Plant-Forward Eating for Better Health: How to Add More Plants Into Your Diet

If you love meat or fish, the term “plant-forward eating” may give you pause. While you’ve likely heard about the health benefits of vegan or vegetarian diets, giving up your favorite dishes isn’t on the table.

Fortunately, plant-forward eating doesn’t mean you have to eliminate the animal-based foods you love! Instead, it emphasizes incorporating nutrient-rich plant-based foods — like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds — into your meals. With this balanced approach to eating, you can add nutritious plant-based options to your diet without completely sacrificing your favorites.

Why consider incorporating plant-forward eating into your life? There are a lot of reasons! Plant-forward eating can support your brain, heart, and gut health, for starters. Let’s explore these benefits and some tips for incorporating plant-based foods into your meals, even if you’re on a budget.

The benefits of a plant-forward diet

Nutritious fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds have several health benefits. Here’s just a small list of some of the benefits a plant-forward diet can offer: 

Brain and cognitive health 

While no diet can completely prevent cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease, more research has been indicating that what you eat can help maintain your brain health as you age.

Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, medical director of the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health at Hebrew SeniorLife, senior scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, developed six pillars for maintaining good brain health. One of those pillars is eating a plant-forward diet.

If you’re eating with brain health in mind, the MIND diet could be a good option. The MIND diet merges elements from the Mediterranean diet — known for being plant-forward and anti-inflammatory — and the DASH diet, designed to stop high blood pressure. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay and was created to prevent the onset or slow the progression of dementia. In some studies, the MIND diet has been linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease! 

Heart health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, but healthy lifestyle choices can help lower your risk of heart disease. These same healthy choices can also help keep your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol at normal levels.

A healthy diet is one of the most impactful choices you can make. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and limited processed foods to keep your diet heart-healthy. Recent studies on the effect of plant-based diets on cardiovascular disease have shown that eating a healthy plant-based diet can significantly lower your risk of death from heart disease. 

Gut and digestive health

Dietary fiber is an essential nutrient for older adults, aiding your gut and heart health. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Most plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, contain a mix of soluble and insoluble fiber.

Soluble fiber improves digestion and lowers cholesterol and blood glucose levels, which are often concerns for older adults. Insoluble fiber promotes bowel health and regularity. 

Frailty prevention

A study led by Shivani Sahni, PhD, director of the Nutrition Program and an associate scientist at the Marcus Institute, suggests that following a plant-forward Mediterranean-style diet may help prevent frailty in adults. Specifically, diets high in carotenoids — antioxidant pigments found in plants, algae, and bacteria — can help reduce your odds of developing frailty. If you’ve ever been told to add a variety of colors to your diet, carotenoids are likely why. They give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors, including broccoli, carrots, mangos, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Flavonols, a group of plant-based compounds known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, also offer protective health benefits. In a separate study co-led by Courtney Millar, PhD, an assistant scientist at the Marcus Institute, a diet high in flavonols, especially a type of flavonol called quercetin, was also associated with a reduced risk of developing frailty. Quercetin is found in a number of foods, including apples, kale, blueberries, brassica vegetables, onions, and tea.

Tips on getting started with a plant-forward diet 

Start small. You may feel energized and ambitious if you’re new to plant-forward eating. But if you’re accustomed to eating meat with all three meals and then decide to eliminate meat entirely the next day, that can feel like a bit of a shock to your system. Smaller changes may feel more sustainable. For example, try committing to having one meatless meal per day. If that feels too ambitious, aim to have more vegetables on your plate than you did before.

Keep your favorite spices. When trying a plant-forward meal or adapting a meat-based recipe, stick to the spices you know and love. For example, if you always use salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder on your chicken, use those same spices when you try tofu for the first time.

Increase your proportion of fruits and vegetables. Instead of taking away your favorite foods, try adjusting the portions on your plate. Can you make more room for vegetables or fruits? See where there’s room to add plant-based ingredients to your plate.

Remember protein. If you’re reducing your meat intake, don’t forget to prioritize plant-based protein sources. There are some great sources of plant-based protein, such as beans, lentils, tofu, and edamame, but you may need to eat larger portions of those foods to match the protein content of animal-based foods. Aim to get at least one protein source in every meal and eat healthy snacks with protein, such as a banana with peanut butter.

Explore local farmers’ markets for fresh produce. Local fruits and vegetables are a great addition to any plant-forward meal. Visiting local farmers’ markets can be a fun way to get into the community while stocking up on fresh produce for the house. In Massachusetts, you can use the state’s searchable map of farmers’ markets to find markets and farmstands near you.

Involve your household. If you live with a spouse, partner, or somebody else, planning and cooking your meals together can make your plant-forward diet more fun and collaborative. See if they’re willing to join you in this healthy shift! 

Eating a plant-forward diet on a limited budget 

If cost is a concern, there are some resources and tips that can make it easier to adopt a plant-forward diet:  

Stock up on frozen fruits and vegetables. These are picked and frozen while fully ripe, so they’re nutrient-dense and can stay in your freezer for months. They can also be a more affordable option than fresh produce!

Rinse salt off of canned beans. Low-sodium canned beans are often more expensive than regular beans. One hack you can try to avoid that extra cost is buying regular canned beans and rinsing them in the sink to remove the excess sodium.

Utilize community resources. The Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program provides low-income seniors in Massachusetts with coupons for fresh produce at farmers’ markets and farmstands. Many local Councils on Aging also offer transportation to farmers’ markets and grocery stores.

Consider meal delivery resources. If you’re having trouble meeting your nutritional needs at home, consider an option like Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels offers nutritionally balanced meals to older adults, including options tailored to those with chronic conditions.

One-on-one nutrition counseling for older adults in Boston and Dedham

As a part of Hebrew SeniorLife’s multidisciplinary approach to health care, we consider nutrition a key component of managing and preventing serious health issues. If you or a loved one have any nutritional concerns, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham, MA, offer an outpatient medical nutrition therapy program for older adults. 

This program includes one-on-one individualized education and treatment plans developed by our registered dietitians. To learn more, contact us online or call our outpatient nutrition therapy program at 617-363-8539 in Boston or 781-234-9630 in Dedham.

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