Veganism has been around for a while, but I prefer another term- whole food plant based eating, because it refers to a sustainable, high quality way of eating which has good evidence for longevity. There are so many processed vegan foods around nowadays, that you can eat a high junk, high processed, high convenience food, and high poor quality fat vegan diet, and for this, there are poor outcomes. 

Whole Food Plant Based eating is a term given to eating a diet of mainly plant foods, but it is a high quality diet with foods that mainly look like the original plant i.e. whole foods. It is a way of eating that has plenty of fruits and vegetables, often a large amount of them raw- and wholegrains, legumes, and small amounts of nuts and seeds. Generally it is much lower in overall fat that an omnivorous, or poor quality vegan diet. 

What is a healing diet?

Over the years I have experimented with many different ways of eating. Most had something to offer at the time. I have had a chronic condition- Hashimoto’s, a thyroid autoimmune condition- so have experimented with different ways to feel better. My condition has been mild compared to many, but perhaps that’s because I have managed it ok.

One factor common to many diets which have been called “healing diets” by many people looking for a way to resolve and reverse their chronic disease, is reducing or eliminating processed foods. What we call junk foods, but also most packaged foods with multiple ingredients. And returning to an unprocessed food diet- the original nuts and bolts of food- fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and for some, meat, seafood and/or dairy. So the paleo and keto diets do this, and this may be a large part of their success for some people.

For others, eliminating or reducing meat, seafood and/or dairy has been a significant part of their healing journey.