We constantly hear about the need to include more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains in our diet in order to be healthier. In fact, I am 100% sure that not a single person goes through life without being informed that these foods are prevention and cure, as explained by caring parents, grandparents and many media and medical sources.

However, little do we know about the benefits of a completely plant-based diet. In fact, it is very disheartening that a person must have a fatal disease and be in a position when every other remedy has failed and some distant cousin of a friend remembers that they know somebody who knows somebody who got over a virulent disease by adopting a plant-based life style.

Every day the number of doctors who realize that health cannot be found in a bottle, rises. Doctors usually don’t have a problem admitting that their schooling never included an actual course in nutrition and that they, themselves need to dig deeper into the intriguing world of alternative remedies. Plant-based food is abundant with all those nutrients that the human body needs in order to thrive and be healthy. You can find a full list of all known nutrients and the particular plant-based sources we can attain them from, here.

Lately, there’s been a lot of debating going on regarding the question whether a vegan diet can help improve the condition of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Many people have reported that they have started feeling a lot better after they went vegan, so it looks like it might be worth a try. You can easily find personal testimonials about this very issue in the medical center of Dr. McDoughall .

Vegans eat only fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, and they eliminate all dairy, meats, eggs, and fish. A vegan diet which is also free of gluten, has shown to furthermore improve the signs and symptoms of RA in people who tried this diet and were persistent, according to a study published in the journal Rheumatology in 2001. The health benefits of a vegan/gluten-free diet were described in detail in a research published in the journal named Arthritis Research and Therapy in 2008. During this study, 38 participants were put on a vegan/gluten free diet that consisted of fruits, vegetables, and nuts and a control group of 28 people were put on a balanced diet that included all animal-based foods. After one year, the condition and the symptoms of the vegans slightly improved in comparison to the omnivorous group. Some of them also lost some extra kilos and showed lower levels of LDL – bad cholesterol.

As with everything else in life, changing your diet so drastically requires several weeks in order to adapt to the new habits. In order to make it more convenient for you, try going without meat the first week. The second week, you can get rid of all dairy products and eggs and the third week, eliminate all foods that contain gluten. There are hundreds of thousands of mouthwatering recipes, that are as tasty as they look and are incredibly nutritious.

Another great benefit that you will get when you decide to address an illness through plant-based diet is that unlike drugs, you won’t be simply masking your symptoms, but you’ll be actually healing your body as a whole. When healthy food and pure lifestyle is your remedy, you cannot get rid of one disease and get two, again as previously seen with pills and their side effects. When the body recovers naturally, it recovers everywhere.