection. There are even foods that can protect your skin from harmful UV radiation.

For advice on what to look for in a natural sunscreen, see our article, here.

8. Wash Produce to Remove Pesticides

The greatest cancer risk associated with pesticides is occupational, affecting farm workers who apply pesticides. However, there may also be a risk from dietary sources. Estimates put more than 90% of the US population with detectable concentrations of pesticide biomarkers in their urine or blood.

While many fruits and vegetables are potent cancer-fighters, some of the pesticides used to grow them promote tumor growth, as well as cause harmful gene expression and DNA modification. For example, a 2021 study found a correlation between dietary exposure to pesticides and increased breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women.

But there are several things you can do to minimize your exposure to these potentially carcinogenic compounds. If you can access and afford organic produce, that’s a great way to keep some of the worst pesticide offenders off your plate.

If a 100% organic shopping cart is out of your reach, you can get the most pesticide-free bang for your buck by going organic with the most pesticide-contaminated produce aka “the Dirty Dozen.”

And while you can’t remove all pesticide residue by washing your produce, a water and baking soda mixture can get rid of some pesticides.

For more on how to wash produce to remove the vast majority of pesticide residues, see our article here.

9. Use Nontoxic Cookware

Even after buying organic and washing off as much pesticide residue as you can, you may still be cooking your produce in ways that increase cancer risk. That’s because some nonstick cookware has a coating of carcinogenic chemicals.

The two biggest culprits are poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is widely used in the manufacture of a bunch of industrial and commercial products, including Teflon coating on cookware. It’s associated with several cancers, including those of the testicles and kidneys, as well as pancreatic cancer.

To avoid these chemicals, check out some of our suggestions on healthy cookware options.

10. Drink Less (or No) Alcohol

While the media and wellness influencers debate the pros and cons of red wine for heart health, the evidence is clear and increasingly compelling that alcoholic beverages qualify as group 1 carcinogens. This doesn’t mean they get to board airplanes first. Rather, “group 1” is used by the WHO to indicate that there’s “convincing evidence that the agent causes cancer” in humans.

Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several cancer types, including cancers of the upper digestive tract, liver, colorectum, and breast. Worldwide, about 4% of cancers have a correlation with alcohol consumption.

But how much alcohol do you need to drink before your risk of cancer increases? According to the WHO, there’s no safe level of alcohol consumption. While the risk of developing cancer increases substantially the more alcohol you consume, even light or moderate consumption raises your odds of developing cancer.

Find out more on how alcohol affects your health here, and get some suggestions on nonalcoholic or mocktail recipes here.

11. Get Regular Cancer Screenings

Although no substitute for prevention, it’s often true that early detection can be a lifesaver. Getting regular cancer screenings can enable your health care provider to find precancerous cells as well as cancerous tumors.

Specifically, medical societies recommend screening for cancers that are easier to treat and cure when found early. For example, screenings can prevent colorectal and cervical cancers by identifying and removing precancerous lesions before they become cancerous.

Recent studies are also showing that mammography screenings decrease women’s risk of dying from breast cancer. A large-scale 2020 study out of Sweden found that women who participated in mammograms reduced their risk of dying of breast cancer within 10 years by a whopping 41%.

Another screening success has been the Pap smear, which I just learned was named after Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou, the Greek pathologist who discovered the test and publicized it in 1943. Over the past three decades, its widespread use has been credited with decreasing cervical cancer incidence and mortality by over 50%.

Colonoscopies that look for colorectal cancer may also be beneficial once people have reached a certain age. (According to the American Cancer Society, that age is 45 for folks with “average risk”).

Keep in mind, however, that there are also risks involved in all cancer screenings, including false positives that can lead to invasive treatments, as well as aggressively treating tumors that may be so slow-growing as to represent little threat to health.

Additionally, certain cancer screening tests may only be suggested for people who are high-risk. Others are routine tests done regularly after a certain age. To find out what cancer screenings are recommended by the American Cancer Society, here’s a resource they put together.

And remember the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. For most of us, the best prevention is a healthy diet and lifestyle. Starting with choosing to…

12. Eat Cancer-Fighting Foods

While most of the items on this list are things to avoid — tobacco smoke, plastics, processed foods, etc. — there are also things you can add more of to help prevent cancer.

Vegetable and fruit consumption is associated with a lower risk of many cancers, including those of the stomach, esophagus, lung, oral cavity and pharynx, endometrium, pancreas, colon, and others. The effects are likely due to the many positive qualities of whole plant-based foods. But two of the best studied are phytonutrients and fiber.

Phytonutrients and phytochemicals found in colorful plant foods, in particular, have been shown to possess anticancer effects. These and other antioxidants help neutralize free radicals in your cells and fight oxidative stress in your body.

Oxidative stress plays a major role in cancer cell metabolism. Cancer patients frequently have low antioxidant stores, and experience increased oxidative stress, leading researchers to seek ways to increase antioxidant activity as a cancer prevention strategy.

Fiber is another key nutrient for cancer prevention. There’s a clear link between fiber and colorectal health. You can think of fiber as the “broom” that sweeps your colon clean. Studies show that people who consumed just 10 more grams of fiber per day had a 10% reduction in their risk of developing colorectal cancer.

But fiber’s benefit doesn’t stop there. Multiple studies have found that the more fiber you eat, the lower your risk of breast and other hormonal cancers.

For more on why fiber is good for you, including a beautifully designed graphic showing 33 of the best high-fiber foods and a bunch of delicious fiber-rich recipes, check out this article.

And for more on anticancer foods, check out 7 Ways to Eat to Defeat Cancer Today and Every Day by Dr. William Li.

Cancer-Fighting Recipes

While some of the strategies shared in this article may take time and even a bit of expense to implement (changing cookware and sunscreen, replacing plastic containers with glass ones, getting a home air purifier, and so on), you can quickly make a dent in your cancer risk through the food you prepare and eat today.

Here are a few of our favorite anticancer recipes that taste so good, you’ll be forgiven for forgetting how good they are for you.

1. Smashed Edamame Avocado Toast

This easy toast recipe delivers a hefty dose of fiber, which is essential for digestive health and reducing the risk of certain types of cancer. Avocado is a nutrient powerhouse, rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, and is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. The star ingredient, however, is edamame, which adds a substantial dose of plant-based protein and isoflavones. These phytonutrients may protect cells from damage and reduce the risk of cancer development. Enjoy the flavors, textures, and nutritional attributes of this craveable breakfast.

2. Strawberry Spinach Salad

Delight in a vibrant salad bursting with flavor and packed with cancer-fighting nutrients. This colorful ensemble features nutrient-rich spinach, known for its abundance of antioxidant cancer fighters like vitamin C and beta-carotene. It’s also complemented by sweet and succulent strawberries, offering a dose of ellagic acid — a phytonutrient that helps scavenge free radicals. The Strawberry Spinach Salad also provides quercetin — a plant compound with anticancer properties. Topped with a tangy beet balsamic dressing, this salad is a mouthwatering treat and a potential ally in your journey toward cancer prevention.

3. Pink Cauliflower Soup

Indulge in a flavorful blend of cauliflower, beets, garlic, tofu, and aromatic spices designed with potential cancer-fighting properties in mind. Cauliflower, a cruciferous vegetable rich in sulforaphane, may assist in reducing the risk of certain cancers by aiding in the body’s natural detoxification processes. Vibrant beets contribute betalains known for their anti-inflammatory properties. And garlic adds allicin, believed to possess powerful anticancer effects. With the addition of delicate microgreens, you’ll also get an extra boost of essential vitamins and minerals.

4. Plant-Powered Lunch Bowl

This Plant-Powered Lunch Bowl is a vibrant mix of nutrient-dense kale, antioxidant-packed turmeric, and carotenoid-rich sweet potatoes. Complemented by a vibrant matcha turmeric dressing, this bowl is more than just a delicious meal — it’s a cancer-fighting recipe. The abundance of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals from all of the ingredients creates a bowl bursting with health benefits.

5. Rainbow Smoothie

Indulge in a vibrant Rainbow Smoothie, a flavorful concoction blending the goodness of banana, apple, mixed berries, nutrient-rich spinach, and chia seeds, all with potentially cancer-preventive properties. This colorful smoothie offers a wealth of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. Both berries, particularly rich in anthocyanins and vitamin C, and spinach, abundant in folate and antioxidants, are believed to combat oxidative stress and inflammation, potentially reducing cancer risk. Combined with the fiber and omega-3 fatty acids from chia seeds, this refreshing smoothie is a nourishing and delightful treat!

Take Control of Your Health with These Cancer Prevention Strategies

Cancer can be devastating. And while medical advances have been largely modest and limited to certain families of cancer, there’s a lot of hope in the form of evidence-based strategies for lifestyle-based cancer prevention.

From steering clear of harmful substances like tobacco and plastics to embracing stress reduction techniques and consuming cancer-fighting foods, there are many steps you can take toward a healthier lifestyle.

While no approach guarantees immunity from cancer, the combination of these measures can significantly reduce your risk. And the collective impact of these lifestyle changes holds promise not just for individual well-being but also for a future in which the devastating impact of cancer is diminished.

Tell us in the comments:

• Which of the 12 cancer-fighting strategies above do you already engage in?
• What’s one thing you can do right now to reduce the risk of cancer for yourself and your loved ones?
• Which cancer-fighting recipe will you make next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/FatCamera

Read Next:

• The Top 10 Vegetables You Can Eat to Prevent and Reverse Cancer
• IGF-1: The Growth Hormone That Can Fuel Cancer

The post 12 Ways to Reduce Your Cancer Risk Using Diet & Lifestyle appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Those are all well and good, but what would seriously make my day is an Olympic event highlighting the foods that do the most to support health and longevity.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the benefits of turmeric to win the gold. And that would be fitting since turmeric is known in India as “haldi,” the Golden Spice. It earned its nickname not just from its bold yellow-gold color but its associations with prosperity, purity, and good fortune.

In India, powdered turmeric features prominently in a traditional pre-wedding ceremony. Turned into a yellow paste, it’s applied liberally to the bride and groom’s bodies to bring them good fortune and ward off the evil eye. Unmarried friends and family members may also benefit, as whoever gets touched by the paste will supposedly find an attractive partner soon.

In addition to its ritual uses, turmeric has been revered in India for its powerful medicinal properties for over 4,000 years. A mainstay of Ayurveda, the Indian healing tradition, as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine, turmeric is now being extensively studied by modern science for its potential health benefits.

In fact, it’s thought that turmeric may be one of the most potent anti-inflammatory compounds ever examined. And preliminary evidence suggests it may reduce the risk of just about every major chronic condition.

As a result, turmeric has achieved virtual superfood status in the industrialized world, bottled into a variety of supplements. But is it effective in supplemental form? And if you get it through food, how much is enough? Can you get too much? And should you be concerned about lead exposure?

Let’s dive into the world of turmeric and explore the evidence about the health benefits and risks of the Golden Spice.

What Is Turmeric?

Turmeric, or Curcuma longa to botanists, is a plant in the ginger family (called Zingiberaceaea, which would get me knocked out of a spelling bee if I didn’t have it written out in front of me). Other members of that family include galangal and cardamom.

Turmeric is native to Southeast Asia, where it’s now grown commercially (primarily in India) and used as a cooking spice.

There are over 50 different cultivars of turmeric, with the most common being the Madras and Alleppey varieties.

The culinary part of the plant is its rhizome (underground stem). Think gingerroot, just a bit skinnier and a whole lot yellower. As a spice, turmeric has a slightly bitter, pungent, and nutty taste. And its intense hue can range from yellow to gold to orange. It’s the main spice in many curry powders and the one that gives them their distinctive color.

Turmeric has both culinary and medicinal uses. Around the world, almost one billion people use it daily as a cooking spice. You can eat the rhizomes whole, either cooked or raw. And you can also use them dried and ground into a spice powder. In addition to its culinary uses, turmeric is also used as a preservative for food and as a coloring agent for mustards.

Turmeric and extracts made from it are also consumed as a supplement, orally in capsule or liquid form, or even as a paste.

Turmeric Nutrition

Like a lot of other spices, turmeric is a rich source of many essential minerals. These include iron (the nonheme variety that doesn’t build up in blood), copper, manganese, zinc, magnesium, and potassium. Fresh turmeric also delivers a small amount of fiber.

Turmeric’s big claim to fame, though, is its curcuminoids — the compounds that give the root not just its yellow color but also many of its health benefits. The main curcuminoid is curcumin, which, despite its name, doesn’t come from cumin. Curcumin is a polyphenol, a plant compound that acts as an antioxidant in our diets and has disease-fighting properties.

For more on polyphenols, check out our full article here.

The Benefits of Turmeric

At the top of this article, I said that turmeric could win a gold medal at the Nutrition Olympics. Let’s look at the evidence that leads me to give the spice a 10 out of 10.

Turmeric Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

Curcumin is often used as an anti-inflammatory agent in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. And many studies have put this application to the test.

A 2019 article reviewed test-tube and animal studies where curcumin showed protective effects against several gastrointestinal problems that were caused or worsened by inflammation (our view on the use of animals in medical research is here). These included acid reflux, Barrett’s esophagus (where the esophageal lining experiences damage from acid reflux), and H. pylori infection of the stomach.

Curcumin has also shown promise in reducing the effects of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It seems to work by helping to calm cells that are involved in inflammation. As a result, it’s theorized that curcumin could be a treatment option for reducing IBD flare-ups.

A 2021 meta-analysis also found curcumin to be effective in lessening the pains of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by reducing inflammation, swelling, and pain. Included among the results was a 1980 study out of Iran that found curcumin supplementation helped reduce morning stiffness and joint swelling in human patients with RA.

Turmeric and Blood Sugar

Curcumin also shows great promise in treating and perhaps even preventing type 2 diabetes. A 2021 meta-analysis provided evidence that the compound may achieve these results by reducing inflammation and blood sugar levels.

And a 2023 meta-analysis of human trials found that turmeric can help lower blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Unlike many diabetes drugs, however, the side effects of turmeric were positive. They included lowering total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and markers of inflammation. The results appeared to be dose-dependent — that is, the more turmeric people consumed, the greater the effects.

Turmeric and Brain Health

Because of curcumin’s anti-inflammatory and other beneficial properties, it’s being studied as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The challenge is to deliver the curcumin in a way that enables it to easily cross the blood-brain barrier. Researchers are trying to make the compound more bioavailable by binding it to “carrier molecules.”

A 2022 review article reports that curcumin may also help people with early-onset Alzheimer’s lessen the sleep disturbances that often accompany the disease. This is important because your body requires quality sleep to “do maintenance” on the brain and clean out harmful substances — so Alzheimer’s and poor sleep make for a vicious cycle of increasing brain damage.

Turmeric and Cancer

Research shows that curcumin can help prevent the initiation of cancers and slow their development once they’ve occurred. How does it do this? Researchers believe that its anticancer mechanisms include inhibiting cellular growth, reducing the invasion and migration capabilities of cancer cells, enhancing programmed cell death, reducing inflammation, and favorably altering the intestinal microbiome.

Based on studies of which molecules curcumin targets in cancer cells, it may be that curcumin could be particularly effective in combating prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and head and neck squamous cell cancer.

And according to a 2020 review article, several studies suggest that adding curcumin to chemotherapy treatment regimens enhances the efficacy of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This combination may extend the survival times of patients, boost the levels of proteins that prevent the spread of cancerous tumors, and alleviate adverse effects.

Turmeric and Heart Health

A 2017 meta-analysis found that the curcumin in turmeric might help lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. It seems particularly effective in reducing cholesterol levels in people with metabolic syndrome — a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease. While much research has focused on curcumin, some studies also suggest that whole turmeric may be even more effective at lowering cholesterol than supplemental curcumin alone.

There are several conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. And these conditions all share several underlying factors: oxidative stress, impaired mitochondrial function, metabolic irregularities such as changes in lipid levels and glucose processing, as well as inflammatory responses. Curcumin demonstrates a wide range of effects that target these particular factors, suggesting that it could reduce the risk of heart disease in some of the most vulnerable populations, including elderly people as well as those who are obese and/or have type 2 diabetes.

Curcumin Bioavailability

To recap, science has recognized what many cultures have known for centuries: Turmeric has powerful medicinal properties that can help treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions. But much of the data and recorded health benefits of turmeric have been based on studies that used supplements and extracts of curcumin rather than whole turmeric root or turmeric powder.

This creates a challenge because we know that human bodies aren’t great at absorbing curcumin, either from food or in supplemental form. That’s because curcumin is what’s known as hydrophobic, which doesn’t mean it’s afraid of swimming pools. Rather, it’s very poorly absorbed in water, which makes it hard for your body to get the compound into your cells where it can do good. That means the underlying science is unavoidably muddy since it’s hard to know what dose of curcumin a patient has absorbed. You can only tell the amount given.

Fortunately, researchers have begun finding proven ways to increase curcumin’s bioavailability.

1. Turmeric and Black Pepper

When you eat dishes that contain turmeric, you can absorb more curcumin if you add black pepper. This gives you the synergistic compound piperine, which significantly enhances the serum concentration, absorption, and bioavailability of curcumin. One study found that people who ate piperine along with curcumin absorbed 20 times more of the curcumin than people who didn’t receive black pepper. (If you’re looking to make this sound impressive, you can also say that black pepper increases curcumin bioavailability by 2,000% — which is just a fancy way of adding two zeros and a percent sign.)

You can take advantage of this finding by following Dr. Greger’s advice: Every day, consume a quarter teaspoon of dried turmeric with a pinch of black pepper.

2. Eat Turmeric with a Healthy Fat

Another way to increase the bioavailability of curcumin is to eat a healthy fat along with your turmeric. That’s because, while curcumin isn’t very soluble in water, it gets along really well with fat. Traditional Indian cuisine reflects this insight, as Indian dishes that include turmeric are often cooked with coconut milk, vegetable oil, or ghee.

If you want to stick to whole plant foods, remember that nuts, seeds, and avocados are generally good sources of healthy fat that can increase curcumin bioavailability as well.

Here are some of our favorite turmeric-containing recipes to help you get more of the Golden Spice into the cells of your body.

3. Curcumin Supplements

Researchers have also found ways to increase the bioavailability of supplemental curcumin.

Nanoparticle Curcumin

One is by encapsulating the curcumin in nanoparticles, which are just like regular particles, but a lot more nano.

Okay, okay. I’ll look it up for you: Nanoparticles are very (very, very) small particles measured in nanometers, and a nanometer is one-millionth of a millimeter. The thing about nanoparticles is that at that size, they behave differently than larger particles, both on a physical and chemical level. And one of those differences is in the way they can dissolve in water while protecting the curcumin they’re surrounding.

Micellar Curcumin

A second technique for increasing the bioavailability of supplemental curcumin is to chemically change it to a micellar form. Micelles are very small lipid molecules that act as a carrier for fat-soluble curcumin and make it water-soluble, which allows the curcumin to sneak in, so to speak.

But does that actually work? Well, to put it to the test, researchers conducted a study, published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research in 2014. They gave participants a 500-mg dose of curcuminoids in either a native curcumin powder, micronized powder, or liquid micelles, and then measured blood levels of curcuminoids in the 24 hours that followed. The researchers found that, compared to the native curcumin, the micronized powder conferred a 9-fold increase in absorption. That sounds pretty impressive until you hear about the winner — the liquid micelle format, which led to a 185-fold increase.

In their discussion, the researchers also compared their bioavailability results with those found in other studies on bioavailable curcumin forms, including the use of the piperine found in black pepper (which led to a 20-fold increase in bioavailability), turmeric essential oils (which had a 7-fold higher bioavailability), and curcumin incorporated into lecithin (which conferred a 4-fold better absorption). They called micellar curcumin’s 185-fold result “unrivaled.”

Liposomal Curcumin

A third method of increasing bioavailability is to create liposomal conjugated curcumin. Liposomes are tiny spherical structures made up of lipid bilayers that can carry therapeutic agents like drugs or natural compounds. Like micellar curcumin, liposomal curcumin has an outer membrane that bonds with water, which allows the fat-loving curcumin inside to enter human cells more readily.

Downsides & Risks of Turmeric

The way curcumin is vying for that nutritional gold medal, you might think that the more of it you get, the better. But there are several reasons to be cautious about overconsumption of the Golden Spice.

Human studies on the effects of turmeric as a food have looked at doses ranging from less than 1/16th of a teaspoon a day up to about 2 tablespoons a day. And participants have taken these amounts sometimes for more than a month.

And while traditional Indian diets may include as much as a teaspoon of turmeric per day (or about an inch of fresh turmeric root), supplemental forms of curcumin with enhanced bioavailability could deliver the equivalent to cups of turmeric — definitely not a dose that you could achieve by eating real food.

According to the European Food Safety Authority and the World Health Organization, the acceptable daily intake value of curcumin is 0–3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. So someone weighing 150 pounds (68 kilograms) is advised to limit their consumption to 204 milligrams of curcumin per day, or approximately 1 tablespoon. Although curcumin has been found to be safe at doses of 8 grams per day in both phase I and phase II clinical trials, there is some concern that very high doses, perhaps especially when combined with enhanced bioavailability, could lead to some side effects.

Turmeric Side Effects

Too much turmeric might possibly be able to cause DNA damage — at least, that’s what researchers have found in test-tube studies. So people who are pregnant, in particular, may want to moderate their turmeric consumption. High-dose curcumin also appears to thin the endometrial lining, which can interfere with in vitro fertilization.

Turmeric helps the gallbladder pump more vigorously, which is one way it can protect the liver and even prevent gallstones. But if there’s already an obstruction in the bile duct, those additional gallbladder contractions can cause a lot of pain.

Moderating turmeric consumption may also be a good idea for people with a predisposition to forming kidney stones. That’s because turmeric is high in oxalates, which can bind to calcium to form calcium oxalate, the key ingredient in about 75% of all kidney stones. (Some curcumin products, however, contain little to no oxalate.)

And in some people, high doses of turmeric may also cause gastrointestinal problems, including diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, and nausea.

Turmeric can also act as a blood thinner, which means it may interact with several classes of medications, including blood thinners, aspirin, and diabetes drugs.

Lead in Turmeric

There’s one more issue with turmeric that isn’t about the plant itself, but its preparation.

Turmeric powder from Bangladesh and India sometimes contains lead chromate, which enhances the spice’s appearance by making it a brighter shade of yellow. Which is to say, some turmeric powder is contaminated with lead.

There’s no safe level of lead; it can seriously damage reproductive, neurological, and cardiovascular systems — especially in children. If you want to protect yourself and your family from possible lead contamination, the best option is to buy fresh turmeric root or to buy organic turmeric and curcumin products.

To be extra safe, you can contact manufacturers to ask if they test for lead and other metals. California’s Proposition 65 seeks to protect, or at least inform, consumers by providing warnings about lead in foods like ground turmeric.

Use Turmeric in Good Health — Thoughtfully

Turmeric, the Golden Spice, has long been venerated in India and other Asian countries for its vibrant hue, culinary appeal, and medicinal qualities. Rich in curcuminoids, turmeric boasts antioxidants and disease-fighting polyphenols, making it a superfood of immense value. And modern scientific studies are confirming and highlighting its anti-inflammatory properties, brain-boosting effects, and potential for managing conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Despite all those beneficial properties, turmeric comes with some concerns. While supplements promise convenience, their proper usage and dosage require consideration. And potential lead contamination concerns may lead some people to make sure their turmeric is grown organically or comes in a tested supplement, rather than dried and powdered. As with many medicinal spices, moderation and informed sourcing is key.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you cook with turmeric? What are your favorite ways to use it?
• Have you ever seen fresh turmeric root at a market or grocery store?
• Do you take curcumin supplements?

Featured Image: iStock.com/ollo

Read Next:

• How Curcumin Can Help You Hack Your Genes And Avoid Disease
• Fresh vs Dried: A Guide to Herbs and Spices

The post The Golden Spice: Understanding the Health Benefits and Risks of Turmeric appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

While botanically speaking, these vegetables may differ, one thing they have in common is their classification as “winter food.” They’re easy to store in colder months, especially when many home gardens are dormant (unless you live in Zone 11 — looking at you, Hawaii and southern Florida).

Winter squashes, in particular, are popular choices once cooler weather approaches, often showing up during the holiday season. But their tough skin and seedy interior can often seem intimidating. The thought of cooking winter squash (or simply cutting winter squash!) may be enough to make you think twice about that butternut squash recipe.

But there’s no need to groan when you see a gourd. In this article, we’ll share our top tips to choose, store, prepare, and cook these wintery squashes, along with seven winter squash recipes.

Is a Pumpkin a Squash or a Gourd? And Is a Gourd a Squash?

If a pumpkin is a squash, and a gourd is a pumpkin, does that mean a squash is also a gourd? The answer is yes… well, sort of.

Squash, gourds, and pumpkins are the same in that they are all part of the Cucurbitaceae family (pronounced q-curb-eh-tacy). All gourds are squash, but not all squash are necessarily gourds, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden.

You see, it’s a bit complicated and probably more than you need (or want) to know. However, just to avoid any confusion, squash is the edible type of Cucurbitaceae fruit.

Gourds are the decorative types of Cucurbitaceae, and most are purely ornamental in nature.

Pumpkin can fall into either category, playing the role of the scary jack-o’-lantern perching on your doorstep, or offering up nutrition in the form of pumpkin soup.

There are over 900 species in the Cucurbitaceae family. And according to The Modern Farmer, there are also hundreds of winter squash varieties.

Winter Squash Varieties

Although they’re all slightly different in shape, color, flavor, and texture, these seasonal vegetables… err, fruits… all pack a nutritious punch. They’re loaded with carotenoids, like beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A. And winter squashes are also rich sources of vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and fiber, making them the perfect addition to soups to help fight against those nasty winter colds.

To learn more about squash’s nutritional superpowers, check out the Top Health Benefits of Squash + How to Prepare and Eat It.

The main types of winter squash you’re likely to encounter are:

1. Butternut

One of the most common and versatile of the winter squash varieties, butternut squash provides over 100% of the RDA for vitamin A in just one cooked cup! You can also use it in place of sweet potatoes as its texture and flavor are quite similar. Or make the Cheesy Cauliflower Squash Sauce below to see how it can lend an ultrarich and creamy texture to recipes.

2. Delicata

Delicata squash may be one of the least intimidating of all the winter squashes due to the ease of cutting through its thin skin and softer flesh. It’s similar to butternut squash (and, really, all of the squash varieties) in that it’s powered with vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Its boat-like shape and ability to keep form after cooking make it an ideal vessel for stuffing with vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

3. Acorn

Recognizable for its often hunter-green hue and nut-like shape, acorn squash can transform into a bowl for all of your plant-based creations. From soups to grains to sautéed vegetables (umami mushrooms, in particular, pair nicely), stuffed acorn squash is one of my favorite winter foods.

4. Spaghetti

Its mellow flavor and familiar noodle shape make spaghetti squash a fun and nutritious substitute for traditional spaghetti dishes. Consider mixing with pasta sauces you know and love, like marinara, pesto, and (cashew) bechamel, for a fiber- and beta-carotene-rich pasta dish.

5. Kabocha

Transforming into buttery, nutty, sweet goodness, similar to sweet potato or pumpkin, kabocha squash is succulent in risotto, soups, and stews. Its outer shell can be pretty tough to cut, so you may want to microwave it for a few minutes before cooking. P.S. Kabocha squash seeds are rich in zinc! Harvest, clean, and roast them for a crunchy, nutritious snack.

6. Sugar Pie Pumpkins

The vibrant orange color of sugar pie pumpkins is a clue that they’re chock-full of vitamin A, potassium, and vitamin C. And their sweet name clues you in to their culinary application; they’re an ideal addition to your winter desserts!

7. Hubbard

It’s possible that, if you’ve ever walked by a Hubbard squash, you didn’t pay it much attention due to its thick leathery skin and heavy weight (ranging from 5–15 pounds!). It may look intimidating, but its dense flesh offers a rich flavor that blends into a creamy, dreamy, thick soup. To get past that seriously tough skin, try cooking it first to soften the skin before removing it to get to the delectable nutrient-dense flesh.

How to Choose and Store Winter Squash

When searching for that perfect edible winter squash, you’ll need to pick one up and examine it. It should be heavy and firm, without soft spots, moldy patches, or cut or punctured skin.

The shape should also be distinctive to its variety. Acorn squash looks like an acorn; banana squash looks like a banana; spaghetti squash looks like… well the inside does, anyway. Look for a well-shaped squash with tough skin (much tougher than the delicate thin-skinned summer squash).

You may be wondering if winter squash skin is edible. It is indeed! However, it can be tough to chew. Therefore, depending on the strength of your choppers and the tenacity of your digestive system, you may want to peel it. Cooking the squash can soften its skin, making it easier to peel.

Actually, let’s take a moment of gratitude for that resilient skin, as this lovely attribute gives winter squash its long shelf life. Depending on the type of squash and how it’s stored, many can last about 2–6 months. To take advantage of that stellar shelf life, store winter squash in a cool dark place (a basement works well, but don’t forget about it!). Cooked and cut squash can also be stored in the refrigerator for 3–4 days in an airtight container or in the freezer for up to four months.

How to Prepare Winter Squash

If you’re worried about pesticides on your produce, you’ll be happy to know that no winter squash varieties made the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. However, they are in the “Middle 19,” which means winter squashes still contain a moderate amount of pesticides.

It’s always recommended that you wash the skin of fruits and vegetables before consuming them, especially when they contain pesticides. But to learn the best way to wash fresh produce, visit How to Wash Vegetables and Fruits to Remove Pesticides.

Okay, on to the part you’ve been waiting for — how to cut those awkwardly-shaped, wobbly cucurbits.

First, you’ll need a sturdy cutting board that doesn’t move around when you use it. (I’m a big fan of cutting boards made of wood rather than chemical-y plastic or slippery glass).

Next, you’ll need a sharp knife, as the rind of winter squash can be quite tough. There are different ways to cut squash depending on the variety, size, and culinary application. For most, start by cutting off the ends and scooping out the seeds (save the seeds for snacking!). If you’re more of a visual learner, watch the video below to see how to cut acorn and other winter squash varieties.

How to Use Winter Squash

Once you’ve been able to cut through the squash’s dense skin (to where the mineral-dense and protein-rich seeds live), you’ll feel like you’ve won the Winter Olympics! Before you celebrate, it’s time to create a scrumptious dish with the golden goods you’ve found inside.

Here are some ways you can use that hard-earned winter squash:

• Hollowed out and stuffed
• Cubed and included in soups, stews, chilies, curries, salads, and grain bowls
• Pureed in soups, sauces, and mashes or as an ingredient in baked goods
• Cubed, sliced, or cut into rings and roasted in the oven as a side dish
• Spaghetti squash can stand in for noodles in pasta dishes
• Cubed or mashed in casseroles
• Sliced into small pieces and dehydrated into squash “chips”

Winter Squash Recipes

Winter squashes come in many varieties, but one thing they share in common (other than nutrition, of course) is the variety of ways you can use this humble family of plants!

From soups to casseroles to sides and more, you’ll be amazed at the delightful culinary creations that winter squash can achieve.

1. Cauliflower Squash Cheese Sauce

We have two words for you — practically drinkable! That perfectly describes this cheesy, creamy sauce that’s not made with cheese or cream at all. It’s made from plants! Cauliflower and butternut squash give this sauce a creamy texture, and nutritional yeast gives it a cheesy flavor.

Getting creative with squash has never been easier! With so much versatility, flavor, and nutrition, we wouldn’t be surprised if you whip up a batch of this cheese sauce once a week.

2. Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Savor the comforting goodness of our Creamy Pumpkin Soup as it wraps you in a blanket of soothing warmth. Whether enjoyed with autumnal pumpkin or your favorite winter gourds, this soup offers warm and comforting flavors as well as nutrition that will leave you longing for more. Plus, the aroma of cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg will fill your kitchen with the scent of pure comfort, which is perfect when you need a pick-me-up on a frosty winter night.

3. Autumn Farro Salad with Butternut Squash and Kale

As fall transitions into winter, the bounty of butternut squash is plentiful, and what better way to use that harvest than to whip up an Autumn Farro Salad with Butternut Squash and Kale? Hearty farro and wintery kale are the perfect pairing with creamy butternut squash (or your favorite winter squash). Topped with pecans and dried cranberries, this salad is festive, full of deep winter colors, and packed with plenty of plant-based nutrition. This winter squash recipe is the type of meal you’ll look forward to enjoying time and time again!

4. Roasted Parmesan Acorn Squash

Roasted Parmesan Acorn Squash is a great way to breathe new life into your favorite winter squash. Sliced acorn squash is coated in nutty walnut parmesan, creating a crispy and nutty outside and a cooked and creamy center. These squash slices are great as an accompaniment to your favorite cozy winter meal. But we think they make a delicious and craveable snack, too!

5. Creamy Spaghetti Squash Bake

There’s no shortage of cozy plant-based goodness with this Creamy Spaghetti Squash Bake. Using spaghetti squash for the base of this winter squash recipe is a great way to prepare this winter casserole favorite. Baked together with creamy cashew cheese, savory tempeh, and wholesome greens, you’ve got a wonderfully wholesome comfort dish that’s ready in under an hour.

6. Bean Chili in Delicata Squash Boats

If you thought plant-based chili couldn’t get any more delicious, then wait until you try our Bean Chili in Delicata Squash Boats. This hearty dish is a fun and tasty way to add “boat”-loads of nutrition to your plate.

If delicata squash is new to you, you’re in for a treat! Similar to the sweet and creamy flesh of sweet potato, delicata squash takes on a slight caramel flavor when roasted. Stuffing the halves with hearty and savory bean chili makes for a mouthwatering flavor contrast.

What’s more, you get a cozy winter meal that is packed with protein, fiber, and phytonutrients galore!

7. Chipotle-Rubbed Butternut Squash Steaks

Get ready to spice up your life with these Chipotle-Rubbed Butternut Squash Steaks. Chipotle offers the ideal amount of heat, zest, and liveliness to your favorite winter squash. Enjoy these squash steaks as the centerpiece of your meal, or top your favorite salad or grain bowl with them for a delightfully bold flavor and unique touch.

Warm Up with Winter Squash

Now that you know how to select, cut, and prepare winter squash — and how to pronounce Cucurbitaceae! — you should be feeling pretty confident to start a winter squash wonderland in your kitchen!

With their culinary versatility and nutritional excellence, don’t shy away from trying a range of squash varieties prepared in different ways.

From roasted on their own to blended into a sauce to tossed into soup, enjoy the versatility of this festive winter food. Whether you’re craving a comforting soup, a hearty side dish, or a plant-based twist on a family recipe, the world of squash awaits with endless winter squash recipes to elevate your seasonal fare.

Tell us in the comments:

• Which varieties of winter squash have you tried?
• How do you plan to use winter squash in recipes this season?
• What’s your favorite type of winter squash, and why?

Featured Image: iStock.com/HadelProductions

Read Next:

• 7 Healthy Winter Dinner Recipes to Keep You Warm & Nourished
• 7 Nutritious and Flavorful Summer Squash Recipes

The post Savor the Season: 7 Must-Try Winter Squash Varieties and Recipes appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Some people are motivated to eat this way for health reasons — looking to nutrition to prevent or heal chronic conditions and diseases. For decades, nutritional pioneers like Drs. T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn, and Dean Ornish have shown that diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes can be prevented and even reversed with the help of a whole food, plant-based diet.

And, in fact, study after study has shown the incredible healing power of whole plant foods loaded with antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, and other disease-fighting compounds.

At the same time, we’ve discovered the harmful effects of a diet high in factory-farmed animal products, which lack these good-for-you chemicals. Instead, they can contribute to disease in the body, wreaking havoc on your cells and even speeding up the aging process.

In addition to health, there are other reasons that people are gravitating toward plant-based eating. Factory farming inflicts massive damage on the environment. Experts agree that consumers can reduce their carbon footprint dramatically by eliminating beef from their diets, or even reducing it by 25%. And moving away from industrialized meat can also save millions of animals from living in cruel conditions before being slaughtered.

Whatever your reason for considering (or continuing) a plant-based diet, good recipes can make everything easier — and more delicious!

While you can surely find a variety of recipes on the Internet, investing in a few good vegan or plant-based cookbooks can really set you up for success. Cookbooks are a great resource for finding real, kitchen-tested recipes that are healthy and tasty. Many of them include suggestions for pantry staples to have on hand, plant-based substitutions for dairy, or where to find specific ingredients you may be unfamiliar with. You might also find suggestions for cooking tools and even playlists to cook to.

But as plant-based diets continue to rise in popularity, so do the number of cookbooks to choose from. That’s why we’ve rounded up a collection of some of our favorite plant-based cookbooks. These selections will help put you on the fast track to health and good nutrition, while also making a positive impact on animals and the environment.

Get Your Hands on 12 of the Best Plant-Based Cookbooks

Having a good vegan cookbook on hand can make all the difference. Whether you’re looking to go fully plant-based or you’re flexitarian or veg-curious, these cookbooks will have you preparing mouthwatering vegan meals in a jiffy. From culturally specific recipes to eating plant-based on a budget to creating plant-based meals for specific health conditions, there’s a little something here for everyone.

1. Real Superfoods: Everyday Ingredients to Elevate Your Health by Ocean Robbins and Nichole Dandrea-Russert, MS, RDN

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Yes, you read that right. Food Revolution Network released its first physical cookbook in 2023, coauthored by cofounder and CEO, Ocean Robbins, and Nichole Dandrea-Russert, RDN, FRN’s Lead Dietitian Nutritionist.

Unlike the heavily marketed version of superfoods that are trendy, inaccessible, and expensive, this comprehensive and beautiful cookbook unveils the essence of what makes a “real” superfood. Instead of exotic and hard-to-find ingredients, Real Superfoods features foods that are readily available, budget-friendly, and nutrient-dense. And when you know what to do with them, Real Superfoods are also delicious — which is why it’s a cookbook!

You’ll get everything you’ve come to expect from FRN recipes, along with all the research-backed info on what makes these superfoods great. Plus, enjoy practical tips and techniques to seamlessly integrate these foods into your daily diet and improve your health — one bite at a time!

2. Plant-Based on a Budget Quick & Easy: 100 Fast, Healthy, Meal-Prep, Freezer-Friendly, and One-Pot Vegan Recipes by Toni Okamoto

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Blogger Toni Okamoto of Plant-Based on a Budget provides valuable advice for eating nutritious food on a budget, proving that you don’t need to spend your whole paycheck on whole foods. In her latest cookbook, Plant-Based on a Budget Quick & Easy, she shows how you can prepare and enjoy healthy, nutritious, and affordable meals without much muss or fuss. It’s the perfect meal companion for parents or anyone who finds themselves strapped for time or money.

Toni’s recipes are accessible and fun, with personal anecdotes and commentary sprinkled throughout the book. Although some recipes verge on less healthy versions of “comfort” food, you can omit any oils or sweeteners if you like. Best of all, many of these whole food, plant-based recipes can be made in under 30 minutes.

This cookbook also gets the seal of approval from Food Revolution Summit speaker (and fellow cookbook author) Michael Greger, MD, who wrote the foreword.

3. The How Not to Die Cookbook: 100+ Recipes to Help Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger, MD

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Speaking of Dr. Michael Greger, the New York Times best-selling author’s How Not to Die Cookbook puts all of the science-backed research from his companion book, How Not to Die, into action with over 100 disease-fighting recipes.

Because Dr. Greger’s approach to plant-based eating is research-based, you’ll find specific examples of nutrition-related findings that correspond to a variety of diseases. You’ll also learn more about Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen: the foods he recommends eating daily for optimal health.

All of Dr. Greger’s plant-based recipes have a note at the bottom to indicate which of his Daily Dozen foods are included. And each recipe is accompanied by gorgeous food photography and a difficulty level to help guide your culinary exploration.

Dr. Greger also provides free access to nutritional information through his website, NutritionFacts.org.

4. Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul by Jenné Claiborne

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Southern cooking never looked so healthy with food blogger and personal chef Jenné Claiborne’s Sweet Potato Soul cookbook. Sweet Potato Soul not only transforms soul food favorites into plant-based masterpieces but also offers a unique look into the history and culture of soul food in the African-American experience. She even weaves in interesting insights on how specific foods became ingrained in African-American culture.

Whether you eat soul food in your daily life already or you’re new to the cuisine, Jenné includes essential tools and ingredients you should have on hand when creating vegan soul food dishes. Each recipe also includes a short backstory into its inspiration or a personal insight into what makes that recipe particularly good for you.

5. The Fiber Fueled Cookbook: Inspiring Plant-Based Recipes to Turbocharge Your Health by Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI

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Best-selling author Dr. Will Bulsiewicz partnered with plant-based chef and registered dietitian Alexandra Caspero on the companion cookbook for his bestseller Fiber Fueled. Inside you’ll find an impressive array of fiber-filled recipes designed to improve the health of your gut. The cookbook also has Dr. B’s signature down-to-earth style and is packed to the brim with easy-to-understand information.

Along with providing microbiome-friendly recipes, The Fiber Fueled Cookbook is also a program of sorts, helping you get to the root of and heal your tummy troubles. You’ll get insight on FODMAPs and histamine and how to work with food intolerances. And there are even food lists and guidance on how to ferment and sprout plant-based staples.

6. Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry

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Vegan chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry will have you looking at plants in a new light with his critically acclaimed cookbook Vegetable Kingdom. His Afro-fusion recipes take a gourmet approach to plant-based eating, covering the gamut from fancy toasts to gumbos and curries.

Throughout the cookbook, Bryant frequently mixes unexpected ingredients and flavor combinations, as he encourages readers to also experiment and play with their food. Each recipe even comes with a recommended soundtrack to cook to. Ultimately, as its name suggests, Vegetable Kingdom is a foray into familiarizing yourself with vegetables and their versatility — and a reminder that you don’t need meat or dairy, or their analogues, to create flavorful and appealing plant-based meals.

7. PlantYou: 140+ Ridiculously Easy, Amazingly Delicious Plant-Based Oil-Free Recipes by Carleigh Bodrug

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Many whole food, plant-based eaters choose to cook without oil since it’s actually a refined or processed food. But it can sometimes prove challenging to know how to do this effectively without sacrificing flavor or consistency. Luckily, Carleigh Bodrug of PlantYou is here to show you the way to create oil-free plant-based recipes. Her highly anticipated first cookbook was an instant New York Times bestseller and has positioned her as a trusted influencer in the plant-based cooking space.

PlantYou is a virtual treasure trove of oil-free recipes, whether you’re looking for entrées, salads, sauces, or desserts. Plus, each recipe has a visual representation of its ingredients to make shopping a cinch, along with simplified and easy-to-follow instructions. Bonus: It has a foreword and seal of approval from Dr. B (Will Bulsiewicz, MD)!

8. The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen by Joanne Lee Molinaro

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One of the most highly regarded vegan cookbooks in recent history, The Korean Vegan Cookbook is the James Beard Award-winning debut by home chef Joanne Lee Molinaro. The Korean Vegan Cookbook is a deeply personal look at the food and associated memories that helped shape Joanne’s family history — and how she has sought to keep those memories alive with her vegan interpretations of these traditional and family recipes.

Each Korean Vegan recipe is accompanied by stunning food photography that really elevates the overall reading experience. The cookbook is also organized into culturally appropriate categories like banchan (side dishes) or kimchi and salads. Whether you’re already a Korean food fan or are curious about how to make plant-based Korean recipes, this cookbook is a must-have.

9. The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution: The Definitive Food and Lifestyle Guide to Preventing Cognitive Decline by Dean Sherzai, MD, and Ayesha Sherzai, MD

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Neurologists and FRN Healthy Brain Masterclass collaborators Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai are experts when it comes to brain health. And after decades of research studying neurodegenerative diseases, they’ve released The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution, a cookbook and guide designed to help prevent cognitive decline at any age.

You’ll discover the Sherzais’ NEURO Plan approach to Alzheimer’s prevention, and find out what plant-based foods made their list of the Neuro Nine: foods that will help to keep you sharp and free from disease. As rates of Alzheimer’s continue to rise, this is an essential (and delicious!) resource that could save your life or the life of someone you love.

10. Black Rican Vegan: Fire Plant-Based Recipes from a Bronx Kitchen by Lyana Blount

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Bronx native Lyana Blount draws from her African American and Puerto Rican heritage in the Black Rican Vegan. You’ll find veganized versions of traditional Puerto Rican dishes like mofongo and chicharrones, along with New York foodie favorites like birria and BCEs (bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches).

Since Lyana uses oil in some of her recipes, along with meat and dairy analogues, this cookbook is best for those just transitioning to a plant-based diet. Although not all ingredients are whole foods, you can always leave any problematic ones out or replace them with whole-food alternatives such as lentils instead of vegan beef or homemade nut-based butter instead of store-bought vegan butter. Ultimately, the Black Rican Vegan encourages the re-creation of recipes, hoping to change perspectives on what plant-based cooking can be.

11. Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals by Gena Hamshaw

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With a food system that’s calorie-dense but nutrient-poor, many people are not getting the nutrition they need. As a result, blogger and registered dietitian nutritionist Gena Hamshaw created Power Plates, a cookbook that helps people understand good nutrition and how to get it. Focusing on the macronutrients of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, Gena guides the reader through creating nutritionally balanced plant-based meals that won’t leave them hungry.

As Gena prefers savory flavor profiles, you won’t find many sweet recipes (there’s no dessert category, either). But you will find loads of whole-food ways to bring variety and nourishment to your diet.

12. Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky: Modern Plant-Based Recipes using Native American Ingredients by Lois Ellen Frank, PhD

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James Beard Award-winning author and chef, Lois Ellen Frank created this cookbook out of a desire to encourage Indigenous communities to eat more plants. Although many Native American tribes included meat and fish in their traditional diets, the majority of staple foods were native plants. However, a lot of the original tribal foodways were lost with the introduction of the reservation system and the implementation of colonizer foods through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). 

Lois’ cookbook, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky focuses on “The Magic Eight” essential plant-based foods that Native peoples (particularly from the American Southwest) gave to the world. Each section of the cookbook focuses on one of these foods, and includes recipes for sides, appetizers, mains, soups, desserts, beverages, and more. She also gives a brief timeline and history of Native American cuisine and the important cultural context that reclaiming these foods has on tribal sovereignty and sustainability.

Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky is a beautiful and practical dedication to Indigenous food wisdom that’s beneficial to all, Native or not.

Tell us in the comments:

• Where do you look for meal inspiration?
• What are some of your favorite plant-based cookbooks?
• What are some of your favorite plant-powered recipes?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Rawpixel

Read Next:

• How to Cook: How to Read a Recipe
• FRN’s Reading List: Plant-Based Books to Encourage & Inspire You

The post 12 of the Best Plant-Based Cookbooks to Put You on the Fast Track to Health appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the “at least things haven’t gotten worse” department, the price of food and other essentials stabilized somewhat but remains well above what it was pre-pandemic. Factors maintaining high prices include the continuing effects of the pandemic on the food chain and the impact of the Russia/Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, climate chaos (a phrase that’s much more accurate than the anodyne “climate change” or “global warming”) is already causing havoc, contributing to higher food prices by bringing droughts to some places and floods to others, leading to crop failures and economic hardship.

In many parts of the world, climate chaos will continue to hamper food production, particularly in areas suffering from prolonged drought and relying more and more on groundwater — leading to accelerated aquifer depletion. This threatens to create massive disruptions when wells run dry — something that’s already happening in many places and is likely to intensify dramatically in the years ahead.

I was stunned by a recent opinion piece in the New York Times about Uzbekistan’s disappearing Aral Sea. A photo accompanying the article shows rusted boats stranded in a lifeless desert that used to be a thriving port — now 75 miles from the nearest body of water.

All these developments highlight the critical importance of eating lower on the food chain. Doing so can save massive amounts of land, water, and other natural resources — and can significantly reduce the food system’s contribution to climate chaos.

And, as we frequently discuss on this site, eating more plants, fewer animals, and less processed food can also be a great move for your health.

In short, the mission of the Food Revolution Network is more important than ever.

A Couple of the Many Lives Changed by the Food Revolution

At FRN, we’re privileged to hear, almost every day, from people whose lives have been touched by our message. Some of the stories we hear make us cry! And all of them fill us with determination to carry on and to spread the word.

Here are just a few of the memorable member stories from 2023:

WHOLE Life Club member Diane M. from Saugerties, NY, USA, wrote:

“With WHOLE Life Club, I sought support and information to help me on my journey to a…  whole food, plant-based diet. It has done that and a whole lot more! I have lost over 120 pounds since September 2022. My A1c dropped from 10.4 to 4.5, my triglycerides are now in a normal range, my LDL cholesterol has dropped tremendously, and my HDL cholesterol is in a healthy range and creeping higher. I feel so much better, with more energy, motivation, and a healthier mindset. Thank you to WLC and all its members! I enjoy how positive everyone is, and the nonjudgmental way the leaders include everyone as they teach, no matter what phase students are in on their journey.”

Plant-Based Coaching Certification graduate Terry Baker from Oro Valley, AZ, USA, wrote:

“Food Revolution Network’s Plant-Based Coaching Certification was truly the answer to my prayers, and I am so eternally grateful. I value the PBCC so highly because not only did I learn about the vast intricacies of the human body and exactly what it needs to be truly healthy at any age, but also I gained the knowledge and confidence to successfully share this vital information with others, hoping to end unnecessary suffering and disease. Do not hesitate in taking this course! You have no idea what a beautiful, powerful, and positive impact you could have in this world! Thank you to EVERYBODY in the Food Revolution Network for making this course possible.”

The Future of Plant-Based Eating

More and more people around the world are showing an interest in moving toward a more plant-based diet, and the number of people who make the shift is also increasing.

Veganuary — a fun portmanteau of vegan and January — broke all previous records with more registered participants than ever, from nearly every country in the world. And many of those folks maintained a more plant-based diet after the 31 days of the event.

More and more restaurants, businesses, and other organizations are responding to an increased demand for plant-based options — and sometimes leading it — by cutting down on animal products or eliminating them altogether. NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates 11 public hospitals in New York City, now serves plant-based meals to inpatients by default. Not only are the meals healthier than before, but they’re also changing perceptions of how “hospital food” tastes — with chefs creating dishes inspired by Latin American, Asian, and other cuisines representing the populations served by these institutions.

In a move that might have seemed unbelievable just a few years ago, the US Conference of Mayors (a nonpartisan organization that includes the mayors of all 1,400 US cities with populations of 30,000 or more) ratified a resolution supporting a plant-based approach to fighting the epidemic of chronic disease, mitigating climate chaos, and saving money desperately needed by the municipalities.

The number of restaurants offering plant-based menu options is also increasing. According to research by the Plant Based Foods Association, 95% of restaurants that offer plant-based selections expect sales of those items to remain steady or increase. And four times as many foodservice operators were planning to add plant-based options as the number that were planning to remove them.

A student-led campaign in the UK, Plant-Based Universities, is working to get all university catering facilities to transition 100% of their menus to plant-based. Begun in late 2021, the campaign has given a voice to students who are voting to remove animal products from university food halls specifically to address the climate crisis.

And in the US, Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts won our “best acronym” award by introducing the Peas, Legumes, and Nuts Today (PLANT) Act in the House of Representatives on July 28, 2023. If passed, the act would establish an Office of Plant-Based Foods and Innovative Production at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and help fund farmers who produce ingredients specifically for plant-based foods, like legumes and mushrooms. It would also create a research program to further the development of plant-based proteins that could replace meat and offer technical and financial assistance to businesses that move the food industry in a more plant-forward direction.

Plant-Based Diets Continue to be Better for Your Wallet, Health, and the Planet

One of the nice things about advocating for more plant-based eating is that it tends to make people’s lives better right away — starting with their wallets. A study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that adopting a low-fat vegan diet led to a 16% reduction in grocery bills, for an average savings of $500 per person per year.

If you’d like to avail yourself of the economic advantages of a plant-based diet, a good place to start is our article 7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget.

While the benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet to your pocketbook can be felt immediately, it might take a few days, weeks, or months to notice health improvements. But scientific research continues to find more and more evidence that such improvements are likely.

A 2023 study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine followed 59 patients with type 2 diabetes as they were placed on a low-fat, plant-predominant diet for six months, along with receiving standard medical treatment. By the end of the study, 37% of the patients, whose average age was 71, had their diabetes in remission.

A 2023 study published in the journal Nutrients looked at how diet, genes, and lifestyle factors contribute to obesity by analyzing body fat in adults. Researchers discovered that a plant-based diet helped reduce the risk of obesity, even for those with a genetic predisposition to higher body fat.

Another article published in the past year collected data from 55 recent human trials on the effects of a plant-based diet on cardiovascular disease. The authors wrote that the preponderance of evidence showed that incorporating more plant foods into the diet can protect against heart disease and may also help prevent other chronic conditions.

Plant-based eating, especially a diet rich in whole foods, was also found to be predictive of mental health. A 2023 study found that a high-quality plant-based diet may offer protection against depressive symptoms and should be considered as a lifestyle-based treatment for people suffering from the condition.

And in November 2023, the results of a carefully conceived and remarkable randomized controlled trial involving 22 pairs of identical twins were published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open. The study authors concluded: “The findings from this trial suggest that a healthy plant-based diet offers a significant protective cardiometabolic advantage compared with a healthy omnivorous diet.”

What About the Earth?

One of the major drivers of the trend toward more plant-based eating is increased awareness of the scope of the chaos wrought by human-made climate change. While switching to electric vehicles and replacing energy-guzzling appliances with more efficient ones are steps in the right direction, the impact of these actions pales in comparison with the effects of adopting a plant-based diet.

Research published in the prestigious journal Nature in 2023 found that, on average, vegans produce 75% fewer food-related greenhouse gas emissions than meat-eaters. And plant-based dietary patterns also reduce harm to land, water, and biodiversity.

Becoming a B Corp

Speaking of impacts on the world around us, we wanted to share some exciting company news about FRN. In 2023, FRN submitted an application for B Corp status with high hopes that the submission will be approved in 2024 (our Owners and Board members are Ocean Robbins and John Robbins, as you might guess).

A B Corp, or benefit corporation, is a type of company that’s recognized for meeting higher standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. B Corps are committed to generating positive impacts on society and the environment.

The application process includes an extensive review of the company’s mission and where its impact is and is not aligned with that mission. The review looks at things like donation of money, products, or services to social causes and at-risk communities; decreasing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and production of waste; use of renewable energy and resources; support of tree planting and other forms of carbon sequestration; equitable compensation of team members; integration of mission-related responsibilities into employee performance evaluations and job descriptions; and providing employment and advancement opportunities for women, people of color, and other traditionally marginalized groups.

Since we started FRN in 2012, our mission has been front and center. We’re committed to healthy, ethical, sustainable food for all! So becoming a certified B Corp seems to be a natural next step to formalize our values.

Our 2023 Contributions to the Food Revolution

In 2023, thanks to you, our million+ community members, and 25+ FRN staff, we accomplished an amazing amount.

• We published 106 articles on nutrition, health, and sustainability topics and more than 148 new plant-based recipes. Our content reached more than six million unique readers, and our website was accessed over 13 million times.
• Through customer purchases of our digital products, we supported the planting of over 75,000 organic fruit or nut trees that will sequester more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide while providing food to low-income communities with Trees for the Future.
• In terms of non-digital products, Food Revolution Network put out its first physical cookbook this year. Real Superfoods: Everyday Ingredients to Elevate Your Health was published by Hay House on October 31, 2023. Over 9,800 people took part in the Real Superfoods Challenge leading up to its publication. And the book was an Amazon bestseller in its first week!
• Ocean delivered a captivating and inspiring TEDx Talk at the prestigious TEDx Alexander Park this year, and the excitement is contagious! His presentation, entitled “Eating Your Way to Happiness,” has already racked up more than a million views.
• Ocean was a featured speaker at Holistic Holiday at Sea, a plant-based cruise to the Caribbean, where he presented two keynotes. More than 150 FRN members and hundreds of other wellness enthusiasts participated in the cruise. To find out more about the cruise and get a $50 onboard credit for the next one, visit the Holistic Holiday at Sea website.
• Across our social media pages, Food Revolution Network had a combined reach of 5.6 million people, over 6.2 million impressions, and over 560,000 followers. Video content was the preferred medium on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
• The 2023 Food Revolution Summit was a special one, debuting as a full docuseries for the very first time. This year’s Summit reached 437,302 participants who viewed over 209,800 hours of empowering and groundbreaking content.
• We debuted FRN’s first foray into the coaching world with our Plant-Based Coaching Certification (PBCC). New and experienced coaches learned unique skills to help them empower their clients to transform their lives through a plant-based lifestyle. In the first cohort, PBCC welcomed 244 students. Graduation timing is flexible, but by the end of 2023, more than half of the inaugural cohort had already graduated. After completing a brief exam administered by the Lifestyle Prescriptions University in partnership with the nonprofit Lifestyle Medicine University Foundation, graduates received 24 CE/CPD credits from the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching and 24 CE/CPD credits from the CPD Standards Office. Additionally, for RDs/RDNs, all activities offered by the Food Revolution Network’s Plant-Based Coaching Certification were eligible to receive CPEUs by the Commission on Dietetic Registration.
• FRN helped over 10,468 people improve their blood sugar balance and metabolic health with our Tackling Type 2 Masterclass and course with Brenda Davis, RD.
• Over 46,990 people received transformative guidance on implementing a healthy diet with our Food for Health Masterclass, and nearly 2,900 went on to enroll in the Plant-Powered & Thriving course it introduces.
• We shared The Need To GROW — an award-winning, solutions-based environmental documentary — with more than 181,300 audience members.
• We gave an awe-inspiring look into the mushroom kingdom to more than 61,600 people with the film Fantastic Fungi.
• The groundbreaking health film From Food to Freedom debuted to over 81,300 viewers.
• Our Healthy Heart Masterclass reached over 23,500 people, with 1,500 enrollments in the Healthy Heart course with holistic integrative cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, MD.
• FRN relaunched our Brain Breakthroughs Masterclass, taught by husband and wife neurologist team Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, to over 31,700 people, and shared their Healthy Brain course with over 1,750 people.
• More than 19,850 people participated in our first-ever Eat the Rainbow Challenge with the reopening of WHOLE Life Club registration.
• We helped over 3,300 people take small steps every day for two weeks with our 14-Day Plant-Powered Accelerator. Participants received healthy eating secrets straight to their inboxes to support lasting changes to their diets.
• And within WHOLE Life Club, we provided 53 Action of the Week videos, 12 expert interviews, 312 recipes, and monthly live member events (In the Kitchen Live Calls, Culinary and Coaching Q&As, and Community Connection Calls) with our WLC community, which has grown to more than 10,000 active members.

The Most Popular Food Revolution Network Blog Posts Published in 2023

These were FRN’s most popular new posts of 2023.

• Is Bone Broth Good for You? (88,432 views)
• Plant-Based Lysine: Do You Need Meat To Get Enough Lysine? (87, 715 views)
• The Importance of Fiber in Gut Health and Hormonal Balance (64,881 views)
• Goitrogens: Should You Worry About Their Effect on Your Thyroid? (58,403 views)
• The Zesty Truth About Limes: Exploring Their Health Benefits and Potential Risks (50,054 views)

The Most Popular Food Revolution Network Recipes of 2023

Snacks dominated the top-viewed recipes list this year, along with a couple of tasty and legume-filled curries. Unsurprisingly, our Super Simple Homemade Date Paste made the top ten again but has been dethroned as the most popular recipe.

Our most popular recipes for 2023 were:

• Easy Cheesy Herbed Crackers (18, 474 views)
• The Best Creamy and Crunchy Snack! (14,486 views)
• Thai Almond Chickpea Curry (13,409 views)
• Super Simple Homemade Date Paste (13,403 views)
• Sweet Red Lentil Curry (13,214 views)
• Creamy Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding (13,206 views)
• Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie (12,376 views)
• Super Seedy Granola (9,794 views)
• Oatmeal Banana Bites (9,393 views)
• Sheet Pan Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (9,139 views)

On a Personal Note

In 2023, my dad, colleague, and dear friend — and FRN cofounder — John Robbins, experienced the progression of a health condition, post-polio syndrome, that has had a significant impact on his life and on our family. He is working with it in a profound way, and we shared about it in this video. We have received nearly a thousand deeply moving responses to this sharing, and they have lifted our family’s spirits. The way my dad is working with this condition is profoundly moving to me — and to many other people, too.

My dad and I are profoundly privileged to work with an amazing team of 25+ at FRN. This is, without a doubt, the most friendly, cooperative, dedicated, accountable, and effective team either of us has ever been a part of. The FRN team works virtually, and as much as digital tools like Zoom and Slack allow us to collaborate and be in each others’ lives, they aren’t a perfect substitute for in-the-flesh human interaction. So I’m delighted to share that in October 2023, we hosted our first in-person team retreat since 2019.

Thank You for All that YOU Do

We work hard at FRN, and sometimes the mission that we’ve staked out, along with the tasks and deadlines that bring that mission to life, can feel daunting. So it’s important for us to constantly remind ourselves that the food revolution movement is a mission much bigger than my dad, much bigger than me, much bigger than any one person, and much bigger than the FRN staff. It’s a movement that is growing and gaining traction, saving lives and bringing healing to our world.

And that movement includes you, about whom I’ve saved the last word.

FRN has a voice and influence because of you. When famous and influential people and brands consider whether to partner with us, one of the things they look at is our “reach.” Because we’re over a million members strong, we can work with the folks who gave the world movies like Fantastic Fungi and The Need to GROW. We can interest a book publisher like Hay House in publishing our cookbooks (with another coming back for final editing next week for publication in 2024).

We can attract an all-star lineup to share their ideas in our annual Food Revolution Summit because they know that a huge audience is there to “eat up” their wisdom — and use it to improve the lives of themselves and their loved ones, their communities, and the entire world.

There’s a video that was published in 2009 on YouTube that went viral and has now amassed over 24 million views. Titled “Sasquatch Music Festival 2009 — Guy Starts Dance Party,” it’s a 3-minute clip showing a lone dancer doing a series of pretty goofy moves. After a while, he’s joined by his first follower and then a second. A little over one minute into the video, it suddenly turns into a dance party — a mass movement. The energy grows and becomes contagious. When I first watched it, I wanted to jump through my laptop screen and join in.

Without you, dear reader, my dad, our staff at FRN, and I would still be the first three dancers, enjoying ourselves but lacking impact at scale. Your willingness to embrace the mission and the frequent calls to action — and to share and amplify the messages and make them your own — is what allows us to make the contributions highlighted above.

So please know how absolutely grateful we are to you for all the ways you generously support our work and provide loving and helpful feedback to help us improve. And for all the ways you assume leadership in your families and communities, day in and day out.

Like: Moving toward a plant-based diet. Choosing organic produce when you can. Buying local, from farm stands and farmers markets. Buying less and loving more. Donating to worthy causes. Loving the people you love with your whole heart. Trying new healthy recipes from our blog articles. Sharing articles, films, and healthy food with friends and loved ones.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you for caring about the food that you eat and the food you share with others. Thank you for caring about the well-being of the people who produce that food.

Thank you for aligning your actions and purchases with your values, and for being willing to look at inconvenient truths and adapt your behavior accordingly.

Thank you for all the ways in which you strive to be the change we all wish to see, and to manifest, in the world.

Here’s to all we accomplished together in 2023, and to the healing, compassion, and beauty we’re creating, one meal at a time.

May all be fed. May all be healed. May all be loved.

Ocean Robbins and John Robbins

Cofounders, Food Revolution Network

Tell us in the comments:

• How has the food revolution impacted your life in 2023?
• What was your favorite Food Revolution Network article from this past year? What made it special for you?
• What are you looking forward to in 2024?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Irina_Strelnikova

Read Next:

• Food Revolution Network’s End of Year Review: Looking Back on What We Accomplished in 2022
• Why the Global Rise in Vegan and Plant-Based Eating is No Fad (30x Increase in US Vegans + Other Astounding Vegan Stats)

The post Looking Back: Food Revolution Network’s 2023 Year in Review appeared first on Food Revolution Network.