A plant-based diet includes a high percentage of food sourced from plants rather than animals. This can mean eating nuts, whole grains, lentils, peas, beans, fruits, and vegetables. But, this style of diet does not need to be strictly vegetarian. Here are five of the health benefits that come from eating lots of plant foods:
Blood pressure
A plant-based diet offers a perfect source of potassium-rich foods which can help to naturally lower blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables, as well as most seeds, nuts, legumes, and whole grain include a sufficient amount of vitamin B6 and potassium for healthy blood pressure. Animal foods like meat include minimal potassium and can lead to higher cholesterol and blood pressure.
Cholesterol
A significant benefit of adopting a plant-based diet is the ability to lower cholesterol. Plants are cholesterol-free, even the more saturated types like cacao and coconut. For this reason, eating a diet that mostly consists of plant-based foods can offer a simple solution to lowering cholesterol. Great food choices to lower rates of heart disease and cholesterol include seeds, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Blood Sugar
A highly effective method to control high blood sugar is to increase the fiber in the diet. A fiber-rich diet is perfect to help with slowing the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream. An added benefit is the ability to control hunger throughout the course of the day. Also, fiber can help with balancing the level of cortisol in the blood stream, which is responsible for the feelings of stress. Many of the animal foods can have a significant hand in increasing the blood sugar level.
Cancer
A plant-based diet that includes low-fat, whole food is one of the most efficient choices for helping to cut the risk of cancer. Certain cancers like breast and colon are at great risk for those that eat a diet mainly consisting of animal foods.
Weight Loss
A diet consisting of plant-based and whole foods, with minimal processed sugars and low in fat, is certain to help with cutting weight. A further benefit comes from a diet that is high in clean and raw whole foods. Weight loss is naturally able to occur when the daily diet includes a higher percentage of vitamins, minerals, and fiber compared to proteins and animal fats. A well-planned plant-based diet has the potential to cut 4-6 pounds within a two-week period. This should also ensure you aren't left feeling hungry.
Eating a diet based on whole, plant-based food can reduce your risk of a broad spectrum of diseases, such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. What we should eat is our main concern.
Over the years I have concluded that there is no benefit from consuming dairy for the body in any shape or form. I do however believe it depends on the individual as to what level he/she is affected by consuming dairy. For example, the lifestyle each individual has, the level of stress, current diet, if dairy was consumed at a younger age, how much is consumed in their current diet.
Studies have shown that by consuming dairy in the form of milk depletes calcium from the bones as animal protein produces acid which leaches calcium from the bones. A medical study showed that people that consume the most amount of cows milk has significantly higher fracture rates to a person that does not consume any or as much dairy.
Milk and cheese have been linked to increased risk of developing prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, increased and development of acne in boys and girls, weight gain, stomach difficulties due to build up of bacteria in the gut as antibiotics are added to cows feed which we consume and are causing more health implications.
People are gaining more milk allergies and are becoming lactose intolerant which causes health difficulties, concerns and problems. So it is important to get tested to check this from a medical doctor who has the nutritional background, through a blood sample, on an ongoing basis.
A single serve of whole milk contains more than 20% of the RDA of saturated fat. Cheese is the worst for weight gain and this needs to be monitored.
Humans are the only animal outside the animal kingdom that consume dairy. Calves have 4 stomachs not 1 so it is needed by a calf to aid development not people, in my opinion. Calves also need to gain weight more rapidly.
In my professional experience, symptoms vary from each person. If a client tends to gain more weight, suffers from acne, stomach problems, etc., they will react more, so it is vital they don't consume dairy. Others do not seem to react to the same severity, however, I do feel within my experience of consulting, you will see the signs of reacting negatively in some shape or form with each individual.
I would refrain from using dairy because of how it can make you feel and the difficulty of the enzymes to break down in your body can lead to more health complications throughout someone's life.
The alternative I use and would recommend is oat, coconut, almond and rice milk depending on the needs of the individual.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating component of the cannabis plant, has generated significant interest among scientists and physicians in recent years - but how CBD exerts its therapeutic impact on a molecular level is still being sorted out. Cannabidiol is a pleiotropic drug in that it produces many effects through multiple molecular pathways. The scientific literature has identified more than 65 molecular targets of CBD.
Although CBD has little binding affinity for either of the two cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2), cannabidiol modulates several non-cannabinoid receptors and ion channels. CBD also acts through various receptor-independent pathways—for example, by delaying the “reuptake” of endogenous neurotransmitters (such as anandamide and adenosine) and by enhancing or inhibiting the binding action of certain G-protein coupled receptors.
Here are some of the ways that CBD confers its manifold therapeutic effects.
Serotonin Receptors
Jose Alexandre Crippa and his colleagues at the University of San Paulo in Brazil and King’s College in London have conducted pioneering research into CBD and the neural correlates of anxiety. At high concentrations, CBD directly activates the 5-HT1A (hydroxytryptamine) serotonin receptor, thereby conferring an anti-anxiety effect. This G-coupled protein receptor is implicated in a range of biological and neurological processes, including (but not limited to) anxiety, addiction, appetite, sleep, pain perception, nausea and vomiting.
5-HT1A is a member of the family of 5-HT receptors, which are activated by the neurotransmitter serotonin. Found in both the central and peripheral nervous systems, 5-HT receptors trigger various intracellular cascades of chemical messages to produce either an excitatory or inhibitory response, depending on the chemical context of the message.
CBDA [Cannabidiolic acid], the raw, unheated version of CBD that is present in the cannabis plant, also has a strong affinity for the 5-HT1A receptor (even more so than CBD). Preclinical studies indicate that CBDA is a potent anti-emetic, stronger than either CBD or THC, which also have anti-nausea properties.
Vanilloid Receptors
CBD directly interacts with various ion channels to confer a therapeutic effect. CBD, for example, binds to TRPV1 receptors, which also function as ion channels. TRPV1 is known to mediate pain perception, inflammation and body temperature.
TRPV is the technical abbreviation for “transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V.” TRPV1 is one of several dozen TRP (pronounced “trip”) receptor variants or subfamilies that mediate the effects of a wide range of medicinal herbs.
Scientists also refer to TRPV1 as a “vanilloid receptor,” named after the flavorful vanilla bean. Vanilla contains eugenol, an essential oil that has antiseptic and analgesic properties; it also helps to unclog blood vessels. Historically, the vanilla bean has been used as a folk cure for headaches.
CBD binds to TRPV1, which can influence pain perception.
Capsaicin—the pungent compound in hot chili peppers—activates the TRVP1 receptor. Anandamide, the endogenous cannabinoid, is also a TRPV1 agonist.
GPR55 - orphan receptors
Whereas cannabidiol directly activates the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor and several TRPV ion channels, some studies indicate that CBD functions as an antagonist that blocks, or deactivates, another G protein-coupled receptor known as GPR55.
GPR55 has been dubbed an “orphan receptor” because scientists are still not sure if it belongs to a larger family of receptors. GPR55 is widely expressed in the brain, especially in the cerebellum. It is involved in modulating blood pressure and bone density, among other physiological processes.
GPR55 promotes osteoclast cell function, which facilitates bone reabsorption. Overactive GPR55 receptor signaling is associated with osteoporosis.
CBD is a GPR55 antagonist, as University of Aberdeen scientist Ruth Ross disclosed at the 2010 conference of the International Cannabinoid Research Society in Lund, Sweden. By blocking GPR55 signaling, CBD may act to decrease both bone reabsorption and cancer cell proliferation.
PPARs - nuclear receptors
CBD also exerts an anti-cancer effect by activating PPARs [peroxisome proliferator activated receptors] that are situated on the surface of the cell’s nucleus. Activation of the receptor known as PPAR-gamma has an anti-proliferative effect as well as an ability to induce tumor regression in human lung cancer cell lines. PPAR-gamma activation degrades amyloid-beta plaque, a key molecule linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. This is one of the reasons why cannabidiol, a PPAR-gamma agonist, may be a useful remedy for Alzheimer’s patients.
PPAR receptors also regulate genes that are involved in energy homeostasis, lipid uptake, insulin sensitivity, and other metabolic functions. Diabetics, accordingly, may benefit from a CBD-rich treatment regimen.
CBD as a reuptake inhibitor
How does CBD, an exogenous plant compound, get inside a human cell to bind to a nuclear receptor? First it has to pass through the cell membrane by hitching a ride with a fatty acid binding protein (FABP), which chaperones various lipid molecules into the cell’s interior. These intracellular transport molecules also escort tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the brain’s own marijuana-like molecules, the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2AG, across the membrane to several targets within the cell. CBD and THC both modulate receptors on the surface of the nucleus, which regulate gene expression and mitochondrial activity.
Cannabidiol, it turns out, has a strong affinity for three kinds of FABPs, and CBD competes with our endocannabinoids, which are fatty acids, for the same transport molecules. Once it is inside the cell, anandamide is broken down by FAAH [fatty acid amide hydrolase], a metabolic enzyme, as part of its natural molecular life cycle. But CBD interferes with this process by reducing anandamide’s access to FABP transport molecules and delaying endocannabinoid passage into the cell’s interior.
According to a team of Stony Brook University scientists, CBD functions as an anandamide reuptake and breakdown inhibitor, thereby raising endocannabinoid levels in the brain’s synapses. Enhancing endocannabinod tone via reuptake inhibition may be a key mechanism whereby CBD confers neuroprotective effects against seizures, as well as many other health benefits.
CBD’s anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety effects are in part attributable to its inhibition of adenosine reuptake. By delaying the reuptake of this neurotransmitter, CBD boosts adenosine levels in the brain, which regulates adenosine receptor activity. A1A and A2A adenosine receptors play significant roles in cardiovascular function, regulating myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary blood flow. These receptors have broad anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body.
CBD as an allosteric modulator
CBD also functions as an allosteric receptor modulator, which means that it can either enhance or inhibit how a receptor transmits a signal by changing the shape of the receptor.
Australian scientists report that CBD acts as a “positive allosteric modulator” of the GABA-A receptor. In other words, CBD interacts with the GABA-A receptor in a way that enhances the receptor’s binding affinity for its principal endogenous agonist, gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. The sedating effects of Valium and other Benzos are mediated by GABA receptor transmission. CBDreduces anxiety by changing the shape of the GABA-A receptor in a way that amplifies the natural calming effect of GABA.
Canadian scientists have identified CBD as a “negative allosteric modulator” of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor, which is concentrated in the brain and central nervous system. While cannabidiol doesn’t bind to the CB1 receptor directly like THC does, CBDinteracts allosterically with CB1 and changes the shape of the receptor in a way that weakens CB1’s ability to bind with THC.
As a negative allosteric modulator of the CB1receptor, CBD lowers the ceiling on THC’s psychoactivity—which is why people don’t feel as “high” when using CBD-rich cannabis compared to when they consume THC-dominant medicine. A CBD-rich product with little THC can convey therapeutic benefits without having a euphoric or dysphoric effect.
